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«'\«ip'

6y %bert f^ovoe Oancroft

NATIVE RACES OP THE PACIFIC STATES ; five volumes.
HISTORY OP CENTRAL AMERICA ; three volumes.
HISTORY OP MEXICO ; six volumes.
HISTORY OP TEXAS and ths NORTH MEXICAN STATES ;

two volumes.
HISTORY OP ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO ; one volume.
HISTORY OP CALIFORNIA; seven volumes.
HISTORY OP NEVADA, COLORADO AND WYOMING; one

volume.
HISTORY OP UTAH ; one volume.

HISTORY OP THE NORTHWEST COAST; two volumes.
HISTORY OP OREGON ; two volumes.
HISTORY OP WASHINGTON, IDAHO and MONTANA ; one

volume.
HISTORY OP BRITISH COLUMBIA; one volume.
HISTORY OF ALASKA ; one volume.
CALIFORNIA PASTORAL; one volume.
CALIFORNIA INTER-POCULA ; one volume.
POPULAR TRIBUNALS ; two volumes.
ESSAYS AND MISCELLANY ; one volume.
LITERARY INDUSTRIES ; one volume.
CHRONICLES OP THE KINGS ; several volumes.

^OVmciAL LIBRARY,
VfCTORlA. B. a

HISTORY

OF THI

NORTHWEST COAST

HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOL. 1—1543-1800

SAN FRANCISCO
THE HISTORY COMPANY, PUBLISHERS

1890

'^^^^^^mmmm

mmmm

V- I

Entered according to Act of Congress In the year 1889, by

HUBERT H. BANCROFT,
In the Office of the Ubrarian of Congress, at Washington.

AU Rights Reserved.

PREFACE.

Proceedino northward from the more defined re-
gions of Spanish domination in America, on reaching
the forty-second parallel the liitherto steady course
of our Pacific States History is interrupted, and
after the earliest voyages of discovery we are referred
to Canada and France, and later to Anglo -America
and England, for the origin of affairs, and for the
extreme north to Russia. The ownership of this
region, always ignoring the rights of the natives, was
at first somewhat vague; it was disputed by the sev-
eral European powers, France, Spain, and England,
and after the first two had retired from the field
England and the United States held a bloodless
quarrel over it. The original doctrine in seizing un-
known lands was to claim in every direction as far as
those lands extended, even if it was quite round the
world. Thus Columbus would have it, and Vasco
Nunez de Balboa thought that all the shores washed
by the Pacific Ocean were not too great recompense
to his king for having so valiant a subject as himself
France was disposed to claim from Canada west to
the Pacific, and back of the English plantations down
the valley of the Great River to the Mexican Gulf

27; J G

y^ PREFACE.

while the English colonies on the Atlantic measured
their lands by the frontage, their depth being the
width of the continent. But Spain, sending her navi-
gators up the western coast, was enabled by discovery
to secure a better title than could be made to rest on
the enthusiasm of a Columbus or a Balboa, or even
on the pope's generosity. While Great Britain and
the United States relied on explorations and occupa-
tion, sometimes calling the former discoveries, and
also on enforced or voluntary concessions from Spain,
France also sent an exploring expedition, followed
now and then by a trader; but she advanced no claims
after parting with her broad Canadian and Mississippi
possessions.

Obviously events aflfccting this area as a whole,
before its division into separate domains, belong to
each of the succeeding states; so that the History
of the Northwest Coast may properly be regarded as
preliminary to and part of the History of Oregon,
the History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, and
the History of British Columbia.

On the earliest maritime explorations, the voyages
of the fur-traders, and the famous Nootka contro-
versy, I have been able to consult many important
documents not known to Greenhow, Twiss, and the
other writers of 1846 and earlier years. Notable
among these new authorities are the journals of Gray,
Haswell, Winship, Sturgis, and other American voy-
agers; also the interesting items on northern trips
gleaned from the Spanish archives of California. The
famous Oregon Question, growing out of these earliest
expeditions and controversies, is here for the first time
treated from an historical rather than a partisan stand-
point.

PREFACE.

Ttt

During the summer of 1878 I made an extended
tour in this territory for the purpose of adding to
my material for its history. Some printed matter I
found not before in my possession. I was fortunate
enough to secure copies of the letters of Simon Fraser,
and the original journals of Fraser and John Stuart;
also copies from the originals of the journals of John
Work and W. F. Tolmie, the private papers of John
McLoughlin, and a manuscript History of the North-
west Coast by A. C. Anderson. Through the kind-
ness of Mr John Charles, at the time chief of the
Hudson's Bay Company on the Pacific coast, I was
given access to the archives of the fur company
gathered at Victoria, and was permitted to make
copies of important fort journals, notably those of
Fort Langley and Fort Simpson. But most im-
portant of all were the historical and biographical
dictations taken from the lips of several hundred of
the pioneers and earliest fur-hunters and settlers then
living, by a short-hand reporter who accompanied me
in my travels, and which were afterward written out,
severally bound, and used in the usual way as
material for history. It is scarcely possible to ex-
aggerate the importance of this information, given as
it was by actors in the scenes represented, many of
whom have since departed this life, and all of whom
will soon be gone. To no small extent it is early his-
torical knowledge absolutely rescued from oblivion,
and which if lost no power on earth could reproduce.
Conspicuous among those who thus bear testimony
are Mrs Harvey, who gave me a biographical sketch
of her father, Chief Factor McLoughlin; John Tod,
chief for a time of New Caledonia; Archibald Mc-
Kinlay, in charge of Fort Walla Walla at the time of

riii

PREFACE.

tlie Whitman massacre; Roderick Finlayson, once in
charge of Fort Victoria ; A. C. Anderson, road-maker,
explorer, and historian.

The journals of explorers and the narratives of
travellers embody in a wilderness of useless matter
much valuable information. These works are quite
rare; but even if they were at hand, one could wade
through them only at great loss of time. Of these,
in this part of my History, I have summarized several
score. British and American government documents
are quite full at a later period, when England and the
United States carried on their hot disputations on the
subject of occupancy.

The freshness of the field has rendered it to me
exceedingly fascinating; of the manner in which my
enthusiasm has taken form, and of the use I have
made of my opportunities, the public must judge.

CONTENTS OF THIS YOLUME.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY TO NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

TAOW,

rrimary Significance — The Subject in its Widest Scopo — The Home of
Mystery — Historic and Mythic Interest — The Conjectural and the
Real — Origin of the Strait Myth and of the Northern Mystery — West
Ckjost Theories — State of Geographical Knowledge in 1550 — In the
South-east — North-east, Explorations by the Cabots and Cortoreals,
by Aillon, Verrazano, Gomez, Cartier — In the South-west, by Balboa,
Espinosa, Ddvila, Cort<!8, Alarcon, Ulloa, Cabrillo — Inland Wander-
ings by Cartior, Soto, Cabeza de Vaca, G uznian, Niza, and Corouado —
1650 to IGOO, Frobiaher, Ribault, Menendez, Raleigh — New Mexican
Entradas — Urdaneta, Drake, Gali, Cermenon— 1000 to 1G50, Vizcaino,
Oiiate — Canadian Fur-hunters and Jesuits — Hudson and Baffin — 1050
to 1700, the Hudson's Bay Company, Marquette, La Salle, and I'adre
Kino — 1700 to 1760, Philippine Galleons— English Freebooters—
Vdrendrye to the Rocky Mountains — Arctic Discoveries — 1750 to
1800, Heame and Mackenzie — Escalante in Utah — Occupation of
California — Russian Discoveries 1

CHAPTER n.

THB NORTHERN MYSTERY AND IHAOINARY OSOORAFBY.
1500-1595.

Field of Conjecture — Mythic Geography — Strait or no Strait — Passage to
India — Cabots and Cortercals — Ruysch and Schiiner — Amazon Isles—
Clavos and Esclavos — Maps of 1530-1 — Queen of California — Cana-
dian Rumors — Niza's Fictions — Real Explorations of 1640-3— Cibola,
Tiguex, and Quivira — Gomara's Blunder — Ruscelli and Munster —
Ramusio and Homem — A Choice of Straits — Theories of Menendez —
First Trip through the Strait — Urdaneta — Salvatierra's Tale —
Ribault — Tdpia — Ortelius' Theatrum — Tolm — Anian — Origin of the
Name — Ladrillero at the Strait — Meta Incognita — Martin Chacke —
Drake's Pilot — Espejo's Lake and River — Hakluyt — Lok's Map — By
the Roanoke to the Pacific — La Gran Copal — Peter Martyr — Acosta
on the Mystery 33

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER m.

ArOORTPHAI. VdVAOEl TO THM NORTHWEST.

li506-16O9.

Juftn de Fuca's Pretended Discovories— The Story to Lok—Presiimp-
tionsagainat it* Tnitli- Writers on the Subject— Kxainination of
Evidence, Historical and Oeographical- iJoubtless a Pure Fiction —
Mercator—Wytfliet—Tlie Great Northwegt— Imaginary Coasts, Riv-
ers, and Towns— Conrad Low's Remarkuble Map— Close of the Cen-
tury — Captain Lancaster— Herrera — Vizcaino — Aguilar's River— As-
cension— Torquemada— Ofiato— Lake Copalla— Ziflogaba and Queen
Ci&aoacohola— Tidan — Jolm Smith — Maldonado's Pretended " ago
through the Strait of Anian— A Famous Lie 70

CHAPTER rV.

THE NORTHKBN MYSTERY — OONOLUaiOW.
1010-1800.

Spanish Junta — Garcia de Silva — A Now Phase — California once more an
Island — Cardona— Dutch Map — Briggs' Treatise — Salmeron — Del-
gado's Voyage — De Laet — Winnepegs, or Men of the Sea — Nicolet —
Botello and Casanate on Northern Geography — D'Avity — Acle — Mel-
giior — AnExactDescription—Ogilby— Marquette, Hennepin, and La
Ball'' — Peche — Teguayo — Paredus — Dampier — Luyt — La Hontan —
E' ^and Mange — Island or Peninsula? — Maps of Hacke, Heylyii, and
Harris — Bartholomew de Fonte's Fictitious Letter — De L'Iste and
Buache — Bibliography of a Hoax — Rogers— Velarde — Niel — Ugarte's
Voyage — California a Peninsula Again —Shclvocke — Coxe — Dobbs —
Sodelmair — Vetancurt— Ellis— New Mouth for the Colorado— Vene-
gaa — Jefferys — Engel — Carver— End of the Mystery 100

CHAPTER V.

DISCOVERT OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

1543-1775.
Bartolom^ Perrelo — Did not Pass the Forty-second Parallel— Francis
Drake — His Voyage — Different Versions — The Famous Voyage — The
World EIncompassed — Fletcher's Falsehoods — The Limit cannot be
Fixed — Drake Possibly Reached Latitude Forty-three — And was tho
Discoverer of Oregon — Gali's Voyage not Extending to Northern
Waters-^Sebastian Vizcaino and Martin Aguilar — Point St Greorgo in
41° 45', the Northern Limit — Revival of Exploration under Carlos
III. — Expedition of Juan Perez to Latitude Fifty -five — Instructions
Mid Results — Names Applied — Intercourse with Indians — Discovery
of Nootka — The Whole Coast Discovered — Second Exploration under
Bruno Heceta to tho Forty-ninth Parallel — First Landing in Oregon —
Seven Spaniards Killed by Indians — Discovery of the Columbia —
Voyage of Bodega y Cuadra, after parting from Heceta, to the Fifty-
eighth Parallel 137

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

BXFLOKATIUM Or THE NORTUWKST COAST.

1778-1788. »*•■.

Captain Cook's Expe<^itim' - \ ustructions — Discoveries and Names — Map —
At San Lorenzo, Kio^ Uoorgo Sound, or Nootka — Origin of t!ir Fur-
trade — Voyage of Arteaga and Cuadra to Alaska— English Fur-
traders from ' ■5 — Ktoija's Vo-'njes — Lu Ptirouse — 4rjhipolago or
Mainland? — Map — Ex^udit! . ot Strange, Lowrie,andOui8e—McKoy
at Noofka — Portlofk .id Dixon — Queen Charlotte Isles — Barclay
Discovers the St- .t- Duncan and Colnctt— Martinez and Ilaro in
A'tska — Spjuudh Policy Foreshadowed — The Stars and Stripes in the
North Pacific — Voyage* f^f K«indrick and Gra> on tiio * Columbia' and
'Washington'— An Otiginal Diary — Murderots' llarlxir — Wiuteiiug
at Nootka — Voyage of Meares anu Doffl-s — Under Portuguese
Colors — Launch of the ' North West America' — The House tliat Jock
BuUt 167

CHAPTER Vn.

THE NOOTKA 00NTB0VER8T.

1789-1700.
Voyages of 1789 — Movemanta of Kendrick and Gray — Cruise of the
'Lady Washington' — End of Haswell's Diary — The Columbia Ooes
to China and Boston — Kendrick in the Strait — Trading Trip of Doug-
las and Fnnter — Meares in China — A New Partnership — Voyage of
Colnett and Hudson— Plans for a Permanent Establishment- Met-
calf 's Voyage — Spanish Expedition under Martinet and Haro — Seiz-
nre of the 'Iphigenia' — Motives of Capture and Release — A Spanish
Fort at Santa Cruz de Nutka — Seizure of the 'North West America'
— Taking of the 'Argonaut and 'Princess Royal' — Colnett versus
Martinez — Prizes Sent to San Bios — Restoration by the Viceroy —
The Spaniards Quit Nootka — American Policy — Merits oi the Con-
troversy — The News in Europe — Spain and England — Diplomacy and
Impending War— Spain Yields— The Nootka Treaty 204

CHAPTER Vm.

XXPLOBINO AND COMMERCIAI. EXPEDITIONS.

1790-1792.

Spanish Beoccupation of Nootka by Elisa — Fidiilgo's Exploration in the
North — Quimper in the Strait of Fuca — His Chart — Colnett and the
•Argonaut' — No Fur-trade — Kendrick 's Schemes— Explorations of
1791— The 'SanCArloB'— Elisa's Survey of the Strait— His Map— The
Nootka Coast — The Transport 'Aranzazn' — Malaspina's Expedition
ii the 'Descubierta' and 'Atrevida* — The Garrison — The Boston
Traders — Gray and Haswell — Kendrick — Ingraham — Maroliand'a

•xU

CONTENTS.

PAOI.

Visik and Map— Fleurieu's Essay— Voyages of 1792— Tlie Traders—
The 'Columbia Eediviva'— Building of the 'Adventure'— Haswell'a
Log — Magee, Coolidge, Brown, Stewart, Baker, Shepherd, Cole —
Portuguese Vessels— A French Trader— Spanish Explorations — Caa-
mafio in the North — Galiano and Vald^s on the 'Sutil' and 'Mexi-
cana' — Through the Strait of Fuoa — Navarrete's Summary — Van-
Qouver's Exploring Expedition 239

CHAPTER IX.

ain> Of OONTBOVEBSY AND EXPLOBATIOir.

1792-1800.

The Policy of Spain — Delay for Exploration — The Viceroy's Ideas — In-
structions to the Commissioner — Cuadra's Investigations — Vancou-
ver's Mission — The Commissioners at Nootka — English Claims —
Spanish Ofifers — Agreement to Disagree — Convention of 1793 — Dam-
ages paid — Revilla Gigedo's Report — Vancouver's Second Voyage —
The Garrison — Saavedra Succeeds Fiilalgo — The Trading Fleet of
1793 — Cuadra Succeeded by Alava — Trip of the 'Aranzazu' to Cali-
fornia — Captain John Kendrick — Vancouver's Third Voyage —
Traders of 1794 — Trcttty of 1704— The Controversy Ended — Alava
and Pierce — Final Abandonment of Nootka in March 1795 — The
Title— The 'Phoenix' of 1795— Broughton's Visit— Dorr, the Yankee
Trader of 1796— Rowan and the 'Elisa' of 179S— Cleveland's Cruise—
The 'Betsy' of 1800 284

CHAPTER X.

LAST or THE EXFLOBKBS.

' i

1801-1818.
Boston Ships of 1801— Record of 1802— Mishap of the 'Manchester'—
Sturgis on tlie Coast— Loss of the 'Boston,' 1803 — Massacre of the
Crew — Jowett's Captivity — Rowan and Brown at San Francisco from
the North — List of 1804 — Smugglers — O'Cain and his New Idea —
Russian Contracts — Indiaas Attack the 'Atahualpa,' 1805 — Lewis
and Claike's List — Rezdnof and his Plans, 1806 — Coming of tlie
Winships— 'O'Cain,' 'Derby,' and 'Guatimozin' of 1807— 'Pearl,'
• Vancouver, ' and ' Mercury ' of 1808-9— The Fur-hunters of 1810-1 1—
Winship's Columbia Settlement — The 'Albatross' — Voyage of the
•Tonquin'— The 'Beaver' of 1812— Effects of the War— The Traders
Blockaded — Seizure of the 'Mercury' and 'Charon,' 1813 — Capt '"n •
Sniitu— H. B. M. Sloop 'Raccoon' Takes Astoria— The 'Pedler' of
1614— The 'Isaac Todd'— The Northwest Company's 'Columbia' of
1815— The 'Colonel' in California, 1816— Last of the 'Albatrops'-
Roqucfeuil's Voyage in the 'Bordclais,' 1817-18 — Last of Maquinna
and Nootka — The Men-of-war 'Ontario' and 'Blossom' — Vessels of
1819-40. 310

CONTENTS.

XUJ

CHAPTER XI.

THB MARITIME FOB-TRADB.

1778-1846. «

The Sea-otter — Commentaries upon It— The Russian Beginnings — The
Chinese Market — Captain Cook's Discoveries — Bolts' Enterprise —
John Ledyard and his Plans — An Eccentric Yankee — Disheartening
Faihires — J<]nglish Efiforts from India — Kanaa and his Followers —
In London — Portlock and Dixon — French Investigation — La P6-
rouse — Marchand's Exi)erience — Beginnings at Boston — Kendrick
and Gray — Routine of the Trade — Englishmen versus Americans —
Perils of the Business — Character of the Natives — Methods of
Barter — Articles Desired — Statistics — The Trade in California —
The English Companies— American Devices — Decline of the Fur-
trade

343

CHAPTER Xn.

KEW FRANCE AND TIU FITR-TUADB.

1524-1703.

Change of Ownership, in 1759-C3, of North America — Discovery — France
in South America and Florida — The Fishermen and Fur-traders of
Newfoundland and the St Lawrence — History of the Fur-trade —
Peltries a Vital Element in Colonization — The Cartier Nephews and
the St Malo Merchants — La Roche — ^The Forty Thieves — Pont-
gravd — Chauvin — De Chastes— Champlain — De Monts — The Port
Royal Company— The Jesuits in New France — Tadousac Becomes
the Centre of the Fur-trade — New England and New York Fur-
trade — Comte de Soissons — The Company of St Malo and Rouen —
Champlaiu's Misrule— The; Franciscans Celebrate Mass in New
France — The Caens — New France under Richelieu — The Hundred
Associates — Sir William Alexander and the Brothers Kirk — The
Hurons and the Iroquois — Troubles in Arcadia — Discovery and Oc-
cupation of the Mississippi Valley by De Soto, Marquette, Joliet,
La Salle, Hennepin, and Iberville — Tlie Great Fur Monopolies of
New France — French and Indian War — Final Conflict — Treaties —
Boundaries 378

CHAPTER Xin.

FOREST LIFE AND FUR-HUNTINa,

Northern and Western Fur Territory — Physical Features — Habitats of
Fur-bearing Animals — Voyiigeurs — Coureurs des Bois — Anglo-Amer-
ican Trapper- -His Characteristics Compared with Those of the
French Canadian — Boating — Brigades — Running Rapids — Travel —
Dress— Food— Caching 404

T^ CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE FUB-TEADK UNDER BlUTISH A08FIOXS.

1607-1843. ""•

Early English Discovery— Henry Hudson— Groaaeliea and Rabisson,
Assisted by Prince Rupert, from the Hudson's Bay Company— The
Charter— Territorial Limits of the Company— The French Invade
Rupert Land — The Planting of Forts round Hudson Bay— Bounda-
ries— The Treaty of Utrecht — Character and Policy of the Corpora-
tion—Territorial Divisions- Material of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany—Inner Workings of the System— Stock— Furs— Currency —
Trade — Intercourse between Posts — Profits — Parliamentary Sanction
of the Crown Grant 437

CHAPTER XV.

FORTS AND FORT LIFE.

Application of the Term — The Erection of a Fort a Special Favor, and
Occasion of Rejoicing — A Depot or Factory — Architecture and Con-
struction — Examples of Several Forts — York Factory — Fort Garry —
Fort William— Fort Edmonton — Fort Franklin— Fort Vancouver —
Fort Walla Walla— Fort Rupert — Wyeth's Establishment on Wapato
Island — Fort Hall— Fort Yukon — Fort Victoria — Ground Plan of
Fort Simpson — Rendezvous — Life at the Forts 482

CHAPTER XVI.

THE UNITED STATES FUB-TBADE.

1605-1855.

Shore of New England — ^Hollanders on the Hudson — The New Nether-
lands Company— The Swedish West India Company on the Dela-
ware — Henry Fleet on the Potomac — Comparisons between the Fur
Business of Canada and the United States — Percolations through the
Alleghanies — The Fur-trade of Natchez — The Ohio Company — La-
clede, Maxan, and Company — Auguste and Pierre Chouteau — In-
roads from Michilimackinac — St Louis in 1803 — Trapperp on the
Missouri — The Missouri Fur Company — Astor's Projects — The Amer-
ican Fur Company — The Pacific Fur Company — The South-west
Company — The Colunibia Fur Company — The North American Fur
Company — The Rocky Mountain Fur Company — Sublette, Bridger,
Fitzpatrick, and Pierre Chouteau the Younger — James Pursley and
the Opening of the Santa ¥6 Trade — B. Pratte and Company —
Bent and St Vrain — Gaunt, Dripps, Blackwell, and Fontcnelle — Kit
Carson, Pilcher, Bonneville, \v alker, and Wyeth — The Rendezvous —
The Colorado Basm and Californiar-The China Trade— The Califor-
nia Fur-trade— Jedediah Smith— Pattie. 499

CONTENTS, »jt

CHAPTER XVn.

HELATIVB ATTITUDES OF FUR-TBADEHS AND NATIVES. PAOB.

Different Views of Savagism by Different Europeans, according to their
Several Interests — United States Policy — Humane Intentioba — Vil-
lainy of Agents — Border Atrocities — Policy of the Northwest and
Hudson's Bay Companies — The Interesta of Gold-seekers, Fur Com-
panies, and Settlers Contrasted — System of Wife-taking — Half-
breeds — Intoxicating Drink — Missionaries. 629

CHAPTER XVin.

THX NOSTH-WEST OOHFANT.

1783-1821. ■

Character of the Montreal Associates — The French Riigime Beviewed —
Trade at Michilimackina« — The Montreal Merchants Penetrate
North-westward and Form a Commercial Copartnership — Disaffeo-
tionists form the X. Y. Company — Union of the Two Factions —
Internal Regulations of the Northwest Company — The Grand Port-
age — Early Voyages from Montreal to Lake Superior — Feudal Glo-
ries of Fort William — Wars between the Northwest Company and
the Hudson's Bay Company — The Red River Affair — Fusion of the
Two Companies. 651

CHAPTER XIX.

XABLIEST OVBBLAND EXFLOBATIONS NOBTH-WESTWABD.

1640-1786.
Unknown North-wests — The North-west of New France — Champlain —
BrelxEuf — Mesnard — Allouez — Marquette and Joliet — La Salle and
Hennepin — Grosseliez and Radisson — La Hontan — The Story of
Joseph La Franco — V^rendrye, the Fur-hunter, Proposes to Fit Out
an Expedition — Character of V^rendrye — Governor-general Beauhar-
nais Regards the Plan Favorably — V^rendrye's Copartnery and
Route — Embarkation — Erection of Forts — Massacre at Lac des Bois
of Young V^rendrye, P6re Anneau, and Twenty Men — Discovery of
the Rocky Mountains — Vdrendrye's Return and Death — Infamous
Conduct of Canadian Officials — Adventures of Moncacht Ap6 —
Carver's Speculations — Heame's Journey — Pike's Expeditions —
Long's E.:plorations 685

CHAPTER XX.

PASSES AND BOOTES.

Historical Consequences of the Position of the Corclilleras — Physical
Geography of the Mountain Region of the West — The Rocky Moun-
tain Passes between the Arctic Ocean and the Forty-ninth Parallel —
Passes through the Coast Range — Through the Rocky Mountaiiu

xv{

COOTENTS.

VJlS*.

«.o the Plateau— Tbo
T^titudes 49- and 32°-Patb8 f^^^ Colorado E«gion-

Sierra Ne">^*rX .^j^Tho Sierra Madre ^^ , ^ Etbno-
Routefl through Mexic^ ^ericafl P««^?'f^ ,rthe Pacifio-
The IsthmuB and Central Am ^^^ ^ic to the Pac
iaphic Significano'^ of the ^"'^ ^^erican Situation-Brutes
Se Northwest P^e-Tbe^^^__^toricalConcluB.onB

AaiaEthnogravlucaliyv^o

CHAPTER XXI.

MAOKBNZIE'8 VOYAQ*.

1789-1793.

•Natives- Narrow liscapeo

?:S.-The Journey Completed

666

AUTHOEITIES QUOTED

IN THB

HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

A& (Pieter vander), Naaukeorige Versameling. Leyden, 1707. 30 Tola.

Abbott (John S. C), Christopher Caraon. New York, 1876.

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Alvarado (Juan Bautista), Historia de California. MS. 6 vols.

America, Descripcion, 1710. MS.

American Antiquarian Society, Proceeding. Worcester, 1820 et seq.

American Quarterly Review. Philadelphia, 1827 et seq.

American State Papers. Boston, 1817-19. 12 vols; Washington, 1832-4;
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Amoretti (Charles), Voyage de la Mer Atlantique a L'0c6an Pacifique. Plais-
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Anderson (Adar.i), Historical and Chronological Deduction of the Origin of
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Anderson (xilexander Caulfield), North-West Coast History. MS.

Andfews (C. C), Minnesota and Dacotah. Washington, 1857.

Annals of Congress. [Ist to 18th Congress.] Washington, 1834-56. 42 vols.

Annual Register. London, 1758-1807. 47 vols.

Apiano (Pedro), Cosmographia corregida y afladida por Gemma Frisio. An-
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Apoot61ioo8 Afanes de la Compaiiia de Jesus. Barcelona, 1754.

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Applerate (Jesse), Views of Oregon History. MS.

.4ra6, Logbook, 1821-5. MS.

Archivo del Arzobispado do San Francisco. MS. 5 vols.

Archivo de Califorma. MS. 273 vols, and a great mass of loose papers. Doc-
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Copies m my Collection. Dept. St. Pap.; Dept. Rec; Prov. St. Pap.;
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Archivo de Santa Bdrbara. MS. 11 vols.

Armstrong (Alex.), Personal Narrative of iihe Discovery of the North-West
Passage. London, 1857.

xviii

AUTHORITIES QUOTED.

Arrowamith (John), Map of the Provinces of British Columbia and Vanoonvor

Island. London, 1859.
Arteags (Ignacio), Tercera Exploracion, 1779. MS.
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Pacheco and Cdrdenas, Col. Doc. , torn. viii.
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ington, 1846.
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Atlantic Monthly. Boston, 1858 et seq.

Ballantyne (Robert M.), Hudson's Bay, Edinburgh, 1848.

liancroft (George), History of the United States. Boston, 1870 et seq.

Bancroft (Hubert Howe), History of Alaska.

Bancroft (Hubert Howe), History of British Columbia.

Bancroft (Hubert Howe), History of California.

Bancroft (Hubert Howe), History of Central America. San Franciaoo> 1882.

Bancroft (Hubert Howe), History of North Mexican States.

Bancroft (Hubert Howe), History of Oregon.

Bancroft (Hubert Howe), History of Utah.

Bancroft, (Hubert Howe), Native Races of the Pacific States. New York,
1875. 5 vols.

Bancroft Library MS. Scrap-books containing classified notes used in writ-
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Bardnof (Alexander), Shizneopissanie. St Petersburg, 1835.

Barreiro (Antonio), Ojeada sobre Nuevo-Mexico. Puebla, 1832.

Barrett-Lennard (C. E.), Travels in British Columbia. London, 1862.

Barrow, Speech in U. S. Sen. March 30, 1846, on the Oregon Question.
Washington, 1846.

Baylies, Northwest Coast of America [19th Cong., 1st Sess., H. Rept. 213].
Washington, 1826.

Bayly, Speech in U. S. H. of Rep., Jan. 27, 1846, on Oregon Question. Wash-
ington, 1846.

Beaumont (Pablo de la Purlpima Concepcion), Cr6nica de la Provincia de S.
Pedro y S. Pablo de Mechoacan. Alexico, 1873-4. 5 vols.; also MS.

Bedinger, Speech in U. S; H. of Rep. Jan. 15, 184is, on the Oregon Question.
Washington, 1846.

Beechey (F. W.), Anniversary Address. In Lond. €reog. Soc., Jour. xxvL
clxxi.

Begert (Jakob), Nachrichten von der amerikauisclien Halbinsel Califomien.
Mannheim, 1772.

Belcher (Edward), Narrative of a Voyage roimd the World in 1836-42.
London, 1843. 2 vols.

Bell (J. F.), Speech in U. S. H. of Rep., Feb. 4, 1846, on the Oregon
Question. Waahington, 1846.

Belsham (Thomas), History of Great Britain 1688-1802. London, 1805.
12 vols.

Beltrami (J. C), Pilgrimage in Europe and America. London, 1828. 2 vols.

Benton (Thomas H.), Abridgment of Debates in Congress, 1759-1856. New
York, 1857-63. 16 vols.; Speech in U. S. Sen., May 22, 25, 28, 1846, on
the Oregon Question. Washington, 1846; Thirty Years View. New
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Berrian (Hobart), A Plain View of the Oregon Title. Washington, 1848.

Berrien, Speech in U. S. Sen. June 28, 1848, on the Oregon Question. Wash-
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Blaeu (or Jansz), America. (Atlas Maior. ) Amstelaedami, 1662.

Blanchet (F. N.), Historical Sketches of the Catholic Church in Oregon.
Portland, 1878.

Bodega y Cuadra (Juan Francisco), Comento de la Navigacion 1775. MS.

Bodega y Cuadra (Juan Francisco), Navegacion y Descubrimiento, 1779. MS.

Bodega y Cuadra (Juan Francisco), Segunda Salida, 1779. MS.

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sMi

Boiler (Henry A.). Among the Indians. Philadelphia, 1868.

Bonner (T. D.), Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth. N. Y., 1858.

Boston (Mass.), Advertiser, Courier, Transcript, Zion's Herald.

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Botello y Serrano (Alonso), and Pedro Porter y Casanate. Declaracion que
bicieron en 17 de Set. 1636. In Col. Doc. Incd., tom. xv. 215.

BoDchette (Joseph), The British Dominions in North America. London,
1832. 4to. 3 vols.

Bowlin (James B.), Speech in U. S. H. of Rep. Jan. 20, 1845, on the Occu-
pation of Oregon. Washington, 1845.

Breese (S.), Speech in U. S. Sen. Feb. 27, 1844, on the Oregon Territory.
Wash., 1844; Speech in U. S. Sen. March 2, 1846, on the Oregon Ques-
tion. Wash., 1846.

British North America. London, n.d.

British and Foreign State Paijcrs, 1819-20, 1821-2.
■ Brooks (Charles Wolcott), Japanese Wrecks. San Francisco, 1876.

Broughton (William Robert), A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacifio
Ocean. Londor, 1804.

Browne (J. Ross), Lower California, see Taylor; Report upon the Mineral
Resources of the States and Territories West of the Rocky Mountains.
Washington, 1867; Washington, 1868; San Francisco, 1868.

Browne (Peter A. ), Lecture on the Oregon Temtory. Philadelphia, 1843.

Bryant (Edwin), What I Saw in California. N. Y., 1848; N. Y., 1849.

Bryant (William Cullen), History of the U. S. N. Y., 1876-81. 4 vols.

Bnache (Philippe), Considerations gdographiques et physiques sur les nouvellea
ddcouvertes au Nord. Paris, 1753.

Buchanan (James), Last Letter to Mr Pakenham on American Title to Ore-
gon. Baltimore, 1845.

Bulfinch (Thomas), Oregon and El Dorado. Boston, 1866.

Burnett (Peter H.), Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer. New
York, 1880.

Burnett (Peter H.), Recollections of the Past. MS., 2 vols.

Bumey (James), Chronological History of the Discoveries in the Sonth Sea.
London, 1803-17, 4to. 5 vols.

Burt (Armistead), Remarks in U. S. H. of Rep. Feb. 7, 1846, on the Oregon
Question. Washington, 1840.

Bury (Viacount), Exodus of the Western Nations. London, 1865. 2 vols.

Bustamante (Carlos Maria), Supplemento & Los Tres Siglos de Cavo. J^pa,
1870.

Butler (W. F.), The Wild North Land. Philadelphia, 1874.

Butterfield (C. W. ), History of the Discovery of the Northwest. Cincin-
nati, 1881.

Caama&o (Jacinto), Expedicion de la corbeta Aranzazu. In Col. Doo. Indd.,

tom. XV. 323.
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Buckingham Smith. New York, 1871. 4to.
Cabrera Bueno (Joseph Gonzalez), Navegacion Especvlativa. Manila, 1734.

folio.
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Wash., 1843; Speech in U. S. Sen. March 16, 184(3, on Abrogation of

Convention of Joint Occupancy. Wash., 1846.
California, Establecimiento y Progrcsos de las Misiones de la Antigua Cali-
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Calvo (Charles), Recueil Complet dea Trait^s de I'Am^rique Latine. Paris,

1862-9. 16 vols.
Camden (William), Annales Rervm Anglicarvm et Hibemicarvm, etc. Lon-

dini, 1615-27. 2 vols.
Campbell (Archibald), Voyage round the World from 1806-12. Edinburgh,

1816; Iloxbnry, 1825.

Hist. N. W. Ooast, Vol. I. 3

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:i ;--T

Campbell (William W.), Speech in U. S. H. of Rep. Jan. 27, 1846, on the

Oregon Question. WashinKton, 1846.
Cardona (Nicolila), Memorial soore sua descubrimientoB, etc., en la Califor-
nia. InPachecoandCilrdenas, Col. Doc., torn. ix. 42; R«lacion del dea-

onbrimiento de California. In Id., torn. ix. 30.
Carroll (Anna Ella), The Star of the West. New York, 1857.
Carver (J.), Travels through the Interior Parts of North America. London,

1778.
Casanate (Pedro Porter), Memorial del Almirante al Rey recomendando ima

Nueva Expedicion d la California. In Paoheco and Cdrdenas, Col. Doc.,

torn. ix. 19.
Cass (I^wis), Speech in U. S. Sen. March 30, 1846, on Oregon Question.

Washington, 1848.
Catal4 (Magui), Carta sobre Nootka, 1794, MS.

Cavo (Andres), Los Trc3 Siglos deMexico. Mexico, 1836-8. 3vols. Mexico, 1852.
Cerruti (Enrique), Kamblings in California. MS.

Chalmers, Speech in U. S. Sen. March 24, 1846, on Abrogation of Conven-
tion of Joint Occupancy. Washington, 1846.
Champlain (Samuel de), Voyages et d^couvertes faites en la Nouvelle France.

Paris, 1619.
Charlevoix (Fr. Xav. ), Histoire de la Nouvelle France. Paris, 1 744. 4to. 3 vols.
Clarke, Speech in if. S. H. of Rep. Feb. 6, 1846, on the Oregon Question.

Washington, 1346.
Clavigero (IVancisoo Saverio), Storia della California. Venezia, 1789. 2 vols.
Cleveland (Richard J.), Narrative of Voyages. Cambridge, 1842. 2 vols.;

Boston, 1850.
Clyman (James), Note Book, 1844-8. MS.
Codman (John), The Round Trip. New York, 1879.
Cotfin (C. C. ), Th e Seat of Empire. Boston, 1870.
Coleccion de Documentos In^ditos para la Qistoria de Espa&a. Madrid,

1842-80. 59 vols. [S. F. Law Library].
Colnett (James), A Voyage to the South Atlantic and round Gape Horn.

London, 1798. 4to.
Colquitt (W. T.), Speech in U. S. Sen. Feb. 17, 1846, on Oregon Question.

Washington, 1846.
Columbia River, Occupation. of by the U. S., 1821. In Annals of Cong., 16th

Cong., 2d Sess., 946.
Congressional Debates [18th to 25th Congress], Wash., 1824 et seq. 14 vols.
Congressional Globe. Washington, 1836 et seq. 4to.
Cook (James), Troisi^me Voyage 4 1'Ocean Pacihque en 1776-80. Paris, 1785.

4to. 4 vols.
Cook (James), Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 1776-80. London, 1784. 4to. 3

vols, plates in fouo; London, 1784. 4to. 4 vols.; Philadelphia, 1818. 2 vols.
Cortes (Heman), Historia de Nueva EspaSa [Edited by Lorenzana]. Mexico,

1770.
Cox.(Rosr), Adventures on the Columbia River. London, 1831. 2 vols.; New

York, 1832.
Coxe (Daniel), Description of the English Province of Carolana. London, 1722.
Coxe (William), Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and

America. London, 1787.
Coyner (David H.), The Lost Trappers. Cincinnati, 1859.
Crespl (Juan), Diario de la Expedicion de Mar., 1774. In Palou, Not.) i. 624.
Crittenden, Speech in U. S. Sen. April 16, 1848, on the Oregon Question.

Washington, 1846.
Cushing (Caleb), The Treaty of Washington. New York, 1873.

Dall (William H.), Alaska and its Resources. Boston, 1870.
Dampier (William), ANew Voyage round the World. London, 1699-1709. 3vol8.
Davidson (G<K>rge), Coast Pilot of California, Oregon, etc. Washington, 1869,
Director}' ^r the Pacific Coast. Washington, 1868.

AUTHORITIES QUOTED.

Davis (Charles H. ), Report on Interoceanic Canals r.nd Railroads. Wash. , 1867.

Davis (John), The Weld's Hydrographical Description. London, 1395.
-^ Davis (Horace), Record of Japanese Vessels driven on N. W. Coast. Wor-
cester, \8T2.

D'Avity (Pierre), Le Monde ou la Description Generale, etc. Paris, 1037.
folio. 5 vols.

Dawson (George M.), Report of Exploration in British Columbia. In Canada
Geological Survey, 1875-0, 233.

De Bow (J. I). B. ), De Bow's Reviewar' Industrial Resources. New Orleans,
etc., 1854-7. 7 vols.

Delano (Amasa), Narrative of Voyages and Travels in the Northern and
Southern HcinisphercB. Boston, 1817.

De L'Isle (J. N. de), see L'Isle (J. N. de).

Departmental State Papers. MS. '20 vols. In Archivo do Cal.; Id., Benicia
Piefecturas y Juzgados. 6 vols. ; Id., Benicia Mili*Ary. vols. f>3 to 87;
Id. , San Jos6. 7 vols.

De Smet (P. J.), Letters and Sketches. Philadelphia, 1843; Missions de
rOregon, Gand, n.d. ; Oregon Missions. New York, 1847; Voyages aux
Montagues Rocheuses. Lille, 1859; Western Missions and Missionaries.
New York, 1803.

Directories, Owen; Oregon Business.

Dix (John A.), Speech in U. S. Sun., Feb. 18, 19, 1840, on the Oregon Ques-
tion. Washington, 1846. Speeches and Occasional Addresses. New
York, 1864. 2 vols.

Dixon(George), Remarks on the Voyages of John Meares, Esq. London, 1790;
Voyage autourdu Monde, 1785-8. Paris, 1789. 2 vols. ; Voyage round
the World, 1785-8. London, 1789. 4to.

Doane (Gustavus C), Personal Recollections. In Rodenbough, Everglade,
405; Report upon the so-called Yellowstone Expedition [ilst Cong., 3d
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Dobbs (Arthur), Account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay. Lon-
don, 1744; Remarks upon Captain Middleton's Defence. London, 1744.

Documentos para la Historia de Mexico. Mexico, 1853-7. 20 vols. 4 series,
serie iii. in folio and in four parts.

Dodge (Henry), Report of the Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1835
[24th Cong., 1st Sess., Sen. Ex. Doc. 209]. Washington, 1836.

Dodge (Richard Irving), The Plains of the Great West. New York, 1877.

Domenech (Emmanuel), Seven Years' Residence in the Great Deserts of North
America. London, 1860. 2 vols.

Dontinguez (Francisco A.), and Silvestre V. Escalante, Diario y derrotero
para descubrir el camino de Santa F^, etc. In Doc. Hist. Mex., serie ii.
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D'Orbigny ( Alcide), Voyage Pittoresque dans les deux Am^riques. Paris, 1836.
> Douglas (David), Journal. In Companion to the Botanical Magazine. -.

Douglas (Sir James), Private Papers, 1st and 2d scries. MS. 2 vols.

Drake (Francis), A Discourse of lomey, MS. of British Museum.

Drake (Francis), The Famous Voyage. In Hakluyt's Voy., iii.; The World
Encompassed. [Hakluyt, Soc. ed.] London, 1854.

Duffin (Robert), Journal. In Meares' Voy. App. ; Letters. In Colnett, Voy.

Duncan, Speech in U. S. H. of Rep., Jan. 29, 1845, on Oregon Bill. Wash-
ington, 1845.

Dunn (John), History of the Oregon Territory. London, 1844; The Oregon
Territory and the British N. American Fur Trade. Philadelphia, 1846.

Dunraven (Earl of). The Great Divide. New York, 1876.

Ebberts (G. W.), Trapper's Life, 1829-39. MS.

Edinburgh Review. Edinburgh, 1802 et seq.

Edwards (Philip L. ), Diary of a Visit to Cal. , 1 837. MS.

EUsa (Francisco), Salida de los tres buques para Nootka aflo de 1790. MS.

Elisa (Franci8co),Tabla diaria de los buques para el puerto de Nootka, 1790. MS.

vdi

AUTHORITIES QUOTED.

i f

Elin (Francisco), Voyage 1701, Extracts from. Is Papers relating to Treaty
of Wash, v., 176: also iu Reply of the United States, 97.

ElUcott (Eugene), Pugct Sound Numcnclaturo. MS.

Ellis (Henry), Considerations on the Great Advantages which would arise of
the North- West Passage. London, 1750; Voyage to Hudson's Bay, 174ft-7.
:^ndon, 1748; London, 1749; Dublin, 1749.

Escndero (Josd ^gustin), Adicinncs. In Pino, Noticias Hist, de Nuevo Mox.

Eugene City, (Or. ), Oregon State Journal.

Evans (Elwood), Northwest Boundary. Scraps. Oregon; Protection to Im-
migrants, n. pi., n.d.; Pugct Sound. Its Past, etc. Olympia, 1869.

Evans (Elwood), History of Oregon. MS.

Evans (Richard S.), and H. W. Henshaw, Translation Voyage of Cabrillo.
In U. S. Oeog. Surv., Wheeler, vii.. Arch., 293.

Ewing, Speech in U. S. H. of Rep., Jan. 29, 1840, on Oregon Question, n.pl. , n.d.

Falconer (Thomas), Mr Falconer's Reply to Mr Greenliow's Answer. Wosli. ,
1845; On the Discovery of the Mississippi. Loudon, 1844; The Oregon
Question, l^ondon. 1845.

FamLam (J. T. or Thos. J.), History of Oregon Territory. New York, 1844;
Life, Advcnturea, and Travels in Cal. [Pictorial ed.] N, Y., 18.57; Life,
Adventures, and Travels in Cal. N. Y., 1840; N. Y., 1849; N. Y., 1850;
N. Y., 185:1; Travels in the Califomiaa. N. Y., 1844; Travels in the
Great Western Prairies. Poughkccpsic, 1841; New York, 1843.

Fedix (P. A.), L'Or(5gon et lea COtcs de TOcdan Pacifique du Nord. Paris, 1846.

Fernandez (JosiS), Cosas de California. MS.

Fidalgo (Salvador), Tabla do Descubrimientos de 1790. MS.

Fidalgo (Salvador), Viago do 1790. MS.

Findlay (Alexander G.), Directory for the Navigation of the Pacific Ocean.
Lopilbn, 1851.

Finlayson (Roderick), Vancouver Island and Northwest Coast. MS.

Fitzgerald (James Edward), Charter and Proceedings of Hudson's Bay Co.,
with reference to Vancouver's Island. London, 1849.

Fleurieu (C. P. Claret), Introduction Historique. In Marchand, Voy. i.

Forbes (Alexander), California, A History of. London, 1839.

Forster (.John Reinhold), History of Voyages and Discoveries made in the
North. London, 1781. 4to.

Forsyth (James W. ), and F. D. Grant, Report of an Expedition up the Yellow-
stone, 1875. Washington, 1875.

Fort Langley Journal. MS. See Hudson Bay Company,

Fort Simpson Journal. MS. See Hudson Bay Company.

Franchere (Gabriel), Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America
1811-14. iiedfield, 1854.

Franklin (John), Narrative of a Journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, 1819-
22. London, 1824. 2 vols.

Eraser (Simon), First Journal from April 12 to July 18, 1806. MS.

Eraser (Simon), Letters 1800-7. MS.

Eraser (Simon), Second Journal from May 30 to June 10, 1808. MS.

FrcSmont (John C. ), Narrative of Exploring Expedition to Rocky Mountains.
New York, 1849.

French (B. F. ), Historical Collections of Louisiania, Part II. Philadelphia,
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Freytas, Relacion del descubrimiento del pais y ciudad de Quivara. In Shea's
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Frignet (Ernest), La Califomie. Paris, 1865; Paris, 1867.

Fry (F.), Fry's Traveller's Guide. Cincinnati, 1865.

Funnell (William), A Voyage round the World. London, 1707.

Gaceta de Gobiemo de Mexico, 1728-1821, 1823 et seq.

Gallatin (Albert), American Counter Statement. In American State Papers,

Foreign Relations. V. 670; Letters on the Oregon Question. Washington,

1846; The Oregon Question. New York, 1846.

AUTHORITIES QUOTED.

xxiU

Garcia (Fmncisco), Diario y Dcrrotcro. la Doc. Hiat. Mcx. , scrio ii. , torn. i. 226.

Garfielde (S.), Climates of the Northwest. Philadelphia, 1872.

Garncau (F. X.), History of Canada. Montreal, 1802. 2 vols.

Gaas (Patrick), A Journal of the Voyages and Travels of a Corps of Discov-
ery under the command of Captains Lewis and Clarke. Pittsburg, 1807;
other editions ; Voyages de Capituines Lewis et Clarke. PariB, 1810.

Gentry (M. P.), Speech in U S. H. of Rep., Feb. 5, 1840, on Oregon Question.
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/"'

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«y

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xxviii

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XXIX

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XXX

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znl

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AUTHORITIES QUOTED.

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' J

AUTHORITIES QUOTED.

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11 :

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Vol,

HISTORY

THE NOETHWEST COAST.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY TO NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

P&UfABT SlONIFlCANCE — THB SUBJECT IN ITS WlDEST ScOPE — ThE HoMB

OF Mystery — Historic and Mythic Interest — The Conjectural and
THE Real — Oriuin of the Strait Myth and of the Northkrk
Mystery — West Coast Thfories— State of Geographical Knowx-
edge in 1550 — In the South-east — North-east, Explorations iiy

THE CaBOTS and CoRTEREALS, BY AlLLON, VerRAZANC, GoMEZ, CaR-

tier — In the South-west, by Balboa, Espinosa, Davila, Coutes,
Alarcon, Ulloa, Cabrillo — Inland Wanderinos by Cartier, Soto,
Cabeza de Vaca, Guzman, Niza, and Coronado — 1550 to 1000, Fro-

BISHEK, RiBAULT, MeNENDEZ, RaL-SIGH — NeW MEXICAN EnTRADAS —

Ubdaneta, Drake, Gau, CebmeSon — 1600 to 1650, Vizcaino, OSate —
Canadian FuR-HrNTEBS and Jesuits — Hudson and Baffin— 1050 to
1700, the Hudson's Bay Company, Marquette, La Salle, and Tadri?
Kino — 1700 to 1750, Phiiippine Galleons — English Freebooters-,
VArendbye to the Rockv Mountains— Arctic Discoveries— 1750
TO 1800, Hearne and Mackenzie— Escalante in Utah— Occiipation
OF Caufobnia — Russian Discoveries.

"Every age, as presented to us by history, displays
some features better and some worse than the cor-
responding characteristics of our own age. There are
so-called golden a,ges, in which honor is besmeared with
vices such as times were never cursed with before;
and there are brass ages and iron ages, in which there is
truth and heroism, if not so many of the comely and
sweet humanities of life. Human progress is like the

Voi.1. X f p

•a

2 NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

•waters of ocean, ever circulating between e luator and
poles, seeking equilibrium of temperature and a level,
seeking rest and finding none.

A dominant feature in Northwest Coast discovery
and exploration is royal mendacity. Maritime lying
reaches the cUmax, and borders on the heroic. Enough
is known of climates and configurations to form bases
for endless imaginings, and not enough in certain
quarters to render detection likely; the Ustener's
mind once made up to overlook the audacious in-
difference to truth on the part of navigators, and he
will find their tales not always unpleasing.

The term Northwest Coast, as defined for the pur-
pose of this history, includes the territory known in
later times aa Oregon, Washington, and British Co-
lumbia. Exploration naturally occupies the first place
in its annals; and the earliest exploration here, as in
most parts of the New World, is maritime. The his-
torian s first task is to present, in chronologic order,
the successive voyages by which the coast of the
western ocean from latitude forty-two to fifty-four
north became known to Europeans, and on which
were founded divers claims, more or less conflicting,
of national ownership. Later we will observe inland
travellers, and follow them amidst their wanderings
over the mighty western slope, and as far north as the
Frozen Sea. In its narrowest limits the subject first
presents itself in the form of the geogrj»-;^hical ex-
ploration of an unknown seaboard some .^vren hun-
dred and fifty miles in extent.

But it has a broader scope. Just as Prince Henry's
southward gropings along the African coast acquire
their chief interest and importance as part of a grand
scheme of doubling the cape and opening a way by
sea to India; as the first discoveries of Columbus in
the far west are fascinating, not only in bringing to
light the position, outline, and products of certain
islands, but in the idea of the great explorer's fancied

MANIFOLD WONDERS.

r and
level,

avery

lying

lOUgh

bases

ertain

ener's

us in-

nd be

le pur-
3wn in
sb Co-
,t place
3, as in
be bis-
! order,
I of the
'ty-four
wbicb
flicting,
) inland
derings
bastbe
ect first
ical ex-
en bun-
Henry's
acquire
a grand
way by
mbus in
nging to
certain
fancied

approach to the realms of the Grand Khan, and in the
real but unsuspected nearness of a new continent ; as
the Isthmian coastings and plunderings, a long chapter
of outrage and disaster, are linked in the reader's mind
with Balboa's grand discovery of a new ocean, and
with the rich provinces located by Spanish imagina-
tion on its shores; as Portuguese progress, step by
step down the Brazilian coast, was but a prelude to
Magellan's voyages into the Pacific and round the
world; as Ponce de Leon's name suggests not the
marshes of Florida so much as the fountain of youth;
as the ploddings of Cortds on and about the sterile
Californian Peninsula were but commonplace achieve-
ments for the conqueror of Mexico compared with
what he hoped to achieve and what he sought, the
isles of pearls and spices and Amazons, the estrecho,
and the route to India; and as New Mexican Pueblo
town realities, wonderful as they are, pale into in-
significance before the imaginary splendors of the
cities that Cabeza de Vaca heard of, the Cibola that
Mdrcos de Niza visited, and the Quivira built up like
.m air castle on Coronado's modest picture of a wig-
wam town on the northern plains — so this northern
coast of the Oregon must ever be less famous histori-
cally for what was found tnere and for the adventures
of those who found it, than for what was sought in
vain, and what ought by current cosmography to have
been found. Here opened into the broad Pacific the
strait of Anian, by which ships, when once the en-
trance on either side was found, might sail without
hinderance from ocean to ocean. Here, on either side
the strait, jnauifold wonders and mysteries had their
inaccesf^ible seat for more than two centuries.

Here, at and about an island standing opposite the
entrance of a strait that lacked only lenfjth to afford
the desired interoceanic communication, Russian ex-
plorers i.amc down from the farther north and met
bpanish explorers from the south, while others, Enghsh
and American, intruded themselves und gained for

NORTHWEST COAST "XPLORATION.

their respective nations permanent possessions between
those of Spain and Russia. Much historic interest
attaches therefore to this portion of the western sea-
board in comparison with other parts, independently
of the mythic elements in the Northern Mystery
which centres here, and of the fa icI citions naturally
attaching to the discovery of oew "^ions. I have
to follow, then, the navigators cl' icu.r nations whose
vessels entered the waters of the northern Pacific
States; and besides to make the reader familiar with
voyages in the same direction preceding and leading
to actual discovery. Moreover, since conjecture is to
be recorded no less than the known, theory preceding
and overshadowing knowledge, I have to note the
rumors on which theories were made to rest, also many
voyages which were never made, but only described
by imaginative navigators. And finally, the mythical
strait had an opening on the Atlantic as well as on
the Pacific, else it were not worth searchitifi for and
theorizing about; and the eastern no les tliin the
western outlet was sought for diligently u\ vyages
which therefore become part of the mat 3i lod rr con-
sideration.

It will be seen that this topic of north-Wt*.i. >: li ex-
ploration in its broadest scope, and with all its prece-
dent connections, might properly enough be made to
fill a volume. There are circumstances, however,
which will enable me to restrict an exhaustive pre-
sentation of the subject within comparatively narrow
limits. Chief among these circumsta^ ses is the fact
that the exploration of regions sou' • •? the forty-
second parallel, both by sea and lana, . ' honn fully
recorded in every desirable detail in tun preceding
volumes of this series; while like particulars of explo-
rations in the est a nie noi tb, less essential to the pres-
ent purpose, wiii be giv. > 'i a later volume on Alaska.
Theretbre brie) and summary allusion to matters
with which the reader in familiar will often suffice,
where otherwise more minute treatment would be re-

yi
'3--

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

wsen

ierest

1 sea-

[ently

'■stery

iirally
have

w^hose

i*acific

r with

jading

e is to

ceding

be the

► many

scribed

vthical

I as on

k^r and

•rJi the
yages
T con-

ex-
prece-
lade to
)wever,
ve pre-
narrow
le fact
forty-

fully

ceding
explo-
le pres-
Maska.
natters
suffice,
be re-

quired. Repetition there must be in some phases of
the subject, but only in those bearing directly on the
general result. Again, I believe that in the case of
fictitious voyages and groundless theories, respect-
ing: whose character modern knowledge leaves no
possible doubt, most of the circumstantial evidence
which fills the pages of earlier writers for or against
their authenticity and soundness may now be wisely
omitted. Detailed description may also profitably
give way to general statement in presenting expedi-
tions to the northern Atlantic coasts in the vain
search for a passage leading to the Pacific. As in
other parts of this series, detailed information con-
cerning the aboriginal inhabitants of the regions
explored is of course omitted from the annals of
exploration, for that has been presented much more
completely than would be possible here in the NoXive
Races of the Pacific States.

It is well at the outset to state clearly, even though
it involves repetition, the origin of the cosmographic
mysteries in which the northern parts of America
were so long shrouded ; for they dia not result wholly
from the fact that those regions were the last to be
explored. The Northern Mystery was a western mys-
tery at first, if, indeed, a mystery at all. Columbus
set out from Spain with the expectation that by fol-
lowing a westerly course across the great ocean he
would reach the Aeiatic coast and islands described
by Polo and Mandeville. By a fortunate under-
estimate of the distance to be traversed, the islands
and coast were found to agree substantially in posi-
tion and trend with the current charts and descrip-
tions. The navigator's theories, agreeing in the main
with the theories of his contemporaries and prede-
cessors, were verified ; the enterprise was successful ;
and all that remained to be done was to follow the
Asiatic coast south-westward to the rich provinces
of India. This task presented no difficulties; but

6 NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION".

before circumstances permitted it to be executed a
new land was found in the south, not laid down in the
old charts, and too far east to be part of the Asiatic
main. The conclusion was immediate and natural;
the new land was simply a large island, separate but
not very far distant from the main, and not known to
Marco Polo and the rest. The new discovery, how-
ever, offered no obstacle to the old theories or to the
proposed voyage to India; yet in coasting south-
westward the Spaniards would have to pass between
the continent and the island. This passage must be
a strait; and this was indeed 'the strait,' although
in its earliest stage of development not a passage
through a continent, but between Asia and an off-
lying island.

But as time passed and explorers converged from
the north and south they could find no strait, only
land. This was an obstacle indeed. True, the passage
being narrow might yet exist, having eluded inade-
quate search; otherwise geographical theories must
be somewhat reconstructed, the old charts and de-
scriptions being in error. The correction, though in-
terposing serious difficulties in the direct navigation
to India, was one that readily suggested itself The
latitudes of the old writers were not very definite,
and their knowledge of the regions farthest north was
necessarily vague ; apparently, then, unless the strait
could yet be found, the new land — really South
America — instead of being a detached island off the
coast of Asia, must be a south-western projection of
that coast from a point farther north than any known
to the geographers. As the years passed on and no
strait was found ; as successive voyages developed the
great extent of the southern projection; as the Isth-
mian explorers brought to light the South Sea shores;
as the great Portuguese navigator crossed the Pacific
and made known the immense stretch of waters sepa-
rating the new lands ^ Dm India; as Cortds and his
men revealed the fact that Mexico also had its western

DECLINE OF SPANISH EFFORT. 7

coast — the last conjecture became conviction and
reality. More than this, it became evident that not
only was the New World a projection of the Asiatic
main, but that all the new discoveries belonged to this
New World projection, and that all the islands and
main land of Columbus and the rest, were very far
from the India which had been imagined so near.
Yet there remained but little doubt that all was part
of Asia, a projection still, though an immense one,
from a region farther north. And the idea that there
ought to be a strait somewhere had become too
firmly rooted to be abandoned. There were those
who thought the strait might yet with closer search
be found in southern regions; most believed it would
be found in the north just beyond the limit of explora-
tion; while others, resolved to be fully abreast of
future revelations, placed several straits at convenient
intervals on their maps.

Now the current idea among the most competent
men of the time was for the most part accurate and
well founded. All that remained to be done was to
follow the western coast, at first north, then west,
and finally south, to India, finding the strait on the
way if any existed. The only error was in vastly
underestimating the length of the route. It was
not long, however, before exploration was pushed
beyond the fortieth parallel. Meanwhile Spanish
energy in exploration and conquest had greatly de-
clined, though Spain's commercial interests in South
Sea waters, over which she claimed to exercise ex-
clusive dominion, had assumed immense importance.
Spain had no strong desire for territorial possessions
in the far north after the geographical relations of
that region to India had become better known ; and
it soon became apparent that the discovery of the
strait would be no benefit but a positive disadvantage
and menace to Spain. Nevertheless it was important,
and even more urgent than before, to find the strait —
not as a shorter route to the Spice Islands, but that,

8 NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

in possession of Spain, it might be closed to the navi-
gators of other nations. For the foreigners were
dihgently seeking it ; there were even current reports
that they had found it, conceahng the fact; and the
ravages of freebooters in South Sea waters caused no
little anxiety on the b abject.

Meanwhile theorizing went on, supplemented by
exaggeration and falsehood. Each navigator to the
north, on either ocean, brought back information true
or false which served as fuel to the flame. The strait
undoubtedly existed; each indentation on either shore
must be regarded as its entrance till the contrary
was proved; and that being proved, the indentation
next north must be the right one. " It were a pity,"
thought the navigator when at or near a gulf, bay,
or river he was prevented by storms, scurvy, or other
untoward circumstances from sailing through to the
Pacific or to the Atlantic, "it were a pity that another
should immortalize himself by the rediscovery of what
I have found;" and forthwith he proceeded to protect
his glory by an explicit description of what he had
been on the point of seeing. Others required no
actual voyage as a foundation for their falsehoods,
but boldly claimed to have navigated the strait from
ocean to ocean; and few interested in the subject but
could find a sailor who had accomplished one of these
interoceanic expeditions, or at least knew another who
had done so. And the fables current did not relate
wholly to the mere existence of the strait, but ex-
tended to the wonders bordering it on either side.
Travellers by sea and land brought back tales of great
cities and rich provinces, always farther north than
the region they had visited. The natives caught the
spirit of the times, and became adroit in inventing
northern marvels for the entertainment of the
strangers. There is much reason to believe that the
famous and fabulous tradition of an aboriginal migra-
tion of Toltec and Aztec tribes from a northern centre
of civilization had no other origin.

THE STRAIT OF ANIAN.

Thoro were those who sought to utilize the Northern
IMj'stery for the advancement of their own interests
and schemes. Conquistadores were not wanting who
stood prepared to duphcate in the far north the
achievements of Hernan Cortds; friars doubted not
that there awaited the reaping a great harvest of
northern souls; and explorers were ready to make new
expeditions at the royai cost. There was a constant
stream of memorials oii the importance of northern
occupation; and the writers never failed to make the
most of current rumors. Yet for all the real and imagi-
nary urgency of the matter, and the pressure brought
to bear on the throne, so occupied were the Spanish
rulers with other alSfairs, or so completely had died out
the adventurous spirit of old, and so unproductive
were the few weak efforts made, that for two centu-
ries little or nothing was accomplished. Then, late
in the eighteenth century, in the time of Cdrlos III.,
there was a revival of exploring energy. All the old
motives were yet potent; and a new cause of alarm
appeared, the fear of Russian encroachment from the
north-west. A series of voyages was undertaken and
carried out by Spain; English and American explorers
made their appearance on the coast; the Russians
were there already; and soon but little of mystery
was left. No strait of Anian was found. There were
none of the marvellous things that had been so freely
attributed to the latitudes between 40° and 60°; but
there was a wealth of furs for those inclined to ad-
venturous commerce, and there was a territory of
sufficient value to inspire some petty national quar-
rels. These discoveries, and others of about the same
date in the northern Atlantic, practically put an end
to the Northern Mystery so far as it related to a navi-
gable channel in moderately temperate latitudes, as
located by the navigators who had sailed through the
continent from ocean to ocean; though many years
had yet to pass before belief in the old narratives and
theories could be eradicated.

NORTHWEST COAST EXPIX)RATION.

! ill

And after all, the Northern Mystery was still a
potent incentive to maritime endeavor. It merely
took another step northward, as it had often done
before. In Arctic regions the strait separating Asia
from America was stUl sought as diligently as ever;
and after many years it was found. One man has
sailed through it, from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
after the loss of hundreds of lives in vain efforts. And
yet one more retreat has the mystery — in the famous
'open sea' at the north pole, where it even yet eludes
the pursuit in which brave men are still losing their
lives. Driven from the north pole, whither will the
phantom betake itself? I do not know. Judging from
the past, this is the only mystery about the matter
not likely to be explained in the near future.

After this preliminary sketch of the whole subject,
let us glance at the exact condition of North Ameri-
can exploration in 1550. All the material needed
for the purpose is contained in the 'Summary of geo-
graphical knowledge and discovery from the earliest
records to the year 1540,' published in the first volume
of my History of Central America , supplemented in
later volumes of this series by more detailed accounts
of such voyages as directly concern the Pacific States
territory. Between 1492 and 1550 European navi-
gators, with those of Spain far in the lead, had dis-
covered a New World, and had explored its coast line
for some thirty thousand miles, from 60° on the At-
lantic coast of Labrador round by Magellan Strait to
above 40° on the Pacific. It was a grand achievement,
unparalleled in the past and never to be equalled in
the future.

On the Atlantic side, from Darien to Florida, the
coast and islands had been visited by Columbus in
his voyages of 1492, 1493-5, and 1502; by Bastidas
in 1501; by Cosa and Ojeda in 1504-5; by Pinzon
and Diaz in 150P: by Ojeda, Nicuesa, and other
would-be rulers c. mainland colonies since 1509; by

EARLIEST DISCOVERIES.

still a
merely
n done
ig Asia
IS ever;
aan has
Pacific,
s. And

famous
t eludes
Qg their
will the
ing from
) matter

! subject,
1 Ameri-
l needed
f of geo-
3 earliest
it volume
ented in
accounts
ic States
an navi-
had dis-
coast line
the At-
Strait to
ievement,
ualled in

orida, the
umbus in

Bastidas
y Pinzon
nd other

1509; by

Ponce de Leon in 1512 and 1521; by Valdivia in
1512; by Mirnelo in 1516; by Cordoba and Grijalva
in 1517-18; by Cortds, Pineda, Garay, and Alaminos
in 1519; by Garay in 1523; by Olid in 1524; by Mon-
tejo in 1527; by Pdnfilo de Narvaez in 1528-34; by
Soto in 1538-43; and by many other navigators who
surveyed only such parts of the coast as had been
already discovered.

Farther north on the Atlantic, from Florida to
Labrador, the exploration was less thorough, but it
covered in a measure the whole coast. In 1497 John
Cabot, from England, probably reached Labrador
between 56" and 58°, and coasted northward some
hundreds of leagues. That land existed, and of great
extent, in that direction was the only geographical
fact developed by the voyage. In 1498 Sebastian
Cabot made a similar voyage, in which he coasted
from Labrador northward possibly to 67° 30', and
then southward to the gulf of St Lawrence, and
perhaps to Cape Ilatteras. There is no reason to
question the fact that these voyages of the Cabots
were made as claimed; but the records are vague, and
nothing is known of the cosm ©graphical motives or the
results. The Cortereals, Gaspar and Miguel, made
three voyages for Portugal in 1500-2, in which they
followed the coast from Newfoundland far to the
north, perhaps to Greenland. Both brothers were
lost; and of disco eries made during the last expedi-
tion nothing is known. The Cortereals gave names
to Newfoundland and Labrador, as depicted on maps
of the time; they also left several local names. No
contemporary narrative of the discoveries of either
the Cabots or Cortereals is extant. The Portuguese
fishermen are supposed to have continued their trips
to Labrador and Newfoundland — Bacalaos, land of
codfish — but no geographical results are known; and
the same may be said of the voyages of the Bretons
and Normans, including those of Denys in 1506 and
Aubert in 1508, the former of whom is said to have

NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

explored the gulf of St Lawrence. In 1520 Vazquez
de Aillon sent out an expedition from Espanola under
Jordan, who reached a country called by him Chicora,
on the present Carolina coast. In 1524 Giovanni
Verrazano, for France, reached the coast not far from
Jordan's Chicora, sailed southward some fifty leagues,
and then northward to Newfoundland. He was thus
the first to explore a large portion of the United
States shore-line. Estdvan Gomez perhaps completed
that line in 1525, when seeking in behalf of Spain a
strait between Newfoundland and Florida. Aillon in
1526 also sought the strait from Chicora southward,
making at the same time a vain effort at colonization.
In 1527 John Rut, an English navigator, is said to
have followed the coast from 53° down to Chicora.
Jacques Cartier for France made three expeditions, in
1534, 1535-6, and 1541-2. Incited by Verrazano's
narrative and charts, his main object was to find a
passage to the South Sea and Spice Islands. He did
not find the strait, but he effected a very complete
survey of the gulf and river of St Lawrence, New-
foundland, and all the surrounding complication of
islands and channels. From Cartier's time the names
of Nouvelle France, Canada, Newfoundland, St Law-
rence, Montreal, and many others still in use became
current, some of them having been applied before.
French and other fishermen had long frequented these
waters; and maps of the time show many details not
to be found in any narrative. The French possessions
included all territory above latitude 40°. In connec-
tion with Cartier's last voyage, a settlement was made
near Quebec under Roberval as viceroy of Canada,
Labrador, and the rest; but it was abandoned in 1543.
And finally one Master Hore, an Englishman, has
left on record a voyage to Newfoundland made in
1536. This completes the list down to the middle of
the century. For the purpose in view we may regard
the Atlantic coast as fully explored from Darien to
Hudson Strait in latitude 60°.

PROGRESS SOUTmVi^D.

We now turn southward, and with Vasco Nunez
de Balboa cross to the South Sea in 1513. His
grand discovery made, he soon built certain vessels,
in which the Isthmian coasts and islands were ex-
plored. And with these vessels in 1519 Gaspar de
Espinosa pushed the exploration to the Costa Rican

fulf of Nicoya, in 10°, visited already in 1517 by
lurtado in canoes. In 1522 Gil Gonzalez Dilvila,
on other craft transported across the Isthmus, sailed
again to Nicoya, and by land went on to Nicaragua,
while Andres Niiio continued his voyage by sea
at least to the gulf of Fonseca, in latitude 13°,
and probably farther — even to Soconusco or Tohuan-
tepec, if we may credit the distances given by the
chroniclers. Meanwhile Hernan Cortes, after con-
quering for Spain the Mexican table-land of Anilhuac,
had through Spanish agents discovered the western
coast at three different points, thus determining its
general trend, and adding from two to five degrees to
knowledge of its extent. All this before the end of
1522. The points were Tehuantepec, in 16°, whence
the native chiefs sent their allegiance; Tututepec, in
about the same latitude, but one hundred miles farther
west, occupied by Pedro de A.lvarado; and Zacatula,
in 18°, where Cortds simuli "c msly began to found
a settlement, and constructed vessels for northern
exploration. After long and vexatious delays, with
which we are not at present concerned, the new
vessels were completed in 1526, and another from
the strait of Magellan, under Guevara, arrived at
Tehuantepec, and was brought to Zacatula. This fleet
was ordered to the Moluccas in such haste that it
could not take the proposed route along the northern
coasts, but sailed direct for India in 1527; not, how-
ever, until three of the vessels had made a trial trip
to the port of Santiago, in Colima, a port already dis-
covered by Francisco Cortds' land expedition three
years before. The coast now lay disclosed from Panamd.
to Colima. Five years elapsed before Cortds was able

\ mjBSSilU2

NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

to accomplish anything on the northern coasts. The
expeditions sent out by him were as follows: In 1532
Hurtado de Mendoza reached the Sinaloa coast, and
killed at the Rio Fuerte, while his associate

was

Mazuela returned with one of the vessels to Banderas
Bay, in Jalisco. In 1533 were made the voyages of
Becerra, Grijalva, and Jimenez, in which the latter
discovered the southern part of the Califomian Penin-
sula, supposed to be an island. Beyond the revelation
of this new land the expeditioi and that of Cortds
himself in 1535-6, added no^ "to north-western
geography. Finally Ulloa wf ' out in 1539; and

he not only explored the gulf to its head on both sides,
but doubled the cape and pushed the exploration on
the main coast to Cedros Island, in 29°. The viceroy
Mendoza now succeeded the conqueror as patron of
exploration, and despatched two expeditions by water.
The first was that of Alarcon, in 1540, in which he
reached the head of the gulf and explored the mouth
of the Colorado. The other was under the command
of Cabrillo, who in 1542-3 reached, as he thought,
the latitude of 44°, determining the general trend of
the coast, though not landing above Point Concepcion,
in 34°. No more attempts were made in this direction
before 1550.

Meanwhile maritime exploration had been sup-
plemented to some extent by land expeditions and
settlement, which, contributing materially to current
knowledge of the continent, must be noticed here. In
the north-eastern section, from Texas to Labrador, there
was nothing that could be called settlement, though
the regions about Newfoundland were frequented by
French and Portuguese fishermen, and a French fort
had been maintained near Quebec for a year or two,
till 1543. lu the far north the only penetration into
the continent was that of 1536-42, by Cartier, who
went up the St Lawrence gulf and river nearly five
hundred miles, past the site of Montreal and to the
falls of St Louis. Southward, only the coast outhne

INTERIOR EXPEDITIONS.

was known to Florida, where we have the inland
wanderings of Hernando de Soto, contemporary with
those of Cartier. Landing with a large company in
1539 on the gulf coast of Florida, at Tampa Bay, Soto
proceeded by an inland course to the vicinity of Talla-
hassee ; thence north-easterly to the Savannah River,
below Augusta; thence north-westward to the Ten-
nessee line, near Dalton, Georgia; thence south-easterly
to a point near he head of Mobile Bay; and again
north-west to the Mississippi, not far from the moutli
of the Arkansas. From this region in 1541-2 the
Spaniards made a long tour to the westward. After
their return to the great river, Soto died, and was
succeeded in command by Luis de Moscoso, under
whom they attempted to reach Mexico by land, pene-
trating about one hundred and fifty leagues to the
westward, and coming within sight of mountains. But
they were forced to return to the Mississippi; and
from a point not far above the Arkansas they em-
barked, July 1543, in vessels built for the purpose,
reached the gulf in twenty days, and thence sailed to
Pdnuco. In respect to particular localities this ex-

Eloration leaves much room for doubt and discussion,
ut the general scope and direction of Soto's wan-
derings through the territory of Florida, Georgia,
Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana are well
enough established. Least defined of all is the route
in Texas; but seven years before, in 1535, Cabeza
de Vaca and his three companions, shipwrecked mem-
bers of Narvaez' band, had escaped from their long
captivity among the Indians^ crossed Texas from
Esplritu Santo Bay to the region of El Paso, and
had passed into Chihuahua by a route south of that
of Soto, though gradually approaching it, and extend-
ing farther into the interior.

For the regions of Central America and southern
Mexico I need not give, even en r^sumS, the different
expeditions by which conquest and settlement were
effected; suflfice it to say that before 1550 both had

NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

;i 1

been accomplished in a general way from Darien and
Panamd to Panuco on the gulf, and to Sinaloa on
the Pacific. On the western side, the occupation from
Michoacan to Sinaloa had preceded maritime explo-
ration in the same direction, chiefly under Nuno de
Guzman, who had conquered Jalisco and established
a permanent Spanish garrison at Culiacan in 1531.
From this advanced post Guzman's officers made ex-
peditions northward to the Yaqui River in 1533, and
north-eastward into Durango at an earlier date. It
was in 1536 that Cabeza de Vaca and his compani( ns
arrived at San Miguel de Culiacan, after traversing
Texas, Chihuahua, and Sonora, thus completing the
first transcontinental trip in northern latitudes, and
the most famous since that of Vasco Nufi'^z de Balboa.
Cabeza de Vaca had heard reports of th^ New Mexi-
can Pueblo towns, south of which he had passed;
and these reports, exaggerated, kindled anew the zeal
for northern exploration, resulting in the voyages of
Ulloa, Alarcon, and Cabrillo, to which I have already
alluded, and the land expeditions of Niza and Coronado,
the last that come within the limits of the present
sketch.

Friar Marcos de Niza advanced in 1539 from Culia-
can to Cibola, as the Zuni Pueblo towns in 35° were
then called, and brought back most exaggerated re-
ports of rich cities and kingdoms in that region. In
the following year Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
with a large force set out for fuither exploration and
conquest in the north. Coronado, like Niza, went to
Zufii; and from that point he sent out Tobar and
Cdrdenas to the Mooui towns in 36°, the latter reach-
ing the great canon of the Colorado in the north-
eastern part of what is now Arizona. He also senc a
party back to Sonora, from which region one of the
officers, Melchor Diaz, made u,n expedition to tho
mouth of tho Colorado, ascending the river nearly
to the Gila, and crossing to explore a little farther
west. Meanwhile Coronado proceeded eastward and

SIXTEENTn-CENTURY PROGRESS.

passed the winter in tlie Pueblo towns of the Rio
Grande «lel Norte, in New Mexico. In .the spring of
1541 an expedition was made which carried the
Spaniards some eighty-five days' journey north-east-
ward over the plams of Texas to the wigwam town
of Quivira, perhaps in 40°, beyond the Arkansas.
Coronado passed far north of Cabeza de Vaca's route,
but very likely crossed that of Soto, or at least ap-
proached it very closely. During another winter
passed on the Kio Grande, exploration was pushed to
Taos, in 36° 30'; and then, in 1542, the expedition
returned to Culiacan, leaving the great northern in-
terior to its primeval savagism.

Thus in the middle of the sixteenth century, the
northern limit of inland exploration may be given as
a line crossing the continent just below the thirty-
sixth parallel from the Colorado to the Savannah;
Coronado having passed the line in its central part,
and advanced into the modern Kansas. The coasts
on either side were explored to much higher latitudirj,
the Atlantic with tolerable accuracy to 60°, and the
Pacific in a manner barely to show the shore-line trend
to 44°. Maps of the time, which there is no occasion
to specify in this connection, added nothing to tlie
narratives of explorers in the west, an.d were even
less perfect than they might have been made from
those narratives; while in the east, and particularly
in the north-east, maps were in advance of written
records, including many details from voyages never
described. Enough had i^een accomplished to con-
vince competent men that- south of 40° there would
be found neither great cities nor a navigable passage
between the oceans, gra ve doubts even being suggested
in the minds of many whether any strait, or nations
worth plundering, would be found in the north.
During all this period only one navigator, Ferrelo,
the successor o'' Cabrillo, had possibly entered the
waters of the Northwest Coast, passing the line of 42°,
but not landing; Alarcon, by water, had approached.

Hist. N. W. Coabt, Vol,. I. a

NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

within a thousand miles of the boundary, and Cdr-
dcnas, by land, wi * . half that distance.

I have next to trace the progress of exploration
north-westward for two centuries, from the middle of
the sixteenth to the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury. This progress was insignificant compared with
that of the brilliant era just recorded. New foun-
dations had to be laid, and most slowly, for a new
advance. The foundations — rediscovery of old lands,
futile attempts at settlement followed by successful
colonization — were massive and complicated for the
light superstructure which, from the present point of
view, they were to sustain. The frame, reduced to
the merest skeleton, is gigantic for the flesh and blood
of geographical discovery that hardly suffices to cover
it — that is if we confine ourselves to facts of actual
discovery, and I propose to defer for treatment in
the following chapter the grand achievements of the
imagination. For convenience let us advance by half-
century steps.

From 1550 to 1600 the extreme north-east was first
visited by the English navigator Martin Frobisher, in
three voyages, in 1576-8. His original purpose was
to discover the strait; but the finding of what was
mistaken for gold ore in the first voyage changed the
nature of the expedition, and caused Frobisher to
confine his researches to the inlet bearing his name,
between 62° and 63°. He also entered the inlet next
south, without discovering its connection with a great
inland sea, although he thought that either inlet
would afford a passage to the Pacific. The only other
navigator of northern seas during this period was
John Davis, who made three voyages in 1585-7. He
reached 72°, the highest point yet attained, and made
a somewhat careful examination of the coast line
from G7° southward. The main strait northward
Jbears his name.

Farther south there is no occasion to notice partic-

.«.*!

ATLANTIC AND GULF REGIONS.

md Cdr-

ploration
middle of
jnth cell-
ared with
ew foun-
or a new
old lands,
successful
id for the
t point of
educed to
and blood
3S to cover
i of actual
satment in
nts of the
CO by half-

st was first
robisher, in
arpose was
f what was
langed the
'obisher to

his name,

inlet next
ith a great
either inlet

only other
period was
585-7. He
, and made
I coast line

northward

otice partic-

ular voyages. In Canada, or Nouvelle France, after
the failure of Cartier and Robcrval, there was no re-
newal of attempts to colonize, though French fishing
craft still frequented Canadian waters. On the Florida
coast, however, the French Huguenots under Ribault
and Laudonniere established colonies at Port Royal
and St Mary in 15G2-5, thus adding * La Floride Fran-
gaise' or 'La Caroline' to the northern possessions of
Nouvelle France. The interior of what is now Florida,
Georgia, and South Carolina was explored to some
extent during this occupation, which was brought
to an end by the Spaniards. Pedro de Menendez,
annihilating the French colonies in 1565 by hanging
most of the colonists, proceeded to found forts for
Spain from San Agustin northward to Carolina. The
Spaniards in their search penetrated the interior
farther north perhaps than Soto, but not to the
Mississippi region. The French under De Gourgues
in 15G8 took terrible vengeance for the massacre of
1565, but did not attempt to regain possession, and
Spain remained mistress of Florida. In 1584-7 Sir
Walter Raleigh made several unsuccessful attempts
to found a colony at Roanoke, on the North Carolina
coast, so Englishmen learned even less about the
great interior than had Frenchmen and Spaniards.
On the gulf coast from Florida to Texas all that
was known, so far as Europeans were concerned,
had been gleaned from Cabeza de Vaca and Her-
nando de Soto. There was no settlement, no main-
land exploration.

In the interior of Mexico the frontier of occupa-
tion was pushed northward in general terms to 27°,
so as to include Durango and southern Chihuahua,
with small portions of Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.
From 1562 extensive explorations were made here,
chiefly by Francisco de Ibarra; mining-camps were
established ; and missionaries, Jesuit and Franciscan,
began their labors in Nueva Vizcaya. No less than
five entradas were iLade into New Mexico during thia

NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

period; those of Rodriguez in 1581-2, of Espejo ifl
1582-3, of Castano de Sosa in 1590-1, of Morlete in
1591, and of Bonilla about 1596. None of thete
reached so high a latitude on the Rio Grande as had
Coronado, but Bonilla went far out into the plains
in search of Quivira. Espejo's return and Castano's
entry were by the Pecos instead of the Rio Grande,
and Espejo, crossing Coronado 's track in the west,
penetrated to the region of the modern city of Pres-
cott. Finally Juan de Oiiate, in 1598, effected the
permanent conquest and settlement of New Mexico.
On the western coast Spain accomplished little or
nothing in the way of northern exploration; yet in
1565 Urdaneta made the first trip eastward across
the Pacific, opening a northern route, which was fol-
lowed by the Manila traders for more than two cen-
turies. How many times the trip was made during
this period of 1550-1600 we have no means of know-
ing; probably not often, but we have mention of two
voyages. Francisco de Gali, in 1584, coming from
the west reached the coast in 37° 30' — possibly 57"
30' — and observed the trend and appearance of the
shore, as he sailed southward, without landing. And
Cerinefion by a similar route was wrecked in 1595 at
Drake Bay, just above the present San Francisco.
But another nation had entered, albeit somewhat
irregularly, this field of exploration. In 1579 Fran-
cis Drake, an English freebooter, his vessel laden
with plunder taken from the Spaniards in the Jioutli,
attempted to find the northern strait by which to
reach the Atlantic. He reached perhaps latitude 43°,
anchoring in tha+^^ region; and then, abandoning hia
search, returned to Drake Bay, on the Californian
coast, and thence home round the Cape of Good
Hope. Thomas Cavendish was another Englishman
of the same class, whose expedition sailed in 1587;
his operations did not extend beyond the southern ex-
tremity of the Californian peninsula. Finally Sebas-
tian Vizcaino was sent out by Spain in 1597, but

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

his explorations were confined to the gulf, and his
vain attempts at settlement to Baja California.

For the next half century, 1600-50, we have in the
extreme west but one expedition to be noticed, that
of Vizcaino, in 1602-3. It was but a repetition of
Cabrillo's voyage, though its results were more widely
known. Vizcaino anchored at Monterey, and, with-
out landing, at the old San Francisco under Point
Reyes; thence he went as high as 42°, where he
named a cape Blanco de San Sebastian. His associate
Aguilar possibly reached 43°, at another Cape Blanco,
where seemed to be the mouth of a great river. Other
Spanish effoits were confined to the waters of the
gulf; and the pichilingues, or freebooters, though still
troublesome, had no temptation to enter northern
waters.

In the interior of Sonora, Spanish occupation had
been advanced by the Jesuits to the Arispe region in
30" 30'. To the east in Chihuahua the missionaries
were struggling northward at about 29°. In New
Mexico Spanish authority was maintained, but north-
ern exploration was not greatly advanced. In 1601
Oiiate made a long tour over the buffalo plains, going
far to the north and east. Records are vague, but
it is not probable that he reached a higher lati-
tude than Coronado, or certain that he went beyond
the limits of the modern Texas. In 1604-5 he under-
took another extensive exploration toward the west,
visited Zuni and the Moqui towns, thence directed liis
march south-westward beyond the limits of Espejo's
exploration till he reached the Colorado, at the mouth
of the Santa Maria, and following the great river
down to its mouth, returned by the same route. There
were also several entradas among the Texan tribes
of the far east from New Mexico, notably those of
padres Perea and Lopez in 1629, and of Captain
Vaca in 1634.

On the gulf coast all remained in undisturbed

NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

aboriginal possession; and of the Spaniards in eastern
Florida there is nothing to be said. To the north,
however, were laid the foundations of permanent
English occupation, and of the future power of the
United States by Newport and Smith in Virginia,
160G; by the Puritans in Massachusetts, 1620; by
Lord Baltimore in Maryland, 1634; and by other
hardly less notable bands of pioneer settlers. These
men came to, make homes for themselves rather than
to test geographical theories; and though some, like
the adventurous John Smith, were bent on finding a
passage to the Pacific, their explorations were con-
fined to the examination of a few short rivers and
inlets near their respective settlements.

In Canada, French colonization had been resumed,
with all its complication of fur-trading companies, of
spiritual conquest by Recollet and Jesuit missionaries,
of Indian wars against and between the Iroquois and
Huron nations, and of contentions with hostile En-
glishmen, by which New France lost and regained
Acadie, or Nova Scotia, and even Quebec. It appears
that by 1650 geographical exploration had been
pushed westward into the interior, at first by Cham-
plain and later by Jesuit fathers, beyond lakes Erie
and Huron, and the head- waters of the Ottawa River;
that Jean Nicolet as early as 1634-5 had discovered
Lake Michigan, and had sojourned among the tribes
on the west of that lake in the Wisconsin territory,
going up Fox River from Green Bay ; and that subse-
quently Lake Superior had been discovered.

The voyages of Weymouth in 1602, and of Knight
in 1606, added nothing to the knowledge of far-north
geography; but in 1610 Henry Hudson, who the
year before had discovered the river that b'^.ars his
name in the south, not only entered the strait i:amed
for him, as Frobisher, Davis, and Weymouth had
done before hiin, but pressed on and discovered the
great Hudson Bay, an inland sea, on which ho was
turned adrift by mutineers to perish. The bay was

THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 98

further explored by Button in 1G12-13, and by Baffin
in 1G15, the latter being inclined to think even at this
early date that the passage to the Pacific would be
found not there but farther north; but he did not find
it when in IGIG he reached the latitude of 78° through
Baffin Bay to Smith Sound. In 1G31-2 Hudson
Bay v/as visited by Foxe and by James.

The next period, 1650-1700, was not one of mari-
time discovery in the north; but in 1G70 the Hudson's
Bay Company was organized; and soon five forts
were established in the region adjoining the bay.
Meanwhile a French company was also formed, and
in the ensuing contentions the forts changed hands
more than once. In 1700 the English retained but a
slight footing. There is no record of extensive inland
explorations beyond the bay shore.

Great activity prevailed in the regions of New
France, an activity marked not only by Indian wars,
and political, commercial, and ecclesiastical dissensions
at home, by strife with the English on the north and
south, and by fur-hunting adventures in every di-
rection, but by a J, ded advance in the great work
of exploration. The Jesuit missionaries, accompanied
in some instances by the fur-traders, closely followed
or even preceded b^'^ them in others, penetrated on
the north to Hudson Bay, and on the west far into
the plains, besides completing the survey of the
great lakes and founding missions on their shores;
above all, they found and explored the Mississippi
Valley. In IG73 M. Joliet and Pore Marquette set
out to find the 'Great Water' of which so much had
been heard. They crossed over from Lake Michigan
to the Wisconsin River, went down that stream to
the Mississippi, and sailed in canoes down the great
river to the mouth of the Arkansas, and to the north-
ern limit of Soto's wanderings. Then they returnovl
to Quebec by the Illinois, instead of the Wisconsin.
It was now pretty clear that the Mississippi flowed

> \

i 11 ]
{SI

NOHTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION,

into the gulf and not into the Pacific. In 1G80 P5re
Hennepin was sent by La Salle down the Illinois
and thence up the Mississippi to the falls of St
Anthony, in 45°, half-way across the continent from
east to west. In 1G82 La Salle himself descended
the Mississippi not onl}' to the limits of Soto and
Joliet, but to the gulf, and erected a fort at th^
mouth of the Ohio. Thus was the Mississippi Valley
added to the domain of New France; but wars with
the English and Indians prevented any extension of
settlement or exploration during the rest of the cen-
tury. Not only had the Mississippi been discovered,
but the size of the rivers flowing into it from the
west showed clearly that the stretch of continent to
the Pacific was much broader than had ever been sus-
pected.

Southward, after the navigation of the Mississippi,
we are no longer interested in the gradual advance of
the English colonists toward that stream; and the
Spaniards in Florida made no efforts in the interior.
In the gulf I have noted La Salle'o arrival down the
river from Canada in 1G82. In 1G85 he came back
by sea with a colony from France, and missing the
mouth of the river, was cast away on the Texan coast,
w^icre a fort was built and formal possession taken for
France. La Salle wandered about extensively in
Texas, us Cabeza de Vaca and Soto had done before
him; and on one of his trips in search of the Missis-
sippi, in 1G87, he was assassinated. Of his colony
half a dozen reached Canada; many were killed by
disease or Indians, and a few fell into the hands of the
Spaniards of New Mexico. Several parties of trap-
pers and missionaries came down the great river from
Canada, establishing themselves at different points;
and in 1G99 came Iberville and Bienville to found a
permanent French settlement in Louisiana.

In New Mexico the only expeditions sent ou (, were
a few into southern Texas during the first half of the
period. Then came the great revolt of 1680> whi«^'b

EIGHTEENTn CENTURY.

drove the Spaniards out of the country. It was thir-
teen years before the province was reconquered; and
down to the end of the century there was no thought
of northern exploration. South, in Chihuahua, the
missionaries and miners were strugghng with greater
or less success against the Indians between them and
New Mexico. In the west during the last decade
of the century Padre Kino explored the regions of
Pimeria Alta, or northern Sonora, by repeated tours
among the people up to the Gila and Colorado, with-
out reaching the limits of Coronado, Cdrdenas, Diaz,
Espejo, and Oilate of earlier date, but making a far
more careful examination of the country traversed,
and meeting with extraordinary success in tliQ con-
version and pacification of the natives. Across the
gulf the Jesuits also * established themselves perjna-
nently in 1697 in Baja California. On the coast there
were no expeditions to northern latitudes, only such
as were directed to the California Gulf for pearls, or
in vain attempts at settlement, or by foreign pirates
in quest of the Manila galleons.

In 1700-50 the Philippine treasure-ships continued
to cross the Pacific by the northern route without
touching on the California coast; and a French vessel
under Frondac took the same course. There were
no maritime expeditions sent northward by Spain;
neither did the foreign privateers Dampier, Rogers,
Shelvocke, and Anson enter northern waters, though
each of their narratives contains something on north-
ern theoretical geography. In the interior there was
no advance whatever, but rather in some quarters a
retrograde movement under the aggressive raids of
savages. On the Mexican Gulf the Texan territory
was several times traversed and partly occupied by
Spain and France. From the French settlements
of Louisiana it is probable th.at a wider tract than
had been previously known wac explored toward the
north-west in the course of Indian wars and vain

ill

86 NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION".

searches for gold, but I find nothing definite in the
records.

It was in the north, from Canada, that the greatest
results were achieved. The French trappers ranged
the country in all directions as far as and beyond the
upper Mississippi, visited by Hennepin ; and the Jesuits
continued their labors, though they had no establish-
ments so far west. The French had a fort on the
Missouri, and in 1727 Bourgmont made a trip up the
river from that fort to a point above the Kansas.
Vcirendrye's efforts to form a line of trading -posts
across the continent were in 1731-43; forts were
established in the regions round lakes Winnipeg and
Manitoba; in 1742 the upper Missouri River was
ascended to the region of the Yellowstone; and in
1743 the Verendryes reached the eastern base of the
Rocky Mountains, in what is now Montana. Mean-
while reports were current of a great western river
flowing from the mountains into the Pacific; and an
Indian of the lower Mississippi claimed, under circum-
stances indicating that his narrative may have been
true, to have followed that river, the Columbia, to its
mouth in 1745-50.

Explorations in the far north were confined to
Hudson Bay. Half a dozen expeditions visited these
waters under Knight, Scroggs, Middleton, Moor,
Smith, and others; but the only result was to find an
ice-blocked passage leading northward from the bay,
and to prove that some of its western inlets did not
lead to the Pacific, though others yet remained to be
examined.

I have thus outlined the progress of North Amer-
ican discovery for two centuries, from 1550 to 1750,
showing how very slight it was in comparison with
that from 1492 to 1550. In the we'stern ocean two
navigators, perhaps, had reached new coast latitudes,
Drake and Gali; though it is not certain that either
had done so much, and neither noted anything

FLIGHT, NORTIIW^VRD, OF THE MYSTERY. V

beyond the general shore trend in regions vaguely
located. In the southern interior the Spaniards had
pushed their missions, mining -camps, and settle-
ments northward, accomplishing much in the face of
great obstacles; but their occupation had not reached
the limit of earlier exploration, though it had nearly
done so in New Mexico. The Rio Colorado was still
the northern boundary, and all beyond was an un-
known land. The Texan plains had been several times
retraversed; but the wanderings of later travellers are
as vaguely recorded as those of the pioneers; and it
is by no means certain that the limits of Cabeza do
Vaca, Coronado, and Soto had been passed. The
Atlantic coast territory had been the scene of great
colonizing achievements, by men who came more to
settle than to solve geographical enigmas by long
extended search for gold, spice islands, and rich king-
doms for conquest. The French were the great
American explorers of the period, to whom is due
nearly all the progress made into the broad interior.
Entering by the St Lawrence they occupied the region
round the great lakes, and penetrated northward to
the shores of Hudson Bay, westward to the Rocky
Mountains, and southward to the gulf of Mexico by
the Mississippi Valley. In the far' north they were
excelled by the English, who had discovered Hudson
Bay and explored the labyrinth of adjacent chamiels
nearly to the Arctic circle.

For the present purpose I am called upon to con-
sider, and that very briefly, but one more half-century
of discovery. For before 1800 the west coast was
explored to Bering Strait; the territory from Hud-
son Bay to the Arctic Ocean was more than once
traversed; trappers not infrequently had reached the
base of the Rocky Mountains; the Spaniards had
I)enctrated to Utah and had settled Alta California.
There was yet a broad interior to bo explored by men
whose exploits in that direction will receive attention

NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

1- II

in different parts of this work; but the Nortlicm
Mystery in its cosniograpliical aspects was at an end;
and tlie north-west passage was pushed out of the
Hinits of this volume up into the arctic regiuus, where
it properly belongs.

After further exploration by water in Hudson Bay,
and particularly in Chesterfield Inlet, the chief ex-
peditions being those of Christopher aad Norton in
1761-2, the attention of English explorers was di-
rected mainly to current reports of great rivers flow-
ing northward; and in 1770, after two unsuccessful
attempts, San-uel Hearne descended the Copp ermine
River to its mouth. In 1789 Mackenzie v, m down
the river that took his name to the Arctic shores;
in 1793 the same explorer won the honor of being
the first to reach the Pacific by crossing the Rocky
Mountains. His route was up the Peace River, down
the Eraser, and acrrss to tide- water, in 53°. I find
no definite records respecting the discoveries of the
French trappers in this period, after they built a fort
at the eastern base of the mountains in 1752; and
there is no evidence that any explorer from the United
States penetrated beyond the Miss" sippi before 1800.
In Louisiana, Texas, an-^ N v Muxico all remained
essentially m statu qv '^>\ as exploration was con-

cerned; but from the lamea pro" ce there were

(Several minor expeditit ; orth - ard acr-oss the streams
that form the Colorado; and i 1776 Dominguez and
Escolanta penetrated the great basin to Utah Lake,
above 40°. In 1769 Alta California was explor I by
a Spanish military and missionary force, up to San
Francisco Bay, in 37° 48'; and by 1776 not only was
the whole coast region occupied up to that point, but
Anza had in two trips opened an overland rou ■ fronr,
Sonora by way of the Gila and Colorado, while Padre
Garcds had crossed California from the Mojave region
and had penetrated the great Tulare Valley to the
vicinity of the lakes. There was no further advance
by land before 1800.

DOINGS OF THE RUSSIANS.

Busalan discoveries fiom the north -west clomand
but brief notieo here, the subject beiiij' presented
with full details in a later volume of thin series de-
voted to the hii^tory of Alaska. Before IGOO the
Cosisaeks had crosyod the Ural Mountains and oeeu-
l)ied the valley of the Obi, in Asia. At the same date
small Russian craft navigated the coast waters of that
region in the Kara Sea; and the same waters hafl \)vv.n
reached by the English and ])utch in their search
for a north-cast passage, toward which end but little
additional progress was ever made in later times.
Between IGOO and 1050 the Cossacks traversed Siberia
in search for sable, crossed river ai'tcr river an fresh
hunting-grounds were needed, subdued the inhaJM-
tants, and reached the Pacific in 1039. The chief
Russian establishment on the Pacific, which was dis-
covered at many points, was at Okhotsk, on the sea
of the same name. Thus mor-e than twenty-five hun-
dred miles of unknov/n territory were expk)rcd and
occupied by small bands of roving fur-hunt«rs. The
discovery of mines on the Amoor, and fossil ivory in
the extreme north-east, was added to the incentives.
During 1050 to 1700 nearly every part of the Asiatic
coast up to the strait and including the peninsula of
Kamchatka had boen visited by one adventurous party
or another, aud only the fierce Chukchi of the north-
east remained unconquered. Abundant eviclen(;e was
found of '.he existence of land still fiirther east.
Trees and various articles not of Asiatic origin were
oftcii washed ashore; and indeed the natives made no
secret of their frequent intercourse with a i)e()ple
f.'om the east who came in boats or on the ice, and
who spoke a language different from their own. The
Russian government became interested in the rumors
cf new lands; a post had been founded on the eastern
shore of Kamchatka; and in 1728 Vitus Bering
was sent in a vessel built there to learn the truth
respecting the current rumors, and especially to find
whether the eastern landii were pai't of Sibeiia or

8»

NORTHWEST COAST EXPLORATION.

i I

separated from it by water. Bering in this voyage
i-eached the strait between the continents to which
his name is given, naming St Lawrence Island,
and observing the point in 67° 18', b8y(md which
the coast turned abruptly westward, decided that
the reported land not yet seen by any Russian was
not an extension of Asia. There is some evidence
that in the earlier coastings Bering Strait had been
passed through once or twice; and it somewhat
vaguely appears that in 1730 Krupischef and Gwoz-
def, following Bering, actually came in sight of the
American continent, along which they coasted south-
ward for two days. In 1741 Bering made his second
expedition, during which his associate Chirikof first
saw the continent, in latitude 55° 36', near the later
Sitka, where two boat-crews landed and were probably
killed by the natives, as they were never heard of
again. The commander then coasted northward four
or five hundred miles before returning to Kamchatka.
Bering meanwhile struck the coast a few days later
than Chirikof, in latitude 58° 28', in sight of Mount
St Elias. Thence he followed the shore westward and
south-westward, named the Shumagin Islands, and
was finally wrecked on Bering Island, near the Kam-
chatka coast, where he died. The presence of valu-
able sea-otter on the American coast and islands — or
rather at first on j^.&iatic islands in that direction —
becoming known was the chief incentive to further
efforts. In 174 J Nev6dc]iikof made the first hunting
trip to the nearest Aleutian Islands; and thencefor-
ward one or more expeditions were fitted out nearly
every year by Siberian merchant companies, many of
which proved profitable. Discovery was in this way
pushed eastward until Kadiak was reached by Glottof
m his trip of ^63-5. The obstacles encountered in
the exploration of these northern seas, and the reck-
less daring and energy displayed in overcoming these
obstacles, are unsurpassed m the history of American
discovery. The Russian craft were small, hastily con-

RUSSIAN NAVIGATION.

structcd by men who knew but little of their task,
and were often mere boxes of planks he'd together
by leathern thongs, without iron. They were in
every way inferior to the worst vessels employed by
navigators of other nations in any part of America.
In these frail boats, poorly supplied with food, gener-
ally without remedies against scurvy, these bold sailors
did not hesitate to commit themselves to the icy waves
and furious gales of the Arctic seas. Rarely was an
expedition unattended by shipwreck and starvation;
but sea-otter were plentiful. Notwithstanding the
numerous voyages it does not appear that the conti-
* "ital coasts, either above or below the Alaskan
peninsula, were ever visited by the Russians after the
time of Bering, and before Cook's survey in 1778.
After this date such visits were frequent, resulting in
permanent occupation at many points; but it remained
for Cook to make known the general features of the
entire coast to the strait. Subsequent local explora-
tions by the Russians, English, Spanish, and French
in south-eastern Alaska at later dates have no bearing
on our present study.

ii -f

CHAPTER 11.

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY AND IMAODfARY GEOGRAPHY.

1500-1595.

Field of Conjecture — Mythic Geography — Strait or no Strait — Pas-
SAOK to India — Cabots and Cortereals — Ruvsch and Schoneb —
Amazon Isles — Clavos and Esclavos — Maps of 1530-1 — Queen of
Caufobnia — Canadian Rumors— Nisa's Fictions — Real Explora-
tions OF 1540-3 — Cibola, Tiouex, and Quivika — Gomara's Blun-
der — RUSCELLI AND MuNSTER — RaMUSIO AND HOMEM — A CHOICE OF

Straits — Theories of Menendez — First Trip through the Strait —
Ubdaneta— Salvatieura's Tale — Ribault— TApia — Ortelius' The-

ATRUM — ToLM — AnIAN — ORIGIN OF THE NaME — LaDRILLEUO AT THE

Strait— Meta Incognita — Martin Chacke — Drake's Pilot — Espejo's
Lake and River — Haklu\t — Lok's Map — By the Roanoke to thb
Pacific — La Gran Copal—Peter ALvrtyr — Acosta on the Mystery.

In the preceding chapter, after an outline of North-
west Coast explorations, showing how much of its
interest and importance is connected with events
which are geographically and chronologically outside
the limits of this section, and presenting the mythical
aspects of the matter in their origin and general
scope, I have traced the progress made by Europeans
toward the Northwest Coast before they reached the
territory so designated and began its actual explora-
tion. Deferring that exploration for other chapters,
I propose first of all to treat the subject in its myth-
ical, imaginary, theoretical, and apocryphal phases.
It is an oUa pudrida of absurdities that is offered, made
up of quaint conjectures respecting a land that ha I
never boon seen, and the various approaches to that
land; for it was not to the Northwest Coast proper
that these conjectures were directed so mui^h as to
the broad border-land surroundiu'' it.

ASIA AND AilERICA.

In the middle of the sixteenth century, aa we have
seen, the western coayt was known northward to hiti-
tude 40° and beyond, the eastern coast above 00°,
and the interior vaguely as far north as the Colorado
and Arkansas rivers. All the broad interior farther
north, slightly encased, up to the limits named, by a
thin shell of coast discovery, was a terra incof/nita, if
indeed it were a terra at all, and not part of an ocean
or an inland sea. Respecting this region conjecture
had thus far been partly reasonable. The process of
development has already been traced; first the new
discoveries as part of the Asiatic main to be coasted
south-westward to India; next, the southern portion
of those discoveries as a great island separated from
Asia by a 'strait'; then the strait an isthmus rather,
and the island a great south-eastern projection from
the continent; and finally an extension of the pro-
jection so as to include the regions north as well as
south of the Panamd Isthmus, and to join the Asiatic
main at a higher latitude than 40° at least, if at all.
I do not say that this theory of geographical evolu-
tion will satisfactorily account for every recorded
statement or idea of every early navigator, or cosmog-
rapher, or map-maker; but the exceptions are so few
and slight as by no means to impair the theory, or to
aftbrd a basis for any other.

By 1550 it was well understood that the new lands
were of continental proportions, and very far from
Asia in their southern parts. Whether they were
also distant in the north was an open question, for the
solution of which no real data existed. Official chart-
makers and the most competent of geographers con-
tented themselves with recording the results of actual
exploration, leaving a blank on their maps for the
country yet unvisited, while in the text they noted,
without committing themselves, the various theories.
Many still believed North America to be a part of
the Asiatic continent, and expected to find tlu> coast-
line turning to the west not far beyond latitude 40',

Hui .N. W. CuAsi, Vui.. I. a

MSiSittMiiiisa^f.

IHE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

and thence southward to India; but others — almost
all in later years — believed in a strait separating the
two continents somewhere in the north-west. This
theory of a northern strait was somewhat incoherently
built on the circumstance that a passage had been
vainly sought in the central regions, on Magellan
Strait actually found in tlio far south, on statements
of ancient writers respecting the lost Atlantis, which
might have been part of America and which had
been described as an island, and on the discovery
of certain unexplored inlets along the north-eastern
coasts. Those who believed in the separation by water
differed widely about its natuia. Some thought it to
be a narrow strait, others a broad one ; some placed it
between two opposite capes, others made of it a long
winding channel, or a succession of lakes, or a net-work
of intertwining channels, or an archipelago; while
there were many who regarded it as a broad expanse
of salt water, reducing North America to a long
naiTow strip of irregular form, which extended from
south-west to north-east, and perhaps was itself cut up
by narrow interoceanic passages not yet discovered.
It cannot be said that the ideas of one class on this
subject were in any respect superior to those of
another; all were but conjecture; nor do such maps as
represent the northern regions in something like their
real position and proportion entitle their makers to
credit. I now proceed to chronicle some of these
conjectures which held sway for more than two
centuries, and which bear more or less directly on
north-western geography, and are often entertain-
ingly supplemented by falsehood. I shall treat the
subject so far as possible chronologically.

There were few if any of the voyages to America
before 1550 the object of which was not to find among
other things a passage by water to India; but there
is no need of recapitulating these voyages for the sake
of presenting their common object and failure. For

DIVERS CONJECTURES.

ilmost
ig tho

This
rently
I been
bgellaii
nnents
which
ih had
covery
jastern
J water
it it to
Laced it
, a long
3t-work
; while
iBxpanse

a long
3d from
f cut up
jovered.

on this
lose of
maps as
ke their
akers to
of these
lan two
ectly on
itortain-
reat the

America

id among

)ut there

the sake

ire. For

this earliest period of maritime discovery, I have to
notice for the most part only such expeditions as
furnished material for later argument and conjecture,
such as not only sought the strait but found it, or at
least something that might be deemed an indication
of its existence. The Northmen, the earliest in the
field of American discoveries, did not stop to theorize
about the western lands, nor did they care, so far as
the records show, whether they belonged to Asia or
Africa. They were bent on adventure, conquest, and
settlement, and sought no passage to the Spice Islands
of the south or the cities of the Grand Khan. Doubt-
less had their adventures been known to the cosmog-
raphers they would have furnished much food for
theory; but the records were for the time lost, and
the sagas therefore have no bearing on the Northern
Mystery. Of Columbus and his vagaries about the
terrestrial paradise in South America as well of his
associates and tbeir explorations in southern parts
enough has been said elsewhere ; likewise of the pro-
Columbian theories of wonderful islands in the Atlan-
tic. For these and other matters that have indirect
bearing on the present subject, I refer the reader to
the first volume of the History of Central America.

There exist no contemporary narratives of the voy-
ages of the Cabots to northern parts of the continent
in 1497-8, and the fragments of a later date are as
contradictory respecting the navigators' exact ideas
as about the exact regions visited. "And understand-
mg by reason of the Sphere," wrote Sebastian Cabot,
"that if I should saile by way of the Northwest, I
should by a shorter tract come into India. . .not
thinking to finde any other land then that of Cathay,
and from thence to turne toward India, but after cer-
taine dayes I found that the land ranne towards the
North, which was to mee a great displeasure"^ — why

' HaMiiyt's Voy., iii. 4-11, with several nccour.ts. For further references on
the voyages mentioned in this chapter see Qeogniphical Summary, in Hint,
CeiU. Am., vol. i. chap. i.

THE NORTHEHIf MYSTERY.

I ' <

is not apparent; but he wrote at a time when it was
clear that a new continent had been discovered.
Moreover, he wrote to Ramusio that in latitude 67°
30', "finding still the open Sea without any manner of
impediment, hee thought verily by that way to liaue
passed on still the way to Cathaio, which is in the
East, and woulde haue done it, if the mutinie of the
shipmaster and marriners had not rebelled."' At first
there was no doubt that Cabot had reached Asia, or
later that he had discovered a strait leading to that
coast. The expeditions of the Cortereals in 1500-2
were like the preceding, in that they are not described
by contemporary documents; but so much the better
for later theorists. I do not suppose that either Cabot
or Cortereal really sought a ' strait,' but only a pas-
sage, not doubting that they were on the Asiatic
main; but in their reports there, was no lack of ma-
terial for a strait when needed — instance Cortereal's
Rio Nevado, where his progress was impeded by ice.
In later times Cortereal was credited by many with
not only having discovered the strait, but with having
named it. I am not certain who originated this theory;
but we are told by Forster, Fleurieu, Burney, Hum-
boldt,* and others, that Cortereal found the strait,
named it Anian, in honor of certain brothers with him,
and was lost when returning to utilize his discovery.
The authorities differ as to whether there were two
brothers or three, whether the name was that of the
family or of one of the brothers, possibly that of
Cortereal's own brother; and they likewise differ
respecting the identity of the strait with Hudson Bay
or St Lawrence River. It does not matter, however;
none of the earliest writers mention the circumstance.

^Hakluyt'a Divers Voy., 25, from Ramusio. A letter announcing Cabot 'a
return credits him with ' having likewise discovered the seven cities, four
hundred leagues from England, on the western passage;' and still another
says that he had visited ' the territory of the Grand Cham.' Bn/aiU's Ukt.
U.S.,i.\M.

^ For tier's Hist. Fby., 460; Flnirieu, in Mnrckand, Voy., i. vi.; Biirrey'a
Ditcov. Soufh Sen, i. C; Ihimh'Mt, Esmi Pol., 3;30. 'II prit son noni d'uu des
frures ombarquds sur le voiaseau de Gaspar de Corteral. '

EARLY MAPS.

It is tolerably certain that the strait of Anian was not
named for more than fifty years after Cortereal's voy-
age, and I shall notice the matter again in due time.*
Johann Ruyscli in 1508 printed the first map that
showed any part of the New World, which he published
in Ptolemy's geography. It represents the mystery

Euysch'8 Map, 1508.

of the strait in an early stage of development. As yet
there was nothing to impede navigation to India.
It is said that the Ptolemy map of 1511 separates
the Terra Corterealis from the Asiatic main. To
quote from an earlier volume of this series: "As long
as the new lands were believed to be a part of Asia,
the maps bore some resemblance to the actual coun-
tries intcndod to be represented, but from the first
dawning of an idea of separate lands we shall see the
greatest confusion in tlie efforts of map-makers to
depict the New World." Ponce de Leon's famous
search for the fountain of youth in Florida might in

*The London Quarterly lievifw, xvi. 154, thinks that Cortereul, entering
Iludaou l]ay, thought it part of an opening on the Tacifiu uheady known
(before 1500!) as the strait of Anian; and tlic North American Hei-ieir, Janu-
ary 1831), U8, dceniB tliis not very brilliant theory more probable than any
other.

rf*P

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

a certain sense be cited as a ihase of the present sub-
ject; but this bubble soon burst, and so far as I know
had no effect on the vagaries of later days. The map
in Stobnicza's Ptolemy of 1512 is said to show the
New World as a continuous coast up to 50°. A Portu-
guese chart of about 1518 exhibits for the first time
the Pacific divided by an isthmus from the Atlantic;
leaving spaces between the Gulf of Mexico and Lab-
rador where the coast may not be continuous."^

Schoner's globe of 1520 explains itself It was
doubtless founded on mere conjecture, though in cer-
tain respects an approximation to accuracy, for as

1 — n^i — ~"

Schoner's Globe, 1520.

yet there were no discoveries to suggest a broad sheet
of water north-west of the newly found lands.^ In
the earliest land expeditions from Mexico to the

* See Hist. Cent. Am., i. 133.

* In Bi-!iniif\ Hist. U. S., i. 149, it is stated that tlic Rio Jordan visited
by Aillon in lo'iO on t'le Carolina coast was sought as the 'saered' Jordan of
biblicvtl tradition 1

ESTliJVAN GOMEZ.

near north-west of Michoacan and Colima in 1522-4
much interest was excited by reports of a province of
Ciguatan, or of an island some ten days' journey be-
yond, inhabited by women, like Amazons, wIkj being
visited at intervals by men from the mainland, killed
their male children; they were withal rich in pearls.
This was all the more interesting because Cortes
expected to find rich and marvellous isles in his
voyage to India, for which he was then preparing.''
In 1524 Francisco Cortes found also in Colima traces
of Christian rites, and rumors of a vessel wrecked
in earlier years. Verrazano visited the eastern coast
in 1524, and has been credited with being the lirst to
pronmlgate the true theory of the earth's size and
the geographical relation of the New World to Asia."
I find nothing in his report to justify such a conclu-
sion, though the name ' Mar de Verrazano' is apjjlied
to the western waters on a later map. Esttjvan
Gomez sought the strait in 1525 between Florida
and Newfoundland;^ and about his return an amusing
story has often been repeated. He brought home a
cargo of esclavos, or slaves; and an enthusiast in the
cause of discovery, failing to catch the first syllable,
rushed to court with the news that Gomez had at
last found the passage to the Spice Islands, having re-
turned with a cargo of clavos, or cloves! The truth
was soon known, nmch to the amusement of the court
and the messenger's discomfiture. In those days the
Spaniards little thought of sailing to the extreme

' ' Y asimismo me trujo Rclacion tie los Sefiores de la Provincia de Ciguatan,
que so aiiniian miicho haber una Isla toda pol)lada do !Miigcios sin Vafou
ninguno, y (jue en ciortos tieniiw van de la Tiorra-Firnie lloniln'os, con los
(Hialos han aceso, y las (juc quedan prenadius, si paren Mugcrcs la guardan ;
y si }lonil)res los echan <lo su Conipania.' Cortis, J list, iV. EspaCia, 34'J-iiO;
ileaiimoii/, Hist. Jlich., MS., S'2.

"liriianl's lllsf. U. S., i. 180.

" ' It is also decreed, that one Stephanua Gomez, who also hiinselfe is a
skillfull Nauigator, shall goe another way, \vhere'l)y betweeno tlic ' icalaos,
and Florida, long since our countries, he saith, he will lindo oui waye to
C'ataia: one onely sliip|ie called a Caraucll is furnialiod for liim, and ho shall
liaiio no other thing in ciiargo, then to search out whether any passj-.gc to the
g.oat Chan, from out tlie diuers windings, and vast conipassmgs of tiiis our
Ocean, were to be fuuude. ' Pttvr Martyr, dec. vi. cap. x.

iH'

il • I'

^i • ■

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

north;'" but Robert Thornc in 1527 urged his king to
oH'orts in that direction. " Nowc then, il" from the
sayde newc founde landes the See bee Nauigable, there
i.s no doubte but sayhng Northwarde and passing the
j)()le, descending to the equinoctiall lyne, wee shall
hitte these Ilandes, and it should bee much more
shorter way than eyther the Spaniard es or the Portin-
gales haue.""

The best charts of these days were not pubHshed.
Confined for the most part to the representation of
actual discoveries, they left the northern parts blank,
and have no special interest in connection with the
present subject. Published maps indulged more freely
in speculation. The Ptolemy map of 1 530, as herewith
given, was circulated with slight variations in different
editions of Ptolemy and Munster for many years ; and

FnAN018CA=S^r"''''''""'

Ptolemy Map, 1530.

other maps, both manuscript and print, were of the
same type, representing North America above Mexico

*" Peter Martjrr, dec. vii. cap. v., about this time wrote: ' But concerning
the strayght there is little hope ;' and especially had lie no faith in north
ern prosjiccts. ' To the south ! To the south ! For the great and exceeding
riches of the ^i^Cquiiioctiall, they tliat sccke riches must not goe vnto the
cold and frozen north.' See liri/an/'ii Hist. U. S., i. 1.50.

" Tlwme's Book, iii UakiuyVa Divers Voy., 48; Id., Voy., i. 214-20.

GUZMAN AND JIMENEZ.

as a narrow continent oxtcinling north-eastward to tlio
region of (Greenland, se{)arated tr<Mu upper luilia by
a wide strait, and nearly severed just above Florida
by j\ broad inlet from the west. The origin of this
inlet or bay is not known, but it was ])robably founded
on certain unpubhshed reports of Verrazano or Go-
mez. Orontius Fine, in his map of 1531, adhered to

Orontius Fink's Map, 1531.

the original idea that the new regions were part of
Asia, disregarding the conjectures of his contempo-
raries, which, if accidentally more accurate than his,
were much less consistent with real knowledge.

Nuiio de Guzman's conquest in 1531, extending
to Siualoa, did much to discredit earlier tales of a
province of Amazons; but the discovery of a place
called Aztatlan seemed to furnish some confirma-
tion of supposed aboriginal traditions about an Aztec
migration from the north-west. In 1533 the efforts of
Cortes were so far successful that Jimenez, one of his
commanders, discovered land which was supposed to
be an island and named Santa Cruz. Had Jimenez
been able to explore more fully the eastern coast of
his new land, the theory would doubtless have been
on his return that he had reached a part of the

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

Asiatic continent, and had entered tlie mouth of the
lonff souirht strait. This would have been natural,
and might have had nmeh mnuence in shapnig later
conjecture and ex})loration ; but Cortes was intent
not only on finding the strait but rich islands on the
way to India; therefore he was willing to accept the
new discovery as an island, even after a fruitless at-
tempt at occupation and finding riches. The idea that
it was an island was soon abandoned, only to be revived
for a longer life in later years. Meanwhile some one
called attention to a popular romance, some twenty-
five years old, in which the following passage occurred :
"Know that on the right hand of the Indies there is
an island called California, very near to the terres-
trial paradise, which was peopled with black women,
without any men among them, becauce they were
accustomed to live after the fashion of Amazons."
Therefore the now island was appropriately named
California, because of its position, its supposed wealth,
and of the Amazons of native tradition.

At the same time Diego de Guzman made a trip
from Culiacan to the Yaqui, to verify the reports of
the Seven Cities, and of a river four or five leagues
wide flowing into the South Sea, and having an iron
chain stretched across its mouth to prevent boats
penetrating the interior." On the eastern coast
Jacques Cartier was questioning the Indians of Canada
about the west. Referring doubtless to the great
lakes, they said that from the upper St Lawrence
there " was fresh water, which went so farre upwards,
that they had never heard of any man who had gone
to the head of it, and that there is no other passage
but with small boates." Less intelligible, but equally
interesting to the hearers, was their statement that
from Hochelaga was but a, month's journey to a
country of cinnamon and cloves.*' Agnese's map of

" Ovzman, Seguiula Rel. Avdn. 303. The Seven Cities may have been an
afterthought of the autlior, as he did not write until some years after the
events descrilicd.

^■^ Itamumo, Viujgi, iii. 453; Ilakluyt's Voy., iii, ilS.

II f

VACA, SOTO, AND NIZA. i»

1530 and a Portuguese map of the same year are
essentially the same as the Ptolemy map of 1530,
except that the north-western coast Hne is for the
most part left vague and indefinite, being reprewenteJ
hy (lotted lines, and that the latter lacks the narrow-
ing to an isthmus just above Florida, but shows f.
strait affording a passage to Cathay just below Baca-
laos, or Newfoundland,"

It was in 1536 that Cabeza de Vaca arrived in
Sinaloa and Mexico from his overland trip. His
report contained little or nothing that was marvellous
about the north. He had received a few turquoises
and emeralds from the Indians, who said they came
from the north, "whore were populous towns and very
large houses,"" referring of course to the Pueblo
towns. But this in connection with other rumors of
northern towns was sufScient to kindle anew the flame
of adventure. While Soto was wandering in the broad
Mississippi Valley without contributing anything of
importance to the marvels of the Northern Mystery,
Friar Marcos de Niza started northward from Culia-
can, and went so far probably as to come actually in
sight of one of the towns at Cibola, or Zufii; though
Hernan Cortds and others regarded Niza's narrative
as pure fiction. Friar Marcos, however, preferred
falsehood or gross exaggeration to the truth. He
jiroved to his own satisfaction that California was
an island, and that there were thirty others rich in
pearls; he learned that the coast turned abruptly to
the west in 35°; he learned much of a country richer
and more populous than Mexico, including Cibola,
Totonteac, Abacus, and Marata; he saw from a dis-
tance Cibola, a town larger than Mexico, though the
smallest of the Seven Cities; he listened credulously
to, if he did not invent, stories of gold and precious

" See Ko/iPh Witt. Dij<cov., 292, 296. In Id., 296, is another similar map
by Homcm, 1540, without the strait; but thero is a strait between iliicalaoa
auit ioehuid.

^■' Ccdiiza de raca. Relation, 107.

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

stones being in common use; and after taking formal
possession of this New Kingdom of San Francisco
lie leturncd to Mexico in 1539.^" Niza's misstate-
ments were soon exposed ; but nevertheless they were
widely circulated, and their influence was felt for
many years. The names Cibola, Totonteac, and the
Seven Cities, semi -mythic in later years, originated
with him; though the last had, before the discovery
of America, been applied to a mythic region in the
Atlantic.

In 1540-3 were made the famous expeditions of
Coronado, Ulloa, Alarcon, and Cabrillo, with which
the reader is familiar. The reports of these explorers
were ])lain sto,tements of fact,, They were disappointed
in their expectation of rich kingdoms in the north;
but they indulged in no wild speculations of what
might have been found had they penetrated farther.
They revealed the coast line beyond latitude 40°;
showed California to be a peninsula; explored both
shor-es of the gulf; discovered the Colorado in two
places; exposed learly all Niza's misrepresentations;
proclaimed in their true character the Pueblo towns
of modern Arizona and New Mexico; discovered the
Ptio Grande del Norte; and even explored the great
plains far to the north-east. Indeed they made known
substantially all that was to be known for over tv/o
centuries of northern geography; and they practi-
cally convinced Spain that in this region there wl-s
no lield for conquests similar to those of Cort($s and
Pizarro, though there might be a strait above the
fortieth parallel.

Yet especially in the records of Coronado's adven-
tures A\-ere left the seeds of mystery and perplexity.
, So fully was exploration suspended that the regions
described became semi-mythical. It was not rare in
later years for even Spaniards to discuss the general
topic of northern geography, without any apparent

^"Niza, Deecvbrimiento dt '-• Sielc Ciudadcs.

QUIVIRA A\T) TOTONTEAC.

knowledge of Coronado's achievements." It was not
clear from th^^ narratives whether the great rivers
visited by Cdruenas, Alarcon, and Diaz were one,
two, or three streams; nor was it known whether the
river of Tigucx, the Rio del Norte, flowed into the
Atlantic or the Pacific gulf The expedition to Qui-
vira was undertaken by Coronado from Tiguex, on
the Rio del Norte, in consequence of reports by
Indian.^ of a great kingdom in the north-east, rich in
gold and other wealth. He journeyed far in that
direction, to 40" as he believed, and found Quivira a
wigwam town of the plains. It had none of the re-
ported attractions; and one of the two natives who
had been most liberal with information, confessing
his deception, was put to death; but the other, and
some of the Spaniards, having returned to Tiguex
before reaching Quivira, refused to believe in the
thoroughness of the search, and in the non-existence
of this wondrous wealthy kingdom. Hence the imag-
inary Quivira Avell nigh crowded the wigwam town
out of existence. That it was rich and far north was
ail that was remembered, its longitude not being
taken into account. Though Coronado had clearly
defined its direction from New Mexico, it was gener-
ally placed on the coast of the South Sea.

For the transfer of Quivira from the north-east to
the north-west perhaps the historian Gomara was
responsible, as he certainly was for other misrepre-
sentations. He stated that Ciirdeuas, who really went
from Zuili to the Colorado Canon, reached the coast,
perhaps confounding his exploration with that of Diaz;
and, after describing the trip to Quivira, he wrote:
"They saw on the coast ships which had pelicanr;
of gold and silver on their prows, with merchandise
that they thought to be from Cathay and China,

"Garc^s, in Doc. Hiet. Mex., serie ii. torn. i. 30.5-7, seems to think timt
Bome of Coronado's men reaolicd the Santfi. Bilrbara channel of AltaCJalifonii.i.
JloU I'adilla, Com/. X. Gulkia. MS., KID, tells us tiuit if Oonjuadtj Uati /'(i.ie
fai ulitT no'lh and soincwliat wcstwavdly he would have reached what la now
(1740) kuowii ua i>e\» Mexico.

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

■; i

'I *

because they made signs that they had sailed thirty
days,"" meaning perhaps to connect the falseliood
with tiie visit of Cilrdenas to the coast, though later
writers did not so understand it, and located these ships
at Quivira, or rather carried Quivira to the ships.
Niza/s Totonteac, as the natives told Coronado, wc^ 3 a
small town on a lake; and this mythic town, as we
shall see, long lived under one name or another.
Moreover, several items of really later orisrin were
sometiuaes dated back to Coronado's time.

Before Coronado undertook his exploravi^.: Niza's
discoveries becoming known had created some ex-
citement in Spain, a curious phase of which was
a quarrel in the Council of the Indies, in Spain.
Cor*".H8, Guzman, Soto, and Alvarado, each had a
license for discovery in the north, and in their ab-
sence were represented by counsel. Each lawyer
endeavored to make the stupid consejo understand
that Cibola was in the very heart of the particular
territory his client was authorized to rule; and that
to allow encroachment by another on a conquest for
whicli such sacrifices had been made would be a
grievous wrong. After hearing the arguments m
favor of California, New Galicia, and Florida, the
council wisely came to the conclusion that it waa
unable to determine the lo«;ation of Cibola, and ac-
cordingly authorized Vicero} Mendoza to continue
his explorations for the province."

Ulloa's voyage left sonio doubt whether there was &
strait just abov«; Santa Cruz separating the southern
end of th* peninsula. Alarcon was entertained on
the gulf and river shores by the natives with reports
of grand rivers, copyjer mountains, powerful chief-
tains, and bearded white men. One or more 'old men'
usually accompanied the commander in his voyage
on the Colorado, who did not fail to impose upon the

^"Oomara, Jfiff. Ind. Ti(>~i It is ropeutcd by Salmeron and other writcni,
with vurious I'luliellislinicntf!.

'*Froce60 del. Mai.{Ms, 300-408.

.1.

RUSCELLI AND MUXSTER.

oredulity of his visitor, telling him among otiicr things
of an old woman, Guatazaca, who livod without eat-
ing, on a lake, or near the sea, or by a mountain, in the
country w^liere copper bells were made. Cabrillo, be-
yond hearing rumors of white men in the interior,
contributed nothing to mythic annals; in fact his
exploration was well nigh forgotten in later years.
Most prominently to be remembered in connection
with Cabrillo was that he is said to have discovered
and named Cape Mendocino — which he certainly did
not.

Two maps of 1540 and 1541 represent very accu-
rately the peninsula coasts, the gulf, and the mainland
shore; but they leave the interior a blank.^° Iluscelli's
map of 1544, which I reproduce, adheres to lirst

RusCELU's Map, 1544.

principles indeed. Not only are New Spain and
Florida represented as part of Asia, but Bacalaos
is pictured as a central land connected by narrow
isthmuses on the west with Asia and on the east
with Europe. A voyage to India according to this

••See maps in Hial. Cent. Am., i. 153-4.

THE NORTHERX MYSTERY.

map would liave Ijcen attended with many difficulties.
The map in JMunster's Cosmographia of 1545 is, as

Munster's Map, 1545.

will be observed, a copy of the PtolewAj of 1530, so
far as the southern parts of Temistitan, Florida, Frap-
cisca, and Cortercal are concerned; but it exten.-^
farther north. Bacalaos, or Newfoundland, joins
Europe as in Ruscelli's map, but it reaches far to
the west, as does upper India far to the east, until
a strait is left between them, into the northern ocean;
while south of these lands is ' the strait,' with the
inscription, "Per hoc fretii iter patet ad Molucas."

As we pass 1550 to record the use that was made
of the brilliant discoveries achieved before that date,
with the vagaries founded on those discoveries, and
on new ones, real or fictitious, we find in Ramusio's
map of 155G'''' the first printed representation of
North America as it was actually known; that is, witli
indications of a broad continent, but all loft blank
beyond the points of discovery. In the western iutc-

" liammio, Viagf/i,\euct\a,, 1565, iii. 455-6. The first edition of this volmae
wa« in 155<). 1 am not cei-tiiin that it coutaineJ llic same iiiap; but, it iui»».«i»
uu dillerenue. Also in ii)Uv< an' 2\iKtii, ]A. iv. uu. '4.

RAMUSIO AND HOMEM.

rior a vague record of Coronatlo's expedition is given,
but with a curious transposition of east for west in
the k)cation of Cibohi, Tiguex, Cicuic, and Quivira
respectively, all, it would seem, for the purpose of
following Gomara's su[)posed theory that Quivira

Rampsio's Map, 1556.

was on the western coast. And there Quivira re-
mained for many years. The Sierra Nevada has been
named by Cabrillo. California, not named, is a pe-
ninsula of peculiar shape not copied by later map-
makers; and beyond the limits of my copy, some 50"
west of California, lies an island, Giapam. There is
no expressed oi)inion respecting the strait. In its
mam features this map is of a tvpe often repeated.
The manuscript map of the Portuguese Ilomem,
m»«le in 15J8,''^" dili'ers v»idely in the nortli-west.
Homem adheres to the old idea that Norti. America
is a very narrow continent, extending from sxutli-west
to north-east; and he gives the navigator his choice

'■■'Taken froni AV.;./'.< //w/. Discov., 377. Most n;
no loaiirnj im tlua suiijuct.

MlMt. N. \V, CoABT, Vol. I. i

iiiittod, as having

■'%

THE NORTHEEN MYSTERY.

(■1

I !

of many ways by water to the Pacific. As Kolil
says: "Our author appears to have had a great
passion for islands and a strong behef in north-west

.•■^:^-£z?^^/fA

T K K K A
AOKICULE

iHt u itUfiOeniiliiuM ^£^

Homem's Map, 1558.

?assagos from the Atlantic to the western ocean,
le cuts up the whole of northern New France into
large islands, and converts several branches of the
St Lawrence into sea-channels and straits. He puts
down a strait in every place where Cartier, in his
report, had said he had looked for one, even if he did
not find it." From vague rumors of the great lakes
and Hudson Bay he makes the great mare lepcwa-
rtmtium a name for the western ocean, tiie origin of
which is not known.^

About 15GO-5 some few men m Spain became
greatly interested in finding the northern passage,
though thev did not succeed in arouninjj the court to
actual endeavor. Prominent among these was the

^ Ramusio, V'uiggi, iii. 6, writing in 1553, Reems to liave ha<l like ideas
of_ Canada. ' From which [Cartier's reports] we are not yet clear whether ib
[New France] ia joined to the mainland of Florida and New Spain, or 'a all
dirided into i-ilands ; or wliether it ia possible to go by ttofie })arts to the
province of Catliay, a» Sebastian Cabot wrote mo many yemii» -Ago. '

MKNENDEZ AKD URDAXETA.

Adclantado Pedro Menendcz do Avilos, famous in the
annals of Florida. He wrote several papei-s on the
subject, and in one of them stated that in 1554 he had
brought from New Spain a man who claimed to havo
been on a French ship, which had sailed four hundri'd
leagues on a hrazo dc mar runnin<' inland from Now-
foundland toward Florida. The ship's crew then
landed and a quarter of a league distant found another
channel, on which they built four small vessels, and
sailed another three hundred leagues, to latitude 48 ,
north of Mexico, near the mines of Zacatecas and San
Martin, where were large and prosperous settlements.
The channel led to the South Sea, toward China and
the Moluccas, though it was not followed so far. Tlu
French ship on her return was wrecked, but the nar-
rator with some others was saved b}' a Portuguese
vessel. This was perhaps the first definite narrative of
a fictitious vovai^e throuofh the famous strait. The
story was often repeated; and other like trips were
invented, as we shall see. Menendez doubtless tild
the story in good faith, being deceivetl by an adven-,
turerwdio took advantage of his enthusiasm.'^*

One of the Spaniards who like Menendt'/, was in-
terested in the problem was Andres de I^rdaneta,
friar and n.'ivigator, the man who first crossed the
Pacnfic eastward and discovered the northern rou^e.
Urdaneta was acquainted with Menendez, and know-

''■' Xavarrett, Viar/fs Apdrri/os, 39; /'/., in Sutil y Mex., Viur/e, xxxix.-xl.
It was in 1565 that MonenJez told this storv ; but he had apparently prowentcd
a memorial oa the passage soon .after 1554. \avarrett', in tiic I'iaijr-! ApOrrij'o':,
quotes from several original communications of Menendcz. In one of tlicm
be speaks of a salt-water channel from the region of the bay of Santa. Maria, in
latitude .37°, which 'goes towards the W. X. W., and it ia suspected th.t it
goes ti> the South Sea; aud the Indians kill many cows like those of Kcv
Spain [buf&Ioes], which Coronado fouml in those plains, and carry the hides
in canoes to sell to the French at Newfoundland;' aud in a subsequent one,
of "another ftra::o de 7nar which le.ids towards China aud enters the South
Sea: and this is deemed certain, althou);(h no one has gone by it to the Soiuh
Sea, but they have gone by it over 1)00 leagues W. N. W., starting at 4'2' and
reaching 48'', 500 leagues north of Mexico, an<l not over 100 leagues from llio
South Sea or from China itself.' Acosta, I/Ut. Xat. liid., lo_'-.'J, allude i 1(»
Menendez and his positive belief in a strait. ' El Adelautado I'eilro Melcdez
hubre t\ platico y excelite en lu mar iUirmaua, ser cosa cieriu, cl auer
Estrocho.'

■f. $

m THE NORTHERX MYSTERY.

ing all the current reports about the strait and its
discovery l)y foreigners, deemed it of the utmost im-
portance for Spain to ascertain the truth. In a docu-
ment of 1500 he wrote of the report current in New
Spain about the French finding a passage from New-
foundland, beginning above latitude 70°, extending
west and Houth-west to below 50°, which afforded
open Hoa navigation to China; also that on their re-
turn tliey had found another exit below 50° toward
Florida.'"* This writer was wiser and less credulous
tlian Menendez, for he never placed implicit faith in
these rumors; still less did ho claim for himself the
discovery of the strait. Yet such a claim was attrib-
uted to iiini. One Salvatierra, a Spanish nobleman
returning home from the West Indies, touched at
Ireland in 15G8, and there related that Urdanetahad
found the passage in 1556 or 1557, and had shown
the narrator a map on which the discovery was laid
down. The friar had revealed the matter to the king
of Portugal, who had urged him to keep it a profound
secret, lest the English should come to know it and
make trouble for Spain and Portugal.^" The exact
origin of this tale is not known, although it was not
without its influence in later speculations.

In 1562 the Frenchman Ribault by no means
neglected the problem on the Carolina coast. "As we
now demaunded of them concerning ye land called
Seuola [Cibola], whereof some liaue written not to
bee farre from thence, and to bee situate within the
lande, and toward the Sea called the South Sea. They
shewed vs by signes that which we vnderstood well
enough, that they might goc thither with their Boates,
by riuers, in twentie dayes."^'' In 1563, when Fran-
cisco de Ibarra reached the province of Topia, in
north-western Durango, by some means he and his

".Vornrre'c, r;r(;/M^l/)dcr;/bs,.'?4-40; f<l.,\nSHtily ]\fex.,Viiifj('s,xxxvi.-x\i.

'"^Fors:tr's J list. Voy., 441), repeated brietly by other writers. Forster
givea no authorities.

-' liibauU's True and Last Diacoiierie of Florida, in Ilakiuyt'a Div, foil..
102-3.

iihi

ABRAHAM ORTELIUS.

associates persuaded tlieinsclves without any known
reason that they had found a grand and rich country,
a second Mexico; and wo it was represented in l!u)
reports under the name of Copahx. It is probahh*,
however, that this was dehberate deception rather
than the enthusiasm of cxph)rcrs.^*

I reproduce the map puhhshcd by the famous^
geographer Abraham Orteluis in his Theatrum Orhis
Terrarum of 1574.^ It will be seen that this map
combines the leading features of the Ramusio and
Ptolemy-Munster maps. From tlie latter we have
the strait, and even the indentation, though now re-
duced to a small bay and not almost severing Canatla
from Florida, while as in Ramusio we have a broad
stretch of continent, and an attempt to show the
discoveries of Niza, Coronado, Ulloa, Alarcon, and
slightly those of Cabrillo. The topographical features
of the peninsula and gulf of California are much un-

I)roved, also the course of the rivers flowing into the
atter. Totonteac and other names are added from
Niza, and those of Tuchano and Tolm from unknown
sources. The Gomara- Ramusio transposition of tlio
Cibola-Quivira towns is continued ; and Tiguex, with
its river, really the Rio (jrrande del Norte of New
Mexico, is transferred, as Cicuic (Pecos) and Quivira
had been before, to the coast of what was later Upper
California. Finally the kingdom of Anian appears
on the same coast above G0°.

This name of Anian, as applied to a north-west rn
kingdom and to the famous strait, apparently origi-
nated during this decade of 1570-80, but under cir-
cumstances that have never been explained. There
was a theory, of which, however, I hear nothing Vjc-

^"fbarrii, Relaclon, 553-01.

'" Orti'livs, Thrutrvm Orbis Terrarvm, Aiitweqj, 1574, gr. folio, tf.xt, 60.
There were t^arlier editions of 1570 and 1571; and later ones, in difFerciit
languages, of 1.J88, 15!)5, 1508, l(iO;{, 100(j, and 10-24; also a Th(sa„i;,ii
GeO'jru/jhkiiK, by the same author, of 1578, ISflO, and 101 1. In my edition of
the Tlu'otrnia there are over 70 brilliantly colored maps, finely engraved on
copper by Ilogenberg, two of which, the TypvK Orhis, or the wjrld, and
Anwricce nive Novi Orhis, A^'cwt Dfucri/ilio, relate to the Pacitic States ter-
ritory. One page of text is given on Ajnerica, of no special importance.

t ,'»

THE NAME ANIAN.

fore the eighteenth century, that Cortcrcal in 1500
named the strait from two or three brothers who
accompanied him, or from one of his own hrotliers.
There were also vague traditions of three brothers who
had passed through a strait, sometimes called from
them ' Fretum Trium Fratrum.' It appears that there
was a province of Ania somewhere in Asia, as de-
scribed by the early travellers and geographers."
Again, we learn that "An excellent learned man of
Portingale, of singuler grauety, authoritie, and expe-
I'ience, tolde mee [Hakluyt, in 1582] very lately that
one Anus Cortercal, [this being editorially explained
as a form of * loao,' 'loannes,' or 'John,'] Captayne
of the yle of Terccra, about the yeere 1574, which is
not aboue eight yeeres past, sent a Shippe to discouer
the Northwest passage of America, and that the same
shippe arriuing on the coast of the saide America, in
fiftie cyghte degrees of latitude, founde a great entrance
exceeding deepe and broade without all impediment
of ice, into which the}?- passed aboue twentie leagues,
and founde it alwaies to trende towarde the South,
the lande lying lowe and plaine on oyther side : And
they perswaded them selues verely that there was
a way open into the south sea."^^ Here, then, we
have as elements the old popular belief in a strait,
the Asiatic province of Ania, the ' three brothers,' the
voyages of the Cabots and Cortereals, the fact that
there were several 'brothers' of both families, the name
Anus Cortereal, the renewed interest in the subject
at this juncture, and the circulation of the name on
Ortelius' maps. Out of all this was evolved the name
strait of Anian, which early in the seventeenth cen-

"•I have rot found any mentioii of Ania in any document or map of
earlier date tlian that of which I am now treating ; but Burney, Huit. JJiscov.
HoiUh Sea, i. 5, implies that Marco Polo mentions the province. 80 does (jil-
bei-t, ill his Discouise of 1370. Ortelius himself gives the name Ania in the
interior opjwsite Japan in his map of Asia. Purchas, Hia Pili/rimen, iv. iXKJ,
mentions Anian as an island on the coast of China. D'Avity, Le Monde, 1037,
has Anian on his general map as the extreme north-eastern province of Asia.

" /lakluyt'ii Divers Vioj., 7. Nothing further is known about this voyage,
but it is not unlikely that a Portuguese navigator in these times may have
entered Hudson Strait.

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l/.A

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

1 1<

tury became common. It is not unlikely that light
may yet be thrown on the process of evolution. At
present all is conjecture. I know not whether the
name Anian appears in the Ortelius editions of 1570
and 1571, as m that of 1574; nor do I know his
motive, cr that of the author he followed, for trans-
ferring the province to America. There is no doubt,
liowevo , that the strait was named from the province,
and it is plain that the resemblance of the names Anus
and Anian caused the discovery and name of the strait
to be attributed to the Cortereals.*"

In the cosmographical work of Peter Apianus, as
amended by Gemma Frisius and published in 1575,"
are two maps, which it is not necessary to copy.
Oi.3, with movable, revolving attachments, represents
North America, without names, as an island detached
from South America, equidistant between what may
be regarded as Cuba and Japan, and a little larger
than either. The other, with only the names T/w-
mistiton and Baccalearum, makes of the continent a
very narrow strip of land attached to South America,
extending north-west, north, and north-east, and sepa-
rated by a long and wide strait containing an island
from Eastern India in the r6le of an Arctic continent.^

•'Amoretti, Vo;/. McUdonado, 26, 36-9, favors the theory that the name
Anian may have had a Chinese or'gin, and gives quotations and references to
support that view; and that the form Streto de Anian on the earliest maps
indicates its oi igm through Venetian- Italian medium, that is, Marco Polo, pcr-
Iiaps. Ho cites Sprengcl to the eflfect that the name is on Mercator's map of
1J70; and Engel as having seen it on a map of 1566. Amoretti is Often
inaccurate in his references, as when he says that Urdaneta saw the name on
c map of 15(38, and that Gali visited the strait in 1582; but it is not impos-
sible, nor inconsistent with the views expressed in the text, that the name
began to bo used just before rather than just after 1570. Malte-Brun, in
AnnalfH dca Fof/atjeit, xix. 395, says that Ani is Japanese for 'brother,' and
suggests that the name may have originated from the Portuguede having
told the Japanese of the discovery by the 'brothers.' In Voia/jea an Nora,
RecufU, f, Ea^iii, 82, wo read : 'On parla du Golfe d' Anian, & travers duquel les
Japonois et ceux du Pais do Jesno assuroient qu'il y avoit un passage ju8qu'&
la Mer de Tarto.rie. On alia au doU du Japon, jusqu'au 50°. On entra dons
nn Detroit fort commode, pour aller dans TOceau Septentrional. '

"^Apiaiw, Cornnoifraphia, Anvers, 1575. The work is chieHy theoretical;
the description of the New World, fol. 34, seems to be taken from Goinara ;
tlie maps are on fols. 32, 35.

'' In Gill>frt'» Digcoume of a Dinconerie for a neio Passage to Cataia, London,
lu76, is a map ' in which all impedimeuta in the way of the north-west pas-

I1i!

LADRILLERO AND GILBERT.

In 1584 one Juan Fernandez de Ladrillcro made a
sworn statement in Spain respecting the strait, of
whose existence some eight hundred leagues north of
Compostela he was sure. He was over sixty years
of age, had gone to America in 1535, and had navigated
tho^e waters as a pilot for twenty-eight years. The
strait was said to lead to where the English caught
codfish, or bacalaos; and he with others once at-
tempted to find it. Had he been alone with one
vessel he would have gone on and made the discovery ;
but contrary winds and damages to the accompanying
ships forced them to turn back, and they remained in
the Californias until the vessels were ordered to join
Villalobos' expedition to the Moluccas.^ A Portuguese
had written to inform the emperor that he had been
imprisoned by the king of Portugal because ho had
found the strait, and passed through it from one ocean
to the other. The emperor notified the viceroy, and
the latter therefore sent out the expedition which
Ladrillero accompanied. He had heard other pilots
talk of this matter; and especially an Englishman
who had sailed with him twenty-seven years, and wlio
with his countrymen had entered the strait while
fishing for bacalaos. Now therefore in 1574, when the
English and French were believed to be entering the
South Sea by this codfish canal, Ladrillero, notwith-
standing his age and infirmities, was willing to go and
fortify the strait for Spain.^ Naturally enough an
old pilot, desiring a position of honor and profit,
found something in his store of old recollections to
support a growing theory, and counted on his expe-
rience in American waters to give him preferment.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert's ideas on our general topic
were set forth in 157G in A Dlscovrse Of a Discouerie

sage arc cleared away in a most summary manner.' Introd. to Hakluyt Soc.
reprint of HaUuyt's Div. Voy., 1, li.

*■> Villalobos' voyage was in 1542, which fixes the date of Ladrlllero'a
exploits. It is not unTikelv that lie may liave been with Alarcon or Ulloa.

^' Ladrillero's Memorial iu the Spanish archives, consulted by Navorrete,
SutU y Hex., xlii.-iii.; V^iayes Apdc., 41.

i;;.:

3 : ■: r

' 11

Vhi' ;l

■. !

1»

THE northi:rn mystery.

for a new Passage to Catai'a.^ His first chapter was
designed "to proue by authoritie a passage to be on
the North side of America, to goe to Cataia, China,
and to the East India," the authority being that of
the ancient writers like Plato and Aristotle touching
the old Atlantis, confirmed by all the 'best modern
geographers' like Frisius, Apianus, Munster, and the
rest, to the effect that America is an island. " Then,
if when no part of the sayd Atlantis was oppressed
by water, and earthquake, the coasts round about the
same were nauigable: a farro greater hope now re-
niaineth of the same by the Northwest, seeing the
most part of it was, since that time, swallowed up
with water, which could not utterly take away the
olJe deeps and chanols, but rather, be an occasion of
the inlarging of the olde, and also an inforcing of a
great many new: why then should now we doubt?. . .
seeing that Atlantis now called America was euer
knowen to be an Hand, and in those dayes nauigable
round about, which by accesse of more water could
not be diminished." The writer adds: "What moued
those learned men to aflfirme thus much, I know not,
or to what ende so many and sundry trauellers of both
ages haue allowed the same: But I coniecture that
they would neuer haue so constantly affirmed, or noti-
fied their opinions therein to the world, if they had
not had great good cause, and many probable reasons,
to haue led them thereunto I"

The second chapter is ' to prooue by reason' what
had been so clearly established by 'authoritie' in the
first. The reason was threefold: 1st, the deepening
of the waters in the north, whereas "all seas are main-
tained bv the abundance of water, so that the neerer
the ende any Riuer, Bay, or Hauen is, the shallower
it wareth;" 2d, the facts that no intercourse is
known between Asiatic and American peoples, that
Paulus Venetus travelling in Cathay never reached

*^ Oilbert'a Ducourse, London, 1576; reprinted in IlaUuyt'a Voy., iii. 11-24.

A DBCOVRSE OF A DISCOUERIE. W

America, any more thon Coronado, "who trauelled
the North part of America by land," reached Asia;
and 3d, a complicated arganient is founded on the
great ocean current, which not only had been observed
by voyagers, but which must of necessity have a
passage by the north to complete the circle and to
" salve his former wrongs."

In the third chapter is proved "by experience of
sundry men's trauels, the opening of some parts
of this Northwest passage." The travellers were
Paulus Venetus, or Marco P.olo, who sailed fifteen
hundred miles on the coasts of Mangi and Anian
north-eastward, all being open sea so far as he could
discern; and Coronado, who "passing through the
countrey of Quiuira, to Siera Neuada, found there a
great sea," etc., according to the Gomara blunder;
and John Baros, Alvar Nuiiez, Jarques Cartier, and
others, especially Cabot, who in 67° 30' would have
gone to Cathay but for mutiny.

The fourth chapter proves "by circumstance that
the Northwest passage hath been sayled throughout,"
that is, by the 'three brothers' from Europe, and by
certain Indians who came to Germany before the
Christian era, and others in 1160. Next are three
chapters to prove that these Indians could have come
by no other way; and three more of general conclu-
sions and on the advantages of finding the passage.^

"Just after Gilbert, Richard Willes learnedly wrote on 'Certaine other
reasons, or arguments to proouo a passage by the Northwest.' IlalduyCa Voy.,
iii. 24-9. He began bv exerting all his ingenuity and learning to denounce
the scheme, to show that the old writers were in error, or ignorant on the
subject, that there M'as no strait, that it was ice-blocked, tliat the rapid cur-
rent proving its existence would also prevent its navigation, and that if En-
glishmen could pass the strait they might not be permitted to trade. Passages
From Ptolemy, Mercator, and Moletius are adduced in favor of the strait's
non-existence. All this was but a device to give weight to later arguments
by which Mr Willes showed tliat these objections hati no force. His views
were similar to those of Gilbert; but he added the experience of 'a Portugall'
who passed the strait and was imprisoned therefor many years in Lisbon ; of
Urdaneta, 'a Fryer of Mexico, who came out of Mar del Zur tliis way into
Germanie;' of Cabot, who learned tliat the 'straight lyeth neere the 318
Meridian, betweeno 61. and 64. degrees in the eleuation, continuing the same
bredth about 10 degrees West, where it opeueth Southerly more and more,
until it come under the tfopicke of Dancer, and so runneth into Mar del Zur,

\ '

J"i^

I, ■

:'i!,

' ' t

-a

i >l

T i

1 !

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

From the narratives of Martin Frobisher's voyages
of 1576-8 to the inlet bearing his name, and to tlie
Meta Incognita, as the regions of the far north were
often termed from his time, we learn that "the 11.
we found our latitude to be 63. degr. 8. minutes, and
this day we entred the streight," a sentence pregnant
with meaning to the theorists, especially as we read
of the people that " they bee like to Tartars." And
again, "This said streight is supposed to haue passage
into the sea of Sur, which I leaue unknowen as yet.
It seemeth that either here, or not farre hence, the
sea should haue more large entrance, then in other
parts within the frozen or temperate Zone." Later
the author speaks calmly of crossing the inlet to the
east shore, "oeing the supposed continent of Asia,"
and back to the "supposed firme with America."
They were doubtless in the strait, but cosmography
had to yield to the love of gold, believed to be
plentiful in the black rocks around the, explorers.
Yet of the third voyage it is said that Frobishor con-
fessed that "if it had not bene for the charge and caro
he had of the Fleete and fraughted ships, he both
would and could have gone through to the South
Sea."=»

"I, Thomas Cowles of Bedmester, in the countie of
Somerset, Marriner, doe acknowledge, that six yearos
past, at my being at Lisbon, in the kingdome of Portu-
gall, I did heare one Martin Chacke, a Portugall of
Lisbon, reade a booke of his owne making, which he
had set out six yeares before that time, m Print, in
the Portugale tongue, declaring that the said Martin

at the least 18. degrees more in bredth there, than it was where it first began ;'
and of Frobisher, who returned safely from the icy regions. Respecting the
currents, 'Lay you now the nurame hereof together. The riuers ruune wliere
tlie chanels arc most hollow, the sea in taking his course wareth deeper, tlie
Sea waters fall continually from the Korth Southward, the Northeastemo
current striketh downs into the straight we speake of, and is there augmented
with whole mountaiues of ice and snowe. . . . Wheie store of water is, there
is it a thing impossible to want Sea, where Sea not onely doeth not want,
but wareth deeper, there con be discou^red no Ian .1. '

** J/akluyt'nvo!i., iii. ,30-3, 80-1, with on argument proving the existence
of the strait from the tides, etc.

TKOBISHER AND DRAKE.

Chacko had founde, twolve»yeare3 now past, a way 'from
the Portugall Indies, through a gulfe of the New
found Land, which he thought to be in 59. degrees of
the oleuation of the North Pole. By meanes that
hee being in the said Indies, with foure other Shipper
of great burden, and he himsclfe in a small Shippe of
fourscore tunnes, was driuen from the company of
the other foure Shippes, with a Westerly winde; after
which, hee past alongst by a great number of Hands
which were in the gulfe of the said New found Land.
And after hee ouershot the gulfe, hee set no more
sight of any other Land, vntill he fell with the North-
west part of Ireland; and from thence he tooke his
course homewardu, and by that meanes hee came to
Lisbone foure or fiue weekes before the other fouro
Ships of his company that he was separated from,
a.s before srad. And since the same time, I could
nouer see any of those Books; because the King com-
manded them to be called in, and no more of them to
bo printed, lest in time it would be to their hindrance.
In witnesse whereof I set to my hand and marke, the
ninth of Aprill, Anno 1579."*° All of which explains
itself I, like Cowles, have never seen any more of
those books.

Francis Drake's voyage in 1579 had some indirect
bearing on the present subject. It was the hope of
finding a strait by which to reach home with his
ill-m)tten gains that carried him into the northern
I'acitic; and his failure in this respect caused England
for a long time to confine her search to the Atlantic
side. His presence and ravages in the South Sea made
Spain realize more fully the importance of finding
•and fortifying the strait for her own protection; ajid,
Diake's homeward route being for years not clearly
known, rumors were current tliat he had actually
found the northern passage, and had returned. More-
over, there appeared soon alter a fictitious narrative

*" Puri-hfi-1, ffis Pi!;jr!mi's, iii. 849. Tlie story is mentioned by Jefferya,
Ruruey, uiid uuiuy otiiers tioni tiiid source.

i ..

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; i.

I <:\

..1,^.. . I

a..

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

connected with this expedition. Padre Ascension told
the tale to Padre Zdrate de Salmeron, who wrote of
it in 1626. It seems that "a foreign pilot, named
N. de Morena, who entered al inrjUs" — whatever that
may mean — "from the Sea of the North to that of
the South by the Strait of Anian," gave this account
to Rodrigo del Rio, then governor of New Galicia:
Morena was set on shore in the region of the strait
of Anian "very sick and more dead than alive" by
Drake as the latter was returning homeward." Re-
covering his health he wandered through divers lands
for four years, over more than five hundred leagues
of tierrajirme, until he came to a brazo de mar dividing
New Mexico from a great western land. This body
of water ran north and south, and seemed to tlie

f)ilot to extend northward to the port where he had
anded. On its banks were many large settlements,
including a nation of white people, who possessed
horses and fought with lance and shield. "Padre
Antonio [Ascension] says he believes they are Mus-
covites, I say that when we see them we shall know
who they are," writes Salmeron. On the coast where
he was put ashore Morena saw many good ports and
great bays, and from that point ho thought he could
sail to Spain in forty days. He came out finally in
I few Mexico, and went down to Sombrerete, where
ho told his story to Governor Rio. He was going
to England to bring his discovery before the court,
but was willing to guide the governor to the strait."
Drake's narratives do not record the putting-ashore

" The apparent meaning is that the pilot had entered the Pacific by the
strait with Drake, and was Linded near its entrance as ho was about to return
by tlio same route ; yet the Spaniards ought to have known well enough the .
way by which Drake came, even if uncertain how ho returned. *

*'^ tialmeron, Itelacinneade N. Mex., 51-2. Rodrigo del Rio y Loza was
governor of Nueva Vizcaya, not Galicia, in 1590-6. Padre Nid, Apunta-
tnientos, 78, identifies Drake's port with the mouth of the Carmelo River ! ' Ese
desomboqno del rio Carmelo y un puerto quo 61 hace, que el padre Zdrate no
apunta, quizd t)orquo Sebastian Vizcaino no Burgi6 en 61, y se llama eso puerto
el puerto del Draque, correspondo con esa punta de Pinos y puerto de Mon-
terey al descmbotiue del rio Colorado, que entra acd en nuestra costa con
vointidos leguaa de boca, en cnarenta y uu grados, de latitud y doscientos cin>
cuenta y uno de longitud.'

■m

IN NEW MEXICO. fl|

of any man in the north. Morcna's story was doubt-
less pure fiction; but it is probable that it had an
influence in forming the later belief that California
was an island.

Rodrigo del Rio, to whom Morena made known his
adventures, giving his views in 1582 as an expert
respecting the proper outfit for a force to explore New
Mexico, recommends that material be furnished for
building a vessel, both for crossing brazos de mar likely
to be encountered, and perhaps for returning by water.
He understands that the country reaches to the strait
near the Gran China, in latitude 57°, and plausibly
concludes that in a territory so broad there must bo
notable things.**

Espejo, in his New Mexican travels of 158 1-3, found
no occasion to build ships, nor did he reach the Gran
China; but a Concho Indian in northern Chihuahua
told him of towns having houses of three and four,
stories situated on a great lake some fifteen days'
journey to the west; at Zufii and west of it he heard
again of a great lake, now sixty days distant, with
great and rich cities, whose inhabitants wore golden
bracelets; and finally, in the region of the modern
Prescott, he was told of a mighty river behind the
sierra, on the banks of which were towns in com-
parison with which those already seen were nothing,
the inhabitants using canoes to cross the river and
pass from town to town." And Vargas, writing just
after Espejo's return, attaches no small importance to
that great river, really the Colorado, suggesting that
it might be the Estrecho de Bacalaos. Moreover, the
reported lake towns might have a significance in con-
nection with the fact that the ancient Culhuas camo
from those regions." Thus did men try to arouse the
old enthusiasm for northern discovery dormant since
Coronado's time.

**Iiodrigvez, Testitnonio.

*^E*pt}o, Helacion; IlnkluyVs Voy,, iii. 38&

*'' Rodiijuei, TcMimonio,

LLUii

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•f-t" kr
i .1

111"

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

i ;

J ,

Richard Ilakluyt published in London in 1582 his
Divers voyages touching the discouerie of America, from
which I have already drawn freely. A kind of prefa-
tory note is entitled, "A verie late and great proba-
bilitie of a passage by the north-west part of America
in 58 degrees of northerly latitude," which probably
rests on the discoveries of Anus Cortereal in 1574,
already cited. Then in the * Epistle Dedicatorie ' are
set down eight reasons for belief in the north-west
passage. These, with which the reader is already so
familiar that a mere allusion will suffice, were: Ist,
Cabot's statement to Ramusio that the north of
America is all divided into islands; 2d, Verrazano's
map, to be noticed presently ; 3d, Gil Gonzalez' explora-
tions on the western coast of Central America; 4th
and 5th, the reports of natives to Jacques Cartier;
Gth, the reports of Florida Indians to Ribault; 7th,
the experience of Frobisher "on the hyther side, and
Sir Fraunces Drake on the back side of America,"
with the testimony of the Zeni respecting Estotiland;
and 8th, the judgment of Mercator, "there is no
doubt but that there is a straight and short way open
into the West, euen vnto Cathay."^"

The map published in Hakluyt's work and here re-
produced was made by Michael Lok, who claimed,
Vv'ithout much apparent reason, to have fashioned it
largely after Verrazano's charts. It is a strange com-
bination of the geographical ideas that we have no-
ticed on earlier maps. The entrance to the strait,
which is short and leads by two arms into a great
north-western sea, is by Frobisher's inlet. Tlio bay
of old that so nearly cuts the continent in twain is
christened ' Mare de Verrazano, 1524,' though that
navigator is not known to have reported having seen
or heard of any such western sea. California is still

*^ llaklnyfs D'w. Voy., 7-13. He adds: 'And heere, to conclude and shut
vp this matter, I hauo heardc my selfe of Jlcrchanta of erudite, that liave
liucd long ill .Spaino, that King Phillip hath matle a lawe of late that none of
ills Bubicciea t.hall discouer to the Northwardea of iiue and fortie degrees of
America,' lest the u'cruit be fouud.

JOHN DAVIS.

a peninsula, but is joined to the main by a narrow
isthmus in 45°, where the coast turns abruptly east-
ward to and past Cabrillo's Sierra Nevada. What

j*^ j#»*^ wo

Lok's Map, 1582.

foundation Lok imagined himself to have for this
geographical abortion I do not know."

John Davis did not indulge in any very wild specu-
lations respecting the Northern Mystery ; yet, return-
ing from his voyages of 1585-7, he wrote: "I haue
brought the passage to that likelihood, as that I am
assured it must bee in one of foure places, or els not
at all;" and again: "I haue bene in 73 degrees, find-
ing the sea all open, and forty leagues betweene land
and land. The passage is most probable, the execution
easie, as at my coming you shall surely know."*" To

"HnklnyVs Div. Voy., 55; Kohl's Hist. Discov., 290. Between the two
ships and above the line connecting them are the following inscriptions, in
Latin : A shin which directly hither from tfte Moluccas, and hence in turn to the
Moluccas, saiifd in the year 1518. A. Oalvano. O. Friaius; — which seems suffi-
«t<ntly absurd; and Thus far the voyages of the Portugvene, 1520; of the
ti^iiiards, 1540; of the Englinh, 16S0 — which is not much more intelligible.

*'Halduyt'8 Voy., iii. 108, 114, 119-20.

Hnr. M. W. CoAir, Vol. I. S

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II THE NORTHERN irVSTERY.

the English colonists of Carolina, 158G, the natives
said that the Roanoke "gushed forth from a rock, so
near the Pacific Ocean, that the surge of the sea
sometimes dashed into it« fountain; its banks were
inhabited by a nation skilled in the art "4' refining
the rich ore in which the country abounded. The
walls of the city were described as glittering from the
abundance of pearls." Governor Lane explored the
river in a vain search for these marvels.*' To Raleigh
in 1587 Hakiuyt wrote: "I am fully perswaded by
Ortelius late reformation of Culuacan and the gul^e
of California, that the laml on the backe part of
Virginia extendeth nothin^r so far westward as ia
put downe in the Maps of those parts;" and noting
a report of Florida Indians to Ribault of a great
interior city where King Chiquola dwelt, the same
writer says : " This seemeth to be La grand Copal.""
The map in Hakluyt's edition of Peter Martyr,
1587, leaves the great north-west a blank, as unex-
plored; yet it puts a maredul at 60°, about midway
of the continent, and by great rivers running north-
ward from the interior indicates the probability of
open sea on the north. California is a peninsula, as
in Ortelius' map; Quivira is on the coast, in 40°; in
the interior just below latitude 40° and over the name
New Mexico is an immense lake some six hundred
miles in length, communicating by rivers perhaps with
the Gulf and with the ocean just above Quivira.
Drake's discovery of Nova Albion is shown for the
first time just below 50°; and the coast line seems
to extend to 55° before trending westward. The
Cathay coast is about fifty degrees west of Nova
Albion. If we disregard the great lake, and look
apon the rmire dulce as Hudson Bay, this is the

**Oeorge Bancroft's Hitt. U. 8., i. 99-100.

^ Hakluyt's Voy., iii. 303, 311. In 1389 Juan B. Lomas, in asking a license
to settle New Mexico, understood tJiat territory to include everything above
the Rio Conchos, and claimed the right to fortify both coasts, and to buiid
ships to sail both toward Spain and the Philippines. Lotnan, AsaieiUo y Capitu-
lucion.

HAKLUYT.

nearest approach to a correct roproaentation of North
America yet produced."

I copy a map of the strait of Anian, said to have
been engraved in 1500, though there .^ /bo some
uncertainty about the exact date."

Stbait of Anian, 1590.

•' I have only the very bad copy in Stevens' Notes, pi. iii. No. 1,
'- Attioietti, Voy. Mallmiado, 44, 60, and pi., gives the map as taken from
a Mf?. Trattaf'i dtllrhano Monti. This author gives a good many vague refer-
ence" M rumors of the existence of a, strait in the last decade of the century,
no one of >vliich seeiAs sufficiently important or tangible for repetition.

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THE NORTHERN MYSTERY.

In his great work of 1590 Acosta devotes a chap-
ter to " the strait which some affirm to be in Florida.'*
"As Magellan found that strait that is in the South,
so others have claimed to discover another strait which
they say there is in the north, which they place in the

HoNDius' Maf, 1695.

land of Florida, a land stretching so far that its end
is not known." He alludes particularly to the ideas
of Menendoz, and mentions as some of the latter's
reasons in addition to those already noticed, namely,
pieces of Chinese vessels found floating in the At-
lantic; and the presence of whales from the South
Sea observed in a bay of Florida; and besides 'the

ACOSTA. 69

good order of nature' requiring an Arctic as well as an
Antarctic strait. It is thought that Drake and other
English corsairs may have found and utilized the
strait. Men, like ants, do not pause on the track of
novelties; and the truth will be known, and God will
make use of man's curiosity to carry the gospel to
northern gentiles. And elsewhere Acosta says : "Be-
yond Cape Mendocino," perhaps the first mention of
that name, "it is not known how far runs the land,
but from what all say it is something immense what
it runs."" I reproduce a map msMcle by Hondius
about 1595.

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"AeoOa, Hist. Nat. Ind., 71, 152-3.

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CHAPTER III.

APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTHWEST.
1606-1609.

JvAN Ds Fuoa's PBEncNDSO DiscovEBiKa— The Stobt to Lok— Pkestthp*

TIONS AGAINST ITS TeUTH — WeITEKS ON THE SUBJECT — EXAMINATION Of

Evidence, Histobical and Oeoorafhical — Doubtless a Puke Fic-
tion — Meboatob— Wytfuet — The Great Northwest — Imaoinabt
Coasts, Rivebs, and Towns — Conbad L6w's Remarkable Map — Close
OF THE Century — Captain Lancaster — Herrera — ^Vizcaino — Aoui-
lar's River — Ascension— ToRQUEMAOA—OftATE— Lake Copalla —

ZlftOGABA AND QUEEN CiSAOACOHOLA — TiDAN — JOHN SuiTH — MaL-

DONADo's Pretended Vovaos through the Strait or Anian — A
Famous Lib.

In recording the fictitious voyages it seems most
proper and convenient to notice each, not under its
own pretended date, but under the date when the
claim was first made. By this system the first of the
famous voyages, several anonymous and vaguely re-
corded trips through the strait having been already
referred to, belongs here, under date of 1596, when
Juan de Fuca told his tale of having discovered the
Northwest passage in 1592. This is also the only
one of the apocryphal voyages the authenticity of
which still finds defenders; but more on this matter
presently.

In April, 1596, Michael Lok, an Englishman well
known for his interest in geographical discoveries,
met Juan de Fuca in Venice. Fuca had lately arrived
in Italy from Spain, and in Florence had encountered
an English pilot, John Douglas, with whom ho came
to Venice, and by him w^as introduced to Lok. Fuca's
story was as follows: He was a Greek, born in the

(70)

JUAN DE FUCA'S STORY.

island of Cephalonia, and his real name was Apostolos
Valerianos. He had been forty years mariner and
pilot in the Spanish West Indian service, and was
on board of the galleon when captured by Cavendish
off the point of California, November, 1587, having
lost sixty thousand ducats on that occasion. Subse-
quently he was sent as pilot of three vessels and one
hundred men despatched by the viceroy to find the
strait of Anian and fortify it against the English;
but by reason of a mutiny among the soldiers, " for
the sodomie of their Captaine," the ships turned back
from the Californian coast,* and the captain was pun-
ished by justice in Mexico.

"Also hee said, that shortly after the said Voyage
was so ill ended, the said Viceroy of Mexico sent him
out againe Anno 1592, with a small Carauela, and a
Pinnace, armed with Mariners onely, to follow the
saide Voyage, for a discouery of the same Straits of
Anian, and the passage thereof, into the Sea which
they call the North Sea, which is our North-west Sea.
And that he followed his course in that Voyage West
and North-west in the South Sea, all alongst the coast
of Nona Spania, and California, and the Indies, now
called North America (all which Voyage hee signified
to me in a great Map, and a Sea-card of mine owne,
which I laied before him) vntill hee came to the Lat-
itude of fortie seuen degrees, and that there finding
that the Land trended North and North-east, with a
broad Inlet of Sea, between 47. and 48. degrees of
Latitude, hee entred thereinto, sayling therein more
than twentie dayes, and found that Land trending
still sometime North-west and North-east, and North,
and also East and South-eastward, and very much
broader Sea then was at the said entrance, and that
hee passed by diners Hands in that sayling. And that
at the entrance of this said Strait, there is on the

•Is it possible that Puca might have heard Ladrillero's storj'? It will
be re nbered that that pilot claimed to have been with u fleet that turned
bock 1. ^m California at a much earlier date.

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North-west coast thereof, a great Hedland or Hand,
with an exceeding high Pinacle, or spired Rocke, Hke
a piller tliereupon. Also he said, that he went on
Land in diuers places, and that he saw some people
on Land, clad in Beasts skins : and that the Land is
very fruitfull, and rich of Gold, Siluer, Pearle, and
other things, like Nona Spania. And also he said,
that he being entred thus farre into the said Strait,
and being come into the North Sea already, and find-
ing the Sea wide enough euery where, and to be about
thirtie or fortie leagues wide in the mouth of the
Straits, where he entred; he thought he had now
well discharged his office, and done the thing he was
sent to doe." So he returned to Acapulco before the
end of the year, hoping for reward; and was wel-
comed by the viceroy with fair promises, but after two
years of vain waiting, by the viceroy's advice he went
to Spain to seek reward for his services from the king.
Even here, though welcomed at court "in wordes
after the Spanish manner, but after long time of suite
there also, he could not get any reward there neither
to his content;" and so at length "he stole away out
of Spaine, and came into Italie, to goe home againo
and Hue among his owne Kindred and Countrimen;
he being very old." He thought the reason of Span-
ish ingratitude was occasioned by the belief that
England had relinquished the search for a strait, and
therefore there was nothing to fear. Now he was
disposed to be revenged on the Spaniards by serving
the noble-minded queen of England, hoping also that
she would make good his losses at the hands of Caven-
dish. If provided with a ship and pinnace he would
undertake to make the voyage through the strait in
thirty days.

Lok wrote to Cecil,* Raleigh, and Hakluyt, urging
them to furnish money to brmg Fuca to England with
a view of acting on his proposition ; but the money
was not forthcoming, and in a fortnight Fuca started
for home. In July Lok wrote to the pilot; and in

' ,H

LOK'S NOTE IN PURCHAS.

reply received a letter dated at Cephalonia in Septem-
ber, in which Fuca declared himself still ready for the
undertaking if money could be furnished. Similar
letters were exchanged in 1597, and again in 1598;
but Lok was busied with other matters and unable to
raise the needed funds; and receiving no reply to a
letter of 1602 he inferred that the Greek pilot was
dead."

This account, in the shape of a note by Lok,
was published by Purchas in 1625, and has been re-
peated from this source by later writers. That it
was presented accurately and in perfect good faith
so far as Lok and Purchas are concerned there is no
reason to doubt. There is some evidence that the
Greek pilot gave his true name and birthplace.' But
there are indications that his claim of loss at the
hands of Cavendish was grossly exaggerated, if not
unfounded.*

The fact that I describe Fuca's voyage in this chap-
ter shows that I regard his story as fiction. Many
intelligent writers, however, believe it to be in the
main true; indeed I think that such has been the
prevalent opinion in later years." Therefore something
cf argument br 'iomes necessary.

^Purchcu, Hi* Pilgrimes, iii. 849-52, with copies of one set of the letters
alluded to.

'in 1854 Alex. S. Taylor had inquiries made in «Jephalonia through a United
State? consul. The most definite statement ob'.ained was oni from a biograph-
ical work of Masaraclii, published in Venifd in 1843, evidently made up, so
far as Fuca was concerned, from the story to Lok, and proving nothing; yet
there were otiier items that seemed to show that Focca was the name of an
old family there ; that a branch of the family lived near Valeriano, thus
partly accounting for the name 'Apostolos Valerianus's and that Juan him-
self was remejnbered traditionally as a great navigator. HiUchiwjs' Maja-
zine,iv. 116--»-2, 161-7.

* In two sworn statements made at the time by the captain and a passen-

fer, though many penionsare named who lost much less than 60,000 ducats,
'uca's name does not appear. Navarrete, Viaget Apdc, 104. Tliero is nothing
in the narrative of Cavendish's voyage to indicate that he found a Greek
pilot on the Sta Anna, as some have implied; but the fact that he did find
and retain a Spanish and a Portuguese pilot might possibly indicate that he
did not find the Greek. Neither is there anything to support the statement
that Vizcaino was on board the Sta Anna.

* Not much was said of Fuca's voyage before 1770, except to mention it,
after Purchas, as one of the many items of evidence on a vexed question.
There was no intelligent criticism, and no foundation for any. When explora-

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APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTHWEST.

The story itself, in other than geographical aspects,
is improbable. It is unlikely that Spain would have

tion began atfain, the voyagers sought for Fuca's strait. Tlie Spaniards had
little or no faith in the Gi'eek pilot's discoveries, and they found nothing to
change their opinion. Captain Cook in 1773 said: ' We saw nothing like it;
nor is there the least probability that ever any such thing existed.' Cook's
Voy., ii. 263. Forster in 1780, iJinl. Voy., 450-1, pronounced part of the
story fabulous and the rest suspicious. But in 1788 Meares, Voy., li. Ivi.
Ixii.-iii. 155-6 et seq., having found an inlet on the Northwest Coast, which
be did not fully explore, but which he was inclined to re^d as possibly
the entrance of 'the strait,' declared Fuca's voyage authentic, and fonnally
named it the 'Strait of Juan de Fuca.' This and other opinions expressed
before the geography of the region was fully known have obviously no special
force ; but one of Meares' stronseat points is the custom of flattening the
heads of native children as dcscrioed by Fuca— a point somewhat weakened
by the fact that Fuca says nothing on the subject. Fleurieu in 1787, Introd.
to Maic/iaud, Voy. , i. pp, xii.-xvi. , regarded Fuca's story as probably true, but
exaggerated. Fuca probabiy discovered the entrance, and perhaps the inland
sea. Navarrete in \902, Sulil y Mex., Viage, lii.; Viaaes Apde., 104, pro-
nounced the story a fiction, relying on the bbsence of all contiraiation in the
Spanish archives, and on the latest northern discoveries. Bumey, HuA. Discov.
South Sea, ii. 110-17, in 1806, while deeming much of the narrative erroneous
and exaggerated, thinks it 'not easily conceivable, tliat mere fancy or conjec-
ture should chance upon the description of a strait so essentially corresponding
with the reality.' But Humboldt in 1808, Easai PoUtiiiue, 329, 341, had no
hesitation in cleclaring Fuca's story a fiction, and his voyage apocryphal.
Since the time of Humboldt and Navarreto there haa been but little inves-
tigation or argument on the subject. Most writers have seemed to regard all
tho early explorations of the Spaniards as wrapped in mystery, have seen no
reason why Fuca may not have made a voyage as well as Vizcaino and others,
have deemed his description as accurate as that of many other early voyagers,
and have drifted into a lukewarm support of the pilot's veracity. They have
not appreciated Fuca's motives for falsehood, nor the fact that he was as
likely to locate a strait, in whose existence nearly all believed, and which
must be above 44°, between 47° and 60° as elsewhere, and that nowhere be-
tween those limits could his error have been greater. Of course the strait
would be wide, with islands, and probably trending in different directions.
Mun-ay, North Amer. , ii. 87, in 1 829 deemed Lok a respectable witness, and the
discovery of a strait conclusive. Lardner, Jlist. Mar. Diacov., ii. 280-1, in
1830 spoke of the narrative as entitled to much indulgence, like other old
writin)|s, Fuca having probably entered the strait and felt sure it led to the
Atlantic, while Tytler, Hist. View, 78-9, in 1833 declared the story to rest on
apocryphal authority. The authenticity of the voyage is defended by the North
Amer. Review of January 1839, p, 123-6, as also by Greenhow, in his Mem. ,
42-3, of 1840, andhisZ/Mt. Or. ancifCo/., 86 ct seq., 407-11, who pronounces the
geographical descriptions ' as nearly conformable with the truth, as those of any
other account of a voyage written in tho early part of the seventeenth century. '
Most later writers have follo'-'^d Greenhow; and for a time doubtless Americans
allowed themselves to be influenced somewhat by national prejudices. They
often pointed triumphantly to the fact that the voyage was defended by 'first-
class English authority ' like the Quarterly Review, xvi. For similar reasons
some Englishmen Ijko Twiss, Oregon Question, 60-70, felt called upon to take
the other side. Galiatin in 1846, Letters on Or, Question, 11-13, found much
inteinal evidence of truth, but deemed the story somewhat doubtful. To Nico-
lay, Oregon Ter., 28-30, it seemed to have stood tho test of investigation. See-
nian, Voy. of the ' HeraJJd, ' i. 97-8, thinks Fuca sailed round Vancouver Island.
Taylor, llutrhinga' Mag., iv. 1 16-22, 101-7 ; Pacific MoiUhly, xi. 047; Browne's
L, Cal., 22-3, modestly believes that his own researches showing the ex<

LINE OF ARGUMENT.

withheld reward from such a man as Fuca; she would
naturally have utilized his services in the northern
expeditions under Vizcaino ; it is hardly credible, to
one acquainted with the spirit of the times, that
she could have trusted so implicitly in the relin-
quishment of the search by England; and least of all
would she have permitted a pilot to carry such a
grievance and such a secret to foreign parts. More-
over, the fact that about this time men of his class
were habitually telling falsehoods about the northern
strait, creates a probability that Fuca also spoke
falsely. His temptation and opportunity were great.
The English were eager to find the strait; they sus-
pected that Spaniards had made and were concealing
the discovery. Accidentally through Douglas, a con-
genial spirit, whether dupe or accomplice, the Greek
pilot meets Michael Lok. He need no longer rely on
the old theories and rumors. To an Englishman he
may safely claim to have made an actual discovery in
government craft. Lok will credit the tale, because it
agrees with the theories, desires, and suspicions of
himself and his class. Fuca's reward will be an ample
one — satisfaction for pretended or exaggerated losses
at the hands of an English corsair, honorable and

'■■:' '!'

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istence of the Focca family in Cephalonla have removed every vestige of doubt
of the authenticity of all that Fuca may ever have claimed to do. Poussin,
U. S., 239; Dickinson, Speeches, i. 166-7; and Lord, in BritUh Columbia, i.
pp. vii.-xi. , support Fuca, Lord introducing some imaginary details of his inter-
view ■^•ith Lok. Li later years El wood Evans, Pmjet Sound, 4-5 ; Hist. Oregon,
MS., 15-10, has little or no doubt of Fuca's discoveries; else the pilot must
have been a miraculous prophet. Mr Evans has a curious theory tliat the
Belection of Vizcaino, an old friend of Fuca, and probably aware of his dis-
coveries, to head the later expeditions was in itself a strong confirmation of
Fuca's tale. As a matter of fact a strong argument on the other side may be
drawn from the facts that Vizcaino made any voyages at all, that Fuca did
not accompany him, and that Fuca was not named in the instructions and re-
ports of the expedition. Mrs Victor, Search for Fretum A nian, in The Overland
montldy, iii. 474-5, writing of the famous search in its romantic aspects,
accepts Fuca's voyage without question. Speaking of his belief that ho had
reached the South Sea entrance of the strait, she says Avith much reason :
'Familiar to us as is the Strait of Fuca, we see every thing to justify sucli a
belief in the mind of the Greek navigator ;' and indeed there can be no doubt
that Fuca would have formed such an opinion had he ever reached the en-
trance. Finally, in The Califonitan, ii. 535-9, ' D. S.' haa an article entitled
The Voyage ojJtian de Fuca a Fraud.

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APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTHWEST.

profitable employment in English service, and the
fame of discovenng the long-sought strait, in the ex-
istence of which he like others had perfect confidence.
There is reasonable presumption that the man under
these circumstances reported a fictitious discovery, a
presumption which nothing but evidence can overcome.
Historically no such evidence has been found.
Nothing is known on the subject except what Fuca
told Lok. No later writer mentions either voyage on
any other authority; and no contemporary writer
mentions them at all. The Spanish archives, natu-
rally the best source of information on government ex-
peditions, have been pretty thoroughly examined for
material relating to early northern voyages, and special
search has been made for documents on Fucas re-
ported expeditions. The search has been made by
men who were competent and diligent, and under cir-
cumstances which would have been more likely to
prompt the production of spurious confirmation than
the suppression of real proofs. Not a word has been
found bearing directly or indirectly on the subject.
The loss of a document, it may be said, is not unusual.
True; but is it conceivable that of all the paper
covered with ink in the inevitable Hispano- American
style — of all that must have been written in fitting
out five or six vessels for two distinct expeditions, in
appointments and instructions of oflScials, in reports
of failure and success, in judicial proceedings against
the wicked captain, in Fuca's own memorials and
appeals for a just reward — not one scrap should have
come to light? But, we are told, it was the policy of
Spain to conceal all information that might give an
advantage to foreign powers. Is she likely to have
kept this secret so effectually that it could not be
revealed when her own interests demanded it? But
let us suppose such to have been the case; that all
papers on this topic were collected in one expediente
and destroyed; the difficulty is by no means removed.
Spain could not silence all the members of both expe-

PUCA'S STATEMENT FALSE.

ditions ; else assuredly she would have found means
to close Fuca's mouth. The Northern Mystery was
a common topic of conversation among mariners.
The court was deluged with petitions from men who
sought license for northern discovery, and who magni-
fied every circumstance likely to give plausibility to
their schemes. Why h it that none mention Fuca,
or any voyage of 15P0-2? Could the prominent men
advocating such expeditions have been kept in igno-
rance that the government they were importuning
had already effected the discovery? Not only was the
government importuned, but it actually sent out two
expeditions in 1597 and 1602, the former while Fuca
wa? corresponding with Lok. There is not, however,
a single circumstance in what v e know of Vizcaino's
voyages to indicate that ho knew of any preceding
voyage; yet Padre Ascension, the chief chronicler,
was a voluminous writer and an enthusiastic theorist
on matters pertaining to the north.

Thus the original presumption that Fuca's state-
ment was false is strengthened into well nigh absolute
certainty by a total absence of supporting testimony
not to be reasonably accounted for on any other
hypothesis. There remains but one possible source
of tffstimony to shake this conclusion; and that is
our present accurate knowledge of north-west coast
geography. To support his claim the Greek pilot
must describe the physical features of the region in
question more fully and accurately than would be
possible without personal knowledge — more fully, in-
deed, than under ordinary circumstances he could be
expected to do in a brief verbal narrative. Extraor-
dinary statements demand rigid tests; and when all
the props, but one, supporting a heavy weight have
been knocked down, that one must be strong indeed.
Tolerably good guessing on Fuca's part will not
suffice; nor on the part of investigators that lenient
criticism which has led his supporters to say in sub-
stance: "Supposing him to have made the voyage,

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APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTHWEST.

Stbaits at Jvjls ob Fttoa.

FUtA'S PILLAR.

wo find in the entrance to Puget Sound certain fea-
tures that, with due allowance for the exaggeration,
and confusion, and error common in such cases, may
be made to fit his narrative; and admitting therefore
that he discovered the strait, we can account more or
less satisfactorily for the loss or suppression of hia
original report."

Fuca claims to have entered a strait between 47'
and 48°, impliedly just above 47°, and even to have
sailed by that strait through to the Atlantic; but
there is no inlet within fifty miles of that latitude.
Ninety miles farther north, however, in latitude
48° 30', there is a strait leading to the body of
water which, un ler various names, separates Van-
couver Island from the mainland. I give herewith a
map of these waters. Fuca's strait was thirty or forty
leagues wide at the entrance; this one is twelve or
twenty miles, according to the place and method of
measurement. At the entrance on the north-western
shore Fuca noted "a great Hedland or Hand, with an
exceeding high Pinacle, or spired Rocke, like a piller
thereupon;" but nothing of the kind exists in the
locality indicated. It is true that opposite, on the
southern shore, about Cape Classett and the Tatouche
Islands, are numerous detached rocks which the ac-
tion of the waves has left in columnar and fantastic
forms; rocks which are not uncommon on different
parts of the coast. Some voyagers have found nothing
here to correspond with Fuca's pillar; others have
identified with that landmark one of the rocks alluded
to; and Wilkes has furnished a sketch which I copy.
Commander Phelps, on the contrary, has found the
pillar several hundred miles farther north, on Galiano
Island.' Obviously nothing but a very prominent

' Phelps' Reminiscences of SecUlle, Phil. , 1881, p. 40. He thinks that Fuca's
vague language has been misunderstood, and that the pillar was at the supposed
outlet into the Atlantic, where is 'a remarkable promontory 1200 feet high.'
He admits that nothing of the kind is found near the south end of Vancouver
Island. Meares, Voi/., 153, found 'a very remarkable rock, that wore the
form of an obelisk,' not far from an island near the southern shore. Van-
couver, Voj/., i. 217, did not find Meares' ' Pinnacle rock,' ' or any other rock

...

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APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTirW'EST.

landmark — certainly not one of many and ordinary
rocks on the wrong side of the strait — can sufSce for
the purposes of this investigation.

Fuca entered his strait and sailed in it for twenty
days, until he came to the Atlantic Ocean. This has
to be 'explained' by the theory that ho sailed round
the island, coming out again to the Pacific in about
51°. A professional pilot cannot reasonably be sup-
posed to have made such an error. As he advanced
Fuca found the strait — one hundred miles wide at the
entrance — to grow wider, impliedly throughout his

iiili^

TCAN DE FuCA'S PiLLAB.

navigation ; but as » matter of fact the channel narrows
to a mile in width ^ng before the outlet is reached.
Fuca found the shor. of the passage trending N. W.,
N. E., N., E., and S. . — that is, naturally, he sailed
those courses successiv ly in his voyage to the Atlan-
tic. The far-fetched *e: planation' is, that from a point

more conspicuous than thousands along the coast, yarying in form and size ;
some conical, others with flat sides, flat tops, and almost every other shape
that can be figured by the imagination.' Wilkes, U. S. Ex. EepeiL, iv. 619,
627, docs not tell us where he foimd the 'Fuca's Pillar' which he sketched,
but it was doub Jess on the sonth side. The views presented by Meares and
others, and especially those on the U. S. Coast Survey charts, show no land-
mark corresponding at all with with Fuca's ' Hedland' and 'Spired Bocke.'
Fiudlay, Directury Pacific Ocean, i. 374, 414-16, though supporting Fuca's voy-
age, says : 'At a little distance S. W. from the foot of the cape [Ulasset], and
just within the conflnes of the beach, is a rock in the shape of a pillar, about
400(?) feet high, and 60 in circumference. . .These columnar rocks are very
numerous just hereabout; and De Fuca, the discoverer, remarked one in par-
ticular, which may be that here adverted to. Capt. Wilkes has given a sketch
of it. . .The rock in question is difficult to make out among the thousands of
every variety of form about it.'

^™P

THE WYTFLIET-PTOLEMY MAPS.

near the entrance is a largo I ody of water itretching
southward and eastward. Ho round tho pooplo clad in
skins, and passed 1 1 v ers islands — not very roniarkablo
coincidences, nor requiring explanation. His .state-
ments that the land was "very fruitfull, and rich of
gold, Siiuer, Pearle," explain themselves.

We find, then, in geographical knowledge nothing
to overcome the strong presumption that Fuca's tale
is fiction; nothing to prove that he visited those re-
gions; nothing that without 'explanation' agrees with
his description, even if his visit be admitted. Fuca
was not even remarkably lucky in his guessing. If
in the future any proof appears that Fuca made a
voyage to the north-west coast and reported the dis-
covery of a strait, then a plausible theory may bo set
up that he j eached the entrance in latitude 48° 30',
and trusted to his imagination for all within. No
more can be said in his favor. He was more fortu-
nate, however, than many whose lies were more stu-
pendous, to have his name permanently attached to a
strait he never saw.

There are yet several interesting points to be noted
before the end of the century. In Mercator's Atlas
of 1595 the maps are essentially the same as in Or-
telius' Tlieatrum of 1573; but another Asiatic prov-
ince, that of Bergi, is transferred to America and
located on the coast north of Anian. The name strait
of Anian is applied for the first time, not to the long
northern passage, but to one about fifty miles wide
separating Anian from Asia between latitudes 60°
and 70° and leading from the Pacific into the northern
strait; and finally to the famous gulf penetrating the
continent from the northern strait is added a circular
mar dulce still farther inland, and connected with the
gulf by a narrow channel.

Substantially the same general map is published in
Wytfliet's Ptolemy of 1597.' But in this work the

'' Deacriptio Ptolemaica Augmentum Sive Occidentia Notilia Breui commen-
Hist. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. 6

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82f APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTHWEST.

territory is shown by sections on a larger scale in a
Beries of maps, three of which I reproduce. The
first represents California and Granata Nova — the
latter being nearer the modern New Mexico, Ari-
zona, Colorado, and Utah. The gulf and peninsula
are well drawn, but with a superfluity of rivers flow-
ing into the former. Local names along the coasts
are mostly found in one or another of the known voy-
ages. The western trend of the shore is noticeably

Wytfliet-Ptolemy Map, 1597— No. 1.

exaggerated. The chief river connects the gulf with
a great lake, round which above 40° stand the Seven
Cities, a confused rendering of the ancient Atlantic
Island myth in combination with the seven towns of
Cibola described by Coronado. It is not unlikely
that at some stage of its existence the oft-recurring
lake myth may have had connection with the real

tnrio ilfustrala studio et opera Cornell) Wyffliet Louaniensis. Lovanii, 1697. The
descriptive text is on pp. 167-75. It adds nothing of interest to the maps,
but miglit be quoted entire, did space permit, for its blundering reference* t0
the uxploratioQS of Niza, Coronado, and Cabeza de Vaoa.

KOVA GRANATA.

Great Salt Lake. The rivers are those discovered by
C4rdenas, Diaz, Alarcon, Coronado, and heard of by
Espejo — the map-maker not knowing that all were
one river, the Colorado and its branches. Nova
Gran;^ca must come from the name Granada, applied
by Coronado to one of the Zuni towns.

The second map represents the sectiou next west
and north, under the name Limes Occidentis Quivira
et Anian. The coast extends still westward to Cape

-, fC Midociro'.l ^-y J

Wytfuet-Ptolemt Map, 1597— No. 2.

Mendocino, +o which in 40° is joined a large island.
The coast names are taken equally from Cabrillo's
California voyage, from Coronado's wanderings from
New Mexico to Kansas, and from unknown or imagi-
nary sources, doubtless satisfactory to the cosmog-
rapher. The geographical fea lures above 45°, like
most below that latitude, are purely imaginary. I
can hardly conjecture any plausible origin for the

1 ■

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iPOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTHWEST.

great river flowing into the northern sea, with its
three towns of Pagul, Sal boy, and Cubirago, unless
they were brought over from Asia with the prov-
ince of Bergi. The third map is the central north-
ern section adjoining the two preceding on the
north and east respectively, under the name Conibas
Regio cum Vicinis Gentihus. Here we have another
mysterious river with four towns, in regions as yet

WYTFUBT-ProLEBnr Map, 1597 — No. 3.

unapproached by white men, save on the wings of
imagination. Here also we have the round roar
dulce elaborated into Lake Conibas, and in its centre
an island and a town of the same name ; also a River
Cogib, more like a strait, connecting it with the
northern sea. It is likely that this representation is
owing to Canadian aboriginal rumors; for not far
away to the east are the lakes from which the Sague-
nai flowed down to the St Lawrence at Hochelaga;
while about the same distance southward are New

CON^L^ LOW'S BOOK.

Granada with its Seven Cities, very near to the
head-waters of the great river of Canada. Verily, for
a region as yet unvisited, the great northern interior
was becoming remarkably well known.

Conrad Low, in his Book of Sea Heroes, 1598,
gives a general map like those of Ortelius, Ptolemy,
and others;* but another map in this work has some
decidedly novel features, as will be seen from the an-
nexed copy. It represents only the regions north of
60°, putting California above 70° and beyond the
strait of Anian, but explaining in an inscription that

Lew's Map, 1598.

it is known only by report to the Spaniards. The
river Obilo, with apparently a new mouth, has towns
on its banks, as in Wytfliet No. 3. But Lake Conibas
discharges its waters westward into a great gulf near
Anian Strait, and is no longer identified with the
circular mar dulce, which we are told in an inscrip-
tion is the body of water whose end is not known
to the Canadians. Of the two great Arctic bodies of
land, that on the east is said to be the 'best and most
healthful in all the north;' while on the other it is
explained that the ocean has broken through to the

' Low, Meer oder Seehaiien Buck, Darinn Verzeichnet seind die Wunderbare,
Oedeiickwiirdiffe fieine, etc. Colin, 1598. A collection of voyages traualated aud
abridged from various well known sourcea.

■

APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTHWEST.

pole, forming four channels, two of which are shown
on this copy, which only includes half of the original.
This map is in several respects remarkable, as the
reader may convince himself by a comparison with
the annexed rough sketch, which shows the regions
mapped by Low in their true proportions, and on the
same scale. The strait of Anian in its latitude and
width bears a resemblance to Bering Strait which is
really startling. Note also the general likeness of
Bergi and Anian with their great river to Alaska with
its rivers Kwichpak and Yukon. No less wonderful

Map fob Comparison.

is the correspondence between the Cogib River, flow-
ing north-west from Lake Conibas into the Arctic Sea
just beyond the strait of Anian, and the Mackenzie
Riv^r, flowing from the Great Slave Lake. Compare
the mar dulce, its strait and island, with Hudson Bay
and the corresponding features. Let us also bear in
mind how little is known even yet of the region above
80°; and not forget the part played by ice in those
latitudes. Suppose certain of the complicated chan-
nels frozen, as they were likely enough to be; and
suppose an exploring expedition, as well equipped and
observant as were the best in thoso times, to liave
sailed through from ocean to ocean in 1598, and to

FURTHER ACCOUNTS.

have made this map as a record of actual observations,
and I have no hesitation in saying that the map
would under thobo circumstances be regarded to-day
as a marvel of accuracy. I have no theory to rest
on these facts; I have no doubt that the geography
depicted was purely imaginary, and the resemblance
to reahty accidental; yet to many intelligent men
of the past and present these coincidences would be
confirmation stronger than holy writ in support oi
whatever they might happen to be interested in. I
shall not be surprised if even yet the accuracy of this
map as herein published is made to confirm the
authenticity of one or another of the fictions.

Felipe III. on his accession in 1598 is said to have
found among the papers of his father a narrative of
certain foreigners who from the coast of Newfound-
land were driven by a storm into a great bay, and
thence into a strait by which they passed into the
South Sea, coming out at 48°, and finding a river which
brought them to a magnificent city. This report fur-
nished one of the motives for Vizcaino's expedition.®
About the same time Hernando de los Rios sent to
the king from Manila a notice of two ways for a
quicker and safer navigation from Spain; one by a
passage entering above Florida and penetrating to
New Mexico, in latitude 45°, according to information
obtained by the Jesuit Padre Sedeno and an Augus-
tine friar who died at Manila; and the other by the
strait of Anian, according to a written statement of
Friar Martin de Rada, founded on information from
Juan de Ribas to the effect that certain Portuguese
passed through it to India and China, and from Ucheo
to ] iisbon in forty-five days.^°

* Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., i. 694, says the strait was that of Anion
above Cape Mendocino. Navarrete, Viagea Apdc, 41; Id., in Sutil y Af ex.,
Vi'ige, xliii.-iv., consulted a MS. relation of Padre Ascension in the archive s.
Salmcrou, lielncionen, 14-22, adds that one man, apparently of the same party,
escaped after the rest had perished, reached Florida, and died at Vera Cruz,
where he liad a priest write down his account and sent it to ox-(Jovevnor Rio.

'" Original in the archives of Seville, cited by Navarrete. Also alluded to
in a letter of the king, 1002. Col. Doc. liUd.

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APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTHWEST.

m-^^:^

A postscript attached to the letter of Captain Lan-
caster on his East Indian voyage of 1600-1, but of
doubtful authenticity, states that "the Pa'-sage to the
East Indies lieth in 62.^. degrees by the North-west
on the America side."" The historian Herrera, in his
description of 1 GO 1, gives Quivira its proper situation
far to the eastward of Cibola; but his map is on a
very small scale, without names for the most part.
California is correctly delineated, and a broaa ocean
separates that region from Asia; but in latitude 45°,
just above Cape Fortuna, the coast line turns abruptly
to the E. N. E., extending in that direction to above
latitude G0°, beyond which all is blank."

Vizcaino's first expedition had been directed to the
gulf, and contributed nothing to our subject; but his
second voyage was on the outer coast up to about the
limit of Cabrillo's earlier exploration. Of his actual
discoveries in general and in detail enough is said
elsewhere, and I have to note only those points con-
nected with the Northern Mystery. For one of his
main objects was to find the strait; and some of his
discoveries were thought to have a bearing on that
all-important search. The Carmelo, near Monterey,
described as a river of some size, played a minor rdle,
as we shall see in subsequent speculations; but of
course the more important developments were farther
north. These were by no means complicated. In
January 1603 Vizcaino passed Cape Mendocino and
reached, in 42°, a point which he called Cape Blanco
de San Sebastian. Martin de Aguilar, in the other
vessel, named a Cape Blanco in latitude 43°, near
which he thought he saw the mouth of a large river,
named at the time Santa Inds, but generally known
later as Rio de Aguilar, which by reason of the cur-
rent he was unable to enter. From the cape the
coast trended north-west, according to Torquemada;"

'^Purchaa, Hia PUgrimes, i. 163; Bumey's Hial. Biacov. South Sea, iL
109-10.

" Ilerrrra, Descripcion de Indiaa (ed. 1730), i. 6, 24.
" Torquemada, i. 719, 725.

v^f

TORQUEMADA AND ASCENSION.

but north-east according to Padre Ascension, in a
narrative distinct from that followed by Torque-
mada" — whence not a little confusion.

Torquemada also writes : " It is understood that
this river is the one that leads to a great city dis-
covered by the Dutch; and that this is the strait of
Anian, by which the ship that found it passed from
the North Sea to the South; and that without mis-
take in this region is the city named Quivira; and
that it is of this place that the relation treats which
his majesty read, and by which he was moved to this
exploration."

And Ascension to the same effect : " Here is
the head and end of the kingdom and Tierra
Firme of California, and the beginning and en-
trance of the strait of Anian. If on that occasion
there had been on the ship even fourteen soldiers in
health, doubtless we should have ventured to explore
and pass through this strait of Anian, since all had
good intentions to do it." It does not matter here
what river Aguilar saw, or whether he saw any.
There was but little doubt that he had reached the
entrance of the strait; and there are indications that
Padre Ascension verbally and in various minor
memorials gave much freer vent to his conjectural
theories than in the writings that are extant in print.
Vizcaino's map has no bearing on the Northern
Mystery, showing only a short 'coast which leads to
Cape Blanco,' extending north-eastward from Cape
Mendocino.

The viceroy in 1602, writing to the king, expressed
his opinion that there was very little prospect of find-
ing mighty kingdoms in the north, deeming it likely
that towns already found were types of those that
would come to light; yet he attached considerable
importance to further exploration with a view to find-
ing the strait and settling all disputed questions re-
specting northern geography; and he thought Oiiate

^* Ascension, Jielacion, 0u8 et seq.

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APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTHWEST.

|!ii

in a position to solve the mystery at a minimum of
expense."

Ouate had occupied New Mexico, which he wished
to utihze merely as a base of operations for more
brilliant conquests. He wa.^ grievously disappointed
that his ambitious schemes did not meet with royal and
viceregal approbation. He had but little fondness for
petty exploration ; yet he undertook several in the hope
of finding something to advance his greater projects.
One he directed toward Quivira, without results; and
another down the Colorado to its mouth.

It was in 1G04 that Onate made his trip from New
Mexico to Zufti. to Moqui, and thence across the
modern Arizona to the Colorado by way of the Santa
Marfa, and thence down to the gulf He had no idea
of any connection between his Rio Colorado — really
the Chiquito — which was said to run one hundred
leagues through pine forests to California and the
sea, and the real Colorado, which farther down he
called Buena Esperanza or Rio del Tizon. From the
Amacava, or Mojave, Indians who came down the
Colorado to meet him at the mouth of the Santa
INIaria, Onate heard of Lake Copalla, fourteen days
north-west, where the Indians had golden ornaments
and spoke Aztec — or at least they spoke so much like
a native Mexican of the company that the visitors
asked if he came not from Copalla. It is not impos-
sible that the Mojaves had vague notions of Great
Salt Lake ; all the rest was imaginary.

Farther down the Colorado, to inquiries for the sea
the natives ** all replied by making signs from the
west, north-west, north, north-east, and east, and said
that thus the sea made the circle, and very near, since
they said that on the other side of the river it was
not more than four days, and that the gulf of Cali-
fornia is not closed up, but a branch of the sea which

! , '

*' Nuevo Mexico, Discurso y Prop. The viceroy Monterey seems to have a cor-
rect idea of Coronado's explorations ; but ho speaks of Quivira as being on the
South Sea, according to current maps, and near Cape Mendocino and Anian.

THE ISLAND Zl!JOGABA.

I :

corresponds to the North S.ea and coast of Florida,"
thus clearly indicating not only the existence of a
strait, but that the gulf was either a part of, or at
least led to, that strait. These Indians also confirmed
what had been learned before of Copalla and its gold.
Silver and coral were likewise familiar to them, and
were to be obtained not far off.

More wonderful still, the natives told of an island
called Zinogaba, rich in pearls. It was one day's voy-
age out in the sea, and reached in boats rigged with
sails, all of which they pictured on the sand. And
the island was ruled by Cinacacohola, a giantess, who
had a sister of immense size, but no male of her race
with whom to mate. Another mysterious circum-
stance was that all the inhabitants were bald. Ofiate's
observations at the head of the gulf, where he found
a splendid harbor, did not disprove the statement of
the natives that the gulf extended northward behind
a sierra to where the sea made a turn toward Florida.

It was well that Don Juan heard of wonders in
this region; for when on his way to New Mexico a
few years before, the venerable Padre Diego de Mer-
cado had said to him at Tula: "By the life of Friar
Diego there are great riches in the remote parts of
New Mexico; but by the life of Friar Diego the
present settlers will not possess them. It is not for
them that God holds that wealth in reserve;" and so
it proved. Still more to the point, the venerable and
famous Santa Madre de Maria de Jesus, abbess of
Santa Clara de Agreda, had said, "It is very probable
that in the exploration of New Mexico there will be
found a kingdom called Tidam, four hundred leagues
from Mexico westward, or north-west, between New
Mexico and Quivira; and if by chance there be an error,
cosmography will aid the taking notice of other king-
doms, of the Chillescas, or of the Guismanes, or the
Aburcos, which touch on that of Tidam.""

'•iSo/mecow, Relaciones, 30-8, 47-55; Niel, Apuntamienfos, 81-6. Cardona
and Casauate heard from captains Marquez and Vaca that they had struck the

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John Smith when captured and saved by Pocahontaa
in 1607 was exploring the Chickahominy River for a
passage to the South Sea."

In 1G09 Lorenzo Ferrer Maldonado in Spain made
the claim that twenty-one years before, in 1588, ho
had sailed through the strait of Anian from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. Why he waited so long has
never been explained. There is no reason to doubt
that Maldonado was a real personage, or that he
wrote the document in which the claim is made.
Seventeen years later he published a cosmographical
work, in which, however, he neither claimed to have
discovered the strait nor gave a description agreeing at
all with that in the earlier document." A reputable
Spanish writer, Garcia de Silva y Figueroa, who took
deep interest in the north-western problem, met Mal-
donado in Madrid in 1G09. He was said to have been
brought up in Flanders and the Hanseatic cities,
claimed to have sailed through the strait, and was
trying to interest certain government ministers in his
project. Being questioned, he said the entrance of the
strait was in latitude 78°, the outlet in latitude 75°,
and that he had sailed through it in thirty days in
November and December. On hearing his story,
observing his manner, and examining some of liis
pretended sketches of Anian, Silva deemed him an

River Tizon in 36° 30' ; that the famous port was in 35° ; that the giant queen
was wont to mix powdered pearl in her drink ; and tliat south of tho Tizon
was a larger river, tho Rio del Coral. Pacheco and Cardenas, Gol. Doc, ix.
24, 32-3. According to Dobbs' Account, 104-5, Tribaldus wrote to Ilakluyt
in 1605 that Ouato ii» 1002 discovei'ud the great Northern River, and went
from it to the 'famous lake of Conibas' — see Wytiliet's and Low's maps —
'where he pretended ho saw a City of vast Exter.t, seven Leagiies long, and
two wide, the Houses separated from each other, and iincly built and orna-
mented with fine Gardens. Ho said tho numerous Inhabitants hatl all retired
at his Approach, and fortified themselves in the Market-place or great Square. '
In Vcytia, Hist. Ant. Mcj., i. 140, the giant queen is called Cifiacacohota, and
the island Cino^uahua, which may be the correct forms, as Salmeron's typo-
graphy is very doubtful.

*' Geonje llaiicroJYs Hist. U. S., i. 129. The map in Je.fferj/s' Great Prob.,
83, said to bo taken from the Ist edition of Torquemcula, 1008, is the same as
that already mentioned under date of 1001 from Ilerrera.

"" Maldonado; Imayen del Mundo, Alcald, 1G26.

LORENZO FERRER MALDONADO.

embustcro, utterly unworthy of credit." For the dis-
covery of the strait was only one of his wonderful
secrets which he was disposed to exchange for money.
He had mastered many of the problems of alchemy;
and he had discovered the art of making a magnetic
needle not subject to variation. For the disclosure
of this last invention in one of his petitions to the
king he asked, among other rewards, to be freed from
a criminal prosecution in Granada; for it appears that
he had been convicted of an attempt to sell his skill
as a forger of old documents to a man involved in
weighty lawsuits.'"* After a few years his true char-
acter as an unprincipled and visionary adventurer bo-
came known, and he left Madrid, to be heard of in
person no more.

One of his memorials, however, came to light in
1775, and, in possession of the duque del Infantado,
was copied by Muiioz in 1781." It was not a narra-
tive of the pretended voyage, but on the advantages
of a new expedition, in which the said voyage was
incidentally described. Its contents were first printed
by Malo de Luque,in 1788 ;" and Maldonado's veracity
was defended by M. Buache, the French geographer,
in a paper read before the Academy of Sciences in

^*Silva y Figueroa, Cormntarios, as quoted by Navarrete.

*'' Navarrete, Via'jfs Ap6c., 71-101. This is by far the most important
authority on this topic; and, indeed, on the general subject of which it treats.
The full title is: Exa'^xn hisiorico-critico de tos Viages y Deacuhrimientos Aji6c-
rifos del CapiUtv. Lorenzo Ferrer Mcddonado, de Juan deFuca, y del Almirante
UartolomS de Fonte. Memoria comenzada por D. Martin Femandi z de Na-
varrete, y arreglmla y concluida por D. Eustaquio Fernandez de Navarr<te.
Ailo de 1848, in Col. Doe. In6d. Hist. xv. 7-363. This work contains much
material on actual" as well as apocryphal voyages, including treatises on
Malaspina's and other expeditions, not found elsewhere in print. It is an
elaboration of the elder Navarrete's introduction to the voyage of the Sutil
y Mexicana. Notwithstanding its great importance I do not fmd that any
late writer on these topics has cited this work.

^^ Maldonado, lielacion del deaaibrimiento del Estreclvo de Anian, que Men yo,
el capitan Lorencio Ferrer Maldonado, el aflo 1588, en la cual estd la drden de la
navegacion y la dl'^pusicion del sUio y el mode de/ortalecerlo, y asi mismo las
vt'didades desta navegacion, ?/ los daiios, que de no Itacerla, se aiguen, in Pacheco
and Cardenas, Col. Doc., v. 420-47. The document is not dated, but in it the
author speaks of ' el afio pasado de 160S,' and of 'cste auo de IGOO.' This
document was seen by Nicolao Antonio, Bib. Hisp. Nova (ed. 1788), ii. 3,
before 1G72, and from this source is cited by Pinelo in 1738. EpitoTne, ii. 608.

** Ilisl, eatablecimierUos ultra marinos, iv. 24.

,J J

.-' ' i

Kill.

> V

M APOCRTTHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTHWEST.

1790. The document was adversely criticised before
1800 by Malaspina, the navigator, and Ciriaco Cc-
vallos;^ also by Navarreto in 1802," and Humboldt
and others. In 1811 Carlo Amoretti, the librarian of
the Ambrosian Library of Milan, found in its collec-
tion another original, or a contemporaneous copy, of
]\Ialdonado's memorial, which he published with the
original maps, and with an elaborate argument to prove
that the voyage was authentic.** Notwithstanding
the ingenuity of Amoretti's special pleading, his views
have not been generally accepted, and the voyage is
still regarded as apocryphal.**

" Malatpina, Disertarion sibre la legitimidad <le la nuveoarion hfcha m 1588
por Ferrer Maltlonado, etc., in Col. Doc. Inid., xv. 22S-30. Written before
1800, but not printed until 1849. The refutation of D. Ciriaca Covallos is
stated in an editorial note to have been printed in Isla do Leon, 17t)8.

^^Sutity Alex., I'iage, Introd., xlix.-lii.

^^Amorelti, Viaijijio del Mare Atlantieo at Pacifico, etc. Milan, 1811. I
have used the following French edition : A morel ti. Voyage de 1 1 mer Allan-
ti'iue a I'ocianPaciJi'iue par le nord-ouest daua Ici vier i/laciale par la Capliaine
Laurent Ferrer Ma/doiiado I'au mdlxxxviii. Traduit d'un maimscrit Enpagiiol
et auivi d'un diacours qui en dcmonlre Vautheiitkitdet la virai'M. Piaiiiance,
1812. Sm. 4to; three pi., containing twelve mapa. The Voyage ia on pp.
1-19, and the Disi'oura on pp. 21-84.

'" The authorities I have cited, partiri.ib.t!y Na varrete and Amoretti, con-
tain substantially all that need be mid on t iit " suLject. To Navarreto'a work
are attached, pp. 231-Gl, as Appendix X-). 3, i-ome extracts from the Oaceta de
Madrid, February 13, 1812, and the 7?;'., /7 cu Britdnica, Noa. 431, 457-8, con-
taining criticisms on Amoretti's work, na./ccially by Baron Lindenau. The
latter published a book on the subject. Lindenau, Die OlaubwiirdiykeU, etc.
Gotha, 1812. Malto-Brun, Anmilea dea Vo;/., xix. 390-0, in reviewing the
works of Amoretti and Luidenau, approves the conclusions of the latter that
Maldonado's story wa.s fiction. But Lindenau thinks that Maldonado visited
Hudson Bay, imagining the rest, and Malte-Brun thinks it possible that ho liad
vague traditions from somebody who had actually penetrated the frozen ocean.
Li Id., xxi. 393-4, the French editor notices a newspaper reply of Amoretti to
Lindenau as follows : ' Si Maldonado a mal calculd les latitudes ct Ics longitudes
de mani^ro h fairo iMisser son vaisseau par-dessua le continent, c'est, scion M.
Amoretti, une petite erreur pardonnabfe ii un marin du seizi6me siucle. Si ce
marin a (Svidemment copi6 do cartes ont^rieures ^ son voyage, avec tontes les
fautes, c'est une preuve de la rdalit^ de son voyage. Si, par malheur, sa de-
scription physique des lieux qu'il pr6tend avoir vus est contraii« & tout co
qu'en disent les navigateurs modemes, c'est parco qu'apparcmmcnt un tremble-
ment de ttrre en a chanrj^ I'Clait — Tout cela est, comme on voit, totalcmcnt
stranger h la gdographie critique de noa jours; une semblable mani^re
d'argumenter n'admet et n'exige aucune rcSponse.' In Nouvtllea An. dea Voy.,
xi. 8-28,Lapie defends Maldonado's voyage, making wild work with northern
geography, as will be apparent from his map, which I shall have occasion to
reproduce. The Quarterly Heview, xvi. 144-53, of 1S17 shows the Amoretti
document — really tho only one existing on the subject, or a copy of the only
one — to be an absurdly inaccurate forgery ; but ai: the same time has no doubt
that Maldonado's narrative, as seen by Antonio, etc., was a genuine account
of an actual voyage to the PaciQc via Capo Horn and up to Cook Inlet, wtuch

MALDONADO'S STORY.

Maldonado's story was briefly as follows: In Feb-
ruary, 1588, having come from Spain or Portugal,
guided by the notes of a Portuguese pilot named Joiio
Martinez, who it seems had made the voyage before,
he entered the strait of Labrador in latitude 00°.
His course after this entrance was 80 leagiies n. w.
up to latitude G4°; thence n. 120 leagues to latitude
72°; N. w. 90 leagues to nearly latitude 75°, where
the strait ends, being from 20 to 40 leagues wide,
with numerous ports, and its banks inhabited to 73°.
Emerging into the Polar Sea at the beginning of
March, he found the weather cold and stormy. Water
froze on the ship and rigging; but ice was not en-
countered in any more troublesome form. The route
was now w. ^ s. w. for 350 leagues to 71°, where on
the return high land was found, and supposed to be a
part of New Spain; thence he sailed w. s. w. 440
leagues more, to the strait of Anian, in 00°. He re-
mained in this region during the months of April,
May, and part of June, during which time he passed
through the strait — fifteen leagues long, with six turns,
less than one eighth of a league wide at the north
entrance and over one fourth of a league at the south ;
coasted America for more than 100 leagues s. w. to
55°; thence sailed w. for four days, or 120 leagues, to
a high mountainous coast; and returned north-westerly
to and through the strait. While in a grand port at
the southern entrance a vessel of eight hundred tons
approached laden with china goods. The men were
probably Muscovites, or Hanseatics, and made them-

'!! >1

l.t!. ^

was mistaken for the strait of Anian! The N". Am. Review, xlviii. 122, of
1S30 adopts the Quarter/t/'s view, so far as the authenticity of Maldonado's
voyage is concerned. Malt( IJnin, Prdcis Gedg., vi. 302-3, repeats his views as
already cited. Greenhow, JJuit. Or. and Col. , 79-83, pronounces the story a
fiction, but deems it not improbable, as in the Quarterl;/, that some unknown
voyage made up the Pacific coast to Cook Inlet may have served as a founda-
tion. In Ihimey's Dkcov. South Sea, v. 107-73, is a translation of the im-
portant parts of the narrative, with remarks thereon and references to various
authorities. The document is regarded as a forgery by some Plemming,
who attributed the voyage to Maldonado. Barroi^a Chron. Hist. Von., li'18,
1848, contains an Enghsh translation of Maldonado's relation with the maps.
Twiss, //(«t Or., G4-G, gives a rcsum6 from various authorities.

t t

1
t

'''''

APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NOPvTHWEST.

r ■ f

selves understood in Latin, but were suspicious and not
inclined to be communicative They came from a

fjreat city called Robr, Roba, or some such name, be-
onging to the king of Tartary. Maldonado returned

Maldonado's Strait of Anian, 1609.

by the same route in June and July, and not only was
not impeded by ice, but found it — the sun never setting
at all — hotter than in the hottest parts of Spain.

^1^:

iSi:

MARKED DISCREPANCIES.

. The country round the strait of Anian is described
in much detail. I annex the only one of the five
sketches which has any interest. It may be compared
with the map of Urbano Monti, already given. It
will be noticed how carefully the sites for needed
fortifications are pointed out. I am obliged to give
to this and the other fictitious voyages more space
than they merit; but my limits by no mcahs permit
me to give even a resume of Maldonado's long de-
scriptions; still less of the arguments that have
been founded thereon. These arguments consist on
the one side of resemblances, and on the other of
discrepancies pointed out between the navigator's de-
scriptions and the facts reported by later visitors to
Bering Strait down to the time the argument was
made. At present the resemblances may be said to
consist solely in the fact that the Polar Sea actually
affords an intcroceanic passage by way of Bering
Strait. The most startling discrepancies are that
Maldonado's strait, as described and pictured, bears
not the slightest liliuness in length, width, and general
features to the renllty; that it is located some three
hundred miles ^oo far south; that Alaska's mild tem-
perature, with Its corresponding fruits and animals, has
m later times disappeared; that Maldonado's distances
make the longitude of the strait some G0° too far
east — just as did liie maps of his time ; that through-
out the voyage his distances and latitudes do not
• gree; and finally that oppressive heat and absence of
ice have not in later times been noted as a leading
characteristic of the waters above 70°. I give hero
the map of M. le Chevalier Lapie, 18:^1, which will
also be referred to later to illustrate another voyage,
to show his theory of Maldonado's ro.ite. The real
strait of Anian, or Bering, leads, into the frozen ocean
north of Kiteguon, which is a wostorii prolongation
of Greenland; while ]\ialdcriado's strait was not Anian
at all, but a passage leadiiig from Norton Sound into
a polar sea south of Kitogucn and connected in the

Hut. N. W. CoAsr, Vol. I. 7

ll~

«9

APOCRYPHAL VOYAGES TO THE NORTHWEST.

east with the straits of Davis and Hudson I The
route in the west is shown by a dotted Hne.

The reader has no need of arguments in this mat-
ter. Starting with a strong presumption, arising from
the nature of the pretended discovery and from the

Lapie's Map, 1821.

spirit of the times, that Maldonado's claiir k. false,
ho will be led from presumption to conviction wht;r4
the time that elapsed between the voyag j and tho
narrative is noted, and particularly when he learns
the man's reputation as liar and forger. On reading

A MOST BUNGLING FALDEHOOD.

the narrative he will not be likely to change his
opinion, if he compares Maldonado's pleasure trip
over sunny seas with the efforts of later navigators
in the same waters. And finally, on recalling some
of the maps that have been reproduced in these
pages, which — or others of similar nature — Maldo-
nado doubtless saw, he will conclude that an ingen-
ious liar might have told a much more plausible story,
and will be surprised that intelligent men should ever
have defended the authenticity of such a voyage.
There is not the slightest necessity to suppose, as
some have done, that the emhustero visited Hudson
Bay, or made a voyage in the Pacific, or heard of
Japanese navigations. His story was a lie pure and
simple, manufactured in Spain from his imagination,
and not plausible enough to deceive even men who
on that topic were willing to be deceived.

V»^- t til

I 'i|

S ;

( . ■

! ■;

'^ll 1

CHAPTER IV.

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY— CONCLUSION.
1610-1800.

Spanish Junta — GABciA de Silva — A New Phase — Calitornia oncb
MORE AN Island — Cardona — Dutch Map — Brioos' Treatise — Sal-
MERON — Delgado's Voyage — De Laet — ^Winnepeos, or Men op the
Sea — Nicolet — Botello and Casanate on Northern Geooraphv —
D'AviTY — AcLB — Melouer — An Exact Description — Ogilby — Mar-
quette, Hennepin, and La Salle— Peche — Teouayo — Paredes — Dam-
pier — LuYT— La Hontan — Kino and Mange — Island or Peninsula? —
Maps of Hacke, Heylyn, and Harris — Bartholomew de Fonte's
Fictitious Letter — De l'Isle and Buache — BiBLiocRAPHY of a
Hoax — Rogers — Velarde — Niel — Uoarte's Voyage — California a
Peninsula again — Shelvocke — Coxe — Dobbs — Sedelmaik — Vetan-
cuRT — Ellis— New Mouth for the Colorado— Venegas — Jefferys—
Enoei., — Carver — End of the Mystery.

During these early years of the seventeenth cen-
tury so much alarm was felt in Spain lest South Sea
supremacy should be lost through the discovery of a
strait that a junta was formed by the ministers of
the court of Felipe III. with a view to prevent further
search for the passage by the north-west, or north-
east, and to send an embassy to England to urge the
matter. It would be interesting to study the discus-
sions of this junta; but the records are not extant,
nor do we know how the embassy was received. It
appears, however, that Garcia do Silva, and probably
others, opposed all restrictive measures; urging that
exploration should be encouraged, and expressing a
belief that the finding of a strait in the far north
would in no way injure Spain, since it would not open
a quicker or safer route to the Pacific, on account c''

(100)

SPANISH INACTION.

101

the difficulties and danger attending the navigation
of the polar seas. It is evident that the prevalence
of this opinion among those highest in authoiity and
those best qualified to judge in the matter was one
of the chief causes for the official inaction of the
next century and a half There was no end of vague
projects urged upon the government by private ad-
venturers, oftener in America than in Spain; but
actual results were confined for the most part to the
pearl coast of the Californian gulf. In the highest
Spanish official circles the Northern Mystery had
well nigh lost its charm.^

Since, however, the work of actual exploration was
confined to the gulf, a large portion of the Mystery
was transferred to that region, and had its home there
for many years, so far as Spanish views were con-
cerned. Since 1 540 for nearly a century the Californian
peninsula and gulf had been described and mapped in
very nearly their true positions and proportions; but
all this was now to be changed. Lok in 158-, for
no reason that can be known, had almost separated
the peninsula from the main at a point in about lati-
tude 45°, where he turned the coast abruptly eastward.
Then Padre Ascension, in connection with the voy-
age of Vizcaino in 1603, had also given currency to
the eastward trend, and seems, in conversation and
written memorials, to have favored the idea that
Aguilar's river was not only the entrance to the Anian
Strait, but might also be connected with the gulf
Next Ouate, in 1604, from observations and from In-
dian reports at the mouth of the Colorado, concluded

^Xavarrete, Viagen A'pde., 204-5; Id., in Sutll y Slex., Viage, Ixviii.-ix. ;
SUva, Comfiitarios, 1618, which seems not to have been printed until 1782, ia
H'at. dri Oran Tamorlan. Mafjin, Hist. Univ. dea hides, IGll, contains the
Wytfliet- Ptolemy maps that have ah-eady been noticed and repro<luced from
the originals of 1597. Magin's work is in the Mercantile Library of San
Francisco, where is also a 1028 edition of Lintchoten, Voyage, with a map of
tlie northern countries, showing no new features.

' At any rate he clearly announced this view of the subject in 1620, Ascen-
eion, Relarion, 543-4, urging the oci^upatign of California as a step toward the
conquest of Anion, Quivira, etc.

r"-

102

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY— CONCLUSION.

that the gulf waters extended northward and east'
ward to the Atlantic, thus confirming Ascension's
theory. And finally, in or about 1617, Nicolds de
Cardona, who had talked with some of Onate's officers,
and who in 1615 had himself navigated the gulf- -be-
lieving himself to have reached 34°, noting deep open
water stretching far before him, and understanding
from Onato's men that the mouth of the Tizon was
in 35° — boldly declared his belief that California was
an island, and spoke of the main as the Contra Costa
de Florida.^ Cardona even fancied the gulf to be the
strait of Anian itself, the noi-thern outlet being per-
haps a mere branch; and he had personally heard
from the natives confirmation of the old tales about
Quivira and the great lake towns. These rumors were
convenient incentives for voyages which might afford
opportunities for pearl-fishing.

The idea of California as an island once conceived,
it soon became deep-rooted and popular. The next
thing in order was for some adventurous Fuca or
Maldonado to sail round it; and this seems to have
been done in 1620. I have not been able to trace this
story, however, to a definite origin. The real source
of the new geographical idea as related in my text
has not been known to modern writers.* From this

• Cardona, lielacion del deacubrimiento del lieino de la California ; and similar
views in a document written some years later. Cardona, Memorial sohre ma
de>icubrimiento8 en la California; both in Pacheco and Cardenas, Col. Do:.,
ix. 30-57. These are memorials urging the importance of renewed efforts.
Tlie author begins : ' California is .a far extended kingdom of which the end
is only known by geographical conjectures and demonstrative notices, whicli
make it an island stretching from n.w. to s. e., fonning a mediteiTanean sea
adjacent to. . .the incognita contracosta de la Florida.' In 44", according to
Vizcaino and Ascension, the coast makes a turn to the east, 'y hasta hoy no
se sabe 4 dondo vA 6, parar.' Ancient and modern writers have closed the sea
in 28", but this seems an error. ' Luego la California es isla muy grande ;
lue este seno 6 brazo de mar es el estreclio quo llaman de Atiian. ' ' The

ndians both of California and of the Florida main cave mo many reports
of a very great lake with many towns, with a king who wears a crown; and
from the lake much gold is taken — and there are many cities with towers,
one of them called Quivira; bearded men; horses,' etc. 'California is one of
the richest lands in the world, with silver, gold, pearls,' etc.

♦According to Ogilby'nAmer., 38Q-90, Jleylyn'a Cosmography, 9G8,and some
other works, some advtiturcrs on the coast in l(i"20 accidentally fell upon
ft strait, through which they were carried by the force of the current into the

CALIFORNIA AN ISLAND.

103

time many, but not all, mapped and described Cali-
fornia as an island, extending to Cape Blanco, in lat-
itude 44°. But from the same period map-makers
began to neglect the extreme north, to forget for the
most part the details introduced so freely by Wytfliet,
Low, and others, and to leave all north of the great
island a blank. I reproduce a map published by Pur-
chas in 1G25, which is essentially the same as a Dutch
map of 1024." It will be noticed that there are many
radical changes besides that of changing the peninsula
into an island; and chiefly that the New Mexican
names from Coronado no longer appear on the Cali-
fornian coast, but only such as are found in the narra-
tives of actual voyagers. The name New Mexico
appears for the first time, and on a Rio del Norte,
though the river still flows from the great lake and
into western waters. Traces are seen of Drake's voy-
age, though New Albion does not yet appear; and of
Onate's river discoveries. Astablan should bo Aztat-
lan; but Rey Coromedo, Laqueo de Oro, and Rio

gulf of California, thus breaking up the peninsular theory. According to an
inscription on a map of 1025 in Purchas, noticed later, Cahfomia was ]irovcd
an island by a Spanish chart taken by tho Dutch. This is credited to Jant«o-
nius, Monde Maritime, by Do I'lsle, in Voyagtis aii Nord, lieciieil, iii. 27--3,
who also relates tliat his son was told by Froger that he had seen a pilot who
assured him he had sailed round California. Grcenhow, L'lst. Or. and Cut.,
94, says it was on the strength of a statement made by the captain of a Manila
ship in IG'20 that Aguilar's river was tliought to be an entrance to tho gulf.
Also Twiax' Or. QvenHon, 03.

^Purchas, His Pit{jrime.% iii. 852-3; West-lmHsche Spierjhel, 05. The Dutch
map is on Mcrcator's projection, dififers somewhat in longitudes, and lias
vaguely outlined in the north between 50" and CO" a strait leadmg north into
vacuity. Purchas' map is attached to A Treatiye of the Korth-weat jmnsar/c,
by Master Briggs, who mentions among tlie 'excellent prerogatives 'of Vir-
ginia its position 'in respect of tho South Sea, which lyeth on tho West and
North-west side of Virninia, on the otlier side of the Mountaines beyond onr
Falls, and openeth a free and faire passage to. . .China.' For by following
up the rivers n. w. from Henrico City doubtless tho mountains may be
reached which send rivers into Hudson Bay. And Button's bay is nearly as
far west as the Cape of California. Apparently Brigga' ' faire passage' from
Virginia was by way of Hudson Bay ! He mentions the rriap copied from one
brought out of Holland, perhaps the Spieghel, and he thinks the old rumors
')f great continental stretches, of Quivira, etc., 'arc cunningly sict dowiie by
Biime vpon set purpose to put vs out of the right way.' He says tliat Mercator
was 'abused by a jilap sent vnto him, of four Eitripi meeting about the North
Polo ; which now .are found to bee all turned into a mayne Icie 8ea ;' and
that Gali lias destroyed the old illusion that Cape Mendocino was MOO leagues
from the Capo of California.

'M \ '

'i!i

104

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY— COITCLUSION.

Anguchi are unexplained names. Nothing is sliown
in the far north-west; though in the Dutch original a
strait is vaguely outlined. It is noticeable that Pur-
chas has another map — that of Hondius, introduced

Dutch Map, 1C24-5.

in place of Herrera's — which makes California a penin-
sula, and is in fact substantially the same as those of
Ortelius and Mercator, except that the New Mei. 'jan

salmuPwON's .^tory.

109

towns Cicuic, Tiguox, and Quivira no longer appear
on the coast, or anywhere else. Quivira the province
is however retained. The strait runs north from Cape
Fortuna, in latitude 55°.*

In 1626 Padre Zarate Salmeron spoke concerning
the Northern Mystery in connection with his history
of New Mexico. Pie tells how two Spanish fishing-
vessels at Newfoundland were carried by a gale into
the strait, one being driven into a river far southward
to a great walled city, where the crew's adventures
are given in some detail. During the return most
of them perished from cold, but the vessel reached
Florida, and one of the men came to Mexico in time
to tell his story befjre dying.'' Salmeron has no
doubt that this was the city Coronado saw, that
Aguilar would have seen had he entered tlie river,
and "the same that Anian saw, and discovered, and
reported to his Majesty" I The proper way to explore
Quivira was either by land from New Mexico or by
water from Florida. The padre's idea was that the
St Lawrence extended to a point very near New
Mexico; but he was sure there existed no strait be-
tween the latter and Florida. The St Lawrence is
also called Strait of the Three Brothers, and was
thought to extend from ocean to ocean. He made
many inquiries among the natives about the lake of
Copalla, whence came the ancient Aztecs, and he had
no doubt of its existence. It might be rei. -hed from
New Mexico by way of the Rio Chama and the Navajo
country, thence following a great river through a level
and fertile country; or by way of Moqui, up the Rio
Buena Esperanza.*

• PurcTias, His Pi'grimes, iv. 857. The general map on the frontispiece of
vol. i. also makes California a peninsula.

' Padre Velarde, Dencrip. Ilist., 352, in 1710 had a narrative of what was
perhaps the same voyage. Ho makes Miguel Deigado commander of the two
vessels and the date IGOl. The vessel went w. and then s. from Newfound-
laud for 300 leagues before reaching the river. All arrived sick at Habana,
and most of them died. Velarde thinks this was probably not Anian, but
another strait.

* Salmeron, Belaciones, 21-4, ^-9, 47-9.

i :1

I '

I I

•o

;'i:

■ ]

ji:::|

l-t

loe

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY— CONCLUSION.

In Joannes do Laot's map of 1G33 all above Capo
Mendocino, in 43°, is left blank. California is a penin-
sula, with the gulf extending to 35°, with a large island
at its head, but there is no attempt to delineate the
rivers. Nova Albion is in 40°, at Cape Fortunas,
while at Cape San Martin, in 37°, is Seyo, a name of
unexplained origin. These, with California and Novo
Mexico, arc the only inland names. In his text Laet
explains that California is the vaguely known region
stretching north-west to the possible strait of Anian,
but whether it was island or peninsula ho was not
quite certain. Quivira is described from Gomara and
Herrera; and Laet notes from Tribaldus that Onate
reached Lake Conibas, with its grand buildings.'

Meanwhile in Canada the French were hearing
many rumors of the western nation of Winnipegs, or
' Men of the Sea,' with whom were wont to trade not
only the Canadian Indians but also certain hairless
and beardless people who came in large canoes upon
the 'great water.' There was much reason to sup-
pose these latter, really the Sioux, to be Chinese or
Japanese. And in 1G34-5 Jean Nicolct was sent by
Champlain to visit the people of Ouinipeg, and per-
haps to reach the great water. He had no difficulty
in penetrating to the home of the tribe beyond Lake
Michigan, on Green Bay and Fox River; and he went
even farther, to a point where, hearing of the 'great
water,' the Wisconsin flowing into the Mississippi, lie
believed himself to be within three days of the sea.^"

If the gulf was part of the famous passage to
the Atlantic, it was obviously important that Spain
should know it; and indeed some action was taken on
the matter in Mexico, in consequence of which a
somewhat elaborate report was made in 1G36 by
Alonso Botello y Serrano and Pedro Porter y Casa-
nate, the substance being repeated by the latter in

* Laet, Novus Orbis, 291, 302-6.

"See niitlerficlV-'* Hist. Binron. of the Northwest, Cincinnati, 1881, p. 37
et seq., and 07 et seq., with references to original Jesuit relations.

D'AVITY, LE MONDE.

107

a later document." The purport of this report was,
that respecting northern geography nothing was ex-
tant and accessible but vague and contradictory state-
ments, conveying no actual information; that it was
of the greatest miportance for the interests of both
God and the king that the truth should be learned
by exploration, especially in the matter of a not im-
probable interoceanic communication by the gulf."
Yet no immediate steps were taken in consequcnco
of this investigation.

One of the maps in Pierre D'Avity's grand work of
1637 was decidedly behind its time; for it not only
made California a peninsula, but placed Quivira on
the coast, and retained the old western trend of the

^^Dotello y Serrano and Porter y Caaanate, Dedaracinn que hicii-ron en 17
de set., 163G — tie las convciiienc'as que se aetjuirau. de deacuhrir conio se comu-
nica por la California el mar del anr con el del N. In Col. Dor. Incd , xv.
215-27, with a list of boolis and documeuta consulted, sonioof ■which latter nve
na longer extant. Casanat', Memorial del Almirante al Itey, recomendanlo
una nueva Eapedicion d la California, in Pacheco and Cardenas, Cot. Doc, ix.
19-20.

'■'' In past reports, 'grande incertidumbre, poca fijez, contradicciones do
tinos d otroa sin fundarse los mas, ui ajustarso A las circunstancias.' ' V/o
find opinions to bo various, and definitions diverse respecting this discovery.
Somo make California an island, others mainland ; some put a strait of Aiiiau,
others do not ; one mr.rks out a passage to Spain by way of Florida, putting a
strait in California i;i 40"; another indicates Jacal, with its strait an(l the new
northern sea assuruig the navigation to Spain. Others doubt this, saying that
these straits lead up to so high a latitude tliat the passage is impossible, by
reason of cold. Some sny this ennenada (the guU?) runs N. w., others N.
others N. E. , and somo that it ends in three rivers flowing down from lofty
fiierras. Many put Cape Mendocino in 40', or 42"; and one modem scientitic
author puts ono Capo Jlendocino in 49" and another in 50°; otliers, knowing
nothing of latitudes, describe vast reaches of territory from east to west not
visited . . . Wo find no uniform course, no certain distance, no true latitude,
sounding to undeceive, nor perspective to enlighten.' The finding of the
passage will facilitate military and commercial connnunication with Spain;
and in the opinion of diflfercnt persons it will alTord a means of succoring New
Mexico, reveal the dwelling-place of white and clothed men, lead to the dis-
covery of La rjrun Quivira, the townis of the crowned king, island of the
giantess, lake of gold, rivers Tizon and Coral. By it the foe may be harassed
on both seas and forced to abandon Jacal, and prevented from attacking Cali-
fornia and drawing aid from Floi'ida. ' If there is a strait, wlio can doubt tliat
the foe knows it? The Conde del Valle says a Dutch vessel entered the strait
of Anian, and that the enemy is advancing from Jacal day by day. ' A priest
saw seven ships in the gulf; Iturbl and Cardona hatl their vessels captured;
Drako reached Mendocino; Cavendish took the Santa Anna; it is said that
vessels leave the Atlantic coast ballasted with silver ore ; it was swoni in Gua-
dalajara tliat the French were in search of the strait, and had a plan of it ; one
man thought their leader waa a Dutch pilot. Casanate in his memorial repeats
most of the same matters. He also notes that Captfi in Martin do Viday going
north from Sinaloa found a walled city with good streets, large buildings, etc.

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108

THE NORTIIEIIN MYSTERY-CONCLUSION'.

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seaboard to Capo Mendocino, with most of the old
names, A novel arrangement of the lakes in New
Mexico will be noticed. I append a reduced copy,
omitting most of the names. In his text D'Avity
names Berg as the northernmost province of America,
and declares that the coasts of Quivira are "bien peu
connus," being somewhat out of the line of ordinary
navigation."

XC. Mendocino

D'Avity's Map, 1G37.

About the middle of the century, according to
Padre Tello, a Flemish man named Acle sold at
Compostela, Jalisco, a piece of cloth which he said
he had bought forty days before in London. But
this discoverer of Anian shot a Spaniard and fled,
carrying his secret with iiim. It was in 16G0 that
the Portuguese Melguer is vaguely reported +0 have
sailed from Japan to Lisbon through the strait of
Anian and the frozen sea."

Governor Diego de. Peiialosa made a trip from

"Z>'^rJ<.'/, Le Monde, Paris, 1637, general map of the world. In /(/.,
DfKcrtptioii Generale ile VAmiviquf, which ia pt. ii, of the preceding, the
map of America is much improved ; the coast trend is N. w. ; Quivira and
New Albion are omitted; the old lake with its seven cities ia restored; and the
lake from which the St Lawrence flows is moved some 2000 miles eastward.
A great island of Paxaros lies off the coast, in about 34°; Totonteac, Cibola,
and California arc the provinces named; and the coast names are as in many
earlier maps.

^^ Mota Padilla, Hist, N. Oalicia, 74; Amorelti, Voy, Maldonado, 39, 75.

peSalosa's expedition.

100

New Mexico in 1GG2, of which Padre Freytas wrote
the diary, and in which he claimed to have reached
the original Quivira, far to the north-east of Santa
Fd, A memorial seeking license for northern con-
quest was sent to the king with the narrative, which
was therefore filled with every imaginary wonder of
the Northern Mystery that might favor his enter-
prise. Most of his statements were false, even if the
whole account was not pure fiction. The hole region
waa a veritahle paradise, abounding in all desirable

groducts ; and the city of Quivira was of great extent,
everal thousand houses of from two to four stories
were counted in the two leagues of streets traversed;
and a party sent to explore could not reach the end
of the town. The natives told also of provinces
beyond, of Thegliayo, the province of the Ahijados,
and others, so rich that ordinary dishes were made
of silver and gold — to obtain which wealth the En-

flish, French, and Dutch were straining every nerve,
t behooved Spain to act promptly. All the men
from Europe, Asia, Africa, and America who had
visited this land were waiting impatiently for Don
Diego to be made duke, marquis, and count, with com-
mand over the new dominion. It was on the sea, not
more than two hundred and fifty leagues from Santa
Fd on the west, north, and east; and ships might visit
it freely. Zaldibar's visit to the west in 1G18 is
mentioned in confirmation, though he did not dare to
penetrate to the marvels reported to him, by reason
of terrible giants to be passed; at which cowardice
Padre Ldzaro protested, as did nature, finding ex-
pression in an earthquake.*

^^Freytas, Relacion del dcscuhrimiento del pais y dudad de Qv.ivira, Echo
por D. Diego Diotdaio de. Peilaloxa, in Shea's Exped. of Peilnlosa. ' En el
comun sentir todo lo que haata oy estii conqiiistado y poblado debaxo del
nombre do America es sombra en comparacion de lo quo contieno csta, nucva
parte del mundo nuevo anienazada de conijuistar p<.)r los Franceses que con-
tiuan con ella, y de los Yngleses y Olandeses que tanto la desean, nunque no
lo consiguirau los vuos ni Xoa otros, porque ignoran el Arte de con(iui8t'ir.' I
have more to say of Pcualosa's expedition and career elsewhere. Nothing
but a full reproduction would do justice to the absurdities of the uanalive.

lit

:" HI

THE NORTHSUN mystery-coxclusion.

An 'exact description' of America was published
in 1G55. The author admits that the question of a
separation or non-separation from Asia is too deep for
him. The prevalent opinion seems to be that America
ia an island, separated from Anian, a province of Tar-
tary, by the strait of that name. Noting the old
reports about its having been navigated, the writer
says: "But of what credit these testimonies shall be
thought, for ought I know, the Reader must judge.
I onely report them as I fmde them ... I fear the
Proverb may somewhat prevail upon the English in

OOELBT a MaP, 1671.

this point. Quod volumus facile credimiis.'' Strait or
no strait, however, California 'in its largest sense' in-
cludes all the north-west region, and is divided into
four provinces: Quivira, in the extreme north — to
the strait, if there be one, or else to Tartary — with
Acuco, Tiguex, and Cicuic, ea its chief towns ; Cibola,
lying between Quivira and Nueva Galicia; California
proper, that is, the southern part of the island below

MAHQUETTE AND LA SALLE.

Ill

■'. I

38°; and New Albion, that part of the island above
38° up to Cape Blanco. The people of Cathay and
China "doe trade with the Maritime parts and People
of Quivira." The great lake of Totonteac is the most
noteworthy feature.'" i copy the northern portion of
Ogilby's map of 1G71, which is in most respects iden-
tical with that of 1G25 from Purchas. The proper
location of Quivira in the north-east, and the small
extent of land between Hudson Bay and thp Pacific
are points that attract attention."

Pere Marquette, passing down the Mississippi in
1G73, noted the mouth of the Missouri, and wrote,
"through this I hope to reach the gulf of California,
and theace the East Indies;" for the Indians spoke of
a meadow five or six days up the river, whence a
stream ran westward. "If God gives me health I do
not despair of one day making the discovery." And
La Salle adopted the idea that the South Sea might
be reached by ascending one of the great rivers;
though the size of those rivers must have shown the
probable distance to the Pacific to be much greater
than had been supposed." It was a few years later
that Thomas Peche sailed from the Philippines north-
ward, and one hundred and twenty leagues into the
strait of Anian, but was forced to return down the
American coast. Presumably there was not the
slightest foundation for the story.''

About 1686, the attention of Spain having been
called anew to reports of northern wealth, and the

^^ America, an Exact Description, London, 1(>55, pp. 89-92, 291-303. Jansz,
or Bla«u, Amfrica, qvce est Geor/raphicB lHaviatiw Pars Qvinla (vol. xi. of his
Atlas Major), AmRtclaedami, 10(52, gives to California tlio same broad extent.

" Of/ilby's America, London, 1071, general map, text, 208 et Bcq., where is
tlie usual arrangement of the provinces of Quivira, Cibola, CalifoT la, and New
Albion; but the author seems to bo in much doubt about tlieii lolativo posi-
tions. In the sc'.'tliem portions of the map, not copied, the region east oi the
Rio del Norte is called N. Mexico; and Ti^uas, Socorro, find other names are
given along the river; while farther east is N. Granada, with the tovms of
Zuny, Moqui, etc. See also Moiilanus, Nifuvje IVeercld, 204 et seq.; Id., Un-
biikunte Ntue Welt, 231 etseq.; all three works being in substance the same.

^^Sparh' Life of Marquette; N. Amer. Keview, January 1839, 89. In
1080-2 P6re Hennepin went up the Mississippi to the falls of St Anthony,
while La Salle himself went down that river to the gulf.

^^ijeixas y Lovera, Theatro Naval, cited in Jejff'erys' Great Proh,, 18-19. '

, ...

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THE NORTHERN MYSTERY-CONCLUSION.

king having issued a cedula on the subject in 1G78,
Padre Alonso de Paredes, v/ho had been a mis'-' ary
in New Mexico, wrote a report on the subject . . cal-
culated to excite enthusiasm. Quivira he placed
somewhere in Texas, though it might extend far north-
Vr'ard. There was no evidence of gold or great cities
there. Of Teguayo, or Tehuayo, a famous name now
that had perhaps been current for a half century,
nothing was known be} "»nd Indian reports that it was
a populous kingdom containing a great lake.'^ In
1G86 also the English corsair Swan was on the coast.
His chronicler, Dampier, could not satisfy himself
whether Cahfornia was an island or a peninsula; nor
did he think the Spaniards desired to have the lake
of California explored, lest foreigners should reach
New Mexico, as Spaniards had escaped from New
Mexico by that way at the late insurrection.'^*

Baron la Hontan made his famous imaginary
journey to the far west in 1688. He ascended Long
lliver, a tributary of the Mississippi, for some eighty
Jays, passing natives more civilized than any at the
east. He did not reach the head of the river, which
was said to lead to a great salt lake, with populous

'"Parerfes, ITtilea y Curiosas Noticiaa del Nutvo-Mexico, Cibola y otraa
nadones covfinantes. La antigua tradicion de Copala, etc., 211-25. llo Bays
tbat Padre Itenavides in his memorial of 1030 had spoken of the reported gold
and silver of Teguayo and Quivira, and ex-Govcnior I'cualosa had made a
proposition to discover and conquer those provinces, calling Teguayo Tatago.
Paredes says that Teguayo is 180 leagues N. of the Yuta country, which is CO
leagues N. of Santa V&. The strait of Anian is in 70", the gulf of the sumo
name being n. e. in the region of Labrador. Quivira is s. e. ^ e., toward the
bay of Espiritu Santo. See also Frcytax, Iklacion.

" Dampier^s New V^oyaije, i. 2G4, 272. One map seems disposed to make
California a peninsula, as indeed ho says the latest Spanish charts represent
it. His general map, i. frontispiece, mokes California an island, and is for the
most part like the Ogilby map, savo that the north end of tho island has three
prongs, separated by small bays. The source of the St Lawrence is left open
in a way to suggest a sea or paasago to the sea. Lut a novelty ia a vague
coast etretclmig between 40" and 50" from near tho end of California v.'cst^^•ard,
named Compagnies Land, nnil separated from Asia just above Japan l)y a
strait of Uri'js. This was published in IGDa. In Lni/I, Introdxicth ail Ceo-
yraii/iium, Gi)2, 704, are two mapsof 1002, which from Uicir reacmblance to the
others need not be copied ; but there are some peculiar features. On the N.
end of the islund ai'o two bays and points with the names Tdaaijo r r.d U. de
Ei'liete ; while on the main opposite, in 43°, is a long square projection called
Aijnbfla de C'ato, with a group of islands in tho strait between. (.See Aa's
map uf 1707i which is similar in these respects.) In the interior round the

KIXO AND S.VLVATILr.RA.

lis

cities and large vessels. His story was pure fiction in
all that related to Long River and the far west.'^^

In the last decade of the century Padre Kino
began his labors in Pimeria Alta. Though his chief
object was the salvation of souls, both he and Captain
Mange took a deep interest in the Northern Mystery.
In their trip to the Gila and Colorado in 1G99 they
heard of a woman — perhaps the famous Maria de
Jesus de Agreda, who was said to have travelled
miraculously in these parts — who long ago had
preached to them, and when shot had several times
risen from the dead; they heard of white men who
sometimes came to trade; but received no confirma-
tion of Onate's island of the giantess. Kino was
inclined to disbelieve the theory that California was
an island, and in 1700 from a hill near the head
of the gulf he made some observations whicli
strengthened his opinion, though they by no means
settled the question, as has been erroneously claimed.
In March 1701 padres Kino and Salvatierra stood
with Mange on the mainland shore of the upper gulf,
in 31° or 32°, as they thought, and held an amigahle
disputa on the geographical problem. To the padres
it seemed that the shores united some thirty-six
leagues farther north, in accordance with their mis-
sionary desires; but Mange deemed appearances at
such a distance deceitful, and from the currents chose
to believe still in an estrecho. Later in the year Kino
crossed the Colorado, and was still convinced that all
was tierrafirmef though he did not go far enough to
prove it.

great lake are the new map names Apaches, Xila, Taos, etc. Tlie other map
omits the features cited about the end of the island, but introduces others
equally novel. California is not only separated from the main by a. strait, but
by another strait on tho west from the Terra de Jenxo; and north of California,

in 50°, wliother on dry land or in^open sea is not apparent, are Coniba^ and

' _ " ~ "" " idsonBayi

In Ilnrkc's Col. Urhjinal Voywjeaoi 1099 is a map of tho usual type, which has

, Cibola! There is an opening from Port Nelson of Hudson Bay into an Icy Sea.

tho Meschasipi R. (Mississippi River) very accurately located, but exagger-
ated in length. Between this river and tho strait of Anian, just above 50 , is
the niune Mcadoios.

^^ La lloutan, Nouveaux Voyaqes, 1702. I have not ser -^h^ work, and in
current ristimis there is not the slightest resemblance one U) another.
Hmt. N. W. Ooabt, VoIj. I. 8

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114

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY— CONCLUSION.

h,f

f ':!t

In his map of this period he made California a
peninsula on the strength of his convictions. This
map, a very accurate one of all these regions, too
accurate for the present subject, may be seen in an-
other part of this work. It was not published at the
time, and was seen by but few cosmographers.^

Harris' Map, 1705.

^Maiifje, Hist. Pimeria. 290, 301-2; 324, 331-3, 337; Apo»mko» AfaitM,
282-5, 200-5, 308-9; Salvatierra, in California, Estah. y Profj., 127-9, i52-3;
Veneijas, NoticianCcU., ii. 75-0, 94- IOC; Alegre/llist. Comp.de Jcsus,m. 117-18,
124-3, 134-5; Lorkmau'H Trav. JenvHn, i. 350, 395; Map iu Lettres Edi/., v,
29. ISee also my //««<. Norihtm .Tex. SlcUe6y i.

rmi

L.I

BARTHOLOMEW DE FONTE.

119

The map published with TIaches Collection of Voy-
ages in 1699 was reproduced by Heylyn in 1701 and
by Harris in 1705." These have nameless streams
flowing into the gulf of Mexico, which may be the
Rio Bravo del Norte, with its mouth now trans-
ferred to the proper side of the continent. Heylyn's
text is similar to that of the 'exact description' of
IG55 already noted. He is sure that California u
an island, and explains how some have been led into
the error of regarding it as a peninsula in the past;
and he also adds that Quivira is by some placed far iu
the interior, by the 'back of Virginia.' Harris has
another map, which I reproduce in part. It shows La
Hontan's fictitious discoveries; northern California a^
in several earlier maps mentioned but not copied ; and
Santa Fd, on the Brave River, or Rio Bravo del Norte,
flowing into the right
gulf, but still out of
the famous lake. The
accompanying frag-
ment from Pieter
vander Aa of 1707
explains itself so far
as any explanation is
practicable. ^'^ ^^^' ^^o?.

Padre Kino in 1706 looked for the last time on
the gulf -»vaters and mouth of the Colorado, again
convincing himself, but failing to convince his com-
panions, among whom was Padre Niel, that the gulf
there ended."

In a London periodical. Monthly Miscellany, or
Memoirs for the CuHous, in April and June 1708,
appeared what purported to be a letter of Admiral
Bartholomew de Fonte, describing a voyage made by

**rffjlhjn'fi Co/i»»o,7rty)Ay,frontiapiece and pp.9G0-8; Harris, NavhjnnlhiviA. ;
also iu Fuiiueirn Voyage, 1707. These maps show also a strait of Uiita on the
Asiatic shores, separating the main from an eastern land, which, however, does
not extend eastward to America, as in Dampier's map.

'*-'AiK>sl6Ucoa A/anes, 3-23-(); Kiel, Apuntamicnlua, 78. The latter puts tho
visit in 1705, aad say a that as there was no proof, 'quedd la cosa en opiuiou.'

flHl

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116

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY— CONCLUSION.

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him in 1640. It was partly in the first and partly
in the third person; no reference was made by the
editors to any original from which it might have
been translated; but they mentioned an accompany-
ing chart, not published and never heard of again. It
was doubtless a deliberate hoax, prepared at the time
by some one who had a superficial acquaintance with
Spanish -American affairs; but, for the discussions to
which it gave rise, the story must be noticed here,
and is in substance as follows :

Fonte sailed from the ' Calo' of Lima April 3, 1640,
with four vessels, under orders from Spain and the
viceroys, issued because of information that Boston
navigators had been seeking the northern passage.
Diego Penalosa was vice-admiral of the fleet; and
the other two commanders were Pedro de Bonardas,
or Barnarda, and Felipe de Ronquillo. They touched
at various points, and took a master and six mariners
at Conipostela. On this master's opinion that Cali-
fornia was an island, Penalosa, son of the sister of
Don Luis de Haro, resolved to learn the truth, and
his vessel left the fleet on the 10th of May. Fonte
with three ships went on and by June 14th reached
the river Reyes, in latitude 53°. He sailed about tvvo
hundred and sixty leagues in crooked channels among
the islands of the Archipelagus de St Lazarus; and
on June 2 2d sent Captain Barnarda up a fair river,
Barnarda sailed n., n. n. e., and n. w., to a great lake
full of islands, named Lake Valasco. Here he left his
ship between the island Barnarda and the peninsula
Conihasset, and in three Indian boats sailed 140
leagues w. and 436 leagues e. n. e., to latitude 77".
Meanwhile Fonte sailed up the river Reyes north-
eastward to a town of Conossct, on the south side of
Lake Belle, where some Jesuit missionaries with him
had been for two years. In the same region there was
a river de Haro. At Conosset the admiral received
t, letter from Barnarda, dated June 27th, having
entered Lake Belle June 22d with his two ships. July

FRUITS OF PEflALOSA'S STORY.

117

1st he sailed, perhaps in boats, down the river Par-
mentiers, passing eight falls, until, July Gth, he reached
lake Fonte, which was GO by 160 leagues, and well
supplied with islands. Then he sailed, July 14-17,
eastward through a lake called Estrecho de Ronquillo
to an Indian town, where he heard of a large shij),
which on sailing to it he found to be a Boston shij).
Captain Shapley, owned by Seimor Gibbons, major-
general of Maltechusets. Instead of capturing this
craft as a prize Fonte generously made presents to
officers and men, and bought Shapley's fine charts and
journals. Then he returned, August 6-1 6, to Conosset,
where on the 20th he received another letter of Au-
gust 1 1th from Barnarda. That officer had gone so far
as to prove that there was no passage by Davis Strait.
He had reached 79°, and one of his men had been led
by the natives to the head of Davis Strait, which
terminated in a fresh-water lake in 80°, beyond which
were high mountains and ice. By a third letter
Barnarda announced his arrival at Minhanset and the
port of Arena, on the river Reyes, August 29th; and
thither Fonte with great stores of salt provisions and
one hundred hogsheads of maize returned Ix ti Lake
Belle September 2-5. From this point the lleet sailed
homeward, having proved that there was no north-
west passage.

Absurd as all this appears related en resume, it is
still more so in the details, many of which are unin-
telligible. The story was founded probably, if it had
any foundation, on something in one of Penalosa's
absurd memorials. No such voyage was ever made,
even if such a man as Fonte ever lived ;^'' no such

'® Antonio UUoa in a letter to Navarrete in 1792, Navarrete, Viagei Apdc,
'i'>4-7, says that in 1736 he met, between I'anam.i, and Guayaquil, an old pilot,
Juun Manuel Morel, who showed him, among other old diaries, one of a voy-
age itivle by Admiral Bartolom6 de la Fiiente, who was despatched by the
viceroy of Peru in consequence of a report that a Spanish vessel had found
north of California a great bay stretching eastward, and had met in it a for-
eign ship. Fuente found no such bay and returned. UUoa took a copy of
the diary and lost it. He afterward told the story in London, and also cor-
responded with M. de I'lsle. Some of Peflalosa's exploits are mentioned ou
p. 109 of this chapter.

J; .)

•ii,>

118

THE N0RTHI:RN MYSTEHY— COirCLUSION.

complicated net-work of channels cuts up the northern
])arts of America. Yet the authenticity of the voy-
age was seriously defended until the region in ques-
tion became so fully explored as to make further
defence absurd. The argument was, in substance,
that through an unknown country channels may ex-
tontl in any direction; inherent contradictions in the
narrative, so far as the unknown parts are concerned,
may be accounted for on the theory of the translator's
blunders; and like blunders of translator and navi-
gator must account for discrepancies between Fonte's
discoveries and those of later explorers; that is, the
interior was safe, and Fonte's entrance on the coast
Mas moved from time to time so as not to come in
conllict with advancing exploration. The arguments
are not worth repetition, even if I had space for them.
The map of De I'lsle and Buache, pronounced by
]3urney " as adventurous a piece of geography as
was ever published," will be given in substance later.
I append here a brief bibliographic notice of such
writings on the subject as are before me."

'•'^ The original is in Monthly Miscellany, or Memoirs for the Curious, Loucion,
ITOS. Arthur Dobbs, Account of th<' Countries adjoining to HudKOn'i Bny,
l-S-.^O, reprinted the letter in 1744, and found in it an ' Air of Truth' wliich
left no doubt of a N.w. passage, though probably not well translated, copied,
or piinted. The fact of there being a Siiaplcy family in Boston 'conlinna
i::s being an authentick Journal.' De I'lsle's memoirs and the map made by
him and Buache were presented to the French Academy in IToOand 1752,
being printed in the latter year. De Vhle, Exjilicallou de li Carte, Paris, 1732,
Buache, Considerations i/eoijrapkiqucs, Paris, 1753. They included Russian
and Japanese discoveries. A rival geographer, M. Vaugondy, Observations
critiques sur Irs nourtHes ddrouvi'rtis de V Admiral De la I'ueiite, Paris, 1753,
took upon himself to refute De I'lsle's arguments at the time. These memoirs,
translated into Spanish and supplemented by long editorial comments in
which Padre Buriel exposed the fictitious character of the narrative, were
printed, 1757, in Venenas, Xoticias de C<il., iii. 29G-436. In 1768 the author
of Jvlf'frys' Great Probability of a Northwfat Passai/e devoted nine pages to
Fonte's letter and 120 pages to 'observations' in defence of its authenticity.
The M'ork also contains a map of Fonte's discoveries. Forster, ///.t«. I'oy.,
London, 1786, pp. 453-5, deemed neither the letter nor the defence just
referred to worthy of serious rcfuJBtion. Clavigero, Storia delhi Cal., i. 103,
also declared it a hoax in 1708. But Fleurieu in 1 797, Marchnnd, foyiii/e,
in trod., xxi.-xlii., could not realize the force of Forster's argument, and was
himself disposed to believe in Fonte's voyage, or at least that he actually
reached the archipelago and entrance of a great river. This author and many
others are unduly influenced by the absurd idea that Spain made secret
explorations and kept the results a profound mystery. Navarrete in 1802,

■fe't

SPANISH VIEWS,

A Spanish description of America in 1710 describes
tlie strait as discovered by Hudson and Frobisher;
Quivira as called New Albion, in latitude 40', by
Drake; and Anian as reaching the Arctic circle, and
even to Berg, the most northern kingdom of all; but
admits that these coasts are not well known.'" Captain
Woodes Rogers, after his cruise in 1709-10, inclined
to the belief that California was joined to the main,
notwithstanding the reports of its circumnavigation,
for he saw Spaniards who had sailed up the gulf to
42° where they found shoal water. "But the Span-
iards having more Territories in this Part of the
World than they know how to manage, they are not
curious of further Discoveries." The map in Rogers'
work, however, is one of the usual type, making Cali-
fornia an island.'^ The French geographer De I'lsle
discussed the question in 1715, reaching the conclusion
that there were no means of deciding between island
and peninsula, and announcing that therefore he had
in his own maps left the coast line broken at Mendo-
cino and the Vermilion Sea.*

r,i!-

Sutil y Mtx.f Viage, btxvi.-vii., declared the voyage apocryphal, and in his
ViaiifnApdc, 134--iGi, gave his views atgreater lengtn ; yet he made public the
letter of Ulloa alreaJdy noticed, the only document that has ever appeared
to even suggest a remote possibility that Fonte's story was founded on fact.
Bumcy, C/iron. Ilv<t. y'ln/., 184-05, 1813, does not undertake to defend the
narrative, wliich he prints in full, but is inclined to look at it with some
indulgence and to consider the arguments in its favor worthy of some credit.
Laliarpe, Alrciji des Voyages, xvi. 30-^44, also was disposed to credit the story
as not altogether a fiction in 181G. The Chevalier Lapie in 1821, Nouvelles
An. (lea Voy., xi. 28-5G, in turn became the champion of Fonte's cause. He
makes the route of Fonte extend by channels, rivers — including a part of the
Mackenzie— and lakes, from the Pacific coast, in about 58°, to Chesterfield
Inlet of Hudson Bay. Bamarda entered in the same latitude by the Linn
cliamiel, or Rio Haro, went north into Lake Valasco, part of the Polar Sea,
then eastward in tlu^i. zzo, nearly to Baffin Bay and back, and finally up into
the Icy Ocean and eastward nearly to 80°. The north-western portions of

Barnarda's route, according to this author, are sLwwn by on his map.

And finally in 1839 the North Ameriean Review, Ixviii. 129-32, was pennitted
by its conscience to gratify its Americanism to the extent of hinting that
there was at least room for argument in Fonte's favor.

''^America, Descripcion, MS., 73, 128-!), with reference to a treatise called
Noid ad caui-um trauntus Siqtra Americam in Chinam Ducturi.

'^*Ro<jers' Ctniisivg Voy. Round the World, 312-13. The map has alsotheCom-
pany's land separated by a strait from Asia, but not extending far eastward.

^'^Lettre de M. De Vide touchant la Calif oniie, in Voyages au Nord, Recueil,
iii. 2G8-71. This writer seems to have had no clear idea of the earliest ex-

MMMM

120

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY— CONCLUSION.

Padre Luis Volarde, a rector missionary of northern
Sonora, wrote his views of northern geography about
171G, and very accurately so far as the known regions
were concerned. Of the Colorado he says: "We
know not in what latitude it rises; some say in the
sierra of the Gran Teguayo; others in the Gran
Quivira — kingdoms which many geographers locate in
this northern America Inc6gnita, and about which
many confused rumors are current in New Mexico;
and others near the seven caves or cities from which
came the Mexican nation." To the question of island
or peninsula Velarde gave much attention, placing
himself squarely on the record with Padre Campos,
his associate, as a partisan of the island theory, in
spite of Kino's belief to the contrary. The two had
lately returned from the gulf coast, where they had
satisfied themselves that Kino's observations could not
have been conclusive; both had repeatedly questioned
the Pimas and Yumas, who insisted that there was a
strait, and reported the washing-ashore on the gulf
coast of many articles that must have come by the
strait. Padre Velarde was well acquainted with cur-
rent theories on the Northern Mystery; had before him
narratives of real and pretended expeditions ; and had
seen some old Dutch maps; but he was not certain
whether the strait joined the Pacific above 40°, or
turned eastward to Newfoundland or Florida; nor did
he vouch for all Pima tales, as that of a country where -
men had only one foot and women two, though even
this were not in philosophy impossible. "Lo cierto
es que hay mucho incdgnito per esta America Sep-
tentrional."^^

plorations, and A the prevalent belief from 1540 to 1610 that California was
a peninsula. He says the earliest maps made it an island ; but no such maps
are extant. He says the Spaniards of late think it an island, but that others
do not accept that theory, which is not true. Indeed, though no fault can bo
found witli his conclusions, they were bunglingly founded on a very fe-w of
the authorities then existing.

^^ Velarde, BeHcripcion Hist., 347, 350-7, 388-9, with a map originally,
which is not extant. The author refuses to credit Drake with having sailed
round California, linding a lake of gold, a walled city, .ind a crowned kuigl
but thinks another English pilot may have ascended tlie strait to 38°. Ue

SIGNIFICANT INCIDENTS.

121

A series of brief detached items is all that our
topic presents for several decades, items the enforced
grouping of which would serve no good purpose, and
which I proceed to catalogue in chronological order.
Knight and Barlow, sent to find the strait in 1719,
were lost on Hudson Bay; but in England it was for
years thought probable they had been successful and
gone through to the South Sea.^ Charlevoix is cited
as having met in China in 1720 a Huron woman
whom he had known in Canada. She had been car-
ried thither by land from tribe to tribe.^^ In 1721
a Californian padre, Ugarte, in a Californian- built
vessel, the Triunfo de la Ctniz, but with an English
pilot, sailed to the head of the gulf, and again proved,
as Alarcon and UUoa had done nearly two centuries
before, to his own satisfaction and that of his associates
that Kino had been right in declaring California a
peninsula, notwithstanding the contrary opinion of
Mange, Niel, Campos, Velarde, and the rest.^ Not
all the vvorld at once accepted this solution of the
enigma; but a peninsula appeared on the best maps
from this time; and even the great De I'lsle so made
up his mind.*^

Captain Shelvocke, who in 1721-2 found no end of
gold dust in California, had no means of deciding

notes the blunder on many maps of making the Rio del Norte empty into
the gulf of California. In 1715 tne Marqu6s do tian Miguel de Aguayo sought
license to explore Gran Quivira, which was a month's journey from some place
in Texas, lying on the slope of a hill that was bathed by a lake. This had boea
learned from one Jose Urrutia, who had lived in Texas. Doc. IJist. Texas, M.S. ,
155-9. In 1718 or thereabout Padre Juan Amando Niel wrote his Apunta-
mieiilos, pp. 78, 80-1, 87, 1 1 1, on the earlier work of Padre Salmeron, which he
reproduces. On the Mystery, however, lie is quite as much in the dark as
his predecessor, whom he blames unjustly for not having cleared up some of
its darkest points. Niel identifies the mouth of the Rio Carmelo with Drake
Bay, and places it opposite the mouth of the Colorado River, in 41°! Ho
regards California as an island, having made personal observations on the
suDJect with Padre Kino in 1705-C. Regarding the Quivirans and Aijaos
as dwelling in the region north of Texas, he locates the famous kingdom
of Tindan still farther north, in 50", and the lake of Copala in the same
latitude west of Tindan.

^'^Heame'a Journey, xxviii.

33 Carver's Travels, 192-3.

" See Annals of Baja California, in an earlier volume of this series,

3^ Twiss, Oregon Quest., 04, cites a map of De I'lsle of 1722 with the
peninsula.

(. !

I ' I

r
ft'

182

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY-CONCLUSION.

1 !

between island and peninsula, either from his own
observations or those of others, Englishmen having
no "time nor power to go about the discovery of it, '
and the Spaniards having grown " indolent and incu-
rious." His map, however, is one of the old type,
similar to that of Dampier and Rogers, showing an
island. Sheivocke also believed "that America and
Asia are joined by a tract of land to the northward."*
It was In 1722 that Daniel Coxe let loose his powerful
imagination on north-western geography. Referring
to several otherwise unknown expeditions from New
England to New Mexico and up the Missc uri, he de-
scribes the northern branches of that river as "inter-
woven with other branches which have a contrary
course, proceeding to the west, and empty themselves
into a vast lake, whose waters by another great river
disembogue into the South Sea. The Indians affirm
they see great ships sailing in that lake, twenty t' mes
bigger than their canoes." The Missouri "hath a
course of 500 miles, navigable to its heads Oi springs,
and which proceeds from a ridge of hills somewhat
north of New Mexico, passable by horse, foot, or wagon
in less than half a day," to the rivers running into
the great lake. Besides there was Hontan's Lonir
River, or the Meschaouay, which comes from the sa
hills. Moreover, Coxe had a journal written b
man "admirably well skilled in geography," and wi
had been so lucky as to know one Captain Coxton,
a privateer. Coxton while waiting to plunder the
Manila galleon had used his spare time for exploration,
and had in 44° found a great river leading to a great
lake, with a very convenient island, where he remained
several months. The nation he called Thoya, but
the Spaniards called it Thoyago or Tejago, doubtless
Teguayo. The people welcomed the privateer as a
foe of the Spaniards, whom they had often repulsed
in battle. I have no space for Coxton's wonderful
geography of the Asiatic coasts and islands; but

''Shdvocke'a Voyage, 399-400. London, 1726.

ROYAL MEXDACITY.

Itt

merely note that "there are upon the coast between
^Vuiorica and Japan divers very large and sate liar-
bars." Coxe himself, it seems, claimed to have found,
by goinuf up the great river Oclioquiton, or Alabama,
" a great sea c^ fresh water, several thousand miles
in circumference, ' whence ran the river by which the

DoB^is' Map, 1744.

Englisli subsequently reached the lake. Coxe has
not been fairly tresited. His rank as a liar should
be near that of Fuca, Maldonado, and the unknown
author of Fonte's letter.^

•'Coa;e'« Description of the English province qf Carolana, London, 1722;

liJii

124

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY-CONCLUSION.

Mota Padilla in 1742 speaks of California as sup-

f)osed to be an island.^ In 1744 Arthur Dobbs pub-
ished his views on a north-west passage in a work
whose title, as appended in a note, sufficiently explains
its purport.^ Dobbs was less visionary than some
earlier advocates of his cause, but was disposed to
credit the tale of Fonte's discoveries. "All nature

fWa '' 1 '■

1^1 \

tWE*"

~ J

\m i

nss j. 'f

m- •

60°

VtlFORNIA

Russian Chart, 1741.

also reprinted in French's Hist. Col. Loumann, ii. C,10-3, 25? -6. See also
Dohhs' Account, 140, 15,3, 1(56; and North Amer. liexnew, Ix/iii. 103-4. It
is to be noted, ho-iVevcr, that French's copy does not agree vith that quoted
by the lieriew, since tlio former says nothing at all of Coxe's own discoveries
In Nohlot, Gdosj. Univ., Paris, 17'io, v. fiOvJ, California is described aa doubt-
less an island ; at which opinion at that date surprise is expressed in Lock-
7nan's Trav. Jesuit.'*, i. .S48--9. Campbell, Sjmn. Am., 83, notes a Dutcli map
of 1739 in whici California is represented as a peninsula.

^^Motn Padilla, Hist. N. Galicia. 177, .301.

^ Dobbs, All, Account of the Couidri ■ adjoining to Ilwhon's Ha;/. . .with (in
abstract cf Cajit. Middleton's Journal, <i '■ Ob.tcrvations upon It 'i lielwvior. . . A
letter from liortholGview de Fonte . . li. -bslr-'rl o/nll the Discoverien . . . The
whole intended to show tht (/real "'roiiu,' y of a Aorlh-wcat Passwje, so lomj
di'tiired, etc. London, '744. Th-' sa! le auLhor's Remarka u^/on Middleton's De-
fence, liOndcn, 1744, is of ''ke nui^Oi ', with a map.

-TTTrr

f -i

SUBLIME FAITH.

125

< '^: \

cries aloud there is a passage, and we are sure there
is one from Hudson's Bay to Japan," he writes; but
founds his zealous faith not so much on the old cos-
mo'^raphical theories as on the reports of northern
Indians, the discoveries of French, English, and
Spanish travellers, and the tides in and about Hudson
Bay. I give a reduction of Dobbs' map, which was
largely founded on reports of a Canadian Indian
named Joseph La Frfince, though it also contains
Baron La Hontan's pretended discoveries.*" The
author firmly believed that Middleton and others
had by ignorance or negligence missed the strait; or,
more likely, having lo. d it, had been induced to
conceal their discovery by the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany.

The provincial in his memorial of 1745 to the king
of Spain suggested new explorations to settle the
question of island or peninsula." Father Sedelmair
in 1746 also wrote of the matter as being still in
doubt among the missionaries, but the mystery could
be solved with others — those of Quivira and Tepe-
guaya, and of the white men who came south to
trade — by founding missions on the Gila and Colo-
rado." But in 1746 Father Consag made his trip up
the gulf waters in boats, and once more settled the
vexed question, and declared California a peninsula,
whereupon Sedelmair, rejoicing in this discovery, ex-
claimed: "May God grant that it be, as it probably

♦"Dobbs, 44-5, was told by FriMice of an old Indian in the region of
Nobon River, who fifteen years ago had cone to the west coast to light his
enomiob, the Tete Plats. France's travels were in 17o9-4l.'. Dobbs, 10!),
mentions a land eastward of Japan, in 40°, shown on several charts, and
coasted by Gama in a voyage from America to China. This reported dis-
covery, as wo shnll see, was the cause of great trouljle to the Uussiau ex-
plorers in 1741, w'lo were guided by De I'lsle's chart. This same chart,
which I have copied from the original in the llussian archives, sjiows the
coast above California ixa in the adjoined sketch. Dobbs also cites tlie l''rench
writer Jijrt'mie: 'The savages say. that after travelling some Mouths to the
W. s. w. [on a strait from Hudson Bay] they came to the Sea, upon which
they saw great Vessels, with men who had Beards and Caps, who gather Gold
on the Shore (p. 19).

<' Vam/as, Not. Cal., ii. 539.

*'^ Sedelmair, lielacion, 855- -8. ' ■

:J 1

' ; : : !

('•■ !-

;!:R

I !

.1 !•■
( I-

120

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY-CONCLUSION.

will, for the conversion of the whole continent as
far as Japan, Yerdo, or Tartaryl"*' and Villa Seiiory
Sanchez, giving in 1748 the first printed account of
Consag'f> trip, and declaring the southern part of the
mystery at an end, turned his attention farther north,
and by a process of reasoning satisfactory to himself
showed that the American coast just above 44° turned
westward to the strait of Uriz, by which it was sepa-
rated from the Asiatic land of Hezo, and through
which the Dutch had sailed on various occasions.
What had been mistaken for the strait of Anian in
past years was really the mouth of the great river of
San Antonio flowing from the north and into the c:ea
just above Cape Mendocino, where the coast turns
westward. This was certainly a novel theory, or
rather a very old one revived.**

In 1748 Henry Ellis published his narrative of the
voyage of the Dohhs Galley and California to Hud-
son Bay; and he joined to it an historical account of
previous attempts to find the north-west passage, and
a statement of the agreements on which the existence
of such a passage was founded. The work was more
complete than any earlier one on the subject; and the
author, though somewhat too indulgent to the trav-
ellers whose tales favored his theories, did not com-
mit himself very fully to belief in the old fictions.
Yet he was much impressed by the story of a Portu-
guese in London who had met a Dutchman who,
having been driven to the coast of California, had
found that country to be either an island or peninsula,
according as the tide was high or low. Moreover,
the coast above California trended north-east, a very
strong argument in favor of a passage. Ellis did not
know of the Russian discoveries." In 1749 another

"Sedclmair'i letterof March 20, 1747, in Z>oc.//M^Jjrpa;.,serioiii.pt.iv.841-'2.

** Villa tSeflor y Sanchez, Theatro Americano, ii. 272-94.

"Ellis, Vvijage to Hudson's Bay, I74O-7. London, 1748. Map and plates ;
also translations and reprintii in later years. The same author publisheil
in 17o0 Comiderationi' on the Oreat Adrantcu/es which vmvld aritie of tlu!
North-trent Pa>iage. See also Vsneyas, Not. Vol., iii. 237-87, for a,r6sumi of
Ellia' work.

RUSSIAN DISCOVERIES.

127

work on the same topic was published, the argument
being founded mainly on observations of the tidal
currents."

Before 1750 the Russians had made from the north-
west important American discoveries, which mate-
rially circumscribed the Northern Mystery in that
direction. They had discovered the real strait, and
had proved the existence of a large body of land east
of northern Asia, which had been visited at scvcml
different points. But between these points, and south
of the southernmost, there was still room for many
intcroceanic passages. Accordingly in 1750-3 Do I'lalo
and Buache took up the pretended discoveries of
Fonte, presenting such facts and rumors as could be
made to sustain their theory as already noted, and
concocting a map, which I append, and the absurdi-
ties of which are sufficiently apparent without expla-
nation."

Still had California a foothold for cosmographical
mystery; for in 1751 Captain Salvador in a report to
the king stated that the Colorado River before reacli-
ing the gulf sent off a branch to the Pacific Ocean,
which branch was in reality the Rio de Filipinos or
Rio Carmelo. Padre Niel had made the Colorado
empty into the strait opposite the Carmelo, so that,
now there was no strait, Salvador's theory was not
without its plausibility. This, with its subsequent
dGvelopment of 1774, when Captain Anza wrote from
the Gila of a report of the natives that a branch of

^^Pfosons to shew, that there is a great Prohahtlity of a Naviqahle Pasaaije to
the IVentem Ainerican Ocean, through lludaon's Strei'jhta and Cheslerjldd Inlet.
London, 1749.

*' De I' hie. Explication de la Carte, Paris, n,>2. I take a copy from that
published in 1701 by Jcfferys in Miiller^x I oy. Asia to Aiiicr. It is also in
Mitrchaiitl, ^'01/., pi. iii. It will bo noticed that California is correctly \nu\
down, and that the Russian discovery of Chirikof, in which tlie author's
brother participated, is shown, but not that of Bering, in tiio same expedi-
tion. Coats, (/coij. Htuhon Bay, .S7, 17")1, says: 'ThcHe Miscota Indiana tell
us some visionary storeys of ships and men of a different make and coniplectiou
freijuenting there shores [ Winipeggon Lake], for thoy arc positive this lake is
open to westward ; and do attempt to describe their (gilded Iweks, and sail.?,
and other matters, both tedious and tiresome, without we had better grounds.'

\V{.Y

',;i!

I; I . I ' i

188

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY-CONCLUSION.

De l'Isle'8 Map, 1752.

EARLS' SAILING DIRECTIONS.

129

the Colorado ran westward a.nd northward, making the
f.uggestion that that b^^anch might terminate in San
Francisco Bay, seems to have been the last phase of
the theory that California was an island; though
those were not wanting in even later times who from
pure negligence repeated the old representations in
their text and maps.**

In 1757 the great work of Venegas on California
was published by Padre Burriel, a most intelligent
editor, who devoted one of the three volumes to
appendices on voyages of exploration and on the geog-
raphy of the far north. In one sense Burriel was the
first writer — if we except Cabrera Bueno, who had
published accurate sailing directions of the coast from
Cape Mendocino southward*" — to take common-sense
views on the subject, to reject the apocryphal voyages
as wholly unworthy of credit, to restrict northern
geography to actual discoveries, and to correctly
map, in print, the peninsula and the regions of the
Colorado and Gila as far as known.'"' Ho gives, how-
ever, a general map, showing the northern geographic
myths, as in De I'lsle for the most part, but sur-
rounds those parts with a dotted line, and closes his
work as follows: "Well then, some one says, what
seas, coasts, rivers, lakes, provinces, nations, peoples,
are there in North America beyond California, Capo
Blanco, Rio de Aguilar, Bio Colorado, Moqui, and

"Salvador, in Doc. Hist. Mex., serie iii. pt. iv. 661-6. He urges this
new route as the best for the occupation of California. Arch. CaL, MS., Prov.
iSt. Pa/t., iii. 190-1; Arrkivita, C'r6iiic(t,'io2-S. InChuixhiWa Col. Voy., viii.
603, is a map of 17o5 by II. Moll, making California an island. Homes, Our
Knowledge of Cat. and thf. Xortlnix-il Coast one hundred years since, Albany,
1870, p. 4, says: 'Many maps in the New Yoik State Library, of as late date
aa 1741, represent it as an island, aa those of Overton, Tillemon, De Fer, and
others, and they extend California up to latitude 45", including New All)ion.
Giustiniani's Atlas of 1755 makes California an island reaching to latitude 47".
Kngel in 1764 tries to prove that it is not true that California, owing to the
winds and tides, ia sometimes a peninsula and at other times an island. ' The
New York Sun in 1876 spoke of a geography published in London in 1849
ui which California is described and mapped as an island.

** Cabrera liiieno, NKvenacion Especvlaiiva. Manila, 1734.

^^Venegas, Nolirins de la Cni., Madrid, 1757; vol. iii. is devoted to geog-
raphy and a rp*" tution of earlier fictions ; map at end. Regert's Nm-hrichten,
177'2, also dill i. ,eh to circulate accurate ideas of California geography.
Hist. N. W. Coast, VuL. I. 9

i.?;:,r[

!■ ;■'! 1

130

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY— CONCLUSION.

'i J

New Mexico towards the north for 50 degrees? Ex-
cept what has been learned on our Atlantic side, and
the little made known by Russian voyages in the
South Sea, I readily reply in a word, wliich causes
me no shame nor ought to any good man, Ignore,
Nescio, Yo no lo sd."

• GAM*aU

t).

,30

(2U '^0?ii

; t Nanicg.prgfixed witli_anyn'\tjn the^orj^iml -^-^

'^^

Japanese Map, 1761.

With Muller's narrative of the Russian discoveries
Thomas Jefferys, geographer to his British majesty,
published in 1761, besides De I'lsle's map which I
have already given, two general maps, in which a con-

CARVER'S SPECULATIONS.

131

^^^5ts#l

Jefferys' Map, 17C8.

"lMi;:i

■fc, ■ f

' |K

^: i^

132

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY-CONCLUSION.

jil

tinuous coast is shown up to the far north, with indi-
cations of Aguilar's entrance, Fuca's entrance, and
tlie " pretended entrance" of Fonte. One of the maps
shows a River of the West flowing from Lake Wini-
pigon into the Pacific at Aguilar's entrance, in 45°,
wliile a possible river runs farther south to Pro de
Anno nuevo; but in the other the great river is
called St Charles, or Assiniboels, terminating at the
mountains of Bright Stones ; while' the southern river
is called River of the West, being doubtfully con-
nected through Pike's lake and Manton's river with
the Missouri. The lower course of these streams
into the Pacific is not shown except as on the other
map. The main coast. above 50° is "supposed to be
the Fou-Sang of the Chinese." A fourth map in this
work is one that purports to be of Japanese origin,
which I copy."

In 1768 the same JcfFerys published and furnished
maps for another work, written perhaps by Theodore
Swaine Drage, and devoted to the defence of Fonte's
voyage by an enthusiastic believer in the north-west
passage. I reproduce the general map, which not
only shows De I'lsle's ideas of Fonte's discoveries as
modified by the royal geographer, but also contains
the general features of Jefferys' earlier maps, as already
described. The western portions not shown on my
copy are the Russian discoveries, of which details are
given in another volume. It will be seen that in 1768
it was easier to find the interoceanic passage than to
miss it; but earthquakes or something have since
changed the face of nature in that region.®''

It was in 1766-8 that J. Carver, the American
traveller, made his visit to the upper Mississippi and

^'^Muller's Vonagea from Asia to America. . . Translated from the High Lht'ih
of <S'. Muller. London, 1701. Long the standard authority on the Russiuii
discoveries. The map ia ' taken from a Japanese map of the world brougiit
over by Kempfer and late in the Musuaum of Sr Haua Sloane. '

^'Jfffcryu' The Oreiit Probitlnlily of a North Wi-at Passage; deduced from
Observations on the letter of Admiral ])e Fonte. London, 1768. On this map,
as on Jefferys' earlier ones, arc maiked the 'Mountains of Bright Stones
mentioned in the map of the Indian Ochagach. '

FACT SUCCEEDING FANCY.

188

the St Pierre; and in his book, pubhshed ten years
later, he joined to his adventures an account of far
western geography, purporting to be founded on
statements of the Indians to the author, but which
might with his map have been compiled from earlier
traditions, texts, and maps, as the reader will per-
ceive. Nor does the map agree altogether with the

Carver's Map, 1778.

narrative. Carver's great achievement, however, was
the invention of a new name for the mythic 'river of
the west.' He called it the Oregon. The name
sounded well, was adopted by the poet Bryant in his
immortal Thanatopsis, and became permanent.®^

** Carver's Travels through the Interior Parts of North- America in the years
17G0, 1767, and 17 OS. London, 1778. See especially ix. 70-7, 1 1 7-22,' 542.
He names ' the River Oregon [elsewhere called Oregon], or the River of the

1 i

134

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY-CONCLUSION.

!l' i

y-i

We have now reached the period when actual
exploration came to the aid of conjecture; and here,
since it is not my present purpose either to speak of
Alaskan discoveries or to follow the search for the
north-west passage in Arctic waters, the topic of the
Northern Mystery may properly be dropped. The
only connection between the mystery and the voy-
ages of the succeeding period, to be noticed in the next
chapter, is that the former was gradually broken up by
the latter; that the navigators were constantly seek-
ing for the old mythic channels and failing to find
them." Indeed, to the Spaniards this search was the
only important feature of their explorations. They had
no desire for territorial possessions in the far north;
long ago they had given up the hope of finding rich
kingdoms there; but if, as was believed by many,
there was a strait, it was of course important for
Spain to control the Pacific entrance; and if there
was no strait, there might be a great river giving
access by water to the regions of. New Mexico. This
was the last phase of the mystery in Spanish eyes;
and on its clearing up they promptly retired, leaving
the north to English, Americans, and Russians. The
nature of the coast, with its complicated net-work of
islands and channels, rendered it necessary to explore
every nook and corner before it could be absolutely

West, that falls into the Pacific Ocean at the straits of Annian' as one of
the four great rivers which, rising within a few leagues of eacli other, flow
respectively into Hudson Bay, Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific
Ocean. The Indians spoke of a great lake, larger than Superior, n. w. of
Winnepeek, which Carver thinks to be ' the Archipelago or broken waters that
form the communication between Hudson's Bay and the northern parts of
the Pacific Ocean. ' The great range of mountains reached 47° or 48°; that part
of the range west of the St Piene was called the Shining Mountains, being
covered with large crystals, and doubtless rich in gold and silver; while some
of the nations farther west ' have gold so plenty among them that they make
their most common "utensils of it' — supposed to be Mexican tribes that
escaped northward at the conquest. ' To the west of these mountains, when
explored by future Columbuses or Raleighs, may be found other lakes, rivers,
and countries, full fraught with all the necessaries or luxuries of life ; and
where future generations may find an asylum.' See Ilifit. Oregon, this series.
** The last actual voyage through the mythic strait was perhaps that of
Baron Uhlefeld, in 1773, who made it on a Danish government vessel, the
Northern Crown, according to a Danish periodical cited by Navarrete,
ViagesApdc, 177.

" 'I

CERTAIN SUMMARIES.

Its

Janvier's Map, 1782,

fji" ■)•■

I - ■

''■ ii

um^

186

THE NORTHERN MYSTERY— CONCLUSION.

certain that no inland passage existed; therefore
there was room for doubt and discussion not only
until 1800, but throughout the next quarter century,
during which period appeared many of the works cited
in this chapter. The general summaries of Forster
and Fleurieu appeared before 1800; later ones were
those of Navarrete in 1802 and 1849, of Amorctti in
1811,ofBurneyinl813,of Lapio in 1821, of the iVoW/i
American Review in 1839, and of Greenhow and Twiss
in 1846. Many maps might yd bo cited to illustrate
how slow were geographers to take full advantage of
now discoveries; but no new theories were evolved,
and errors were either the result of negligence or
were of local signification only. I present Janvier's
map, published m Paris in 1782. It is somewhat re-
markable, as another writer has said in substance,"
that in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, the
very regions in which the wonderful riches of Cibola,
Quivira, Teguayo, and the 'great lake' were anciently*
located by blundering conjecture and groundless false-
hood, should have been actually found in later times
the greatest mineral wealth of North America.

'■

** Taylor'8 First Voy, to Cal. by Cabrillo, pretaoe.

f" T

CHAPTER V.

DISCOVERv OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.
1543-1775.

BabtolohA Fkrrelo — Did not Pass the Forty-second Parallel — Fran-
cis Drake — His Voyage— Different Versions — The Famous Voy-
age — The World Encompassed — Fletcher's Falsehoods — Tub
Limit cannot be Fixed — Drake possibly Reached Latitude Forty-
three — And was the Discoverer of Oregon — G/ii.ij Voyacse not

EXTENDING TO NORTHERN WATERS — SEBASTIAN VlZO/ INO AND MaRTIN

Aguilar — Point St George, in 41° 45', the Northern Limit — Re-
vival OF Exploration under CArlos III. — Expedition of Juan
Perez to Latitude Fifty-five — Instructions and Results— Namks
Applied— intercourse nvith Indians — Discovery of Nootka— The
Whole CoAbT Discovered — Second Exploration under Bruno
Hei^eta to the Forty-ninth Parallel — First Landing in Oregon —
Seven Spaniards Killed by Indians — Discovery of the Columbia —
Voyage of Bodega y Cuadra, after parting from Heceta, to tub
Futy-eightu Parallel.

We now come to the actual exploration of the
Pacific coast above latitude forty-two. The first epoch
of that exploration extends chronologically down to
1774, and includes four expeditions only: those of
Ferrelo in 1543, of Drake in 1579, of Gah in 1584,
and of Vizcaino and Aguilar in 1603. These are the
only voyages, if we except the apocryphal one of
Juan de Fuca in 1596, in which European navigators
reached, or claimed to reach, with any degree of
plausibility, the Oregon Territory. All of them be-
long more closely to the annals of the south than of
the north, and have therefore been fully described in
earlier volumes of this series.

Bartolomd Ferrelo, the successor of Juan Rodri-
guez Cabrillo, commanding two small vessels, the San

(137J

V. I'-;

188

DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

Salvador and Victoria, despatched by the Spanish
government to explore as far northward as possible,
being the first European craft to sail on Califoruian
waters, left Cape Pinos, in latitude 39° as he be-
lieved, February 25, 1543. For three days he ran
north-westward, one night's sailing meanwhile being
southward, with a strong south-west wind, until on
the 28th he was in latitude 43°. During one night he
kept on north-westward, but on March 1st was struck
by a gale and driven nortli-eastward toward the land
and destruction. Before the vessels struck, however,
there came a storm with rain, which drove them back
and saved them. The highest latitude as estimated
by Ferrelo was 44°. It does not appear that any land
was seen above a point some twenty leagues from
CajK) Pinos; but at the northern limit birds and float-
ing wood indicated the nearness of land, hidden by the
fog; and fartlier south, between latitude 41° and 43°,
indications of a large river were seen or imagined.
On the return Cape Pinos was sighted on March 3d.
The northern cruise had lasted six days.^

The narrative supplying no description oi' land-
marks in the north, Fcrrelo's northern limit must be
determined by his latitude and by his sailing from
Point Pinos. Taking his liighest observation in 43°,
deducting an excess of from 1° 30' to 2° noted iu all
his latitudes on the Californian coast, and accepting
his own estimate of progress after the observation of
February 28th, N>e have 42° or 42° 30' as the highest
point reached. The result of the other test depends
mainly on the identity of Pinos. If that point was

* Tho source of all real information about this voyage is the Cabrillo, Ce-
ladon, or original diary, probably WTitten by Juan I'aez, and printed in
Pachcco and CunL'iia-ii, Col. Due, xiv. 105-91, and in Florida, Col. Doc,
IT.VSO. Other works that Tiiay bo consulted on the subject, containing
comments and slight variations, uro: Jlerrera, doc. Aai. lib. v. cap. iii.-iv. ;
Vciicga-i, Xut. Cal., i. 181-:i; Laet, Konis Orbis, .300-7; Xavarretc, in Snlil y
Mexkana, Viaoc, xxix.-xxxvi.; Id., Viagrs Apdc, 'd'2-4; Taylor's First Voyage
lo the Coast of Cal. . .by Cabrillo; /iuriicy'ii Chron. IJi.it., i. 2'20-5; ixnd Evana
and lleiLihaw, Translation and Nole.-i, in U. S. Geoij. Surv., Whei'ler, vii arch.,
pp. 'Jn.'i-3i4. There are plenty of further refereuoes, but they lead t v.-.. addi«
tional information.

DRAKE S VOYAGE.

139

as high as Point Arena of the present maps, as has
been claimed by some, then perhr,,;">s latitude 42' is
not too high for Ferrelo's position -.< March 1st; but
if Pinos was the point still so called at Monterey, as
the evidence most convincingly indicates, then it is
tolerably certain that no higher latitude than that of
Cape Mendocino was attained. To present the argu-
ments would be to repeat needlessly my account of
the voyage to California, t*^ which I refer the reader.'*
At the most Ferrelo, without seeing land, passed some
thirty miles beyond the present Oregon boundary;
but it is almost certain that he did not enter Oregon
waters; and it is my opinion, as expressed in a former
volume of this series, that he did not pass Cape Men-
docino.

Francis Drake's claims to be considered the dis-
coverer of Oregon are in some respects better than
those of the Levantine pilot, though not beyond the
reach of doubt. The English corsair, having entered
the Pacific i>y way of Magellan Strait, and having
well-nigh loaded his vessel, the Golden Hind, with
Spanish plunder on the coasts of South and Central
America, set sail from Guatulco, on the coast of
Oajaca, in 15° 40', on April 16, 1579. His purpose
was to find if possible a northern passage by which
he might return to England, thus avoiding not only
the long and stormy southern route, but also possible
risky encounters with the Spaniards he had robb« d.
His course lay far out into the ocean nortli-wostward
until early in June, when he approached the land
somewhere between 42' and 4 S°, according to his own
observations or estimates. He even anchored in a bad
harbor; but on account of rough weather, and particu-
larly of excessive cold, very grossly exaggerated in
the narrative, decided to abandon the search for a
strait and to return southward, which he did, following
the coast down to 38", or thereabout, to a Californian

'See fUnt. Cal,, vol. i. chap, iii., this aeries, where alsouloug list of refer-
ences is given.

140

DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST,

port respecting the identity of which I have had much
to say elsewhere.

In the first printed account, that pubhshed by Hak-
luvt in 1589, it was stated that the northern hrait of
Drake's voyage was latitude 42'', reached on June 5th;'
and there was an inscription to the same effect on
Hondius' map, made before the end of the century,
which I have already reproduced.* As early as 1592
the English annalist Stow, as quoted by Twiss, wrote :
"He passed forth northward, till he came to the lati-
tude of forty-seven, thinking to have come that war
home, but being constrained by ^><^>' smkI cold wii»<w
to forsake his purpose, came backwsMr<d to the li«*E
ward the tenth of June 1579, and staiy^^d in the lati
tude of thirty-eight, to grave and trim his ship, until
the five and twenty of July." Again, in 1595 John
Davis the navigator wrote: "After Sir Francis Drake
was entered into the South Seas, he coasted all the
western shores of America until he came into the
septentrional latitude (A forty-eight degrees, being on
the back side of Newfoundland."' Low in 1598 gave
the limio as 42°, probably following Hakluyt, as did
Camden in 1615.* In an anonymous discourse of the
century, written perhaps by one of Droke's asso-
ciates, we read: "Here Drake watered his ship and
departed, sayling northwards till he came to 48. gr. of
the septentrionall latitud, still finding a very lardge
sea trending toward the north, but being afraid to
spend long time in seeking for the straite, hee turned
backe agame, still keping along the cost as nere land
as hee might, vntill hee came to 44. gr.," that is, Drake

*HakJuyt'» Voy., London, 1589. I have not seen this edition, but take tli*
■tiitement of Twiss, Hist. Or., 26-57.

'Seo map before jiiven. The dotted line shows Dniko's route, and the
insori\it,i(iii, not copied, is opposite t!ie r.orthem termination of that line. I
take ti map from the Hakluyt Society reprint of Drake's World EncomixtK.ied,
till! e«li*-.i>r of which work stateti that it wa.s originally attached to a Dutch
uarrati\f <>f the voyage, < (trie bciichryviiKihe, «!tc., apparently a condensed
translatinu of a document similar to the World Eiicom/ia-nHpd.

^/>niis' Worl/l's /{ydrof/. Dincov., as cited by Grccnhow and Twiss.

* Leit\ Mi'fr oiler Seehanen Buck, 48; Camden, AnncUes Rerom Angli-
cited by Twicr.

Bj; ,;

if > *

DRAKE'S LYING PREACHER.

Bay, on the California coast.' In his edition of IGOO
Hakluyt made a change in the latitude and wrote:
"Hee beganne to thinke of hi.s best way to the
Malucos, and finding himselfe where hee now was
becalmed, hee saw that of necessitie hee must bee
enforced to take a Spanish course, namely to sailo
somewhat Northerly to get a winde."* Wee therefore
set saile, and sayled 600. leagues at the least for a
good winde, and thus much we sailed from the 10.
of April, till the .'3. of June. The 5. day of June, being
in 4Z. degrees towards the pole Arcticke, wee found
tikt ayre so colde, that our men being grieuously
jpittcbed with the same, complained of the extremitie
thereof, and the further we went, the more the colde
increased upon us. Whereupon we thought it best
for that time to seeke the land, and did so, finding it
not mountainous, but low plaine land, till wee came
within 38 degrees towards the line.""

Hakluyt's account was followed by Purchas and by
most other early writers, except De Laet, who made
latitude 40° the northern limit.*" The author of the
Famous Voi/age is not known; but it is not unlikely
that Hakluyt himself compiled it from papers and
verbal statements of Drake's companions. A new ac-
count was compiled and published in 1028 by Drake's
nephew from the notes of Francis Fletcher, who ac-
companied the corsair as chaplain or preacher, and of
others."

I proceed to quote all of this narrative relating to

M dMcoiirte of Sir FranHx Drrik^n inrn^'f,', MS. of British Museum, in
Hakluyt Soc. cd. of f^rakr',i W".'-l Enntmpojixfd, 183-4.

" Here we notice thf r><uircls for a northern strait irj ignored altogether.

* The FamoiM Voijmjf. q/' Sit Francis Drake, in JJakluyt'a \'oi/., iii. 440,
736-7.

'" Laet, Noviii< Orbii^, 307. Oreeniiow cites Laet as followiiia Hakluyt.

^^ Drake, Tin World Enrom)Mi.-<^cd bij Sir Francis Drake, licimj hi-i next
Voyc/ie to that to Nomhre de DioM formerly imprinted; Cnrr/uHi) eot/eeledovt of
the Note^ of Master Francix Flelr.her, Preacher in Ihii imphymenl, and diners
others hiifollower.< in the same, cic. Loiidon, 16i*8; also uds. ot "KiS'iaii.l 1(33.').
The latest ami liost, is that of the Hiikluyt. Society of 1S.54, with ni){jt lulices
and introduction by W. H VV. Vaux. The appendices include the Fainout
Voyaij', from H.akhiyt, nnd also Hcveral MS. narratives or fragmcmts on the
Bubjuct — iu fact all the eviilcuco cxiotiug on the voyage.

p. '

142

DISCOVERY OP THE NORTIIWCST COAST,

the northern part, except a portion of the long dis-
qui;:ition on the chmate :

"From Guatulco wee departed the day following,
viz., Aprill 16, setting our course directly into the sea,
whereon wee say led 500 leagues in longitude, to get a
winde: and betweene that and June 3, 1400 leagues
in all, till we came into 42° of North latitude, where
in the night following we found such alteration of
heate, into extreame and nipping cold, that our men
in generall did grieuously complaine thereof. . .the
very roapes of our ship were stifTo, and the raine
which fell was an vnnatural congealed and frozen sub-
stance... It came to that extremity in sayling but
2 deg. further to the Northward in our course, that
though sea-men lack not good stomaches, yet it seemed
a question to many amongst vs, whether their hands
should feed their mouthes, or rather keep themselues
within their couerts . . . Our meate, as soone as it was
remooued from the fire, would presently in a manner be
frozen vp . . . The land in that part of America, bearing
further out into the West then woe before imagined,
we were neerer on it then wee were aware; and yet
the neerer still wee came vnto it, the more extremitie
of cold did sease vpon vs. The 5 day of lune, we
were forced by contrary windes to runne in with the
shoare, which wee then iir.st descried, and to cast anchor
in a bau bay, the best roade wee could for the present
meete with, where wee were not witliout some danger
by reason of the many extreme gusts and flawes that
beate vpon vs, which if they ceased and were still at
any time, immediately upon their intermission there
followed most uile, thicke, and stinking fogges, against
which the sea preuailed nothing, till the gusts of winde
againe remoued them, which brought with them such
extremitie and violence when they came, that there
was no 1^ :;alin": or resisting aiifainst them. In this
place was no abiding for vs; and to go further North,
the extreniity of the coald . . .would not permit vs; and
the windes directly bent against vs, hauing once gotten

YE FALSEST KNAVE THAT LIVETH.

143

vs vnder sayle againe, commanded vs to the South-
ward whether wee would or no. From the height of
48 deg., in which now wee were, to 38°, we found the
land, by coasting alongst it, to bee but low and rea-
sonable plaine; euery hill (whereof we saw many,
but none verie high), though it were m June, and the
sunne in his ncerest appr*och vnto them, being coucred
with snow . . . Wee coniecturo, that either there is no
passage at all through these Northerne coasts (which
is most likely) or if there be, that yet it is vnnauigablc.
Adde hereunto, that though wee searched the coast
diligently, euen vnto the 48 dcg.,yet found woe not
the land to trend so much as one point in any place
towards the East, but rather running on continually
North-west, as if it went directly to meet with Asia."
I have thus placed before the reader all that is
Icnown about Drake's northern voyage. I do not deem
it necessary to name the many writers who have re-
peated and some of whom have comraerited on all or
part of tlie evidence cited." Between the 43° of the
Famous Voyage and the latitude 48° of the World
Encompaftsed there has been much difference of opin-
ion, especially during the territorial disputes between
England and the United States, the question of origi-
nal discovery of the Oregon Territory being involved.
I mav refer the reader to Greenhow and Twiss as
champions in the partisan discussion.^^ The process
of reasoning, or rather of special pleading, mt)re in-
genious than convincing, is to attack the general cred-
ibility of one narrative, pointing out and exaggerating
its .!v<fect5!i Jind discrepancies, and to conceal and ex-
plain siiiftiilav defects in the other, naming also tlie
emitjem writers who have adopted its statements,
As in most discussions, a large space is also devoted

I in1-

** Sc« fUM. Cat., i. chap, iii., this series, for a full list of autliorities.

'*Or^enhoie'H0r.a7vl CaL, 7i-''; LL, .l/cmoir.'JOl— 4; Twhn Ure'i'm iJnMtion,
89-57; /'/., Hiid. Or., '2G-49. Twiss in some respects has decidedly the best
•f ^km aMiHMBfk, chiefly Voauae of his advantages in the matt(>r of hibliog-
■g^Vv MM <M«NK)neu! ..>diiy to expose his u))j><'iii'iil's bluiidcrs, many of hia
hurelorc hayiu.: no buuriiig on tht; i.|uesU"ii ut issue.

-K nofKHHii i miiiimj,

fiWWWSWKaBWBSS

144

DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

on both sides to arguments bearing on the accuracy
of the disputant's position on irrelevant or unimpor-
tant questions. I have nO space for the examination
of each petty point; but neither of the rival narra-
tives has been proved spurious or wholly unreliable,
or indeed free from serious defects.

From the marked differences in statements of writers
who were contemporary with Drake, and whose good
faith in this matter is not questioned, the reader will
perhaps conclude with me that Drake's companions in
their notes and verbal statements did not agree respect-
ing the northern limit of the voyage; that observations
in the north had been few and contradictory; that
possibly the regular diary, if an^'^ had been kept, was
lost, and memory alone depended on ; and at any rate
that che truth cannot be known respecting the latitude
of the freebooters' landfall. But when it comes to a
weighing of the probabilities between the Famous
Voyage and the World Encompassed, that is between
latitudes 43" and 48°, the reader will note several
weighty considerations in favor of the former. The
lowest latitude was that first announced. Richard
Hakluyt was a compiler of great reputation; his
opportunities in this matter were of course more than
ordinary; and the fact that he changed the latitude
from 42° to 43° indicates that hi., attention was called
particularly to this matter. The compiler of the
World Encoinjjo^sed, on the other hand, is unknown as
a writer; he is known to have taken some liberties
with Fletcher's notes," and he was exposed to the
temptation at least of accepting the highest latitude
nanitnl by his authorities, both to magnify the im-
portance of his hero's services in searching for the
strait, and to account for the excessive cold experi-
enceil. And as to Fletcher's veracity and accuracy,
our faith is not strengthened by the many glaring

** This is the statement of Mr Vanx, the editor of the Hakluyt Sec.
edition, 12, a portiou of f'letcher's MS. on an earlier part of the voyage being
cxtnnt.

GALI, VIZCAINO, AND A.TtUILAR.

145

absurdities of the narrative, by his deliberate false-
hoods respecting the Oregon and California climate —
notably the snow-covered hills in June — and the
wealth of the country in gold and silver, or by the
fact that Drake himself once termed him "ye falsest
knave that liveth." Moreover, the advance of six
degrees of latitude in two days against contrary winds
is not reassuring, to say nothing of the statement
that the coast above latitude 38° trends always
north-west, without turning so much as a point to
the eastward.

I am therefore led to conclude that Drake was
probably, though not certainly, the first discoverer of
the western coast from Cape Mendocino to the region
of Cape Blanco, including fifty or sixty miles of the
Oreg'in coast, but that his claim to discovery above
latitude 43° is not supported by existing evidence.
Two interesting questions might have arisen in con-
nection with this voyage, but never did, since England
took no steps to protit by Drake's discovery. The
first is, what territorial rights, if any, do the dis-
coveries of a privateer or outlaw confer upon his
nation? And the second, did not Cabrillo's voyage,
extending to latitude 43° or 44', according to an offi-
cial diary written in good faith, give to Spain for the
next two centuries and more the same territorial rights
as if he had really reached the latitude named, oven
though we mav now be certain that he did not go so
far?

The third voyage of the period, that of Francisco
de Gali, require but a brief notice here, since the
claim that it extended to the Northwest Coast and to
latitude 57° 30' appears to have no other foundation
than the misrepresentation or blunder of a translator.
Gali came across from Asia in 1584 and sighted the
coast in latitude 37° 30'. His narrative exists only in
a Dutch translation by Linschoten of 1590, often re-
printed and retranslated. A French translator changed
the locality to latitude 57° 30', and the course of sail-

'V. 'I

Hwr. N. W. CoMMT, Vol. I. 10

146

DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

ing to correspond. Navarrete repeated the error, as
did others rvilying ovi his authority."

On January 3, 1603, Sebastian Vizcaino, in command
of two Spanish exploring vessels, the San Diego and
Tres Reyes, the latter being commanded by Martin
Aguilar, sailed from Monterey to the north." Just
above Point Reyes, on the 7th, the vessels parted,
Aguilar kcf[)ing on his way and Vizcaino turning back
to the old San Francisco. The commander went on
also the next day with a light wind, and by January
12th was within fourteen leagues of wliat lie supposed
to be Cape Mendocino, in latitude 41° 30'. A furious
wind with sleet sprang up next day from the south-
east, threatening destruction. All but six men were
down with the scurvy ; they dared not go farther ; and
the vessel was hove to and awaited a favorable wind
that might carry her to the south. In two days she
drifted to Cape Mendocino; and on the 19th, when
the fog cleared away with a change of the wind to the
north-west, she was found to be in latitude 42", at a
white cape near high snowy mountains, which from
the color of the earth and from the day was named
Cabo Blanco do San Sebastian. Thence Vizcaino
with a favorable wind followed the coast southward
in search of the consort.

Meanwhile Aguilar, parting from his commander
on January 7th, was in latitude 41° when struck by
the south-east gale. The Tres Reyes ran before the
wind to a shelter behind a great cliff near Cape Men-
docino; and after the wind had calmed somewhat
"they continued their voyage close along the land,
and on January 19th the pilot of the Fnigata, An-
tonio Flores, found himself in latitude 43°, where the
shore makes a cape, or point, which was named Cabo
Blanco, from which the coast begins to run to the
north-west" — or, as Padre Ascension says, north-
east — "and near it was found a very copious and

'*For details of Gali's voyage see Hist. Col., i. chap, iii., this series.
>« For Vizcaino's voyage on the lower coasts see Hist. Cat., i. chap. iii.

THE COMING INTERVAL.

147

soundable river, on the banks of which were very
large ashes, willows, brambles, and other trees of
Castile; and wishing to enter it the current would
not permit it." Then Aguilar and Flores agreed, as
they had many sick, and had already gone farther
than the viceroy's instructions required, to turn back
to Acapulco. Both died on the way, only Estdvan
Lopez and four men surviving to relate their northern
discoveries."

Thus is given in text and note all that is known of
this voyage north of San Francisco, from all of which
it appears that, as in the earlier voyages, there are
difficulties in fixing the limit reached. If we take
the latitudes as approximately correct we must sup-
pose that Vizcaino reached the Point St George and
Aguilar the Cape Blanco of modern maps just below
latitudes 42° and 43° respectively. In the narrative
no Californian latitudes south of Mendocino are given

^'' Torquemiula, Moiianj. Ind., i. 715-2,). Padro Ascension, who was on
Vizcaino's ship, received from Lopez an account of wliat happened to the
other vessel, and was Torquemada's autliority, in his Itehtcion, r).")8, Kcenis to
confound the movements of th6 two vessels. He says; 'On tlie coast we
saw the port of San Francisco. . .and we arrived at Cape Mendocino, which is
in 42", the highest latitude which is reached by the t'hina ships. Here, it
being midwinter, the cold and rigging cruel, and almost all the men sick, the
sails were lowered, the C'cpilmia was hove to, and, as she coidil not steer, the
currcuts carried her slowly toward the land, running to the strait of Anian,
which here has its entrance ; and in eight days wc had advanced more than
one degree of latitude, to 4;^, in sight of a point named San Sebastian, near
which empties a river named Santa Incs. Here no one landed, liecauso all
were in poor health, only six persons being able to stand. The coast ' d
land turns to the N. E. , and this is the head and end of the mainland of Cali-
fornia.' Then they turned about and examined the coast to the southward.
In a cddula of August 19, 1600, the king, in alluding to Vizcaino's voyage,
says: 'All that coast up to 40' runs one part with another from s. k. to
K. w., and for the other two degrees up to 42' it runs almost due n. and .s.'
Venegcvt, Not. Cat., i. 190. Vizcaino's map, as reproduced by Navarrete, Sutil y
Mex., Viaije, Atlas No. 4, shows nothing above Cape Mendocino but a 'half
inch' of coast trending N. e. toward Cape Blanco. Cabrera Bueno, in 1734,
Nave'iaciou ExjHXvlaf'tra, 302, who derived his information mainly from Viz-
caino's exploration, but also to some extent, perhaps, from the observations of
the Manila ships, begins his sailing directions with a cape in 42", about eight
leagues south of which was another point with some white cliffs, in 41'' SO',
called Cape Mendocino, whence the coast runs s. e. to a point in 39" 30',
and thence s. E. i H. to Point Peycs, in 38° 30'. Both latitudes and coast
trend are very faulty, but the central point musv be Point Arena, .30' too high,
like Point Reyes; and the northern points, ei |ht leagues apart, must ap-
parently be identified, if at all, with the false Mendocino eight miles above
and the Point Gorda fourteen miles below, the real Mendocino.

ti'A-

148

DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

'1''

to serve as a test; but Cabrera Bueno's latitudes,
doubtless obtained from Vizcaino's log, show an excess
of 30' at Point Reyes and Monterey, increasing both
north and south to a full degree or more. This test
would bring Aguilar back to Point St George and Viz-
caino to Trinidad. Again, there can be little doubt
respecting the identity of Cape Mendocino, which was
put in latitude 41° 30', so that if we place capes San
Sebastian and Blanco respectively half a degree and
a degree and a half beyond Mendocino we still have
Trinidad and St George as the points reached. If we
turn to the description of landmarks we find plenty
of difficulties, but very little to support either theory.
There is nowhere in the region visited a large river
just beyond a cape." Ascension's .statement that the
coast turned to the north-east might be applied to
that beyond any one of several capes for a short dis-
tance; but the north-western trend in Torquemada's
narrative can apply only to St George; and indeed
the small Smith Biver with its lagoons just above
that point may quite plausibly be made to serve as
Aguilar's river, since discoveries of a strait in those
times were made to rest on very frail foundations. In
view of such slight evidence as exists I deem it un-
likely that Aguilar passed the present boundary line
of latitude 42".

Thus at the end of what has been termed the first
epoch of Oregon history we find that Oregon was to
all intents and purposes an undiscovered country.
There is a strong probability that the Spaniards under
Ferrelo and Aguilar had not passed the line of lati-
tude 42°; and the probability that Drake had done so
is not a very convincing one — that is, it rests mainly
•on the lack of evidence to the contrary. There is
Timch reason to suspect that if Drake's observations
of latitude had been more frequent, or if Fletcher

" Unless it be the Umpqiia, where the trees are said to agree somewhat
better with Aguilar's description than at other points ; but the river is in 43°
40', and these voyagers uniformly made their latitude too high.

REVIVAL OF SPANISH ENTERPlllSE.

had diverted a portion of liis zeal from the chinate to
the description of landmarks, evidence might not be
wanting that the Englishmen did not reach 43°; while
if the Spaniards had abstained somewhat from such
descriptions and observations it is veiy certain that
their claim to have reached the same or a higher
latitude could not be successfully disputed.

Nothing was accomplished by Spain on the western
coast beyond the gulf of California for one hundred
and sixty-six years after Vizcaino's return. During
this period there was no lack of exploring projects
urged upon the attention of the king, as we have
seen in presenting another phase of this topic; but
the government could not be roused to action. There
was no longer a hope, save on the part of certain
enthusiasts, of finding great and rich kingdoms in
the north; the finding of a strait was no longer de-
sirable to Spain. As before observed, the fear that
it would be found and held by foreigners had been
somewhat allayed in official circles; there was in
many respects a decline of Spanish power and energy,
besides a multiplicity of more urgent matters than
the exploration of unknown coasts. But during the
roign of Carlos III., which began in 1759, there was
a marked revival of enterprise in all directions; and
that monarch was not more fortunate in his choice of
ministers at home than in that of a representative in
the New World, for which position he chose Jose de
Galvez as visitador general. All the old motives
for northern exploration remained in full force, the
extension of territory, the conversion of souls, the
occupation of ports for the Manila ships, the taking
possession of a possible interoceanic strait, and the
prevention of foreign encroachments; and there was
an additional motive in the reports of recent Russian
discoveries in the far north. Under the intelligent
and energetic supervision of Galvez, who later became
minister of the Indies, the Californian coast from San

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DISOOVEBT OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

Diego to San Francisco was promptly occupied in
1769 and the following years, as fully recorded else*
where in this history."

It had been intended to include in the general
movement an examination of the coast far above San
Fxuncisco; and that examination was hastened by new
reports of Russian expeditions, which came by way
of Madrid from the Spanish minister in St Peters-
burg." In 1773 an expedition was planned for the
next year. The new transport Santiago, built ex-
pressly for the Californian service, was deemed the best
vessel for the purpose; and to Juan Perez, the oflScer
who in the late expeditions had Been the first to reach
San Diego and Monterey, was given the command.
Laden with a jrear's supplies for the northern mis-
sions, and havmg on board also the returning presi-

■•S«e Hlat. Cat., I ehaip. iv. et leq.

*<*ifaureUe, CompeTuiio de Notieiat adquiridas en loa deacubrimientos de la
COfta aentetttriotuU de la N. California, hecho par 6rden del Ex'^o Sr. Virtu
Conde ae Se-Ula-Oigedo eon la prolixidad potible (1791). This is the title of a
MS. in the oolleotion of M. Pinart, which contains copies of the correspond-
ence on Russian discoveries leading to the expedition of Perez. The cor-
respondence en risumi is as follows: February 7, 1773, Conde de Lasci,
Spanish minister in Russia, to Marqute de Orimaldi : Has hoard that the
Russian Tschericow in 1 76&-7 1 made a voyage to America ; the result thought
to be im^riant, but kept a profound secret; will try to unravel it April
II th, Amaga, minister of navy, sends ' ae preceding to viceroy, with oraers
to investigate. July 27th, viceroy's reply : Mo foreign establishments below
Mcmterey ; aid needed to explore beyond ; has ordered Juan Perez to form
a pUn. September 25th, Arriaga to viceroy : Sends by king's order three
letters of Lasci : first, of March 19th, has succeeded in getting from a man
who has read the secret archives an account of the voyam of Cweliacow and
Panowbafew in 1764; the new regions doubtless in California, and steps
should be taken ; second, of May 7ui, Russian ambition is so vast that it in-
tends not only to invade China but to send an expedition against Japan
under an Englishman; third, of May 11th, the famous HaUer has pro-
posed to send a Russian squadron to the American archipelago. December
23d, Aniaga to viceroy : The king will send officers, etc. Jtme 15, 1774, Id,
to Id., vim another letter from Lasci confirming ae others, and including a
Calendar io Buso de 1774, which contains a mass of descriptive matter on
northern geography, mostly quoted from Muller and btaehlin. August 25,
1773, viceroy to C6rdoba, general of the fleet: Has resolved on an expedition
in 1774. Mptember 1st, Cdrdofaa approves, but is ignorant of northern
waters. July 18th, viceroy orders Juan Perez to form a plan. September
1st, Perez' plan : Ho proposes to strike tlio coast in 45° or 60°, and thence ex-
plore down the coast with the wind. The Santia'fO is the best vessel ; and
the best time from December to Februarv. A year's supplies needed, and an
order on the presidios for men in case of sickness. September 29th, viceroy
approves plan, but Perez must go as far as 60*. Some other unimportant
oorreeponaeuce about outfit, etc.; also two orders from Spain to the viceroy
to dislodge the Randans if found.

THE MISSIONARY VOYAOK

181

dent, Padre Junipero Serra, with another padre and
several officials for California, the Santiago sailed from
San Bias January 24th, and having touched at San
Diego, arrived at Monterey on May 9th."

The missionaries Crespf and Pena were appointed
by President Serra to act as chaplains and keep diaries
of the voyage in place of the chaplain Mugdrtegui,
and surgeon Ddvila took the place of the regular
surgeon. There were eighty-eight persons on board,
officers and men. On June Uth, after solemn public
prayers for the success of the expedition, !Perez set sail
from Monterey. His instructions were to make the
land wherever he might deem it best, but at least as
high as latitude 60°, and thence to follow the coast
southward as near as possible without risk. No settle-
ments were to be made, but the best places were to
be noted; and the commander was to take possession
of such places for the king, erecting a cross at each
and burying a bottle with the proper documents. If
any foreign settlement was found, the formality of
taking possession must be commenced above it. All
such establishments were to be carefully examined, but
not interfered with; neither to the inhabitants of such
places nor to vessels met on the way was the nature
of the mission to be divulged ; if met below Monterey,
Perez was to say his business was to carry supplies;
if above, that he had been driven out of his course by
the wind.** This voyage was well recorded, there
being no less than four distinct diaries extant.''

** Sea Hist. Col., L chap, x., for an account of the voyage up to the depart-
ure from Monterey.

** Perez, Inatrucciott que el Ex^' 8r. Virey did d lot eomandantM de bttqnes
de exploraciones €4 de Die, 1773. MS. in the Pinort collection. There
are 32 articlea, wHh many routine details on outfit, diaries, kind treatment
of natives, etc. A Russian map of 'pretended' discoveries was furnished
Perez. To the InHruceion vt appended a Fbrmulario que ha de aervir de pauta
para extender Ian escripturas de ponegion en lot descuhrimieiUoe de qtie f»td
eneargado Juan Peret.

"The first is Grespt, Diario de la aipedicion de mar que hizo la fraijatn
Santittgo, printed in Palou, Noticiat, i. 624-88 ; second, PeAa, Diario del Viwje
de Juan Perez, MS., in Viagen cU Norte de Cal. , No. 1, copit^ from the Spanish
archives, and not complete; third, Perez, Relacion del Viage de. . .pdoto y
aff&rezde la Real Armada, 1774, MS., in Mayer MSS.,'So. 12; also in ifaureUe,

"ji:

152

DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

By reason of calms the Santiago was still in sight
of Point Pinos on June 15th; on the I7th they lost
sight of land; on the 24th were south of the Santa
Barbara Islands; and it was not until the 29th that
they again passed the latitude of Monterey. Then
with winds generally favorable, but constant fogs, they
kept to the northward, far from land; passed the line
of latitude 42° on July 4-5, and decided on the 15th in
a junta of officers to seek a port for water, being then
in latitude 51° 42'. For the next three days, having
followed the coast to latitude 55°, Perez tried in vain
to round a point in that latitude, beyond which the
coast turned to the east. As this is the first undoubted
discovery of the territory herein designated as the
Northwest Coast, I give his geographical observa-
tions from his movable station off the cape somewhat
in full from three of the diaries.'" There is some

Compendio de Noticiaa, 159-75; and fourth, Perez, Tabla Diaria que contiene
las latitudes, longitudes, varicuriones, y vientos de cadn 24 horas en el vimje de
1774 <i los deacubrimientos, MS., in Maiirelle, Compendio 179-85. Seo also
brief accounts of this voyage in Navarrete, Sutil y Mex., Viwje, 92-3; Hum-
holdt, iHitsai Pol., 331-2; Mofras, Explor., i. 107; Navarrete, Via^ies Apdc,
53-4; Greenhorn's Mem., 69; Id., Or. and Cal., 114-17; Twins' Hist. Or.,
55-6; Id., Or. Quest., 66-7; Falconer's Or. Quest., 19; Id., Discov. Miss.,
62; Bustamante, in Cnvo, Tres Siglos, iii. 119; Palou, Vida, 160-2; Forbes'
Hist. Gal., 114-16; Calvo, Col. Trot., iii. 338; Overliind Monthly, April, 1871,
p. 299; Taylor, in CcU. Farmer, August 7, 1863; Nicolay's Oregon Ter., 30-2;
flndlay'a Director!/, i. S49-50; Poussin, Question deVOrigon, 38-9; Id., U.S.,
M7; Famham's Life in Cal., 263-7; MacGregor'a Prog. Amer., i. 535.

•* From the Tabla Diaria: July 19th, approached a pointcalled Santa Mar-
garita, thought to be in 65°. N. of this point is seen a capo called Santa Magda-
lena, from which the coast trends N. w. Sixteen leagues w. of that cape is an
island called Santa Cristina, which is seven or eight leagues N. of Point Santa
Margarita. Between tlie points Santa Margarita and Santa Magdalena is a large
gulf, from which the current runs six ov seven miles an hour. This is accurate
enough for Point Nortli and the southern extremities of Prince of Wales Island
if we transpose the sixteen leagues and seven or eight leagues and reduce the
latitude to 54° 10*. Pcfla's diary, or the fragment before me, does not include
this part of the voyage. From Perez, lielttcion: 18th, sighted land in 53° 53';
tried to follow shore for an anchor&ge, but were soon prevented by rainy and
foggy weather and a. e. wind; 19th, turned e. m. e. toward a point cut
down by the sea, called Santa Margarita, estimated to be in 55°. The coast
from the poiat of discovery to SantA Margarita runs half N. N. w. and the
other half n. From Santa Margarila ». extends a hill (loma) for three leagues,
that seems detached from the main coast, but is not an island ; and at its
southern end half a league out at sea is a little island one league in circum-
ference, and outside of it at the same distance a rock six or eight varas high,
and within a gunshot four or five small rocks causing breakers visible from
afar. There are also three small islands a gunshot from Point Santa Mai;ga-

PEREZ VOYAGE.

163

confusion, but no more probably than may be at-
tributed to errors of copyists and printers. It is clear
that this navigator struck the coast of Queen Char-
lotte Island, and followed it up to its northern point.
Cape North, in latitude 54° 15', which he called Point

rita. The coaat rang s. from Santa Margarita to a high snowy hill, and thcnco
the land falls away to a touguo-shapcd point, whence it turns s. E. Nortli of
Santa Margarita the coast runs low and wooded to tlic cast for ten leagues Mritli-
out any beach that can bo seen ; and in this space is a low point fonned by u
hill, with two rocks, the point forming apparently a sheltered bight, but not
accessible on account of tne strong current, the ships being kept six or seven
leagues off the coast. Eight leagues N. of Santa Margarita they saw a cane
called Santa Magdalena ; and between the two points is doubtless a large gulf,
judging by the strong current of six or seven miles. It was also seen that
seven leagues west of Cape Santa Magdalena (and not sixteen leagues, as in the
Tabla, perhaps by a copyist's error) was an island five or six leagues in circum-
ference, called Santa Cristina, and x. w. from Santa Margarita about seven
leagues. July 21st, observation taken in 65°. All this agrees as well with
the country about Dixon Strait as the best modem maps agree with each
other, except that the latitude is too high. From Crenpi, Diario, July IStli :
Land seen at a distance; no observation; end of land appeared about sixteen
leagues n. w. ^ k. ; very smoky; 19th, land at dawn eight or ten leagues
distant; calm; land seems to end in K. N. w., and thence to turn n. w.
At noon observation in 63° 68'; fresher wind in afternoon; at 5 p. M., being
three leagues from shore, saw that the coast continues low northward be-
yond the cape ; tacked to get farther from shore ; 20th, in morning fog and
drizzling rain, with e. wind and heavy sea, course N. J N. e. ; at 9 a.m. turned
N. E. ; at 10 were three leagues from tlie point, which seemed to lie formed uf
three islands; at noon no observation; at 3 p.m. two leagues from the point,
the three islands now appearing as one, and not very far from the coast ; by
the said point was fonned a good bight; at 4 p.m. tacked away from sliore;
2l8t, fog and drizzle ; at 8 a, m. turned toward the point, named Santa Mar-
garita, m)m yesterday, the day of its discovery; course e. ^ n.; at noon no
observation ; one fourth league from the point which was coasted eastward,
with a view of reaching what seemed to be an anchorage, but they could not
double the point, nor find out if it was an island or a point of the main, be-
caQse the current was so strong ; lay becalmed off the point all the afternoon.
T!'>o point Santa Margarita is a medium hill (loma), lofty, cut down to the sea,
covered with trees like cypresses. It is about one league long, making two
points, one to s. e. ^ s. and the other to the s. E., from which begins a
great bight (ensouada). From the point the low land stretches eastward ten
leagues or more, also wooded. In the n. is seen, sixteen leagues off (which
again shows a transposition in the Tabla), a very high wooded cape, named
Santa Maria Magdalena. From that capo the high wooded coast runs e. and w.
OS far as can bo seen ; and N. w. from that coast was seen a small island, named
Santa Catarina (not Santa Cristina, as in the other accounts), altiiough tiiey
were not sure if it was an island or connected with the main. Capo Santa Mag-
dalena is K. of Point Santa Margarita, and between them there is something like
a large bight, which could not dc explored for the strong current to learn if it
was ennencula, boUan, or eatrecho; and if it is only an e.itsenala it may l)o tl>at
some great river causes the current. Cape Santa Maria Magdalena is alxjiit
ten leagues from Point Santa Margarita, which is the width of tlie mouth of
the bight, pocket, strait, or gulf. Cape Magdalena extends into the sea
from the east, and west of the point and very near it is the island of Santa
Catarina. July 22d, tried to douolo the Point Margarita to Hnd an anchorage
behind it, but in vain. At noon latitude exactly ^°,

1:H

*|J

i :

154

DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWESl' CO/ST.

Santa Margarita, in latitude 55°. The strong currents
running out of the great gulf or strait, which he did
not name, but which is now Dixon Entrance, pre-
vented his rounding the point. In the north he could
see the present Prince of Wales Island and others
round it, naming the nearest point — Point Muzon of
modern maps — Cape Santa Magdalena, and an island
farther west, now Forrester Island, Santa Cristina,
or as Crespf says, Santa Catalina. For further details
I refer to the note already given.

Though Perez did not land, he had much friendly
intercourse with the natives, who came off in canoes,
singing and scattering feathers on the water in token
of peace. They were entirely friendly, but only two
had the courage to board his ship. At one time
there were twenty-one canoes with over two hundred
natives about the vessel. They were glad to barter
their dried fish, furs, wooden boxes, and images, mats
of wool or hair, and other native products, particularly
for knives and anything made of iron, but cared very
little for beads and other trinkets. They had already
some few articles of iron and copper. In accordance
with the viceroy's instructions the people were de-
scribed as fully as possible by Crespl and the others.

The impossibility of reaching here an anchorage and
obtaining fresh water, together with the unfavorable
weather, which prevented a close examination of the
coast from point to point, determined Perez and
his companions to abandon the effort to reach higher
latitudes. On July 2 2d the Santiago was headed south-
ward. The coast was seen on the 23d and 24th, a
range of high snowy mountains named Sierra de San
Crist6bal, thought to extend from latitude 54° 40' to
53° 8'.** Until the 30th they had occasional glimpses

'* Tabla IHaria; Pern, Relacion. Creupi, Diario, 055, Bays that from Santa
Margarita the coast is low for seven leagues south ; and from that low coast, in
50° 44' (a typographical error), the lofty mc untains begin, wooded, and the peaks
covered with snow. The sierra extends '.rom 54° 44' to 53" 8'. It is .30 leagues
long from N. w. to s. E. Tha latitude on July 23d was 5.3° 48' ; on the 24th,
61° 21'; 25th, 53° 21'; on the 2flth, 52° 51''; 27th, 52° 41'; 28th, 52° 20'; 29th, 5f
30"; 30th, 51° 58'; 3l8t, 51° 35'; Augusv 1st, 50° 20'; 2d, 49° 24'; 3d, 48° SB*;

RETURN OF THE SANTIAGO.

108

of the coast down to about latitude 52°, always off
Queen Charlotte; but the fog and wind would not
permit the close examination desired. Then for
five days no land was seen, until on the 5th of Au-
gust it reappeared, in 48° 50'; and on the 7th in the_
afternoon, after many efforts and prayers, they ap-
proached the coast" and anchored in 49° 30', calling
their anchorage San Lorenzo. The anchorage wa.s a
'C- shaped roadstead, affording but slight protection;
the southern rocky point, extending three fourths of a
league north-westward into the sea and causing break-
ers, was named San Estdvan, for the pilots, one of
whom was Estdvan Martinez, while the northern
point was called Santa Clara, from the saint whose
novena was being observed."

San Lorenzo has been identified by modern writers
with Nootka Sound; the latitude is the same; later
Spanish navigators had no doubt of the identity ; and
the description agrees as well wiUi this as with any
other of the numerous inlets on this part of the coast-
better, indeed, in respect of the distance between the
two points than with the northern inlet. It is, how-
ever, impossible to speak positively about the identity
of an inlet on a coast where there are so many, the
description being vague, and the latitude somewhat
too accurate in comparison with that of other points
as given by Perez. San Lorenzo may have been Es-
peranza Inlet, north of Nootka Island," or possibly an

'M.

8fi !;;,: i

''•it.:

4th, 48° 34'; 5th, 48° 50*. These latitudes are chiefly from the Tabla, but
there are some slight variations in the other records, especially in Crespi, who
is one day behiiul in the Ausust latitudes.

'"Crespi still is one day behind in his diary.

" In Pfm, Helacion, Point Santa Clara is described as six leagues from the
vessel and Point 8an Est^van two leagues. Crespi makes the distonce between
the points four or five leagues. The low hills near the shore were covered with
trees ; one league farther inland was a higher range, also woo<led ; and in the
north a still higher range, with snow-covei*e<l pciucs. The shelter seems only
from a n. w. wind. Pefla says the sierra in the n. w. was also called San
Lorenzo ; the name Point Estdvan is retained for its southern (loint.

'" Especially if Point Est^van is the same as Point Breakers, as Greenhow,
Findlay, and others think. In this case Point Santa (ylara would Inj Woody
Point ; otherwise Point Macuina or Point Bajo. See account of Cook's visit in
Jiext chapter. There is confusion in both narratives. In the Tallu we road.

■^i:^

106

DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

mlet south of Nootka Sound." The Indians came
out in their canoes to trade. Here, as farther north,
they were friendly, having also some articles of iron
and copper. A boat was lowered on the 8th** to
go to the shore for water; but a strong west wind
sprang up suddenly, forcing them to cut the cable and
put to sea, dragging the boat and narrowly escaping
the rocky point.

Keeping in sight of the land for seven days, but
unable to approach it for the wind, fog, and rain,
Perez ran down to latitude 44° 33', having seen on the
10th or 11th a lofty mountain covered with snow in
latitude 48° 7'^ called Santa Rosalia, and supposed by
later writers to have been the present Mount Olym-

{)U8 of Washington. On the 15th or IGtii, being in
atitude 42° 37', they were much troubled that the fog
prevented their search for Aguilar's river and Cape
Blanco, noting the fact that the latitudes of the earlier
navigators were too high. Land again appeared on
the 21st or 2 2d for a short time, when what was re-
garded as Cape Mendocino, in about latitude 40° 8', was
seen in the north; the Farallones were passed on the
26th; and on the 27th the Santiago anchored at
Monterey. The voyage to San Bias lasted from Oc-
tober 9th to November 3d.

In this expedition Juan Perez, though he had not
reached latitude 60°, as instructed, nor discovered any
good ports, nor landed anywhere to take possession

* Este parage es justamente la boca de Nnca,' which is evidently MaurcUe's
interpolation of later date. The sonthem point at Nootka is still called
Est^van en some maps, Point Breakers on others. Point Santa Clara must be
the later Point Macuina, or at least cannot be Woody Point, as Qreenhow
states.

^' Tho silver spoons found by Cook five years later came from a place south
of Nootka Sound. Cook's Voy., ii. 282.

*" Ou the 0th, according to Crespi and PeQa. My fragment of the latter's
diary begins with August 0th.

. "According to tho Tabla, on tho 10th they were in 48" O*, and thought the
mountain to be in 48" 5'; the Relacion has it that they saw it on the 11th, when
they were in 47° 47', and thought it to be in 48° 7'. Pefla and Crespi say they
sawit on the 11th, being in 48 9". The mountain was iji sight both days. PcQa
notes that at first it seemed a barranca blnnca close to uie shore, with high
broken snowless land above it ; but later they saw that it was some distance
inland, and that there were other snowy mountains.

REMARKS OF PEREZ.

187

for Spain, nor found either foreign establishments or

Eroof of their non-existence, had still gained the
onor of having discovered practically the whole
Northwest Coast. He had surveyed a large portion
of the two great islands that make up the coast of
British Columbia, giving the first description of the
natives; he had seen and described, though vaguely
and from a distance, nearly all of the Washington
coast, and a large part of the Oregon. He had given
to his nation whatever of credit and territorial claims
may be founded on the mere act of first discovery.
To give any degree of precedence in these respects
to later navigators who were enabled to make a
more detailed examination is as absurd as to regard
the officers of the United States coast survey, who
have done such excellent service for geography and
commerce, as the discoverers of the Northwest Coast.
Whether Perez made the best use of his opportunities
it is very difficult to decide. Maurelle in 1791 criti-
cises most severely a commander who was driven
back by thirst when he might easily have carried
water for six months; who complained of the scurvy,
when only one man was lost; who could find no an-
chorage on a coast where many good ports existed;
and who with his associates could write so many
diaries with so little information.*'* And Mr Grepnhow
says : " The government of Spain, perhaps, acted wisely
in concealing the accounts of the expedition, which
reflected little honor on the courage or the science
of its navigators."^ It seems to me, however, that
the criticisms are severe, since the diaries contain
a tolerably good account of all that was learned
in the voyage; and Perez, a bold and experienced
pilot, was a better judge than I, possibly better than
the writers named, of the difficulties in the way of
learning more. It should be added that no account
•of this voyage was given to the world until the ap-

**MaurelU, Compendia, 175-7.
" Oreenhow'i Or. and CnL, 116.

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158

DISCOVERY OP THE NORTHWEST COAST.

pearoncc of Navarrete's rSsumS in 1802, which con-
tained only a very brief outline of the facts.

The second exploring expedition of the epoch fol-
lowed closely upon the first, being despatched in 1775.
Naval officers had been sent out from Spain, as prom-
ised in correspondence already noted, to take charge
of the San Bias department with its Californian and
exploring service. They accordingly took command
of the lour vessels sailing to the north this year,
two bound for California with mission and presidio
supplies, the others for the coasts further north.
Bruno Heceta, lieutenant and acting captain, was
commander of the expedition, and the vessel chosen
for his flag-ship was the Santiago of the last year's
voyage. Juan Perez went on her oBpiloto, or sailing-
master, and second in command; Cri8t6bal Revilla
was his mate; and the chaplains were the Franciscan
padres Campa and Sierra, who became missionaries
m California. The ship also carried a quantity of
supplies for Monterey. The schooner Sonora, alias
Felicidad, was selected as the consort, commanded by
lieutenant Juan Francisco de Bodega y Cuadra," with
Alfdrez Antonio Maurelle as piloto. Supplies for a
year's cruise were taken, and the force of both vessels
numbered one hundred and six men. Heceta's instruc-
tions were the same as had been those of Perez, except
that latitude G5° instead of latitude G0° was named as
the northern limit. They sailed from San Bias on
March 16th, the schooner towed by the ship; but the
winds were not favorable, and it was not until May
21st that they reached the latitude of Monterey,
where it was decided in council not to enter. They
finally drew near the land in 42° on June 7th, and
followed the coast southward until they discovered
the port of Trinidad. Heceta's operations on the
Californian coast, like those of Ayala and Quir(5s in

** Lieutenant .Tuan B. Ayala was at first put in cdnunand, with Cuadra a*
his second; but he had to Imj transferred to the San C'drlos.

I II I

■'.pi I

HECETA AND CUADRA.

100

the other vessels of this year, hav« been already re-
corded."

The Santiago and Sonora left Trinidad on June 19th
for the north, keeping together until the end of July."

Little progress was made northward in the un-
favorable and variable winds; but by the end of June
they were over one hundred leagues away from the
coast. Cuadra and Maurelle were in favor of going
still farther out, so as to run far to the north when
the windn should come; but Heceta chose to follow
the judgment of Perez, as indeed his instructions
required him to do, who represented the winds to be
from a southern quarter, favorable to progress along
the coast northward. When the wind came, however,
it was from the west and north-west, driving them
landward sooner than they desired. On July 9th they

*' Seo Hist. Col. , i. chap. xi.

'"l/er.elii, Sefjiinda Explorarion di' la Costa Septentrioncd de Cal., 1775, in
Mayer's M.SS., No. I'JJ, is a narrative, no author being named, of the .S'lnt-
tiarjo'ti muveinents down to August 13th, completed down to August .10th,
by llecela, Vhiije de 1775, MS., in Viai/es al Norte, No. '2. The schuoncr's
movements are of coureo included down to t))o separatiuu. Ileceta, JJiurio,
ia the commandur'a narrative, substantially but not literally the sumo oa
the preceding, of wliich I have only an extract relating to the Columbia
River region, given by Grcenhow. Uodcija y Ciiadra, yiar/n de 1775, MS.,
in I'idges al Norte, No. 2.i, is a narrative by Cuadra himself of the Sonora'a
voyage from August 4th to November 20th, after the separation. Maurelle,
Diano del Vkuje de In Sonora, 1775, MS., in Viages al Norte, No. .1,
is the second piloto'n narrative of the whole voyage of the schooner
and of the ship so long aa they were together, with reflections, tables,
etc., at the end. MaurelTr'a Journal of a Voyage in 1775, London, 1781, pub-
lished among Barrington'a MiscAlanics, ia an English tnwslation of a nar-
ratiyo similar to but not identical with that last named. It contains a map,
introduced by the publisher to illustrate the voyage. Bodega y Ciiwlra,
Comento de la Navegacion, MS. , in Viage-i al Norte, No. 0, ia a summary narrative
by Cuadra, covering the same ground aa that of Maurelle. Uecela, Eapedicion
tnaritima, in Palou, Noticiaa, li. 210-43, 250-7, ia a narrative of the voyage
of both vesaela, probably founded on the chaplains' diaries, but much con-
fused in the printing. The original charta of thia voyage, as of the preceding,
if any were made, have never been published and are not known to be
extant. Such are the original authorities on Ueceta's expedition. For
minor references to works that mention the voyage, but contain no additional
information, see the references for Perez' voyage, note 23 of this chapter,
and later pages in each reference; also Fleurieu, in Marchand, Voy., i. Ixvii.-
Ixxx. ; Murr, NachrichUn, 401 ; Farnham'a IJiat. Oregon, 12-13 ; Dunn' a Iliat.
Oregon, 200; Swan'a N. W. Coaat, 224-0; llinea' Or. Iliat., 352-4; FMix
VOrigon, 62; Roaai, Souvenira, 58-0; Houhaud, Rfgions Nouvellen, 11; Saint-
Amant, Voy., 144; Slmpaon'a Narr., i. 260; Northern Pass. Summary, 28-0.
Oreenhow, pp. 430-3, gives a quotation from Heceta's report, and a long
quotation from Maurelle is found in U. 8. Oov. Doc., 26th Gong., 3ii Seaa., H.
Rept. No. 101, pp. 42-7.

:'''A

Efc3:

DISCOVERY OP THE NORTHWEST COAST.

recognized their proximity to the coast, supposing
themselves to be near the northern point of Fuca
Strait, according to the French map of M. Bellin, and
on the 11th sighted land in latituclo 48° 26'. Search-
ing southward in vain for an inlet or port, the vessels
anchored on the 13th in latitude 47° 23'," the schooner
behind a point and a line of shoals, which proved a
very dangerous anchorage, and the ship outside some
miles farther south.

The place where the Spaniards were now anchored
was the Point Grenville of modern maps, in latitude
47° 20'. A barren i^iiland farther north, which they
discovered and named Isla de Dolores, was Destruc-
tion Island. They had proved that Fuca's imaginary
strait did not exist between latitudes 47° and 48°; and
their landfall had been a few miles too far south to
reveal the strait that now bears Fuca's name. To the
anchorage, which one diary at least calls Rada de
Bucareli,* according to Navarrete, or to the point,
as Greenhow says, t\j name of Mdrtires was ap-
plied, in consequence of the disaster to be mentioned
presently. I do not find any record of the name,
however, in the original narratives. On July 14th
Europeans set foot tor the first time on the soil of
the Northwest Coast. Captain Heceta, with Padre
Sierra, Surgeon Ddvalos, the second piloto, Cristbbal
Revilla, and a few sailors, landed in the morning to
erect a cross and take formal possession, though the
time did not permit the celebration of mass. But
few Indians were present at the ceremony, and they
were altogether friendly; indeed thev had before
visited the ship in a canoe, carrying skins to barter
and inviting the Spaniards to land.

*" This is the latitude given in Heceta, Eapedieion, and ifaurelle, Diario.
In Heceta, Segunda Explor. , it is 47° 24', and in Maurelle'» Journal 47° 21'. Ie
the table at tho end of Id. the latitudes by observation and reckoning respeot
ively are given as follows: July 9th, 47° 37' and 47° 44'; 10th, 47° 35* and
47° 45'; 11th, 48° 26' and 48° 32'; 12th, 47° S^ and 48° I'j 13th, 47° 28' and
47° 41'; 14th, 47° 20' and 47° 24'. The variations are no greater than would
naturally result from the observations on two vessels.

*■ So called also in RevUla-Oigedo, Infomu, IS AbrU, 179S.

ATTACKED BY THE NATIVES.

Ifll

The schooner, anchored a few miles farther north,
was also visited this day and the preceding by large
numbers of Indians, who were eoqor to trade, especially
for articles of iron, and who W'-: > very deinotistra-
tivo in their assurances of fritudship, urging the
strangers to visit their ranch'^*^a. \fter ho Hucceedetl
in removing the Sonora fr> l her Uanp'f . ous position
among the shoals, Cuadra resolve I to send a i)arty
ashore to obtaiii wood and vatei. He trusted to
the friendly di^os'tion of the natives and to past
experience at Trinidad. Six mc, under command
of the boatswain Pedro Santa Ana, were u,^ ^ordingly
sent to land in the boat. The Indians, some tiiree
hundred in number, were hidden in the woods near
the landing, and no sooner had the Spaniards left
the boat than they rushed to attacli them. Two
sprang into the sea and were drowned; the rest
were immediately killed and torn in pieces, the boat
also being broken up for the nails. Cuadra could
afford no succor, having no boat, even if he had been
able to man one. The savages even came off in their
canoes and surrounded the schooner, as if to prevent
her departure; but one of the canoes venturmg too
near had six of its men killed by the guns of the
Spaniards. On rejoining the ship, Cuadra and some
others desired to march with thirty men against the
Indians to avenge the massacre, but a council decided
that such an act would be unwise.

The council alsr discussed the expediency of send-
ing the Sonora back to Monterey, on account of her
small size — thirty-six feet long, twelve feet wide, and
eight feet deep — the rough weather, and the difficulty
of keeping the vessels together. But Cuadra and Mau-
relle insisted on being allowed to proceed, urging that
they were not likely to experience worse weather than
that which they had survived; and Heceta, with the
assent of most of the officers, decided in their favor.
Six men were furnished to replace the seven lost; and
on the evening of the 14th the two vessels set sail.

Hmt. N. W. Ooabt, Vol. I. 11

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102

DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

The course was westward, and losing slightly in lati-
tude, by the end of the month they were over one
hundred leagues from the coast. Meanwhile, on the
19th, Perez and the surgeon in writing advised a re-
turn southward, on account of sickness, contrary winds,
and the lateness of the season; but Cuadra and
Maurelle again opposed such action, and the com-
mander yielded again to their advice. On the 30th
a wind from the north struck the vefisels and separated
them. Let us follow Heceta and the Santiago: On
the morning of July 31st, in latitude 46° 42', the
schooner being no longer in sight, a council was held
on the ship, in which the officers favored a return to
Monterey, because the scurvy had not left men enough
fit for duty to manage the vessel in case of a storm.
Heceta yielded so far as to turn his course toward the
coast, but in doing this he also sailed as far north as
possible, and on August 10th they sighted land, being
in latitude 49° 30', that is, in the region of Nootka.
In the north-west was seen a mountain resembling the
peak of Teneriife, in about latitude 50°, and another
farther south resembling the cuchillada de Roldan in
Valencia. Next day the master, mate, and surgeon
renewed their warnings, Perez claiming that showers
like those of the past year would surelj leave not a
man for duty, and Heceta determined to follow the
coast southward. On the r2th they noticed that in
the first fifteen leagues above latitude 49° there were
two salient points, with a bight three or four leagues
deep, with a beach and low hills, which may have been
Clayoquot Sound, or perhaps by an error of latitude
Barclay Sound, farther south. The natives came off
to trade, selling one of their four canoes and urging
the Spaniards to land.**

According to the narratives, Heceta kept near the
shore, anchoring often, and having clear, favorable

"According to Heceta, Esped. Marit., this was on August 13th, when they
were in 49° 5'; tno 14th they were in 48° 32', and the condeatable died; the
15th in 48° 3' (or 47° 34' in afternoon according to another account); Green-
how's account of this part of the voyage is very erroneous.

MOVEMENTS OF THE SANTIAGO.

168

weather; but if this had been strictly true he could
hardly have missed the entrance to the strait. He
saw two small islands about a league from shore, in
latitude 48° 4'," and located Dolores, or Destruction
Island, in latitude 47° 58', or eighteen miles too far
north.

On the 15th, in latitude 47° 34', ten Indians came
off in a canoe to trade. The sailors pretended to
recognize some of those engaged in the massacre of
July, and efforts were made to entice them on board
with a view of Jiolding some of them as hostages, if by
chance any Spaniard had survived; but the savages
were too wary, and when at last the grappling-irons
were thrown at the canoe they struck an Indian in
the back but did not hold.

Still keeping near the wooded shore, and noting
some rocks, or small islands, Heceta in the afternoon
of the 17th discovered a bay with strong currents and
eddies, indicating the mouth of a great river or strait,
in latitude 46° 9'," which but for the latitude the navi-
gator would have identified with Fuca Strait, but
which he now named Bahia de la Asuncion, calling
the northern point San Roquc and the southern Cabo
Frondoso. It was subsequently called by the Span-
iards Ensenada de Heceta; and was of course the
mouth of the Columbia River between capes Dis-
appointment and Adams." No exploration was at-
tempted, because there were not men enough to raise
the anchor if it were once lowered, or with safety to
man the launch. Next day, in latitude 45° 43', a point

*" The charts show many small rocks along the coadt between Destruction
Island and Cape Flattery. These islotes may liave been Flattery Rocks or any
of the others. It is clear enough that Heceta did not examine this part of
the coast so closely as was pretended.

"According to Heceta, K»}X'.d. Maril., it was in 46° 1 1'. In Heceta, Diario,
the reader is referred to the map for the latitude ; but in the tables at the end,
according to Greenhow, the latitude of the 17th is given as 40" 17', probably
at noon. The true latitude of the entrance at its middle is about 46 15'.

*'' Heceta's statement Uiat the points r.tn in the angle of 10'' of the third
quadrant — that ia, 10' west of south — is unintelligible, the true direction being
about 40° of the second quadrant, or nearly s. e. In the E»ped. Maril. the

Coints are said to be a league and a half apart, the inlet 'haciendo horizonte'
1 the east, and supposed to be a river.

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164

DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

named Cape Falcon, perhaps Tillamook or False Tilla-
mook.** Next were seen three farallones, called the
Tres Marias, in latitude 45° 30'**; then came a flat-
topped mountain called the Mesa, or Table Mountain,
in latitude 45° 28'**; and on the 20th in 43° they saw
ten small islands and more, noting three others in
latitude 42° 36',** passing Mendocino on August 26th,
and anchoring at Monterey on the 29tL. Thirty-five
sick men were landed next day, ten remaining on
board, one of whom died.

I have now to follow Cuadra in the Sonora. At
dawn on July 31st the ship could not be seen; and
the captain sought her in the very direction that he
wished to go for purposes of exploration — that is,
straight out to sea.

Cuadra and Maurelle state in their narratives
that the separation was accidental, and imply that
their subsequent course westward was in accord-
ance with the proposed course of both vessels, no
change having been ordered, though such a change
was probable. But in another account it is stated
wioh much plausibility, and probably on good author-
ity, that the separation was deliberately planned by
the two commanders to appear accidental. Heceta
realized that very soon he would be forced to yield to
the clamors of his officers and men and to order a re-
turn. But Cuadra not only desired to go on, but was
confident of success ; and accordingly it was arranged
that the bold explorer should lose sight of the ship

*' A lofty sierra, called Santa Clara de Monte Falcon, tho latitude of the day
being 46° 41', according to the Esped. Mai-it. The bearing from Cabo Frondoso,
according to the Diario, was s. 22" w., the coast running thence a. 6° E. In
the Seyuiida Explor. the same bearings are given, and the point, not named,
is said to be * a short distance' below Cape Frondoso. Greenhow identities
Falcon with Cape Lookout (45° 20'), for no reason that I know of. The bearings
given above do not agree with either point.

** Only mentioned in the Seqwida Explor. The latitude may be a copyist's
error, as the discovery is mentioned after that of the Mesa.

*'' La Mesa is on the Coast Survey Chart in 45° SCy. Greenhow identifies
it with the Clarke Point of View of Lewis and Clarke, in 1805.

"All these are variously described as isloies, farallones, or piedrao. Perhaps
those of 43° were just below Cape Blanco, in 4i2° 60'. These rocks are numer-
ous all along the coast.

%.„

MOVEMENTS OF THE SONORA.

165

and subsequently use his own judgment as to the
direction in which he should search for her.*^

The httle craft kept on to the west until August 5th,
when the navigators thought themselves one hundred
and seventy leagues from land, and were in latitude
45° 55'.** Then the favorable south-west winds began
to blow, and a junta of officers was held. They were
short of food and water, and the season was deemed
late ; but the officers were unanimous in favor of going
on, and the crew agreed not only to obey orders, but
to contribute for a solemn mass in honor of our
lady of Bethlehem, that she might enable them to
reach the latitude named in the viceroy's instructions.
Consequently on the 15th, when according to Bellin's
map — which had been founded on Russian discoveries,
eked out with imagination — they should have been
one hundred and thirty-five leagues from the coast,
land was found in latitude 57° 2', in the region of the
later Sitka, the navigators noting and naming Mount
Jacinto, now called Mount Edgecombe. Cuadra sub-
sequently went up the coast to about latitude 58°,
returned to latitude 55° 17', and went again up to
latitude 58°. A very complete examination was made
from the limit of Perez' voyage, and formal possession
was taken at two points ; but details of this northern
exploration belong to the annals of Alaska, in a later
volume.

Most of the men were now sick with scurvy, ren-
dering it very difficult to manage even so small a craft
in rough weather. Accordingly on September 8th the
Sonora was headed southward. It was a most peril-
ous trip; more than once it seemed certain that the
vessel must be lost, for a part of the time the officers
only were able to work, and both Cuadra and Mau-
relle were attacked with fever. Still the gallant ex-
plorers did not altogether lose sight of their mission;

*^Heeeta, Serjunda Exjdoracion. ' Haata la preaente no se ha sabido si fu6
4 no voluntaria la separocion.' Ileceta, Eiped. Alaril.
'"46° 47', according to the tables in Maurell'i'ii Journal.

It ^

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1(M

DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

they still kept as near the shore as they could with-
out sure destruction. On the 1 1th tney saw land, in
latitude 53° 54', and kept it generally or at least oc-
casionally in view from a distance down to about lati-
tude 47°; and again they scanned the coast very
closely from latitude 44° 30' ^^own to latitude 42° 49'
in search of Aguilar's river, of which no trace could
be found.*' Then they directed their course for San
Francisco, but discovered instead the bay to which
the commander gave his name of Bodega, reaching
Monterey on October 7th. As soon as the sick had
recovered, both vessels sailed for San Bias, where
they arrived November 20th. Juan Perez died twa
days out from Monterey.

Thus the whole extent of the Northwest Coast
from latitude 42° to 55° was explored and formally
taken possession of for Spain by Perez, Heceta, and
Cuadra, in 1774-5. The resulte of these most im-
portant expeditions were not published, as they
should have been, by the Spanish government, and
for many years were known only through the little-
circulated English translation of Maurelle's Journal,
which was not, however, so faulty a work as it has
generally been represented. The charts, which must
have been tolerably complete, have unfortunately
never been published, and are not even known to
exist in manuscript. By this mistaken policy on the
part of their nation the Spanish discoverers lost much
of the honor due them, but popularly given to later
navigators, who in most instances substituted for the
original new geographical names of their own choice.
It does not appear, however, that by her error Spain
eventually lost anything of territorial rights, or even
possessions.

"There is no agreement between the different accounts respecting the
latitudes at which land was seen on the southern trip, but all agree on the
search for Aguilar's river. Maurelle, Journal, notes that on the 20th they
were at the scene of the massacre of July ; on the 24th were close to land, in
45° 27', and searched for the river down to 45" (?) 50', where they found a capo
with ten small islands — probably Cape Blanco, in 42° 50'.

CHAPTER VI.

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

1778-1788.

OAfTAiN Cook's Expedition— Instructions— Discoveries and Name*—
Map — At San Lorenzo, Kino George Souxd, or Nootka — Oukun

OP the PuR-TIiADE — ^VoYAGE OP ArTEAOA AND CtTADBA TO ALASKA —
ENOUfH FUB-TKADERS FROM 1783 — HaNNA'S VoYAGES — La P^ROnSE —

Archipelago or Mainland? — Map — Expedition op Strange, Lowkie,
AND Guise -^cK£y at JNootk^y-Portlock and Dixon — Queen
Charlotte Isles-^Bahclat Discovers the Strait — Duncan and
Co.'jfETT — Martinez and Haro in Alaska — Spanish Policy Fore-
shadowed — The Stars and Stripes in the North Pacific — Voyage
OF Kbndrick and Gray on the 'Columbia' and 'Washington' —
An Original Diary — Murderers' Harbor— Wintering at Nootka —
Voyage of Meares and Douglas — Under Portuguese Colors —
Launch of the 'North West America' — The House that Jack
Built.

The famous Captain James Cook in his third and
last voyage, coming from the Sandwich Islands, of
which he was the discoverer, on March 7, 1778, sighted
the northern seaboard in latitude 44° 33'. He com-
manded the English exploring ship Resolution, and was
accompanied by Captain Clerke with the Discovery}

' Gook, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, undertaken by the command of Ma
Majesty for Makin<j Diaeowries in the Northern Hemisphere. To deJermine the
Position and Extent of the West Side of North America ; its Distance from Aain;
and the Practicability of a Northern Passage to Europe. Performed under the
direction of Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore, in his Majesty's ships the liesolu-
tion and Discovery, in the Years 1776-SO. London, 1784; 4to, 3 vols., maps,
charts, and illustrations. The portion of the narrative relating to the nortli-
west coast is found in vol. ii. pp. 2o8-343; also table of latitudes, route,
winds, etc., in vol. iii. pp. 506-9. The octavo edition of the same date, in
four volumes, is an abridgni -nt of the original. There were other editions
and translations ; and there is hardly a collection of voyages that \\o» not a
longer or shorter account of this expedition. Ledyard's A Journal of Cu/it.
Cook's last voyage to thePacUic Ocean, etc., Hartford, 1783, is another account
by a man who accompanied Cook. Sparks' Life of John Ledyard, Cambridge,
1828, covers also the same ground.

(107)

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168

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

Cook had left England in 1776, knowing nothing of
what the Spanish navigators had accomplished, though
aware that they had visited the northern coast." His
special mission was to search for a passage to Europe,
either by Hudson Bay, or the northern sea recently
found by Hearne, or by the sea north of Asia; and in
the search he was, of course, to explore all the north-
western regions of America. His instructions were
to fall in with the coast of New Albion in 45°, that
is, beyond the supposed limit of Cabrillo and Vizcaino,
and after refitting, to follow the coast northward, but
not to begin his careful search for a passage until he
had reached the latitude of 65". Every precaution
must be taken to avoid encroachment on the Spanish
dominions, or troubles with any foreigners;^ but we
also read in his instructions, "You are also, with the
consent of the natives, to take possession in the name
of the king of Great Britain, of convenient situations
in such countries as you may discover, that have not
already been discovered or visited by any other Euro-
pean power; and. to distribute among the inhabitants
such things as will remain as traces and testimonies
of your having been there." It would appear, not-
withstanding the allusion to Drake in the use of the
name New Albion, that it was not England's inten-
tion to found any territorial claims on the freebooter's
discoveries, but to claim by virtue of Cook's discov-
ery all lands beyond the unknown limit of the recent
Spanish voyages.* As to the main object of the ex-

^ Cook' a Voy,, ii. 332. Greenhow, Or, and Gal., 124, quotes from the London
Annual Register, 1776, a brief notice of the voyage to 68° 20' in 1774, from
the official gazette of Madrid.

' 'You are also, in your way thither, strictly enjoined not to touch upon
any part of the r^<mish dominions on the western continent of Amenca,
onless driven thither by some unavoidable accident ; in which case you are to
stay no longer there than shall be absolutely necessarv, and to be very careful
not to give any umbrage or offence to any of the inhaoitantB or subjects of hia
Catholic Majesty. And if, in your farther progress to the northward, as here-
after directed, you find any subjects of any European prince or state upon any
part of the coast you may think proper to visit, you are not to disturb them,
or ^ve them any just cause of offence, but on the contrary to treat them with
civility and friendship. ' Secret Instructions, Cooifc's Foy., i. xxxii.-iii.

' Else the words ' discovered or visited ' would have no force, and there
would be some allusion to Drake's latitu-les.

. Sir

COOK'S VOYAGE.

lee

pedition, a powerful incentive was the recent oiFer by
the Enghsh government of a reward of twenty thou-
sand pounds to the officers and crew of any vessel dis-
covering a passage to the Atlantic north of 52°.

Captain Cooks explorations along what is herein
termed the Northwest Coast are shown on his map,
which I reproduce.* For six days he remained in sight
of land, unable to advance northward on account of

Cook's Map, 1778.

contrary and variable winds. The coast seen by him
was between 44° 55' and 43° 10'; and he named capes
Foulweather, Perpetua, and Gregory, which names
were permanent, except that tlic last is also called
Arao-o.* He noted the absence of anv strait like that
whose discovery had been attributed to Aguilar; but

' In hia general chart, showing less detail, we find C. Blanco just below C.
Orerjory; 'C. Mezari seen by the Spaniards in 1775,' in 46'; and in 53° 'Land
seen hy the Spaniards in Sep. 1775.' In the map attached to Maurdle'K
Journal we find also C Mezari and Cook's Harbour, 1778. The name Memri
is perhaps a blunder for the Spanish Mdrtirea.

' The latitudes of these capes were calculated by bearings as 44° 55', 44° 6',
and 43° 30'; the true latitudes are 44° 45', 44° 19', and 43° 20'.

i .' -

I;,
!')»■■

i . (■

I; -\

fv/

l.ll

I '.:

170

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

ill

he did not see the Umpqua Hiver, the largest on tho
coast except the Columbia. After being driven away
from land down to 42° 45', the navigator again turned
north-eastward, and sighted the coast in 47° 5' on
March 22d, naming and describing Cape Flattery, in
48° 15', tho igh unable to decide whether or not it was
an island. "It is in this very latitude where we now
were," writes Cook, "that geographers have placed
the pretended strait of Juan de Fuca, But we saw
nothing Uke it; nor is there the least probability
that ever any such thing existed." The English navi-
gator was very lucky in his conclusions; for if when
off Cape Gregory he had seen the Umpqua River,
or off Cape Flattery he had seen the broad entrance
just beyond that point, he might have put himself on
record as confirming the discoveries of both Aguilar
and Fuca.

Driven away by the winds. Cook sighted land
again on March 29th, in 49° 29', at what he called
Hope Bay, with Point Breakers on the south and
Woody Point on the north, in 50°. Drawing nearer
the shore, two inlets were seen, into the lower of
which, below Point Breakers, the ships entered and
found a tolerably good harbor, anchoring on the shore
of an island, within what was named Friendly Cove
and Ship Cove. This southern inlet — ^the connection
of which with the northern, forming a large island,
was not discovered at this time — was called at first
King George Sound; but soon Captain Cook deemed
it best to retain what he understood to be the native
name of Nootka. The San Lorenzo of Juan Perez
was either this same Nootka Sound or the inlet
immediately above or below it.' The natives came
off in their canoes to meet Cook, as they had met

^ See Perez' Voyage, in preceding chapter. Cook has left a degree of con-
fusion in local geography which has been reflected in later maps and writings.
Woody Point is the one which still retains the name. Cook's narrative gives
the impression that Hope Bay was bounded on the south by Point Breakers, and
included both inlets ; and later writers have followed this in most cases, by
identifying Point Breakers with the mainland Point Est^van, south of Nootka
Sound ; but Cook's chart of Nootka, vol. ii. p. 279, and even his text, when

an,'

AT NOCTTKA SOUND.

171

Perez, castinj' t'aathers upon the waters in si/^n of
friendship. 'J hej remained friendly duriug the month
of the Enghshmen's stay, being eager to trade their
furs and othor products for anything that was made
of metal, but not ca'ing for beads or cloth. They
came on board the ships without the slightest timidity,
and gave no other trouble than that resulting from
their petty taefts, which the closest watch could not
entirely prevent. Thuy vveio :'eady to fight with
their neighbors tor the exclusive privilege of trading
with the strangers, and they expected the latter to
pay for the wood, water, and grass obtained from
their country. Cook's long stay enabled him to give
an extended and accurate description of the country
and of its people, but this description, like the earlier
and somewhat less complete ones of Perez and Cuadra,
has of course no place in these pages.

Captain Cook noticed, as Perez had done before him,
that the natives had many articles of iron and copper,
which must have come from abroad; and he rightly
concluded that all could not have been obtained from
any one foreign navigator visiting the coast. Two
silver spoons worn as ornaments by a native who
came from a place south of Nootka, suggested an
earlier visit by the Spaniards; and the failure of the
Indians to exhibit any surprise at sight of the ships
pointed in the same direction; but it could not be
learned from the Indians that they had ever seen a
ship before, and their astonishment at the penetrative
power of a musket-ball indicated that the discharge
of fire-arms was new to them. Accordingly Cook con-
cluded, incorrectly, that the Spanish vessels had never
been at Nootka; yet it is not stated that he took pos-
session of the country for England.

Having made the somewhat extensive repairs re-

closely examined, shows that Point Breakers was on the island — either the
Point Bajo or Point Macuina of later maps, or Perez' Point Santa Clara, if he
was at Nootka Sound — and that the mainland point below was not named at
all. Modem maps differ widely in both names and coast contour on this part
of the coast.

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I a

ITS

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

i:M

quired by his vessels ; obtained full supplies of water,
wood, fish, grass, and spruce -beer; and made some
tours of exploration round the shores of the sound,
of which a char, was published with his narrative.
Captain Cook sailed on April 2Gth from Nootka for the
north, to undertake explorations very much more ex-
tensive and important than those here recorded, but
which belong to a later volume, the History of Alaska.
Of the Northwest Coast he had seen much less than
Perez, Heceta, and Cuadra; nor, with the exception
of Nootka Sound, had his description of the regions
visited been more complete than theirs. Like the
Spaniards, he had missed the entrance of the strait;
a, I like them he had not suspected that the northern
shores were those of islands, and not of the main.
But Cook had established the longitude of the coast
much more accurately than his predecessors by mere
dead-reckoning had been able to do; and by the acci-
dental carrying away of a small collection of furs,
whose great value was learned iu Siberia and China,
he origmated the great fur-trade which became the
chief mcentive of all later English and American ex-
peditions to these regions. Moreover, the results of
his voyage were fully and promptly made known to
the world, as those of the Spaniards had not been;
and thus were practically won for Cook and England
the honors of discovery and of naming the points ex-
plored. Spain, with her unwise policy of concealment,
had no just cause for complaint, though to the real
discoverers individually great injustice was done.

Orders for a new Spanish expedition to the north
were issued in 1776 as soon as the results of the last
one were known. Delays ensued for various reasons,
chiefly the lack of suitable vessels, and it was not until
the Deginning of 1779 that everything was ready.
One vessel, the Favorita, was brought up from Peru,
and another, the Princesa, was built for the voyage at
San Bias. Heceta had at first been named as com-

HANNA'S ADVENTtmES.

173

mander, but before the preparations were completed
Lieutenant Ignacio Arteaga was appointed in his
place. Lieutenant Cuadra was, as before, second in
command, though ho ought to have been first, in con-
sideration of former services. The expedition sailed
from San Bias February 11, 1779, and returned to the
same port November 2l8t. The explorations of Ar-
teaga and Cuadra in Alaska were extensive, and in
a sense. Cook's achievements being unknown to tho
Spaniards, important ; but they are not to be recorded
here, for the Princesa aiid Favorita did not touch the
coast between latitudes 42°and 55°, nor even Cahfornia
until the return.* The north-west coast was regarded
as ah cat y fully explored, and as a legitimate posses-
sion of 6pain. By a cedula of May 10, 1780, the
king ordered that voyages de altura should cease.*

It was seven years after Cook's departure before
the Northwest Coast was visited by another European
vessel. In 1785 a brig of sixty tons was despatched
from China under Captain James Hanna in quest
of furs. It was an English expedition, but it is not
quite clear whether this pioneer craft of the fur-trade
sailed under Portuguese colors or under the English
flag with a license from the East India Company.
Hanna left China in April and reached Nootka in
August. The natives attacked his small force of
twenty men, but were repulsed, and thereupon became
friendly and willing to trade. Having obtained from

^Arteaga, Tercera exploracion hecha el nflo 1779 con las IWigatas del rey, la
' Princesa,' mandada por el teniente de navlo don Ignacio Arteaga, y la 'jfavorita'
por el de la misma close don Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Ctuidra, desde el
pu£rto de San Bias hasta los sesenta y un gradoa de latitud, MS.; an official
account made up from the original diuriea, with tables, etc., in Viagcs al
Norte de Gal. , No. 4. Maurelle, Nnvegacion Hecha por clA l/4rez de Fragata de
la Real Armada Don Francisco Antonio Maurelle desdnado de segundo capUan
de la Fragata 'Favorita,' MS. Maurelle's original diary, in Id., No. 5. Bodega
y Cuadra, Segunda salida hasta los 61 grculoa en la Fragata 'Nuestra Sefiora de
lo8 Bemedios,' dlias la 'Favorita,' Ailo de 1779, MS. Cuadra's diary, in Id.,
No. 6J. Bodega y Cuadra, Navegacion y descubrimietUos hechoa de orden da
3. M, en la Costa septentrional de Galifomias, 1779, MS.; the same ' ' y
in Mayer's MS8., No. 13, and also in the Pinart collection. As to the vis. tO
California in returning, see Hist. Vol., i. chap. xv.

'Revilla-Oigedo, Informe, 12 Abril, 1793, p. 123.

I.JM,

sttm

174

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

illi

them a valuable lot of five hundred p.nd sixty sea-
otter skins, which were sold for twenty thousand six
hundred dollars, the captain proceeded up the coast,
naming Sea-otter Harbor and St Patrick Bay, in 50"
41', near the northern end of the island. The former
name has been retained; the latter changed to St
Joseph. Leaving Nootka in September, he reached
Macao in December. Such is the only information
extant respecting this first voyage of its class, de-
rived at second-hand from the statements of other
voyagers. Of a second voyage by Hanna in the Sea
Otter of one hundred and twenty tons, in 1786, we
know still less — barely the fact that such a voyage
was made; and that he spent two weeks in August
at Nootka, obtaining only fifty skins, and fifty more
on other parts of the coast, which he left on October
1st. Hanna seems to have discovered and named Smith
Inlet and Fitzhugh Sound.^"

The famous French navigator La Pdrouse, setting
out in 1785 on a scientific' exploring expedition round
the world, an expedition destined to be fatal to him,
as was thji of 1778 to Cook, was instructed to ex-
amine suci' oarts of north-western America as had
not been ex^ red by Cook, to seek for an interoceanic
passage, to mt ^ scientific observations on the country,
with its peopi and products, and to obtain reliable
information abc .t the fur-trade. He was to learn the
extent of the Spanish establishments, the latitude
beyond which peltries might be obtained without
giving offence to Spain, and in general the induce-

"Also Virgin Island and Pearl Rocks, according to Vancouver'8 Voy., 1.
369-70. Dixon's Voy., pp. xvii.-xviii., xxii., 232, 315-17,and Portlock's Voy., 3,
make the earliest mention, in 1789; that in Meares' Voy., pp. l.-ii., of 1790,
is somewhat more extensive, the author having seen Hanna's original journal.
' He discovered several sounds, Lslands, and harbours, which ho named Fitz-
liugh's Sound, Lance's Islands, and some particular parts which he named after
Henry Lane, Esq.; but particularly an harbour wliich he called Sea Otter's
Harbour.' Hanna's chart or sketch of that hai'bor and of St Patrick Bay is
published by Meares, 326. Dixon also used Hanna's chart. Perhaps the
geographical discoveries mentioned were made in the second voyage. Green-
how, Or. and Col., 165-6, says Hanna sailed under Portuguese colors; but he
had no other authorities thau those I have mentioned.

pi!

LA PfeROUSE.

178

ments for Fiencl enterprise in that direction. His
explorations, from a geographical point of viuw, were
neither extensive nor important, so far as they aft'ected
these latitudes;" and, though the scientific observa-
tions of himself and a talented corps of associates are
of unquestioned value, his information on commercial
and other practical topics was published too late to
attract or merit much attention. Especially were his
discoveries unimportant as touching the Northwest
Coast."

Coming from the Sandwich Islands on the Astro-
labe and Boussole, the former under the command of
M. de Langle, the French navigator saw land on
June 23, 1786, and spent a month and a half on the
Alaska coast, below Mount St Elias, chiefly at Port
des Fran9ais, in 58° 37'. It was on August 9th that
La Pdrouse entered the waters about the present
boundary. He noticed, but was unable to explore,
the entrance which the Spaniards had found befor(%
and which Dixon a little later named. He followed
the coast southward without landing, in haste to reach
Monterey after his long delay in the north. The
southern extremity of the great island he named Cape
Hector; and he was the Jiscoverer of the broad en-
trance south of that point, believing, though unable
to prove it, that he was at the mouth of a great gulf
like that of California, extending north probably to
57° He does not state definitely his opinion that the
gulf communicated with the Dixon entrance, but
implied that it did so, and with other entrances
farther north — indeed, that the whole coast seen
was that of a great archipelago. The names applied

" See flist. Cat., i. chap, xxi., for his visit to California; also Hist. Alaska,
this series.

^^La P4rouse, Voyage. . .autourdu monde. Paris, 1708; 8vo,4vol8. and folio
atlas. That part of the narrative pertaining to the coast between 55° and 42°
is in torn. ii. 254-78. In torn. i. 345-64 is a translated extract from Maurello's
Journal of the Spanish voyage of 1779. In the atlas, maps 3, 15, 16, 17, 29,
and 31 '■How all or part of the territory, on different scales. There are several
editions both of the French original and of an English translation. L. A.
Milet-Mureau was the editor of the original.

' i

■ ; I ■

176

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

hting

Mt.Cutlon
Port flea I^ncalR
±CroBs Sound
:.Croa«

JPt.da loi Remediot
j:j?.Gua5Jolupeg Mt.St.Hyacintha

p.St.Augurtrn

oohe

-tO]

leuriM

La PiEoiTSK'H Map, 1780.

V ?!.-^

f ■ I

MEARES, TIPPING, AND STRANGE.

177

are shown on the map ^vhich I copy, and which is
remarkably complete, if we consider the limited ma-
teria on which it rested. Though far superior to
aiij map made before 1786, its value was of course
much impaired by the fact that it was not published
until 1798. La Pdrouse's names were superseded by
other's which later English navigators applied before
the French narrative was known to the world. The
voyage was continued down past Nootka and the
southern coast, with occasional glimpses of the coast
as the fog lifted; the latitude of several points was
fixed more accurately than ever before, the English
and Spanish names being retained, and that of Necker
Island being applied to the rocks off Cape Blanco ;^'
the line of 42° was passed on September 6th, and
on the 14th they anchored at Monterey.

8j'i!

i':i'

i I

In 1786 at least three distinct fur-trading expedi-
tions were despatched to the American coasts; one
of them, consisting of the Nootka and Sea Otter, under
captains Meares and Tipping, was fitted out in Bengal,,
and, its trading operations being confined to Prince
William Sound and the Alaskan coast, requires no
further notice here.

The second expedition, also from India, was fitted
out by the merchants at Bombay, and was under the
supervision of James Strange. The vessels were the
Captain Cook and Experiment, commanded by Lowrie,
or Lorie, and Guise," sailing under the flag of the
East India Company, David Scott being the chief
owner. They reached Nootka in June, obtaining six
Landred sea-otter skins, though not so many as they
had hoped for, because the natives had promised to
keep their furs for Hanna, who arrived in August.
One John McKey, or Maccay, was, however, left at

"The name C. Toledo, n^-^i heard of before, may have come from some
copy of Heceta or Bodega's c' art. La P^rouso and others refer vaguely to
a chart of Maarelle, of which, however, I know nothing.

"According to Vancouver, Voy., i. 369, the Experiment was commanded
by Mr S. VVedgborough.

Hut. N. W. Coast. Vol. I. 12

-1:

^wmtnmmjjmmmiim-.'^

178

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

Nootka, at his own request, and under the chief's pro-
tection, to recover his health and to act as a kind of
agent or 'drummer' for the traders; and he hved for
over a year among the savages with a native wife,
well treated but enduring many hardships. Subse-
quently Strange sailed on up the coast to Princ3
William Sound, and thence to Macao. He seems ■ o
have discovered — and named, according to Captain
Dixon's statement — Queen Charlotte Sound; and he
probably named capes Scott and Cox."

The third expedition of the year was one fitted out
the year before in England by an association of mer-
chants called the King George's Sound Company,
acting under licenses from both the South Sea and
East India monopolies. Their ships were the King
George and Queen Charlotte, commanded by Nathaniel
Portlock and George Dixon. Both of these gentle-
men had been with Cook, and each of them published
a full account of their voyage ; so that in this respect,
as also in respect to the vessels' outfit, the expedi-
tion bore much resemblance to one of exploration.
High officials took an interest from a scientific stand-
point in the enterprise, and several gentlemen's sons
were committed under tutors to Captain Portlock to be
educated for a seafaring life. Leaving England in
August 1785, Portlock and Dixon sailed round Cape
Horn, touched at the Sandwich Islands, as was cus-
tomary in these voyages, and in July 1786 arrived at
Cook River, in Alaska.

Soon the navigators started down the coast, intend-
ing to touch at seveial different points, and finally to
winter at Nootka. Some of the harbors, however,
were not found where sought, and others could not be
entered by reason of bad weather, so that the vessels
did not anchor at all. They .vere on the coast, gen-

^^Mearea' Voy., liii.-iv.; Dixon's Voy,, 232, 317-18, and other references
on Hanua's voyage in note 8. Meares saw MoKey'a journal, and he says
Strange named Friendly Cove, Dixon used Guise's chart for his general map,
to bo copied presently, and he got an account of McKey's adventures from
Barclay, who carried him away.

i-i

PORTLOCK AND DIXON.

179

erally in sight of it at a distance, from 55° down to
Nootka, from the 17th to the 28th of September, but
their work as explorers was limited to the naming of
Split Kock, off Cook's Woody Point. From this
region they went to winter at the Sandwich Islands,
this first voyage being in most respects a failure.^*

i-i

Portlock and Dixon repeated their voyage in 1787,
with much success, both in respect to trade and geo-
graphical exploration. Leaving the islands in March,
they proceeded to Prince William Sound, where they
met Captain Meares, whose first voyage of 1786-7
has already been mentioned. The vessels parted com-
pany in May, the King George remaining on the
Alaskan coast and the Queen Charlotte proceeding
southward. It was on July 1st that Dixon passed
the boundary line and was off the 'deep bay,' whose
currents had baffled Juan Perez thirteen years before,
and which from this time bore Dixon's name. lie
did not enter it, any more than the Spaniards anc.
Frenchmen had before hiia; but far within, to the east-
ward, he saw a point >»f land to be remembered, and
passed on down the coast. Keeping close to the shore,
without landing, but trading extensively witli the In-
dians, who came off in their canoes, he named several
points, some of which had already been named by La
Perouse, though this was of course not known to the
Englishman."

^^ Portlock, A voyage, round the world; hut more particularly to the north-
west coast of America; performed in 17S5, 17S6, 17S7, and 1788, in the 'King
George' and 'Queen Charlotte,' Captains Portlock and Dixon. London, 1789;
4to, map and twenty copperplates. The imrt relating to the present topic is on
pp. 135-42, app., xxiv. The map does not cover our territory. Dixon, A voyage
round the world, etc. (.is above). London, 1789; 4to, map and plates; also a
second edition of the same year. The narrative is in the f oi-m of letters as chap-
ters, each bearing a date and the initials ' W. B. ' (Wm. Berresford). The part
of tiie text relating to this subject is on pp. 70-83. The map will bo noticed
presently.

" The names applied, most of them still retained, were Forrester's Island
( Santa Cristina, Catalina, or San Cdrlos of the Spaniards and La Pdrouae),

1, Noi
mse?)
Cape Uairymple
Charlotte Islands, Cape Cox (Fleuriea of POrouse), Berresford Islands (Sartine

Mpa]

Cape Pitt (Magdalena of Perez), Cape Chatham, North Island, Cloak Bay,
Hippa Island, RenncU Sound ( La Toucho of Perouse?), Ibbertson Sound, Cape
St James (Cape Hector of Perouse), Cape Dalrymple, Dixon Straits, Queen

of Perouse), and Cape Scott.

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ii?

■aWHlMH

180

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

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:il

ill

By the end of July Captain Dixon had rounded
Cape St James and reached a latitude of 53° within
the strait, seeing in the north land which he believed
to be that seen through the deep bay on July 1st, and
thus proving to his own satisfaction "the land we have

Dixon's Map, 1787.

beon coasting along for near a month, to be a group
of islands." Accordingly, from his own name and
that of his vessel, he applied the names Queen Char-
lotte Isles and Dixon Straits. It will be remembered

Is 3';'

CAPTAIN BARCLAY.

181

that La Pdrouse had already conjectured the true
geography of this region, which Dixon did not quite
prove; but it is also to be noted that La Pdrouse's
editor had Dixon's narrative and map before him.
This map, which affords all necessary detail about the
voyage, and is far superior to any that preceded it, I
reproduce.^* That pait of the coast from Cape Cox
to Woody Point, showing the first indication that the
Nootka region might be on a great island, was laid
down from the earlier explorations of Hanna and
Guise.

On August 6th Dixon sighted Woody Point, and
two days later he met at sea captains Duncan and
Colnett, learning from them that Captain Barclay was
at Nootka, or had just left that port for the south,
and that there was no prospect for successful trade
there. Accordingly the Queen Charlotte was headed
for the Sandwich Islands, where she arrived early in
September.^" Portlock and Dixon sold in China, as
the result of their expedition, 2552 sea-otter skins,
1821 of which had been obtained by Dixon on Queen
Charlotte Islands, for $54,857. The whole number
obtained by Hanna, Strange, Meares, and Barclay,
down to the end of 1787, was 2481 skins: so that the
expedition was very successful in comparison with the
others.'*

" The map from Berresford Island northward was from Dixon's own survey;
from Cape Cox to Woody Point, from Guise and Hanna; from Point Breakers -
south, from Barclay. (Jt)ier navigators of this period were not so frank in
stating tlie origin of their charts.

^'3ixon'8 Voy., 198-247, considerable space being given to a description of
the natives; Portlock's Voy., 307 ; J/cares' To?/., liii.-iv. and appendix; Oreen
how's Or. and Hal., 1G9-70.

''"Dixon'ii Remarks on the Voyages of John Mearei^, Esq., in a letter to that
fientleman,b!/ Oeon/e Dixon, late C'omm(mder,Qto. London, 1700; 4to. Meares,
in his published narrative, to be noticed later, had -poken very slightingly of
Portlock and Dixon's expedition, as one of great pretensions and slight results.
Moreover, he blamed those officers for the manner in which they had relieved
his own great necessities when they found him on the Alaskan coast in a very
precarious situation. I have no room for the quarrel in its details. Tlio truth
seems to be that Portlock, while affording all the relief in his power, did it in
such a way as to advance his own interests and to prevent Meares from en-
gaging in any fur(;her trade during the tx-ip. In reply to Meares' strictures,
Dixon published his Remarks, in which he displayed more ability than was
needed to point out the various iuaccuiucies, inconsistencies, and falaehooda
of his rival'a narrative.

IV'

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ld2

EXPLORATION OP THE NORTHWEST COAST.

Two other expeditions of 1787 have to be recorded
here, one commanded by Colnett and Duncan, the
other by Barclay. Both, as we have seen, were at
Nootka about the time that Dixon passed that port ;
and it is from that officer's statements and those of
other voyagers of the time that all information about
these expeditions must be derived, no direct accounts
being extant.

Captain Barclay, whose name is also written
Berkely, commanded the Imperial Eagle, which sailed
from the Belgian port of Ostend, under the flag of the
Austrian East India Company, in November 178G,
and arrived at Nootka in June 1787. He did not
go farther north, but was successful in trade, obtain-
ing eight hundred skins. He utilized the services of
McKey, whom he carried away to China, and from him
learned that the region where he had lived for a vear
was probably not a part of the continent. McKey had
formed that opinion from his travels in the interior and
from reports of the natives. Before leaving Nootka
Barclay met Duncan and Colnett, whose needs he re-
lieved by selling them surplus supplies. In July he
sailed southward, and discovered Barclay Sound, and
then the strait for which earlier navigators had sought
in vain, but which he neither entered nor named.
Meares states that the whole exploration below Nootka
was made in the ship's boat, which, though possible,
seems unlikely.

Continuing the voyage down past Cape Flattery,
Vhe commander sent a boat to enter a river in 47° 43',
\/here the crew, consisting of five men, under Mr
Millar, were murdered by the natives. From this
occurrence the name Destruction River was applied
to the stream, now the Ohahlat, but was transferred
in later years to the island just below its mouth,
called by the Spaniards in 1775 Dolores.^^ The

"Greenhow and others aro wrong in their theory that the Spaniards
named it Dolores from the disaster that occurred farther south. The name
was that of the day on which it was discovered. Meares calls the region

if'li

DUNCAN AND COLNETT.

183

southernmost point of Barclay's observation, he being
the first since Cook to visit the coast below Cape
Flattery, was what he called Point Fear, in 47" 9',
probably seen at a distance; and, departing in Au-
gust or early in September, he reached Canton in
November. Mrs Barclay had accompanied her hus-
band, and was, perhaps, the first European lady to
visit this region.^^

Captains Duncan and Colnett commanded the
Princess Royal and Prince of Wales, which were
fitted out by the same company that despatched
Portlock and Dixon, left England in September, and
arrived at Nootka in July. Here, as we have seen,
they met Barclay, and a little later Dixon. From the
latter they learned that the best opportunities for
trade were to be found on Queen Charlotte Islands,
and thither presumably they directed their course,
instead of going to Prince William Sound, as had
been intended. Of their subsequent movements we
know, from fragmentary references in the narratives
of other traders, only that Duncan wintered on the
(^oast, returning the next year to Nootka; that his trip
was a successful one commercially; and that he sailed
through the strait between Queen Charlotte Island
and the main.

Whether this was in the autumn of 1787 or the
spring of 1788 is not clear; but I deem it as likely
to have been in the former, though Greenhow and
Meares imply the latter. At any rate, he was the
first to make this passage and prove the correctness
of the earlier conjectures of La Perouse and Dixon.

Queenhythe, that is, Quenaiult, the name of a stream farther south. Meares
the next year at Nootka found among the natives a seal that had belonged
to Millar, and also what was supposed to be his hand or that of one of liis
men. Dixon, Hemarh, 33, gives the latitudes from Barclay's chart, as given
on a map published by Dalrymple in 1789, as follows : West point of Barclay
Sound, 49 ; south point, 48° 50 ; north point De Fear's (De Fuca's?) entrance,
48° 33'; south point, 43° 26'; centre of Tallock's Island (Tatouche?) 48° 24';
Capo Flattery, 48° 8'; Pinnacle, 47° 47'; Destruction River, 47° 43'; Point
Fear (possibly Grenville), 47° 9'.

'"Dixon's Voj/., 231-3, 320; Id., Remarlcs, 9, 12, 18, 33; Meares' Voy.,\v.
28, 124, 132, 172; Portlock's Voy., 307; Oreenhow'a Or. and Cat., 171, 400.

•CU'A<

■

^\hy

EXPLORATION OP THE NORTHWEST COAST.

Duncan also discovered, and named for his vessel,
the Princess Royal Isles.*^

In 1788 the Spaniards sent another expedition to
the far north, v^hich, however, concerns my present
topic only indirectly, since it did not touch the coast
between 42° and 55°. The vessels were the Princesa
and San Carlos, commanded by Estdvan Josd Mar-
tinez and Gonzalo Lopez de Haro, whose mission was
to ascertain what the Russians were doing. The royal
order was issued in consequence of a report of La
Pdrouse — on his visit to Chile before going north —
that the Russians had already four establishments,
one of tnem at Nootka. The preliminary correspond-
ence on the expedition of Martinez shows very clearly
the form that Spanish policy was beginning to as-
sume. There was no objection to the occupation by
Russians of the far north; but it was feared that
by Russia or some other foreign power posts would
be established farther south, not only encroaching on
Spanish territorial rights, but threatening Spanish
settlements.

There was of course no doubt respecting the
right of Spain to the lands she had discovered up
to the region of 60°; she had some theoretical rights
beyond that region, which, however, there was no
apparent intention of attempting to enforce; and
even the region from Nootka southward was be-
ginning to appear of slight comparative value, to
be occupied only as a political necessity to prevent
foreign encroachment and so.ure the possession of
any desirable strait, river, or port that might pos-
sibly be revealed by new explorations. Accordingly
Martinez was instructed not only to learn as much as

^D%xm'8 Vol/., 230-4j Id., Remarks, 8-10, 19, 28; Mearea' Voy.,\v. 195,
199-201 ; Oreenjtow's Or. and Col., 170, 199. Dixon says that Duncan's
course was laid down in Arrowsmith's chart, and denies Meares' implication
that Douglas preceded him in sailing tbroush the strait. According to
Vancouver, Voy., i. 369-70, he also named Calvert Island and Port Safety.
Vancouver liad his chart.

KENDRICK AND GRAY.

183

possible of Russian operations in Alaska,'* but on his
return to follow the coast and to make as close a
survey as possible of every place which would have
attractions for foreigners, and whose occupation by
Spain might therefore become necessary. The latter
part of the instructions, for no good reason that is
known,, was not obeyed, the voyagers returning to
Monterey and San Bias direct; but they understood
that the Russians, though they had no establishment
at Nootka, intended to found one there ; they learned
something also of the operations of English traders
in northern waters; and their reports on these mat-
*ters, as we shall see, caused Martinez and Haro to be
sent in 1789 on a new expedition.^'

Now the flag of the United States appears for the
first time in these waters; and the 'Bostons' come
into rivalry with the ' King George men' as explorers
and traders. The history of this territory for the
year 1788 is little more than a record of what was
done by the Americans Kendrick and Gray, and by
the Englishmen Meares and Douglas. It seems more
convenient to begin with the voyage of the former,
though the others arrived first in the field.

The first American fur-trading expedition to the
northern Pacific was fitted out by a company of six
Boston merchants, who were influenced chiefly by the
reports of Cook and Ledyard, there being no evidence
that they had any knowledge of English traders'
operations. A medal commemorative of the enter-
prise was struck off" in copper and silver, and the copy
here given explains its nature. John Kendrick was
chosen to command, sailing on the ship Columbia Redi-
viva, of two hundred and twenty tons, while Captain

]

ll I

,i , 1

n (

^* I use this modem name in these years for convenience, to avoid tiresome
repetitions of geographical definition.

^^ Martinez and Haro, Cuarta exploracion de desctihrimientos de la eoata
septentrional de California hasta los 61 grados. . .1788, MS., in Viages al
Norte de Gal., No. 7. It contains not only Martinez' diary, but various in-
structions, correspondence, tables, etc., connected with the 'voyage.

186

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

Robert Gray commanded the sloop Lady Washington,
of ninety tons. The vessels were laden with articles
deemed best fitted for barter with the Indians, chiefly
implements of iron and copper. Various passports
and letters were obtained fr» vn the federal govern-
ment, from the state of Massachusetts, and perhaps
from the minister of Spain in the United States.'" I
have been so fortunate as to obtain an original diary
of this voyage, kept by Robert Haswell, the second
mate of the Lady Washington, a very important docu-

The GoLdMBiA Medal.

raent, not consulted by any writer before me. Indeed
it does not appear that any other log of either vessci
has ever been seen; and consequently nothing but a
brief mention of the expedition has been published
As a narrative of the first visit of an American vessel

** So it is stated by Greenhow and others, possibly without good authority.
At any rate the governor of California, in obedience to instructions from
Mexico, issued orders for the neizure of the two vessels should they appear in
Califomian ports. See his famous order to that effect in IHst. Gal., i. chap.
xxi. The mudal is given in connection with a brief account of the voyage in
Greenhow's Or. and Col., 179-81 ; and Bvljinch's Or. and El, Dorado, 1-6. The
latter gives some details about the origin of the enterprise in a conversation
at the residence of Dr Bulfinch — perhaps a relative of the writer — in Boston.
The voyagers also carried a number of small copper coins issued by the state.
One of the medals is preserved in the office of the secretary of state at Salem.
Oregon lielies, MS., 1. See also Hist. Mag., vii. 197. Bulfinch says the medals
were struck in bronze and silver; Kelley, Thornton's Or. I fist., MS., 66-84,
says in both gold and silver. Charles Bulfinch, one of the owners, in a state-
ment of 1838, U. S. Gov. Doc. , 25th Cong. , 8d Sess. , Sen. Rept. No. 470, pp. 19-23,
and in other government reports, mentions the medal in copper and silver.
He names Joseph Barrell aa the originator of the scheme. Most of the many
writers on Gray's later discovery of the Columbia River, 1792, mention this
first voyage briefly.

THE HASWELL MANUSCRIPT.

187

to the north-west coast this diary merits much more
space than I can give it here — in fact it should be
pubHshed entire."

Many Boston merchants and other friend? of the
navigators spent Sunday on board the vessels; the
evenmg was devoted to parting hilarity; and on
Monday, October 1st, the start was made from Naii-
tasket Roads, whither the guests had been carried
from Boston Harbor. Progress southward in the
Atlantic was attended by many delays, for which
Captain Kendrick is blamed by Haswell, as for other
unwise proceedings during the vo3'age; and it was
the middle of April 1788 before they rounded Cape
Horn into the Pacific, the sloop and ship being
parted in a gale a month earlier. Nootka was the
rendezvous, and thither Captain Gray made all haste
in the Lady Washington, without touching on the
coasts of South America or Mexico.

It was on August 2d that Gray, with 'inexpres-
sible joy,' first saw the shores of New Albion, in
latitude 41° 28'; and on the 4th ten natives came
off in a canoe to greet the strangers. Notwithstand-
ing the latitudes and landmarks mentioned I find it
impossible to trace with any degree of accuracy the
progress made along the coast, almost always in sight
of land; and it is not easy to understand how Gray
could identify a point near latitude 43°, possibly Cape
Blanco, with Mendocino.'* On August 14th the sloop

^HaswdVs Voyaqe round the world on board the ship 'Columbia Bediviva'
and sloop ' Wa^hinyton,' 1788-9; MS., 65 pp. This narrative, and another of
a later voyage, were given me by Captain Haswell 's daughter, Mrs John .J.
Clarke of Roxbury, Massachusetts. The journal extends from the beginning
of the voyage to June 1789. Haswell started on the Columbia, but was
transferred to the Lady Washington before entering the Pacific. He names
Joseph Ingraham as second mate of the Columbia, Howe as Kendrick 's
clerk, Roberts as surgeon, Treet aa furrier, and Nuttin as astronomer. A Mr
Coolidge is often named, who was probably first mate of the Lady Washington.

'^August 5th, latitude 42° 3'. August 6th, past a cove formed by a small
bay in N. and an island in s. [Mack's Arch or Rogue River?] August 7th,
ran for an apparent inlet in a large deep bay to the a. and e. of Cape Mindo-
cin, but passing round an island found the inlet to be only a valley between
two hills [Port Orford?]; at 6 p. M. Cape Mindocin was n. n. e. six or seven
leagues ; a dangerous reef extends six leagues from the point ; rounded the
cape and stood in for land ; latitude 43° 20' ; here is a very deep bay north of

r ' i

' ti

188

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

crossed tlio bar at the entrance of a harboi' that
had been previously examined by the boat, and
anchored in what was doubtless Tillamook Bay.
Gray thought it likely that here was the mouth of
the famous River of the West; and before his de-
parture he had good reason to name his anchorage
Murderers' Harbor. On the arrival of the Ameri-
cans the Indians were very friendly, receiving with
joy trifling presents, and furnishing without payment
vast quantities of berries and crabs, which were very
acceptable to the scurvy- stricken crow. Skins were

the cape, prolMibly with sounds and rivers, l)ut not explored. [This agrees,
were it not for preceding dilBculties, with Cape Gregory and Coos Bay.]
August 9th, ten or eleven leagues N. of the capo the boat was sent to explore
the shore, the sloop sailing along about a mile av«ay ; at 2:30 r. M. passed on
inlet, in 44° 20', apparently the mouth of a very largo river, with not water
enough for the sloop to enter. Natives appeared very liostilo. [This, according
to the latitude, must be the Alsoya of modem maps.] In 45° two Indiana of
different languages and of friendly disposition catno off. August 10-11, lati-
tude 45° 2', 44° 58'; boat out in search for a landing ; slight trade with natives.
August 12th, the l)oat obtained two loatls of w»od from a small inlet. August
IStli, latitude 45° 50' at noon; in evening passed a tolerable harbor, with a
bar. August 14th, returned to explore the harbor, which, after exploration by
the boat, the sloop enterei', anchori;ig half a mile from shore in two and one
fourth fathoms ; latitude 4^ > ' 1; 7' ■ ' Slurderers' Harbor, for so it was named [for
reasons see my text], n, I snpj lisc, the entrance of the river of the West. It
is by no means a safe phtcf. iti\ uny but a very small vessel to enter, the shoal
at its entrance being so (• ■ ; I- .vardly situated, the passage so narrow, and the
tide so rapid that it is iu.iiiraly possible to avoid the dangers.' [This must be
Tillamook Bay, really m 45° 34'.] Meares, Voi/. , 219-20, supposed it to be near
his o^vn Cape Lookout. Gray in 1792 told Vancouver that he had [no date
given] been off a river in 46° 10', where the cun'ent kept him for nine days
from entering; and Greenhow, Or. and Cal., 181, 234, erroneously concludes
that this Murderers' Harbor ' was the mouth of tho great river since called
the Columbia. . .because there is no evidence or reason to suppose that Gray
visited tliat part of the coast on any other occasion prior to his meeting with
Vancouver.' August 18th, Gray got over the bar after striking several times.
August 19th, latitude 47° 11'. [It seems strange that he missed Shoalwater
Bay and Gray Harbor.] August 2l8t, at 7 A. m. Green Island bore n. four
miles, and Quinclth N. N. E. seven miles ; latitude 47° 30*. August 22-4, con-
trary winds ; latitude 47° 43'. .August 25th, craggy and detached rocks and
reefs ; latitude 47° 57'. August 2Cth, some distance off shore, but in sight ;
latitude 48° 5'; ' to the E. n. e. lay a very deep bay, in whose entrance lie
many islands,' named Company Bay, and doubtless has good harbors. [This
was Barclay Sound, so that he missed the entrance of the strait named Fuca
by Meares a little earlier.] August 27th, snowy mountains in the distance;
hititude 48° 43'. August 28th, calm ; latitude 48° 53'; visited by many natives
familiar with English names. August 29-31, narrowly escaping wreck on
sunken rocks ; reached Hancock's Harbor, in 49° 9' [Clayoquot Sound], were
visited by the chief Wicananish, and set sail. September 1-2, a gale; driven
s. to 48° 9'. September 3-5, to latitude 48° 50'. September 0-9, to sight of
Point Breakers ; latitude 50° 22'. September 10th, latitude 49° 53'. September
11-15, gales; in Hope Bay. September IGth, anchored in Nootka Sound.

FIGHT WITH THE NATIVES.

189

also purchased in exchange for iron implements,
though copper was more in demand. The natives freely
gave up their furs, and took what was offered in ro-
turn without the slightest complaint. Wood and water
were obtained; and then, while waiting for a tide, the
two mates, Coolidge and Haswell, went ashore witli
seven men for the benefit of their health, and to get
a load of grass and shrubs for the vessel's live-stock.
This was on Saturday, August IGth. The Indians
received them in a most friendly manner, invited them
to their houses, and amused them with a war- dance
and an exhibition of skill with arrows and spears.
Presently, however, while the officers were searching
for clams at a little distance, and the men were cutting
grass near the boat, an Indian seized a cutlass which
the captain's servant — a nativu of the Cape Verde
Islands, named Marcos Lopez — had left sticking in the
sand, and ran away with it, Lopez following in pursuit.
The chiefs were offered rewards to bring the boy back
unhurt, but refused, urging the Americans to seek
him themselves. On the officers and one man doing
so they found Lopez, who had caught the thief",
surrounded by a group of Indians, who at once
killed Lopez with their knives and arrows, and then
attacked the three, as did another large body of sav-
ages in the rear under the chiefs who had sent them
that way. The situation was desperate, but by a dili-
gent use of their pistols the three Americans, after
killing the boldest of their assailants, succeeded in
reaching the shore and in wading off to the boat, all
wounded, the sailor very seriously. The savages pur-
sued in canoes, but the boat reached the sloop, and a
few discharges of the swivel-gun drove the savages
back; but all night they kept up their whoops and
howling on shore. Two days more passed before the
Lady Washington could leave Murderers' Harbor,
striking dangerously on the bar; and meanwhile the
swivel-gun had to be fired again.

Proceeding up the coast and trading often with the

t ]

190

EXPLORATION OF THE NOllTHWEST COAST.

ill

4!i

natives, the navigators met with nothing remarkable
in the way of adventure or discovery. Haswell writes :
"I am of opinion that the straits of Juan de Fuca
exist, though Captain Cook positively asserts they
do not, for in the very latitude where they are said to
lie, the coast takes a bend which very probably may
be the entrance." A little farther north they noted
the entrance of Barclay Sound and called it Com-
pany Bay. They found frequent indications of the
Enghshmen's visits; narrowly escaped shipwreck ; and,
the last day of August, entered Hancock Harbor, as
they named Clayoquot, where they were honored with
a visit from the chief Wicananish. Beyond this point
they had gales and fog; and it was not until Septem-
ber 16th, almost a year from Boston, that the Lady
Washington was towed into Ncotka Sound by the
aid of boats from the vessels of Meares and Douglas
lying at anchor there.

Captain Gray's intercourse with the Englishmen,
whose operations in this region will presently be
noticed in detail, was very agreeable, and they showed
him many polite attentions, besides permitting their
smith to assist in certain repairs to the sloop. Yet
Captain Meares did his best to discourage the Amer-
icans from engaging in trade, and espociallv from
wintering on the coast, to do which he insisted was
madness and sure destruction. He even went so far
as to assure Gray on his word of honor, but most
falsely, that his vessels had not succeeded in obtain-
ing over fifty skins during the season. During the
stay of the Englishmen no trade whatever, either for
furs or food, could be carried on in the sound, the
natives being unapproachable. Haswell states that
this was in consequence of Meares' custom of taking
their property by force, preventing their escape by a
free use of musket-balls, and giving them in payment
such trifles as he chose. On September 19th or 20th
the Americans witnessed the launching of Meares'
new schooner, firing a salute; and on the 22d their

QUESTIONABLE CONDUCT.

191

boats helped to tow the Felice out of the harbor."
On his departure Captain Meares offered to carry
letters to China; but by his consort's boats returned
the packet, on the plea that it was not certain at what
port in India he might touch, thus preventing Gray
from sending the letters by some of his officers or

men.

On September 22d or 23d the Columbia and Captain
Kendrick made their appearance. Nothing is known
of her trip from Cape Horn sav^e that it had been a
stormy one, that she had touched at Juan Fernandez,
and had lost two men from scurvy. October 1st was
celebrated as the anniversary of departure from Bos-
ton, Captain Douglas of the Iphigenia firing a salute,
and the officers of all four vessels dining on board the
Columbia. The two vessels under Captain Douglas
were tov/ed with Kendrick's aid out of the harbor on
October 26th, bound for the Sandwich Islands. On
the departure of the Englishmen the natives lost all
their fear, and supplied all the food that was needed.
Kendrick decided to winter at Nootka, and made
preparation' to build a house on shore and to rig the
sloop into a brig, though both of these schemes were
aoaiidoned; indeed, if we may credit Haswell, Cap-
tain Kendrick was much addicted to whims and ever
varying plans never put into t xecution. The winter
passed without other excitemji.t than that arising
from hunting and fishing adventures, the discussion
of Kendrick's various petty schemes, the stealing of
a boat and divers water-casks and cannon bj- the
Indians, troubles with one or two refractory sailors,

"•According to Meares the launch \fiu> o{\ ',he 20th and liis departure on
the Felice on the 24th.

'" Meares feared aonic infcrri.'dtioti on trade would bo sent that might be
prt judicial to his interests. Ivlnch sharp practice was common enouah
among rival fu»"trb.J;r8, .'.m! an s nile i omit both sides of petty (luatTeF; ;
but it seems proper, for r-- jaot?:: tliat will appear later, to add Ilaswel 's
accusations to the mass o' +''K,ir.ioay showing Meares not to have been fn
bouoioblo man.

"John Green, Meares' Loivtswain, while confined in the house on shore /or
mutiny, had escaped, and had nivplied for admission iix> the American sloop.
<Jray refused, having promised Meares not to receive him ; but some 'A hia

I 1

l\'\

«» . I

192

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

and an alarm of fire one day in the ship in dangerous
proximity to the powder. Both vessels remained at
anchor in the sound until March of the next year;
and their subsequent movements will be noticed in a
later chapter. I have now to follow the voyaoje of
the English traders, whom we have seen at No )tj a..

The ships Felice Adventurer and Iphigeni'x Nti-
hiana, of two hundred and thirty and two huudied
tons respectively, were fitted out by a company of
English merchants in India, and were put under the
command of John Meai es and William Douglas, the
former being a lieutenant retired from the British
navy, whose former voyage to the Alaskan coast has
already been mentioned, and who published an elabo-
rate narrative of his expeditions. This work contains
a large amount of valuable information on the North-
west Coast ; but the author, as appears from his own
statements, as well as from the testimony of other
traders, both English and American, is not to be im-
plicitly trusted in matters affecting bis own interests.^^

men supplied Green with food, and when Kendrick came ho was taken on
board tlio Columbia. But ho refused to sign the articles, and Kendrick landed
him again among the savages. Meares in his narrative blames the Americaup
for their course in this matter, and very likely with reason. George Monk, a.
seaman, also ran away, but was pursued and captured.

'^ Voyages Made in the Years 1786 and 1789, from China to the North West
Coast of America. To which are prrfixed, an Introductonj Narrativeofa Voya/je
performedin 1786, from Bengal, intheship 'Nootka'; observations on the prohah'e
existence, of a north went passage ; and some account of the trade between the north
went coast of America and China; and the latter country/ and Great Britain. By
John Mearea, Esq. London, 1790; 4to, portrait, maps, and charts. Tho
• Introductory Voyage,' pp. i.-xl. , contains the author's version of his troubles
with Portlock and Dixon, with original correspondence. In tho 'Observa-
tions,' pp. xlii,-lxvi., the author argues that the north-west passage may yet
bo found, relying not on the old fanciful theories, but chiefly on the facts that
Hudson Bay had not been completely explored, and that the lato voyagers,
including himself, had found on the Pacific side a complicated net-work of
islands and straits, some of which latter might very likely afford the desired
passage. Though marked by some inaccuracies of 8tatem?.nt the argument
IS far stronger than most of those on this subjei;t '''it I law noted in earlier
chapters ; and the author introduces a brief ske^ : ' ■ r. ; the lato sraiUng voyages.
The 'Accountof the Trade' is on pp. Ixvii.-xcvt. The voyo .< » ,: Rleares and
his associates fill .372 pages of text. There aro thiao grvi ^^ai u.;ip8 or charts,
showing all or part of the north-west coast on uflFereiii/ scaki, to be copied a
littld later ; there are local sketch-charts of Friendly Cove, p. 108, Port Cox,

K 143, Port Effingham, p. 172, Sea-otter Harbor, p. 305, and Raft Cove, p.

72 ; coast views of Nootka, Port Elfiiigham, and land in 49° 3', p. 104 ; eu-

:|-.t

MEARES AND DOUGLAS.

103

In order to evade excessive port cliargea in China,
and also to obviate the necessity of obtaining Hcenses
from the East India and South Sea companies, one
Cavalho, a Portuguese, was made nominally a partner
in the concern, and through his influence with the gov-
ernor of Macao the vessels were furnished with Por-
tuguese flags, papers, and captains. All of these were
to be used as occasion might demand, either in the
Chinese ports or in case of embarrassing meetings with
British vessels, when the real commanders would ap-
pear in the Portuguese version of the ship's papers as
supercargoes. Among the instructions from the ' Mer-
chantss Proprietors' — Daniel Beale of Canton being
elsewhere named as the 'ostensible agent of the con-
cern' — was the following: " Should you. . .meet with
any Russian, English, or Spanish vessels, you will
treat them with civility and friendship; and allow
them, if authorized, to examine your papers, which
will shew the object of your voyage : — But you must,
at the same time, guard against surprize. Should
they attempt to seize you, or even carry you out of
your way, you will prevent it by every means in your
power, and repel force by force. You will, on your ar-
rival in the first port, protest before a proper officer
against such illegal procedure . . . Should you, in such
conflict, have the superiority — ^you will then take
possession of the vessel that attacked you, as also her
cargo; and bring both, with the officers and crew, to
China, that they may be condemned as legal prizes, and
their crews punished as pirates." Of course, the only
trouble deemed likely to occur was with vessels be-
longing to rival English companies, in which case this

tronco to Fuca Strait, p. 156, and Cape Lookout, p. 161 ; portrait of author,
frontispiece; the chiefs Maquilla and Callicum, p. 109; launch of the schooner,
p. 221. In the appendix, besides feiblen of the voyage, are over GO pages,
not nnmbered, of itidtructions and other documents, including Mearcs' Me-
morial of 1790 on his wrongs at the hands of Spain. There was an octavo
edition of the Voyages, London, 1791, 2 vols. ; also a French translation, 1794 ;
Italian, 1796; German, 1790; and Swedish, 1797. Mearcs also published an
Ainnotr to Mr Ge ^rge Dixon, London, 1791, which was intended as a refuta-
tion of Dixon's liemarks.

Hut. N. W. Comt, Vol. I. 13

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m^:

194

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

was to be a purely Portuguese expedition ; but it was
to be as purely English if Spaniards or Russians
sh \'<' vcntuic to interfere. This trick of sailing
uno(. ible colors was not permissible under the

laws oj istoms of any civilized nation, unless directed
acjainst a hostile nation in time of war: and Enjjland
assuredly would assume no responsibility in conse-
quence of such a trick, directed against herself, unless
it might be advantageous to her own interests to do so.
So far as is known, Meares had no occasion to use his
Portuguese colors in American waters, except when
the Lady Washington made her appearance at Nootka,
and before her nationality was known ;^ but on his
return to China his device was successful, so far as
the evasion of port charges was concerned, until the
'little game' was exposed by legal proceedings arising
from Cavalho's bankruptcy after the complaisant Por-
tuguese governor's death.^

The vessels lefi Macao in January 1788. The
Iphigenia directed her course to Alaska, with instruc-

"" Haa well, Vfj. , MS. , 35, describes the vessels as ' under Portuguese colors'
on his arrival ; but he says nothing of any flag later either on the vessels or
house.

'* Meares in his narrative says nothing to indicate tliat the expedition was
anything but an English one from beginning to end. In his Memorial he
admits the ruse as against the Chinese, carefully suppressing, of course, the
other phase of the matter, and insisting that the vessels and cargoes were
' actually and bona fide British property. The instructions and otiicr docu-
ments published in Metircs' appendix are in English, and for the most part
Rtldresscd to Meares and Douglas as captains; but in some of tho documents
1 elating to the troubles of tho next year Cavalho and Company are named as
owners of one of tho vessels; in one document Francis Joseph Viana is named
as captain of the Iphhjenia, with Douglas as supercargo ; Meares, in his Mi mo-
rial, once names Viana as 'second captain'; Douglas, in \ua Journal , once men-
tions instructions in the Portuguese language ; Gray and Ingraham testified in
later years to tho fact that tho vessels were imder Poi-tugueso colors, captains,
and p;ipera ; and linaliy Haswell found tho vessels under I'ortugueso colors.
All this is sufficient to support the conclusions in the text, which are mainly
identical with those of Mr Groenhow, Or. and C'al., 17J-3. This writer says:
'Tliero is no sufficient proof that any other [than the Portuguese flagl was
displayed by them during the expedition.' This is in a nenso true, but hij
partisanship is somewhat too apparent in the statement that tho Portuguese
subjects figure as tho real commanders ' in all tho papers ;' and that ' tho doc-
uments atntexed to tho Memorial conclusively prove that all these deceptive
appearances wore kept up at Nootka ;' and he certainly has no reason to iniply,
as 1)0 docs, that the idea of this being an English and not <■ "jrtugueso expe-
dition was entirely an aftor-thought, dcvisetd for the purj>ose of obtaining
English protection.

MAQUINNA AND CALLICUM.

195

tions to follow the coast southward; and her move-
ments will be noted later. The Felice, Captain
Meares, had a force of fifty men, crew and artisans, a
considerable number of each class being Chinese.
Comekela, a native chief of Nootka, brought away by
one of the earlier voyages, returned home on this
vessel, while the Iphigenia carried also Tiana, a young
Hawaiian chief, bound homeward to the Sandwich
Islands by way of America. Especial pains is said to
have been taken with the outfit; but the Americans
state that the vessels were very poorly provided with
everything except articles of trade. America was
sighted on May 11th; and two days later the Felice
anchored in Nootka Sound, having sighted, without
speaking, the Pi'incess Royal, Captain Duncan, which
had just left the harbor on her homeward trip.^'
Comekela, who is called a brother of Maquinna and a
relative of Callicum, the two being the great chiefs of
Nootka, was received by his countrymen with great
festivities of welcome.

The Englishmen had come prepared to build a
small vessel; and their first occupation was to erect a
house foi the workmen and stores. Maquinna, the
chief, made no objections, but gave thera a spot for
the house, promised native assistance, and appointed
Callicum as a kind of guardian to protect the strangers
in their operations. In return for his kindness Ma-
quinna was given two pistols, for which he had shown
a fancy, and was promised the building itself when
the builders should leave the coast. Meares, how-
ever, chose to operate on the native fears as well as
their gratitude, by explaining his power; and round
the new house, which was two stories high, built of
wood, he threw up a breastwork, and on it mounted
a small cannon. There is nothing in Meares' narra-
tive or instructions to indicate an intention of ac-
quiring permanent possessions at Nootka, either for

*'That part nf Meares' narrative relating to his experience in Americi^
begins on p. 103.

196

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

himself or any nation, but everything to show that
the house was built for temporary purposes only. The
circumstances of the case, and the testimony of men
who arrived a little later, point in the same direction.
In later years, however, when claiming the protection
of England, Meares set up the claim that he had
bought the land, and also stated that the English flag
had been raised over the building. It matters little
which version was true; but obviously the narrative
is to be trusted rather than the Memorial.^

On the shore outside the enclosure the keel of a
vessel was laid, and the work was pressed forward
with all due speed. The natives remained friendly,
and many otter-skins were purchased. At first the
trade was regulated by a fixed scale of prices; but
later, so says the narrative, a system of mutual gifts
was adopted — a system which, according to Mr
Huswell, as the reader will remember, consisted in
the Englishmen seizing all they could get their hands
on, and giving the Indians such trifles as could best
be spared. But this accusation must be taken with
much allowance, since Captain Meares was by no
means so stupid as to ruin his prospects for future
trade by such wholesale theft. At some one of tlie
later interchanges of gifts the savages may have
deemed themselves overreached, whence the dissatis-

'"Haswell simply says: 'Captain Meares, amving here some time before
Captain Douglas, landed his second officer, Mr Funter, and a party of artifi-
cers, who first built a tolerably strong garrison, and then went to work build-
ing a small schooner of about 30 tons.' Captain Gray and Mr Ingraham
subsequently testified that ' On the arrival of the Columbia, in the year 1788,
tliere was a house, or rather a hut, consistingof rough posts, covered with
bo;irds, made by the Indians ; but this Captain Douglas jjulled to pieces, prior
to his sailing for the Sandwich Islands, the same year. The boards ho took
on board tlie Iphlgenin, and the roof he gave to Captain Kendiick, which
was cut up and used as firewood on lx)ard the Columbia ... As to the land Mr
Meares says lie purchased of Maquinn.a or any other chief, we cannot say
further than we never heard of any; although wo remained among these
people nine months, and could converse with them perfectly well. Besides
this, we have asked Maquinna and other chiefs, since our late arrival, if
Captain Meares ever purchased uay land in Nootka Sound ; they answered
No; that Captain Keudrick waa the only man to whom they had ever sold
any laid.' Gray and Jngraham'g Letter to Cuadra, 1703, in Greenhow's Or,
and Cal., 415^16. I may add that Kendrick also, according to Hoswell, built
a uma,ll house for temporary use in the autumn of 1788.

wmx

1-i

i ; I

WICANANISH.

107

faction noted by the Americans. At any rate, they
stole a grindstone, were not admitted within the en-
closure of the house, and finally retired to another
bay to fish, returning, however, to steal the ship's
pinnace, which w^as broken up for the nails, Maquinna
still protested his fidelity; and it was just before the
vessel's departure that the final ownership of the house
was promised him, as before related.

On June 11 th, leaving a force at Nootka to work on
the schooner, Meares sailed for the south, and spent
two weeks in Clayoquot Sound, which he named Port
Cox, being lavishly entertained by Wicananish, the
chief of that region. A valuable lot of otter- skins
was secured, and dissensions between the chiefs were
healed by a treaty which gave to Wicananish, for
sale to Meares, all furs then in possession of the
Indians, but allowed Hanna and Detootche the riglit
to sell such skins as should be taken later by their
people. The next day after leaving Port Cox, Sun-
day, June 29tli, the navigator sighted a great inlet in
latitude 48° 39', reaching its southern shore and re-
ceiving a visit from the chief Tatootche. The inlet
was named for its "original discoverer, Juan de Fuca,"
and has retained the name. Meares coolly assumes
the honor of rediscovering this strait, knowing of no
other navigator "said to have been this way" except
Cook and Maurelle, and ignoring Barclay's discovery,
of which he was perfectly aware.^^ The boat was sent
out to explore the island which still bears the name
of Tatouche. A near view was had of Classet village
on a high steep rock; and there were also seen, on
July 2d, Cape Flattery, Queenhithe river and island .
Queenuitett village. Saddle Hill, and Destruction
Island. On the 4th they named Mount Olympus, in
latitude 47° 10'; and next day Shoalwater 13ay, with
the capes Low Point and Shoalwater at its entrance.

■' He several times speaks of Barclay's voyage in his narrative ; and in his
Observations, p. Iv., he snya : 'The boat's crew, however, waa despatched, unJ
discovered the extraordinary straits of John do Fuca, aud also tho coast as
far as Quoonhy tho. ' Meares gives in a large engraving a view of tl\o cutraucu.

5 .■'•

;:!.J

I ill

198

EXPLORATION OF THE N0RTirV7EST COAST.

1 1

On Sunday, the Gth, they rounded a promontory in
about latitude 46° 10', with great hopes that it would
prove the Cape San Roque of Heceta; and so, indeed,
it was, the bay beyond being the mouth of the great
river of the west. But Meares found breakers ex-
tending completely across the ba}^ which he named
Deception, and the cape Disappointment, and wrote :
"We can now with safety assert, that no such river
as that of Saint Roc exists, as laid down in the
Spanish chart." Farther south he named Quicksand
Bay, which was probably Tillamook, called Murder-
ers' Harbor by Gray a little later, though Meares
describes it as entirely closed by a low sandy beach.
The adjacent headland was named Point Grenville,
and a southern one, in latitude 45° 30', Cape Look-
out. The name is still applied to a cape farther
south, in latitude 45° 20', the original being still
known by the name of La Mesa, which Heceta gave
it in 1775, and sometimes by that of Cape Meares,^

Having "met with nothing but discouragement,"
Meares now abandoned his southern explorations,
much against his inclinations,^® and on July 11th
arrived at Barclay Sound, which, or part of which,
he renamed Port Effingham, the eastern headland
of which he called Cape Beale. While trade was
in progress here, Mr Duffin was sent with thirteen
men in the long-boat to explore the strait of ij^uca,
and, if possible, the country farther south. He
started on the 13th, and was absent a week. He fol-
lowed the northern shore of the strait for about

*' Point Grenville has no name on modem maps, unless it was south of the
bay, as is implied. The identity of these different points, as I have given
them, in accordance with Davidson, Direct, of I'ac. Coaxt, 87-8, is not quite
clear. It is not impossible that Meares' latitude was wrong ; that he missed
Tillamook altogether; that Grenville was La Mesa; Quicksand Bay, Natahats
Lagoon (or even Tillamook, as before) ; and Lookout, the point still so called ;
nevertheless, a group of rocks, one of them arched, as described by Meares, "
found according to Davidson off La Mesa, and not off Lookout, should be con-
clusive. Greeiuiow, Or. and Cal., 177, is wrong in identifying Lookout with
tlie Falcon of the Spaniards, which was False Tillrtook, and he cites the
latitude as 45° 37', as indeed Meares gives it in one • ' .-e.

'• He had hoped to reach 42°, wliere ' it is saiU Captain Gaxon found a
good harbour.' I do not know the meaning of this allusion.

MEARES' MENDACITY.

100

twelve miles, perhaps to the San Juan of modern
maps, neither diary nor map being quite intelli-
gible, and in what he called Hostility Bay, perhaps
False Nitinat, was attacked by the savages, who
wounded him and several of his men, but were repulsed
after a hard fight.*^ Though Duffin's journal is geo-
graphically somewhat vague to us, it presented no
difficulties whatever to the captain, who coolly says:
The boat "had sailed near thirty leagues up the
strait, and at that distance from the sea it was about
fifteen leagues broad, with a clear horizon stretching to
the east for 15 leagues more. — Such an extraordinary
circumstance filled us with strange conjecti^res as to
the exuomity of this strait, which we concluded, at
all events, could not be at any great distance from
Hudson's Bay." He also writes : " We took possession
of the straits of John de Fuca, in the name of the
King of Britain," though Duffin mentions no such act ;
and in his memorial of later date he claims to have
obtained from Wicananish on this trip "the promise
of a free and exclusive trade with the natives of the
district, and also his permission to build any store-
houses, or other edifices, which he might judge neces-
sary; that he also acquired the same privilege of
exclusive trade from Tatootche, the chief of the
country bordering on the straits of John de Fuca,
and purchased from him a tract of land within the

*" Duffin's Journal is given in Mearc. appendix, as also his instructions.
The following are the points bearing on geography : July 13th, small sandy
bay; 14th, village of Attah on sandy bay; course E. and E. N. E. along shore;
Nittee Nutt [Nitinat] village ; Point Entrance at noon bore E. by s. 4 leagues,
Tatootche Island, s. E. by E. 10 leagues ; 15th, small sandy bay ; Nittee Natt,
rivulet and bar with surf; Point Entrance bore s. by e. [supposably lionilla
Point]; ICth, sandy cove and %allage; passed Point Entrance ; steered east into
the strait; at noon entered adeepbay, a good harbor for vessels of 100 or 150
tons [Hostility Uay, or Falsa Nitinat ?] ; 17th, iight with Indians; 'turned
out of the bay' and 'stood ever to the other shore' [of the bay or strait?];
p'.acc ca,lled Port Hawkesbury, Tatootche bearing s. w. [whicli indicates
San .luan, but how did he get there?]; 18th, 'wind s. s. w. ; at 4 r.M. tacked off
the south shore four miles, and stood over to the north shore of the straits;
at 7 tacked again off shore half a mile; p,t sunset the entrance of Port
Hawkesbury n. by e.; Tatootche Island, s. ; Point Entrance, w. .s. w., oiT the
latter 8 leagues, and from the former 3 leagues; sailed N. w. by w.,' and
returned to ship. Mcares says the retura was on the 2Ctli. See. Meares' map
luter.

!)'■

ii
If

..... p ! :

-hi

I ,

''> I

1 1 1

900

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

r'6^.

il!

Ill

said strait, which one of your Memorialist's officers
took possession of in the King's name, calling the
same Tatootchc." Avoiding a harsher term, we may
call these statements gross exaggerations.

Returning to Nookta on July 2Gth, it was learned
that all had been reasonably prosperous during the
Felice's absence; but when she was ready to sail again
for Port Cox a mutiny occurred to prevent embark-
ing. The mutineers, headed by the boatswain, who
had been disgraced for previous insubordination, were
barely prevented from seizing the vessel; but all sub-
mitted and returned to duty except eight, who, rather
than submit to be ironed, having their choice, were
turned on shore among the savages, who for a while
made slaves of thorn. On August 8tb. Meares sailed
for Port Cox, and just outside the harbor met again
the Princess Royal, Captain Duncan, now nearly
ready to leave the coast. After a successful voyage
he returned on the 24th to Nootka, where, on the
27th, Captain Douglas arrived in the Iphigenia from
the northern coast.

Coming from the Alaskan waters, it was on August
20th that Douglas found himself in Dixon, or, as
he chose to rename it, Douglas entrance; and thence
he proceeded through the strait between Queen Char-
lotte Islands and the main, as Duncan had done before
him, though Meares has the assurance to claim the
honor for his associate.*^ The only other name ap-
plied, so far as the journal shows, was that of Point
Rose; but Douglas returned through the strait the
next year, as we shall see. Meares' map, which I re-
produce here, shows the route and names given for
both trips, and also the supposed track of the Ameri-
can sloop round another great island in 1789, of which
I shall speak elsewhere."

** Douglas' Journal of this part of his voyage is found in Meares' Voy.,
329 ct seq. For Meares' remarks see Id., Ixiii.-v. and 21 1-12. He knew per-
fectly well that Duncan had preceded Douglas in the strait.

*'' On the original map, not copied, is an inscription to the effect that Qneeu
Charlotte Island was named by Dixon in 17S7, though discovered by Lowne

-TO^ir.

i i

S02

EXPLORATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

!»'

The two vessels being now reunited, every effort
was made to fit the Felice for her trip to China with
the valuaolo cargo of furs that had boon collected.
The exiled mutineers were received back for duty,
except the boatswain, who was confined in the house,
and soon escaped. Work on the new and old vessels
progressed rapidly.

On Septemoer I7th the Lady Washivgton, Captain
Gray, made her appearance, as already related, in
time to witness, on the 19th or 20th, the Ian " of
the new schooner, which was named the Nor ^est
America, the first vessel ever built on the v.oast.
The launching was an event of much interest to
English and American spectators, as well as to the
Chinese builders, and one of great wonder to the
natives. It is made the subject of an engraving in
Meares' book."

A few days later the Felice, taking on board the
Iphigenias furs,** and a lot of spars for the China
market, sailed from Nootka. She touched at the
Sandwich Islands, and early in December anchored
at Macao.

The Iphigenia remained about a month at Nootka
after the Felice's departure, the time being spent in
preparing the North West America for a trip to the
Sandwich Islands, where the two vessels were to
winter. The Columbia arrived on September 22d or
23d, the day after Meares' departure, and the Ameri-
cans, eager to get rid of their rivals in trade, gladly
aided in the preparations for departure. The house
on shore, if we may credit Gray and Ingraliam, was
demolished, part of the material being put on board

and Guise in 1786. And in Meares' instructions to Douglas for the second
trip through the strait, in appendix, we read : ' You have the credit of dis-
covering the Great Island, the north-west side of which, comprehending
nearly four degrees of latitude, is entirely undiscovered.'

^Meares' Voy., 221. In the engraving and text the English flag is repre-
sented as flying over both schooner and the house on shore. H!aswell saya
nothing of this.

** Meares' solemn assertion to Gray that not over 50 skir>B in all had been
obtained, as also his mean trick of refusing to carry letters for the Americans,
has already been noticed.

WINTEllIXG AT NOOTKA. M

the EiiQ^lIsh vessels and the rest given to Captain
Kendrick; and on October 2Gth or 27th the two
vessels set sail, being towed out of the harbor by
the Americans, and reached the islands in December.
Captain Kendrick's vessels, as we have seen, wintered
at Nootka.

Il i\ \

ll 1

CHAPTER VII.

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.
1789-1790.

Voyages op 1789 — Movements of Kendkick and Gray — Cruise of the
•Lady Washington' — End of Haswell's Diary — The 'Columbia'
Goes to China and Boston — Kendrick in the Strait — Trading
Trip of Douglas and Funter — Meares in China — A New Partner-
ship — Voyage of Colnett and Hudson — Plans for a Permanent
Establishment — Metcalf's Voyage — Spanish Expedition under
Martinez and Haro— Seizure of the 'Ipiiigenia' — Motives of Cap-
ture AND Release — A Spanish Fort at Santa Cruz de Nutka —
Seizure op the 'North West i^MERicA' — Taking of the 'Argo-
naut' AND 'Princess Royal' — Colnett versus Martinez — Prizes
Sent to San Blas — Rkstoration by the Viceroy — The Spaniards
Quit Nootka — American Policy — Merits of the Controversy —
The News in Europe — Spain and England — Diplomacy and Im-
pending War — Spain Yields — The Nootka Treaty.

Northwestern annals of 1789 offer little of inter-
est outside of certain somewhat startling events at
Nootka; but before recording those events it will
be well to name the different vessels that visited the
coast, and to follow their movements independently
of the Nootka troubles, in which all were directly or
indirectly ii volved.

Kendrick and Gray, as we have seen, had passed the
winter at Nootka, and were therefore first in the field
for the spring trade. On March IGth the Lady Wash-
ington sailed for Clayoquot, where she arrived next
day, and where she lay for ten days, the men engaged
in trading, hunting, and making a survey of what
they called Hancock Harbor. " I really think," writes
Has well, "there is a great inland communication by

(204)

MOVEMENTS OP VESSELS.

rivers. The whole land we could see I have reason
to suppose to be islands. '^ Then they sailed down
the coast, noting Company Bay, or Barclay Sound,
passing Nitinat village and Patchenat, or Poverty
Cove, and entering what they were sure was the
sti-ait of Fuca, probably to about the same point
reached by ^Mcares' boat, where on April 1st they
"saw the sun rise clea;- from the horizon up the
straits."^ It is evident that Mearcs had told them
nothing of his own or of Barclay s discoveries. Noting
Tatooche Island, or Chandee, they were tossed by
the wands below Cape Flattery for several days, and
returned to Clayoquot on the 9th, joining Wicananish
in a successful whale -hunt. Subsequently Captain
Gray repeated his southern trip, exploring Ccchasht
Cove and Company Bay by means of his boat, and
returning on April 2 2d to Nootka, where he found
Captain Douglas and the IpJdgenia. The American
vessels were anchored seven miles up the sound, at.
I\Tawinah, Moweena, or Kcndrick Cove; and the offi-
cers made some explorations in the inland channels.
Ileturning to Friendly Cove ready for sea. Captain
Gray learned that the iV^or^/i West America had arrived
and departed for northern waters. Leaving the sound
on the 3d of May, he met the Princesa, commanded
by ISIartinez. Gray was bound north, but for a week
the winds prevented his getting beyond Hope Bay;^
and before his departure on the 10th he sighted
another vessel under Spanish colors, the Sail Carlos.
This trip of the Lady Washington to the north is not
so clearly described by Haswcll as would be desirable, it
being impossible to fix all the positions. They passed,

' UaswflVs Voy. , MS. , 43 et seq. The author introduces quite a long
dcscri]ition of Nootka and its ppnr.i;,

"Hall J. Kelley, JJigcov. Nortliwxt Coast, claims to have seen Gray's log
and Iloskins' journal in 1820; but liia brief remarks contain so many blundcra
al)cu*; the voyage tiiat we can have no confidence in statements that cannot
bo proven erroneous. lie says tliat Gray entered Fuca Strait 00 miles in 1788 ;
and also that Gray's journal mentions 'the largo river, called by the Indians
Tacootche, flowing into the eastern part of this [Fuca] sea, in latitude 49
degrees;' that is, Fraser River.

^ The westerumo&t inlet of the bay he says was called Chicklcsset.

f;:

„l.

206

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

1 i

however, between the continent and the great island,
and penetrated the maze of is) . and channels
beyond as far as 55° 43'.* To Que&i_ Charlotte, Gray
gave the name of Washington, apparently not aware
that any other navigator had discovered its separation
from the mainland. " Had we not met with the mis-
fortune of running ashore in the storm our discoveries
would have been very interesting. As it was, we dis-
covered thai, the straits of Admiral do Font actually
exist. As far north as we went is a vast chain of
islands, and the entrances between them may be taken
for gulfs and straits; but when explored large rivers
and lakes may be found. This coast can never be
thoroughly surveyed until it is done at some national
expense, whose commanders are interested by com-
merce."® Commercially the trip was successful, large
nu'iibers of skins being obtained, especially on the
western side of Queen Charlotte Isles, on the return.
At one place the unsophisticated savages gave two

* May 3d to 15th, from Hope Bay passed between Cape Ingraham and a
group of islands ; across to opposite siioro fourteen leagues ; a large bay with a
dangerous reef on west ; farther west, coast craggy, with low detached islands;
latitude 52" o7' [no date] ; good open bay in 52° 50', with a remat-kable ridge of
barren mountains on N. shore ; saw land s. w. by s., far away. May IGth, land
90 miles in extent and six miles from coast, N. N. E. to continent; waited
until 19th for Indians who promised furs ; this bay [probably that in 62" 50']
named Derby Sound, for one uf the owners. May 2lBt, 'A large inlet trending
to the westward, probably the entrance of Admiral de Font's Straits ;' gales
and complicated movements; the great island estimated to extend 170 miles,
from 52° to 54° 30'. May 22d, n. w. and w., 'edging into the continent;' lati-
tude 55° 30'. May 24th, a terrible gale, which so strained the sloop that it
was resolved to return to Nootka ; place named Distress Cove, in 55°. May
25th and 27th, nenr Distress Cove, generally in 55° 10'. May 28th, latitude at
noon 55° 43'; a chain of islands, which could not be explored; returned to
Vv'ashington Island ; Ciista, a village on a sandy bay [not far from Dixon's
Cloak 15ay] under chief Caneah ; estimated latitude 54° 15'; entrance of the
strait [Dixon Entrance] in 54° 20'; passed south in foggy weather. June 8th,
latitude 53° [54°?] 8'. June 10th, latitude 53° 32'. Juno 11th, in an inlet
nnd good harbor, in 52° 12', named liarrell Sound, for one of the owners; on
shore found a very curious fortiiicd rock, called Touts, with flat ton and per-
pendicular sides 40 feet high. Thence [no more dates given] to tlie islands
off Cape Ingraham ; and to Nootka.

* Duncan nnd Douglas had preceded Gray in the straits, as we have seen.
Oreenhow, Ur. and lal., 199, says: ' Gray explored the whole east coast of
Queen Charlotte's Island, which had never before been visited by the people
of any civilized nation, though Duncan . . . had . . . sailed through the sea
separating it from the main land;' and then claims that Dougk*) did not
precede Gray. All this is wrong, to say nothing of the fact that Gray's
exploration was of the main rather thou the island coast.

VOYAGE OF THE COLUMBIA.

207

hundred sea-otter skins, worth about eight thousand
dollars, for an old iron chisel.

Captain Gray arrived at Nootka shortly after June
14th, and as he sailed up the sound to rejoin Kendrick
at Mawinah, he saw the two Spanish vessels at anchor,
with the Princess Royal, Captain Hudson, and noted
that Martinez had fortified Hog Island near Friendly
Cove. Here, after relating brictly what had occurred
at Nootka during the absence of the Lady Washington,
Haswell's diary comes to an end. Before either of the
vessels sailed again, the Avriter, with Captain Gray,
was transferred to the Cdumhia. After witnessing
the transactions between the English and Spaniards,
and perhaps taking some part indirectly in them, to
be noted presently, the Americans decided to send the
ship to China with the furs collected under command
of Gray, while Kendrick was to remain and continue
trading operations with the sloop. The crew of the
North West America, a Spanish prize, was put on
board the Columbia, as is subsequently related, to
be carried to China, and also a quantity of supplies,
ostensibly for their support, which enabled Kendrick
to reinforce advantageously the crew and replenish the
stores of the Lady Washington. Soon after the middle
of July the two vessels left Nootka and went down
to Clayoquot,® where the transfer of skins and supplies
was made, and the Columbia sailed for China. We
have no details of the voyage, except that they reached
Canton early in December, and loading with tea, pro-
ceeded on their voyage round the world, the first under
the flag of the United States, and arrived at Boston
in August 1790. Though a large quantity of furs

* Possibly the Lady Washington left Nootka first, and after a Boutheni trip
met the Columbia at Clayoquot. Greenhow, Or. and Cat., 199-200, so under-
Btauds it, and thinks that it was ou this trip that Gray, as ho told Vancouver
later, sailed 50 miles into the strait of Fuca, and found the passa;,'o live Icjigues
wide. Had Gray made this trip, however, it seems that llaswcll \^ould have
extended his diary to include it; in one of the documents attached to iliarca''
Memorial, it is stated that the vessels left Nootka together; and I am inclined
to think that Gray's report to Vancouve. Voij., i. '214, may have been merely
an exag/;eratiou of his visit to the st i in 1789. See p. 205 of this volume.

H m

if ^1 :

■K IH'l

';• ^ : !

!'*:

■ 1 V'

- 1 ' ■;-■

208

THE KOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

had been obtained, the expedition is said to have re-
sulted in no piofit to the owners, some of whom sold
out their interest, while the others fitted out the ship
for a new voyage, to be deccribed in a later chapter.^
After Gray's departure we know nothing in detail of
Kcndrick's operations on the coast. In Meares' map,
copied in the preceding chapter, we find laid down
the "track of the Ladij Washington in the autumn
of 1789," through a strait whose southern entrance
is that of Fuca, and the northern above Queen
Charlotte Island, thus making a great island of the
Nootka region. When Vancouver met Gray in 1792,
and was told by liim that he made no such voyage,
the inaccuracy of Meares' statement was believed to
be established; but it subsequently appeared that
Meares got his information from a man who had
obtained it from Kendrick after his return to China
at the end of 1789/ and therefore it was plausibly
concluded by Greenhow and others that the Lady
Washington had made the trip through the strait
under Kendrick 's command after the departure of the
Columbia. I cannot say that such was not the fact;
but from the extreme inaccuracy of Meares' chart,
from the narrowness of the real channel, and from
the fact that Kendrick is not kpown to have made
subsequently any claims to a discovery so important,
I am strongly of the opinion that the chart was made
from second-hand reports of Kendrick's conjectures,
founded on Gray's explorations of the north and
south, already described, and supplemented by his
own possible observations after Gray's departure, as
well as by reports of the natives, which, according to
Haswell, indicated a channel back of Nootka, It is
not difficult, without imputing any intentional decep-
tion to the American commander, to suppose this to

' Bulfinch's statement, U. S. Gor. Doc. , 25th Cong. , 3d Sesa. , H. Rrpt. No. 101,
p. 50; Greerihow'H Or. ami C'aL, 200, 225-fl. It was Derby and Pintard who
sold out to Barrell and Brown.

^Mcarea' Answer to Mr George Dixon, London, 1791. A reply to Dixon't
Kemarks,

-W^!^

THE IPHIGE^^A.

209

have been the origin of the report, which was carried
to London by a man who had talked with Kcndrick
and had not himself visited the coast. At any rate
the evidence is not sufficient to give Kcndrick the
honor of having been the first to sail round Van-
couver Island. Somewhere, however, during the
autumn, Captain Kcndrick obtained a valuable cargo
of furs, and at the end of the season went to China to
sell them, not returning the next season at all, but
making his appearance in 1791, as we shall see."

The Iphigenia, under Douglas or Viana according
to circumstances, and the native -built North West
America, Captain Robert Funter, had wintered at the
Sandwich Islands, in accordance with Mearcs' instruc-
tions. The plan for this season was for these two
vessels to occupy the field north of Nootka, the snow
trading on the western side of Queen Charlotte Isles
chiefly, and the schooner on the eastern shore and
mainland, while Meares in the Felice was to return
and confine his operations to the south. Douglas and
Funter left the Islands on March 18th and arrived
at Nootka, the former on April 20th and the latter
on the 24th. Five days later the schooner sailed for
her northern trading cruise, soon followed, as we have
seen, by the Ladj/ Washington. Then came Lieutenant
Martinez from San Bias, as is more fully described
hereafter, and about the middle of May seized the
Iphigenia as a prize. She was subsequently released,
furnished with some needed supplies, and permitted
to sail on the 2d or 3d of June, ostensibly for the
Sandwich Islands; but no sooner was Captain Doug-
las out of sight of port than he turned northward for
a tour of trade, which was quite successful, though
less so, as was claimed, than it would have been
if the Spaniards had not taken some of the cargo of
articles for barter. The course was up the straits and
round the great island, as shown on a map already

*JIatiwdVa Log of the. Columbia liediviva.
Hmt. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. li

r-'

I '!-:

^ i'ir,.f

SIO

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

given. The Englishmen had to discharge their gims
once or twice to keep off hostile savages; but there
was no other adventure worthy of notice. Leaving the
north end of the island on June 27th. the Iphirfenia
reached the Sandwich Islands in July, and Macao in
October. ^»

Funter's route on the North West America is not
exactly known, except that the natives reported him to
have been on the west shore of the island, in 52° 12',
in May; but he obtained over two hundred skins,
and returning to Nootka on June 9th, his vessel was
seized by the Spaniards, the furs being transferied to
the Princess Royal, and the crew to the Columbia.
She remained in the Spanish service, under the
name of Gertrudis probably, and immediately made a
trading trip for account of her captors in charge of
David Coolidge, mate of the Lady Washington, obtain-
ing some seventy-five skins. She was taken to San
Bias at the end of the year."

Meanwhile Captain Meares, instead of returning
in the Felice from China, as he had intended, formed
a partnership there in behalf of his company with
Mr Etches, representing the London company that
had fitted out Duncan and Colnett's expedition of
^787-8, making joint-stock of all the vessels and
other property. The Prince of Wales being sent to
England, a new ship was purchased and named the
Argonaut, to replace the Felice, which was sold. This
ship, under Captain Colnett, and the Princess Royal,
Captain Thomas Hudson, left China in April and
May, not flying Portuguese colors this time, because
the London company had a license from the East

^'' Douglas' Journal, in Mearea' Voy., 3G1-9 and tables; see artao map in
preceding chapter, p. 201. The names applied on this trip, according to the
Journal, were as follows: Fort Pitt, Buccleugh Sound, Cape Fanner, Cape
Murray, Petrie Island, Mount St Lazaro, Haines Cove, Cape Irving, Mclntyre
Bay, in 53° 58', Cox Channel, Tatanee village, and Deal Harbor.

^'Mearea' I'o)/., tables and documents in appendix. Tobar. Informe, says,
however, that she was sent under Narvaez to explore the strait of Fuca,
Coolidge going as interpreter; and this may be confirmed by Navarrete,
VitigM Apdc, 114.

fv: I

FORT PITT.

211

India Company. It was the intention now to es-
tablish a permanent trading -post or factory on the
coast, with suitable buildings for tlie occupation of the
company. Colnott was authorized to select the most
convenient site for such an establishment, which was
to be named Fort Pitt, and to be under the charge of
Mr Duffin. Nootka was not mentioned in the in-
structions as the site of the fort, though it would
naturally have been placed there. Nor do we find in
the instructions as printed any provision like that of
the preceding year for troubles with vessels of other
nations." Seventy Chinamen were embarked as set-
tlers for the new fort;" and a small vessel of thirty
tons was carried to be launched on the American
coast.

The Princess Royal was the first to reach Nootka,
on June 14th, and after a few days of the most
friendly relations with both Spaniards and Americans
Captain Hudson sailed for a trading cruise, on July
2d, carrying the skins taken from the schooner North
West America.^* Next day Colnett came in with the
Argonaut, which on July 4th w?.s seized by the Span-
iards as a prize. Ten days later the Princess Rotjal
returned and was also seized. Both vessels were
sent south with Spanish crews and officers, and with

"J/eaces' Voy., appendix. Colnett was recommended to form treaties
with the native chiefs, particularly near Nootka. ' In planning a factory on
the coast of America, we look to a solid establishment, and not one that is to
be abandoned at pleasure. Wo authorize you to iix it at the most convenient
station, only to plp.ce your colony in peace and security, and fully protected
from the fear of the smallest sinister accident. The object of a port of tliia
kind is to drar; the Indians to it, to lay up the small vessels in the winter
season, to build, and for other commercial purposes. When this point is
effected, different trading houses will bo established at stations, that your
knowledge of the coast and its commerce point out to be the most advan-
tageous.' In his Memorial, however, Meares says : ' Mr Colnett was directed
to fix his residence at Nootka Sound, and, with that view, to erect a substan-
tial house on the spot which your Memorialist had purchased in the preceduig
year ; as will appear by a copy of his instructions. '

" The Chinamen, according to Tobar, Informe, complained that they had
been enticed away from tlieir country to go to Bengal, but found the |)lan to
bo to furnish each with a Kanaka wife and thus settle Nootka. The ]<]nglish
say in later <locuments that the Chinamen were taken by the Spaniards and
put to work; but what became of them does not appear.

'*In Meares' appendix is given Hudson's receipt for 203 skins from
Fuuter; it ia dated tfuly 2d. He claims that there were a dozen skins miasiuj^.

ilA

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ijilr

212

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

Colnctt, Hudson, and thoir men as prisoners. *They
sailed, the Argonaut under Josv5 Tobar on July 14th,
and the Princess on the 27th, arriving at San Bias on
the 1 5th and 27th of August respectively." Thus,
for this year at least, disastrously came to an end the
brilliant commercial enterprise of Meares and his
associates.

The only other trading voyage of 1789 was that
of Captain Metcalf with two vessels, the Eleonora,
in which he sailed from New York, and the Fair
American, purchased in China and commanded by his
son. He is said to have arrived at Nootka in No-
vember, and to have had one of his vessels seized and
held for a time by the Spaniards;" but as there were
no Spaniards there at that date, the arrival must have
been earlier, or there was no seizure. Of Metcalf's
trading operations nothing is known; but his vessels
met with disaster subsequently at the Sandwich
Islands.

I have not been able to obtain the orijrinal diaries
of the Spanish expedition of 1789, nor has any pre-
ceding writer in English seen them; but to Navar-
rete's brief resum6, which was all that had been known
from Spanish sources, I am able to add statements of
equal importance in the reports c" Tobar, an officer in
the expedition, and of the viceroy Revilla-Gigedo,"
besides a few indirect allusions in the narratives of
later expeditions. The tidings brought back from
Alaska in 1788 respecting the intentions of the Rus-

*' The dates are given in Revilla-Oigedo, Informe. Greenhow and other
writers do not clearly state that the Prinresa was sent to San Bias at all.

^'^Greenhow's Or. and Cal., 224-5, with references to Vancouver, Jarvia,
lugraham, and to newspaper accounts.

"Xiivarrcte, Viages Apdc, 61-3; /(/., in Sutil y Mex., Viage, cvi.-viii.;
RevUla-digedo, Informe del Vireij, 13 df Aliril, 1793, 127-9, in Hustamaiite,
Siiplemenfo a la Hist. . .de Cavo, iii. ; Tobar y Tamnr'.z, Informe gobre Aconte-
cimieiitos de NiUka, 17S4; extracts in Viagero Universal, xxvi. 157-69. This
report contains quite a full statement of the fur-trade and operations of
Eaglish traders, with a description of Nootka and its people; but except in
a few points is not very full on the events attending tho capture of vessels.
Tobar returned to San Bias in command of the Argonaut as a prize; and hia
report was the first account of the capture that reached Mexico and Europe.

V t

1/. I

PKINCESA AND SAN CARLOS.

218

sians and English on the Northwest Coast caused
Viceroy Flores to resolve u[)on the occupation of
Nootka before it shoiikl be taken possession of by nwy
foreign power. For this purpose Martinez and Haro
were sen^j back to the north on the Princcsa and Sua
Carlos, sailing from San Bias on February 17, 1789.
Their insstructions were to conciliate the natives, for
whose conversion friars were sent; to erect baildinga
for the colony, and fortifications for its defence, as well
as an indication of the Spanish sovereignty in that
region ; if Russian or English vessels appeared, to re-
ceive them with all courtesy, but with a manifestation
of the right of Spain, by virtue of discovery, to this
establishment and others that were to be founded;
and after the foundation to send the San Carlos on
an exploring tour, particularly to the coast between
50° and 55°.

Without touching in California the two vessels
reached the latitude of Nootka early in May. Just
outside the entrance of the sound Martinez met Gray
on the Lady Washington, and in a friendly interview
made many inquiries about the vessels within, an-
nounced his intention, as Haswell says, of capturing
the English craft, and gave a strange account of his
own expedition.^* It was on May 6th that the Frincesa
entered the harbor and found the Iphigenla under
Portuguese colors, anxiously awaiting her consort and
in considerable distress, as Captain Douglas stated.
Martinez treated Douglas with every courtesy, prom-
ised to relieve his distress, and went up the sound to
spend a few days with Kcndrick. During his absence
Haro arrived with the San Carlos, on the 13tli; and
next day on his return he summoned Douglas and

^HTasrveH's Voy., MS., 56-7. Martinez said liis vessel with two others
had been fitted out at C'ddiz for discoveries ; liad touched on the coast of New
Spain, and lost most of liis European seamen, supplying their places with
naturalized natives of California. He had been to Bering Strait, found much
snow, and parted with his consorts in a gale. Martinez told a similar story
to Douglas a little later, and added that he had met the Laa,, M itshlniitou to the
northward, and had supplied her with things she needed. Dotajlwi' Journal, in
Mearen' Voj., appendix.

l:i

214

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

l!!!

I||!;

Viana on board the Princesa and declared them to be
his prisoners, sending a force to take possession of the
Iphigenia, on which the Spanish flag was raised."

The chief motive of the seizure, as alleged, was
that clause of the instructions in Portuguese which
required the captain to take Spanish vessels and carry
their men to Macao to be tried for piracy. To enter
a Spanish port with such instructions was deemed by
Martinez sufficient cause for capturing the vessel as
a prize. Douglas protested that the instructions were
misinterpreted; that he had entered the port in dis-
tress; and that he would depart at once if released.
But the Spaniard refused, and made preparations to
send his prize to San Bias.* The Englishmen sus-
pected that Kendrick had instigated the seizure; and
I have little doubt that he did so, at least to the ex-
tent of putting the Iphigenias peculiar papers in their
worst light and encouraging the Spaniard's natural
suspicions. The vessel was unloaded, to be caulked
and otherwise prepared for her voyage, the officers
and men being meanwhile detained on the Spanish
ships.

On reflection Lieutenant Martinez began to fear
that he had gone too far, and was made to under-
stand that he had misinterpreted the Portuguese in-
structions, in which the capture of Spanish, English,
or Russian vessels was made contingent on a previous
attack by them; also that their aim had been against
English rather than Spanish interference. Accord-
ingly on the 26th of May he restored the refitted
Iphigenla to her commander, and furnished all needed
supplies for a V(»yage to the Sandwich Islands, taking

'* These are the dates given in Douglas^ Journal. Gray and Ingraham
make the arrival of the iSaii Carlos and capture of the Iphi/enia on May 10th
and 1 1 th respectively. Douglas' dates are doubtless correct.

'" Martinez at first intended to dismiss with a warning ' the Iphinenia,
wjiich sailed under Portuguese flag, passport from the governor of Macao, and
instructions fiom Juan Caraballo as owner, written in the Portuguese lan-
guage; but it seeming to him that these papers were not ninreros, and con-
tained harsh and insulting expressions, he made him prisoner,' but afterward
released him for lack of men to man the prize, taking a document, etc.
JievUla-Gii/edo, In/orme, 127.

r^f

DOUGLAS, GRAY, AND INGRAHAM.

215

in payment bills on Cavallio and Company, the nomi-
nal owners, and receiving Captain Douglas' signature to
a statement that the vessel had been found at Nookta
in distress, that her navigation had not been stopped,
ami that she had been supplied with all the stores
needed for her voyage. Douglas says that, notwith-
standing this document, which he had signed at the
entreaty of his men to obtain release, the vessel had
been plundered of everything of value, including
articles for trade and his own private property; and
that the supplies were furnished in very limited
quantity at exorbitant prices. There is every rea-
son to believe that this was a gross exaggeration,
though various articles may have been lost or stolon
in the transfers of cargo. He does not claim that
they were personally ill-treated. Gray and Ingraham
testify that "they were treated with all imaginable
kindness, and every attention paid thcm,"^^ that
Douglas and his officers were perfectly satisfied with
the arrangement, and that "the Ijjhigeiiias being de-
tained was oiT infinite service to those who were con-
cerned in her," since it enabled her to start earlier
and in better condition than would otherwise have
been possible. ^^ True, the Americans were not im-
partial witnesses; yet Douglas' signature to the docu-
ment, his own admission of the vessel's distress on
arrival, and the very fact that she did make a very
successful trading cruise, go far to confirm their tes-
timony.^'

An agreement was also sijxned, bindingr the owners
to restore or pay for the vessel, in case the viceroy of

" Graij and fngraliam's Letter, in Oreenhmo's Or. and Cal., 414-15.

'■^ '1mi fin, lejos Jo experimentar perjnicio alguno el jxiquebot la Efijenin,
sua oficialea y tripulacion refrescaron sus vivercs, de que se liallaban bieu
cacasos, saliendo libremente ii navcgar, socoridoa con generosidad todas bus
necesidados.' UcvUla-Oiijido, liifurme, 127.

"'In Vancouvcr'n Voi/., i. 339-90, there is mentioned a docuniont attached
to a letter of Bodega y Cuadra which ia a certificate of Captfiin \'iana to the
giMjd treatment of liimse'if anti fellow-prisoners by Martinez, to the restoration
of vessel and cargo, and to the furnishing of all needed supplies. Greenhow
shows that Vancouver does injustice to Gray and Ingraham in his version of
their testimony.

216

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

New Spain should decide the prize to have been law-
ful. Still another document did Lieutenant Martinez
obtain from the captain, a letter for Mr Funter. Ho
desired to purchase the schooner North West America
at a price fixed by the American officers. Douglas
said that neither he nor Funter had any authority to
sell. Martinez insisted on having a letter for tho
master of the schooner; and at tho last moment
Douglas wrote one. Its purport was that Funter
might act as ho thought best in tho matter; but
there is some reason to believe that it was represented
to Martinez as the desired order for sale. Douglas
himself says, "The moment I had finished my letter
I gave orders to slip the hawser, and made sail out of
tho cove." Meares says that in writing the letter ho
"cautiously avoided any directions to the effect de-
sired, 'availing himself of Don Martinez's ignorance
of the English language." And Martinez a little later
claimed to take the schooner by virtue of an agree-
ment with Douglas. On June 2d the Ijjhigenia sailed,
bound homeward, as the Spaniards and Americans
had been led to believe; but at midnight tacked to
the northward and engaged, as we have s^i-lu, m a
very successful trade. She did not, 1 n'o t, as was
hoped, meet the schooner consort, it was in-

tended to buiri after taking off the and furs.

Meanwhile the Spanish commanu lad t icen for-
mal possession of the port, which he called f" mta Cruz
de Nutka; erected barracks for his men, and formed
a battery of six jr ten guns on Hog Island, command-
ing the entrance to the sound and the anchorage
known as Friendly Cove;^* or possibly they had six-
teen guns in two places. On the arrival of the North
West America on June 9th Martinez took possession,

'* Tobar says the formal act of possession took place June 2ith. Macuina
was shown a collection of flags, and asked which he had seen first, selecting
that of Spain. He also described the first officers as vcstido-< de cobre, alluding
to tho gold lace, etc., of tho Spanish navy; and the men had handkerchiefs
on tho head, 'so that tlie English were confounded, confessing that Jacobo
Koock had deceived tlium, saying in his work that he had been the discoverer
of that port.'

i I

SEIZURE OF THE ARGONAUT.

817

by virtue, as ho claimed, of his a;:^rooincnt with
iJoujj^las, and sent the vcHsel off on a tradinjjj voyage,
])robably f(jr joint account of himself iind his Ameri-
can friends, since Mr Coolidjjfe was put in cliarLCo.
The crew, as already related, was sent to China on tlio
Columbia. When Captain Hudson arrived on the
14th of June on the Princess Iioi/((l he brou<^ht news
of the bankruptcy of Cavalho and Company, whoso
bills to a considerable amount for supi)lies to tlio
Jphi(jenia were held by Martinez; and that oflicer
therefore justified himself in holdinj^ the schooner
as security for the debt, instead of ])ayinj^ for her, aa
he had before deemed himself bountl to do.

The Argonaut arrived on July 3(1, sighting tho
Princess Royal outside without speaking. Captain
Colnett before entering learned from Mr Barnett and
others who came off' in a boat the condition of things
in the harbor, and was advised to anchor outside; but
Lieutenant Martinez came on board with most friendly
assurances, the good faith of which seemed to bo
guaranteed by the kind treatment of Hudson; and
the ship was towed in by the Spanish Lmnch. Until
the next day relations continued friendly; then tho
vessel was seized and pat under- Spanish colors, officers
and men being detained as prisoners. There is nothing
to support the later cliargo that Martinez treachei'-
ously enticed the ship into the harbor for the purpose
of seizure; but every reason to believe that he intended
to treat the /h'joiumt as he had just treated her con-
sort.^ The true reason of the seizure comes out clearly

I u

i ;

" In hi? published narrative of a later voyage, Colnett, Voijaqe to the South
Atlavtic at.'l round Cape Horn into the Pacffic, London, 1708, 4to, pp. i.-iii.,
and note on pji. 90-102, says: 'I had no sooner rceoived Don ^lartincz in my
cabin, than he presented mo a letter from Mr Ilndson . . .Tlio commod'To then
infonned ric, that the vessels under his command were in great distress, Ik )m tho
want of j^rovisions and other necessaries; and rcrpiested mc, in a very urgent
ma*".r.c'., to go intu port, in order to alibrd luni the ncccssaiy suppliuj". I
hesitated, however, to comply with this) demand, as I entei'tained very reason-
able doubts of the pro]iriety of putt'iig myself under tho conunand of two
Spanish men of war. Tiie Spaniard, observing my unwillingness to comply
with his request, assured me, on his word and honor, in the name of the Kiii,^
of Spain ... if I would go into port and rolicve his wants, I should be at liberty

!:i'

218

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

enough from the testimony and circun;stances, oven if
the form or is in some respects vague and contradictory.
Richard Plowe, the American supercargo, and per-
haps other officers of the Columbia accompanied Mar-
tinez on his first visit to Colnett;^* and other American
officers were present at subsequent interviews. They
state that they heard Colnett inform the Si:anish
commander of his purpose to take possession, hoist
the Enghsh flag, erect a fort, and settle a colony at
Nootka. Martinez replied that he had already taken
possession for Spain; and on being pressed for a di-
rect statement whether he would prevent the occupa-
tion, declared that he could permit nothing more tlian
the erection of a tent for the temporary purpose of
obtaining wood and water, after which he was free
to depart." This was just such an interview as would
bo natural under the circumstances; and it is not
likely that Colnett would have persisted in his pur-
pose, though in his disappointment he may have used
strong language. His decision would naturally have
been to leave Nootka and select another site for his
trading-post. In the afternoon of July 4th Colnett
went on board the Princesa to ask permission to sail
inmiediately. Martinez granted it at first, but on
second thought desired to see the Englishman's
papers.^^ Doubtless it had occurred to iiira, or per-
haps had bee'i suggested by his American friends, that
Nootka was not the only available site for a colony,
and that Colnett's des.'re to Sriil so soon was a sus-

to Bail whenever I pleased.' So he went fn. Next morning he got ready some
stords for tlio Spaniard, and on taking 1>'. eaktast gave him a list of the articles,
announcing liis intention of sailing the mime day. Martinez consented, and
otFcrod to send his launch to get the supplies and tow his vessel out, but sent
instead im order to come on board. See continuation in a later note.

'" Howe is named in tlie depositions of the men of the North Went America
and of William Gndiani, attached to Meurcs' Memorinl. Mr Duflin, first oflicer
of the Anjona' ^ '"x his letters, hi., tells us that Colnett and his visiters had
an interview in ti. cabin at which he was net present.

'"drny and fini' uham'x Letter.

'^Biijliii' I Li '" These letters, written at the time by Colnett's first
mati;, are by fj.r t' yi most reliable authority on occurrences connected witli
tl '1 seizuio. Colnett's own statement of later years is, as will be shown here-
after, .m^vol•tlly i belief.

COLNETT AND MARTINEZ.

219

picious circumstance. Colnctt went, however, to his
own vessel and returned with his papers, having put
on the Company's uniform and sword. On reading the
instructions, and perhaps desiring time to have them
correctly interpreted, Martinez informed the captain
that he could not be permitted to sail that day.

Then a quarrel ensued between the commanders., in
consequence of which Colnett was put under arrest and
liis ships were seized as prizes. The exact circum-
stances of the quarrel are not accurately known, though
I append some evidence on the subject.'^' From the

'^Pu„ ^Aetters, writes: 'On which some high words en ed between
them, and Ciijiuiin Colnett insisted ou going out immediately, which lie said
he would do unless the commodore fired a s'lot at him ; if so, ho would then
haul down his colours, and deliver himself up a prisoner: hardly had lio
uttered this, but he was put under an arrest, and his sword taken from him,
the vessel seized . . . ; but what is most particular, ho desired Captain Keudrick
to load his guns with shot, to take a vessel that had only two swivels
mounted; so that it was impossilile to make any resistance.. . The com-
modore's passion now began to abate a little, and he sent for me from the St
Carlos, where I was imprisoned : when I came to him, he seemed to profess a
very f^reat friendship for me, and appeared to be exceedingly sorry for wliat,
he said, his ofHcera compelled him to do. He declared to me, that ho had given
Captain Colnett permission to depart, and would liavc assisted him all in his
power, but that Captain Colnett insisted on erecting a fort opposite his ; said lie
represented the Kin;^ c Great Britain, and that ho came to take possession in
his Britannii'k Majesty s name. The Spaniard (juoted the same, and said ho
was representative of his most Catholic Majesty the King of Spain ; but I
have every reason to suspect there was a misunderstandin;^ between the
two parties, for the linguist spoke Itluglish very imperfectly, and in all likeli-
hood interpreted as many words wrong as right.' Tobar says, Inforine,
lo9-Gi : ' Capitiui Colnet venia con destino de Gobernador do dicho pnerto .i
poaosionarsc y fortificarse para no uexar entrar ni salir euibarcacion alguna de
otra naciou; y seguramente soy do sentir lo hubiera veriiicado, sino eii aquel
Puerto eu nno do los muchos que tiene aquella costa, par;>. euyo efecto traia ya
la casa y el martinote para la entrada. . . li (juien tiivo d bieu el comandanto
do Nootka apresarlo arreglado it la ordenanza, ntendiemlo il la madera ilo
coustruncion quo traia il bordo. ' Navarrete, Sutil ;/ j\lcx., eviii., on the
authority of Martinez states tliat ' Captain Colnett persistently refused to
show Martinez his instructions, using expressions so indecorous and heated
that, liaving exhaustetl the metliods of prudence hitherto employed, our
commander resolved to arrest the British captain within the frigate's cabin,
declaring all the men of the A njoni ut prisoners of war, and to send the vessel
to San Bias at the disposition of the viceroy. Revilla-Gigedos account,
Jii/or,ne, 1J7-8: 'They came under ortlers of James Colnett to take possession
of Nootka, to fortify it, ami establish a factory for trade nnd settlement,
bringing for this purpose the necessary aids, and 21) sangleyes [ChinameiiJ of
ditferent trailes. Colnett wished to proceed at once to tlio founduig of llio^io
establishments, preteiuUng that tlie country had been discovered by Captahi
Cook, and, further, tliat the Portuguese had ceded to t!ie Ijondon trading
company the right of (irst discovery, if Admind Fonte had been tlio first dis-
coverer ; but the commander of our expedition demonstrated to the l']n'.;lish
commandei' his eiToneous and ill-founded designs. Persisting in them, Colnett

',*' )

■l'^

' '.v'

\,i'

i il

imnmaiimiiwuiimiw

220

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

testimony and circumstances it clearly appears that
on Martinez refusing to permit his instant departure,
for which the Spaniard had the best of reasons, Col-
nett lost his temper, used language that the other
deemed insulting, and in his anger insisted on his
right and purpose to establish an English fort, which
action it was Martinez' duty as a Spanish officer to
prevent by the only means within his power, tho
seizure of the vessel. That Colnett claimed the right
or expressed the intention of holding Nootka, though
Martinez through interpreters may have so understood

i|;f

refused to show his patents and instructions, explaining liimself always wiih
much liaughtinesa ; hut as he thought he could not keep it up, ho resolved to
leave Nootka, and set sail. For this purpose he asked the aid of a launch to
raise his anchors, and then Martinez, fearing that the English eapfciin might
estaljliah himself in another port on the coast, from which it would bo dilii-
cult to dislodge liim, again ordered him to show his papers. Colnett continued
his persistent refusal, accompanying it with insulting actions and expressions,
so tliat Martinez, his little patience being exhausted, detiiincd tho Arjonaut
and PriiiccKS liui/a/, sending both vessels to San IJlas.' Colnett himself, I'oy.,
93, siiys: ' I received an order from Don Martinez, to come on board liis ship
and bring with me my papers. This order appeared strange, biit I complied
with it, and went aboard the PriiiC('na. On my coming into his cabin, lie
said he wished to see my papers: on my presenting them to him, lie just
glaiieed his cyea over them, and although he did not understand a, word of tho
hmguage in which they were written, declared tliey were forged, and threw
them disdainfully on the table, saying at the same time, Ishould not sail until
he pleased. On my making some remonstrances at his breacli of faith, and his
forgetfulneiss of that word and honour which he had pledged to nie, ho aroso
in appanMit anger, and went out. I now saw, but too late, the duplicity of
this Spaniard, aud was conversing with the interpreter on the subject, when
having my back towards tlie cabin door, I by cliance cast my eyes on a lonk-
ing-glass, and saw an armed ])arty rushing in behind me. I instantly put my
hanil to my hanger, but before I had time to place myself in a posture of de-
fence, a violent blow brought mc to the ground. I was then ordered into the
stocks, and ch>scly conlinccl; after which, they reized my ship and cargo, iin
prisoned my oiliters, and put my men ia irons.' Afterwanl tlicy 'carried me
from ship to ship, like a crimin.il, rove a halter to tho yard-ann, and fre-
quently threatened me with instant death, by hanging me as a pirate. This
treatment, at length, nearly cost mc my life ; and tlirew mo into so violent a
fever, that I was delirious for several days.' Then follows an account of hia
cruel treatment on the way to San Bias. Evidently his 'delirium' either
began at a very early stage of the quarrel or permanently affected his mind,
Colnett's version of the whole ail'air in conversation widi Vancouver is also
given in tlie hitter's Voij., iii. 4'.)1 et scq. Finally Gray and Ingraham s.av,
Letter : 'In conversing on the subject, after the arrival of tho vessel in port, it
seems Captain Colnett insulted the commodore l)y threatening him, and drew
hia swoi'il in tho J'riwina'n cabin ; on which Don Marline.'', ordered tlie vessel
to be seized. We did not see him draw his sword, but were infoi-med of llio
circumstance by those whoso veracity wo had no reason to doulit. . . Wiuh
respect to tlio treatment of the prisoners. . .wo presume none of tliem will be
backward in confessing that Don E. J. Martinez always treated thom very
kindly, aud all hia uliicurs. '

COLNETT BECOMES INSANE.

9SSh

him, is very improbable and inconsistent with his pro-
posed departure; but the movement recommended in
his papers, perhaps threatened by him openly in hia
wrath, feared by Martinez, and prevented by him in
accordance with his duty, was the departure to build
a fort elsewhere on the coast. Had Colnett kept
quiet and waited a few days, he would probably have
been required by Martinez, after consult,::ition with his
Yankee advisers, to give some guarantee that he
would confine his efforts to the fur-trade and estab-
lish no fort.

The loss of their vessel and of prospective profits
was very disheartening to the traders ; but there is no
reason to suppose that the prisoners were in any way
ill-treated at Nootka or on the voyage to the south.
Colnett, according to his own officers, became tempora-
rily insane in consequence of his excitement, requiring
close watching and even confinement. He thought he
had been condemned to death, and once nearly lost
his life by jumping out of his cabin window.^" It is
only by charitably taking account of liis insanity or
delirium that we can relieve him of the charge of
wilful misrepresentation in a statement made in later
years and already cited.^^ The Princess Royal re-
turned to Nootka on July 14th, and, belonging to
the same company and engaged in the same enterprise,
was also captured. Captain Hudson first entered the
harbor in his boat, leaving the vessel outside, but was
taken; with four men; and then a force was sent to

'" Tobar, Iiiforme, IGl, who was in charge o£ Cohiett, dc8cril)es his attempt
at suicide, and the great difficulty of rescuing him : 'Hallandome al ca)go de
Cota presa, y aun usando do todas his precauciones posibles para el resgiiardo
do los Oliciales prisioneros, no pudo impedir que dicho Coluet se arrojadc al
agua ilesesperadamentc por una do las vontanas de la cAmara con intenco de
ahogarso, pues observe fjuo aun sabiendo nadar no hizo dlligeiicia alguna para
ello ; pero yo mandando picar las amarras del bote, hice ii mis marineros le
ogiosen, y apenos pudicrou hacerlo, sino agarrandole por los cabellos, y desde
entonces procure asegurarle, encerrdndole en un eaniaroto con una centinela
do vista. '

^'Duflin, in hia letters, records Colnett's insanity, and learned from a ser-
vant that it was an hereditary malady. This greatly offended Colnett, and he
obtained from Meares a letter, dated January 1, 1701, in which ho contradicts
the statement which had appeared in his Memorial that there was insanity
iu his family. This letter u published in Colnetl'd Voy., 102.

f :

X-

5.
I

■ V

i'ri;

i >"■

222

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

V. I

bring in the sloop. The Argonaut was sent immedi-
ately, and the sloop a little later, as a prize to San
Bias, under the command of Tobar. Of the voyage
we know nothing beyond Colnett's doubtless exagger-
ated compl.unts of inhuman treatment.

At San Bias, Colnett admits the prisoners were
treated better, though they had been plundered of all
they had. By encouragement that their detention
would be brief, they were induced to repair the ship,
whicV was then employed by the Spaniards in coast
voyages and nearly ruined. Meanwhile the men, after
several had died of fever and one committed suicide,^'
were sent to Tepic and well treated, especially after
the arrival of Bodega y Cuadra. Colnett went to
Mexico, and was much pleased with his treatment
at the hands of Viceroy Bevilla-Gigedo, who finally
gave an order for the restoration of his vessel. On
returning to San Bias the order was obeyed, the
Spaniards settling all accounts, including the wages
of the sea.nen for the time of their detention. Col-
nett claims that he was outrageously cheated in the
settlement, but was obliged by fear of greater evils
to sign a paper "expressing my complete and entire
satisfaction of their usage to me and my people." In
August he sailed, with an order for the release of the
Princess Royal. This is the substance of Colnett's
own statement.^ Bodega y Cuadra stated in 1792
that "Mr Colnett was treated with the greatest dis-
tinction at San Bias, and his officers and crew received
the wages of the Spanish navy for the time of their
detention: that the vessel and cargo were restored,
and that Mr Colnett obtained a great number of skins
on his return to Nootka." Viceroy Revilla-Gigedo
confirms this with some additional details in his re-
port of 1793.=^

'-According to Tobar, Tnfrrme, 168, he cut his throat with a razor in his
rage at rnuliii^ himself a, prisoner.

'^^Cohiett'M^l'o;/., 99-100.

**CiiwIra, in I'aiicouver's Voij., i. 388; lievilla-Gigedo, In/orme, 127-9, 132.
The viceroy says : Viceroy Florea ordcrnd ' ihat the two vessels should bo un-
loaded iu the prosenuo and with intervention of their captains, and that they

OPINION OF THE VICEROY.

223

The viceroy believed that Martinez' acts were
legally justified by the circumstances and by his instruc-
tions, as well as by various royal orders, but thought
.that officer had acted somewhat hastily in bringing
about a controversy in which it would be difficult to
prove the exact truth, and which must cause consider-
able expense to the treasury. He permitted Colnett
and Hudson to visit Mexico and to present their
complaints; and though he regarded those complaints
as for the most part unfounded, he gave orders to
• begin legal proceedings against Martinez. The action
was soon dismissed, however, because the complain-
ants preferred to be released at once rather than
await the issue of what promised to be a long trial.
The alleged reason of their release and that of their
vessels was the friendly relations existing between the
two nations, and the probability that the traders had
acted in ignorance of Spanish rights. It has been
generally supposed from later diplomatic correspond-
ence that the viceroy in restoring the vessels acted
on his own judgment; but it appears from his own
statement that he acted probably in accordance with
orders from Spain, dated January 20, 1790.^

Of Martinez' operations at Nootka after the de-
parture of his prizes we have nothing in addition to
the following from Navarrete:^ "This question being

should sign the formal inventories of everything, giving them certified copies
for their protection and satisfaction at any time, wliether the vessels shonld
be declared or not legitimate prizes. He also ordered that the effects and
provisions liable to decay, loss, and damage should be sold at fair prices, tlie
rest being deposited separately and securely in the royal storehouses. IIo
also disposed that the snow and sloop being unloaded should be given the
necessary repairs, an estimate of cost being formed in advance with ccrtiiied
accounts, all being done with the knowledge and consent of the said English
captain. Finally he ordered very particularly that the latter and their crews
should be left in discreet lil/erty, should be given good treatment and lodgin,';s,
and that to each one should bo given the pay corresponding to liis position
according to the regidation then in force at San Bias.'

^'^ licvilla-Oirjedi), In/orme, 129. This is not quite certain, however.

^'^Viaiies Ap6c., G3. On p. 114 lie says that Martinez, renicnilicring that
in 1774 he had seen a wide entrance in 48" 20', sent a second jiiloto on tiio
schooner Oertradis to explore, anil the strait was found 21 miles wide,
in 48" 30'. It is possible, but unlikely, tiiat Martiniz had lieard nothing of
the strait from Americans or English. The schooner was the captured North
}YeM America, and the trip may have been that under Narvtiez and Coolidge,
ali-eady referred to.

I' ; I

I';; '

224

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

disposed of, Martinez caused to be explored the region
about the port of Santa Cruz, intending to extend his
survey along the coast; but believing this to be risky
v/ith the San Carlos, on account of licr great draught,
he proposed to build a schooner sixty feet long. Then
by the frigate Aranzazu'^'^ ho received an order to re-
turn to the department of San Bias. Before doing
so his second piloto explored in a boat the western
channel, and through it reached the bay of Buena
Esperanza,^ of which he took possession in the name
of his majesty. Martinez also took the artillery from
the fort; piled up the timber prepared for the con-
struction of the house; delivered the small houses
already built to Maquinna,^* chief of the district ; and
on October 31st sailed with the frigate and the new
schooner,*" anchoring at San Bias on December 6th."
It has already been noticed that throughout this
whole affair relations between the Spaniards and
Americans v/ere so friendly as to suggest a secret
understanding. There was not the slightest interfer-
ence with the Columbia or Lady Washington, though
Martinez could hardly have been unaware of the orders
issued in Mexico for the seizure of those werj vessels if
they should enter a Spanish pcH. It was afterward
stated by Spanish ofScials that the Columbia was de-
tained until some doubtful expressions in her papers
had been explained, but there is no other evidence that
such was the case." Martinez' interview -with Gray

" Nothing more is known of this trip of the Aranzas.u, which vessel was
often in California.

^' Still called Esperanza Inlet, just north of Nootka Island.

''The Sjjaniarils wrote his name Macuina, the English and Americans
Maquina,- or sometimes Maqnilla. Mcarcs, Voj., 113, states that Callicum,
the othci chief, was murdered by one of Martinez' oiEccrs in June.

*" Nothing is said of the San Carlos and Aranzazu, but it does not appear
that any vessels were left.

■" Revilla-Gigedo, Informe, 127, says: 'Martinez reconoci6 los pasaportes
do los butjues americanos, y no hallando motivos justos quo Ic ouligasen &
dctenerlos, reqairi6 A sus cipitanes para quo no volviescu il los mares y costaa
del dominio espaiiol, sin permiso do nuestro sobcrano.' 'Mais lo Batiment
portugais, mais les deux Batimens do Boston; comment cchappent-ils h. la
loi? comment ne sont-ils pas aussi dcs interlopes? Lcs Icttres du Mexiqiie
no s'expliquent pas sur le motif de cette diiT(5rence dans les proc^des; ct, sans
doute, on ne voudra pas admettre I'cxplicatiou que les Anglais en out donnde :

INTERNATIONAL COMPLICATIONS.

225

and visit to Kendrick just before the seizure of the
Iphigenia, as I have said, caused Douglas to suspect
very naturally that the Americans had instigated the
act, though Captain Kendrick denied it. Subse-
quently a close intimacy continued; interviews were
frequent; American officers were companions and
witnesses for the Spaniards in all their transactions
^vith the English; Mr Coolidge took charge of one
jf the prizes for a trading cruise, presumably on joint
account. Captain Gray willingly carried the captive
men and stores to China ; and the Americans became
later most friendly witnesses in defence of Martinez'
acts. It by no means follows, however, that the
Americans took any dishonorable advantage of the
quarrel. Their own interests and duty to their
owners required them to get rid of rival traders and
to secure Spanish protection for their own enterprise ;
legally, the Spaniards were prima facie in the light,
and their opponents in the wrong; and I know of no
reason why under the circumstances sympathy sliould
have been contrary to interest. Individually, and in
the disposition of property, there may have been
instances of dishonorable action on the part of botli
Americans and Spaniards; but the testimony is not
sufficient for a conclusion on that point.

Having thus narrated in full occurrences at Nootka
in 1789, it is well, before considering the international
complications that resulted, to glance briefly at the
respective rights and wrongs of Spain and England
in this connection, Portugal and the United States
never having claimed either. Irrespective of her pre-
tended exclusive claims, Spain had an unquestioned
right to found a settlement at any point on the coast
not previously occupied by another nation. Nootka

on ne craignoit pas, disent-ils, la concurrence du Portu^ais; sa nullit6 le
sauva : quant aiix BAiiinena bostoniens, les Espagnols,^ craignoient d'olfenscr
les £tats-Uins y ils ne pouvoient pas oublier quo cea Etats sont bien voisiiia
dea riches Possessions de la Couronne iVEnpagiie dans VAmcriqtte du Nord.'
Fleitricti, in Marrhand, Voy. , i. clxx-i. , with reference to Dalrymplt, the Spanish
Memorial of June 4th Conmlered, London, 1790.
Hist. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. 15

iMi

I- ..i'-i

226

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

was such a point when Martinez took possession in
May 1789, England had no shadow of a right to
make objections.** In seizing the Tphigenia Martinez
gave no cause of offence to England. If the pecu-
liarity of her papers did not justify her seizure, the
Spaniard gave ample satisfaction for his error to ail
concerned, England not being in any sense a ])art3',
and took formal certificates to that effect. Later
the Argonaut and Princess Roijal arrived and were
kindly received by the commander of a Spanish port.
In not permitting Colnett to establish his colony
at Nootka, Martinez must be justified even from an
English point of view ; and he had a perfect right to
seize the vessels if Colnett persisted in his purpose.*'
The vessels were actually seized because Colnett in-
sisted, with violent and insulting language as was
alleged, on carrying out his instructions to found an
English post either at Nootka or elsewhere on the
coast. If it was elsewhere, as I have no doubt
it was, though other writers have not taken that
view of it, then Martinez still did his duty as a
Spanish officer. To have permitted the erection of
an English • fort above or below Nootka would have

^^Mearcs in 1788 had, with chief Maqninna's permission, built a house on
shore for temporary purposes, which was torn down on his departure. Had
he bought the land in good faith, as he claimed, the act would hardly have
given to Portugal any territorial rights, and certainly it could have given
none to England. At the most, if Meares could have proved that he had
bought tlie land in good faith as a private individual, he might as a British
subject have claimed the protection of his government. As a matter of fact
the weight of testimony and probability is tliat he bought no land; and in
any case the theory that his acts gave England a claim to Nx>tka is too absurd
for serious consideration. The only evidence of any weight ever presented
in support of a purchase of the land and raising of the British flag was the
testimony of Mr Duffin in 1792, Vaucouvtr^s Voy., i. 405, that all the land
forming Friendly Cove was bought in his presence from Maquinna and Cal-
licum, m His Britannic Majesty's name, for eight or ten sheets of copper. This
testimony would be more weighty, though by no means conclusive, if it were
given in Mr Duffin's own words. Vancouver cannot be trusted to state fairly
the testimony of either friends or foes.

*^ In case of such seizure England could deem herself aggrieved only by %
failure to comply with the formalities of international law and usage ; but on
this point there was no difference of opinion between the nations ; it waa a
matter to be settled by a careful weighing of the testimony, which was some-
what conflicting as to the way in which the Spaniards hod treated their pris-
oners and disposed of their property.

..,.J„,

. 1

SPAIN AND ENGLAND.

227

been a criminal disregard of his instructions. But
here arose a question to be settled between Spain
and England. Spain had always claimed, by virtue
of prior discovery, the north-west coast as part of
her domain, on which no foreign power had a right
to settle. Prima facie she had this right of exclu-
sive possession, since other nations, if not formally
acknowledging had never successfully disputed its
validity. But England had unquestionably a right to
dispute the claim now; and if by arbitration, diplo-
macy, or war she could obtain Spain's assent to her
views, she would then be entitled to satisfaction for
the insult to her fla;^ at Nootka., and to insist on
damages for the injury done to her subjects by the
seizure of their vessels, imprisonment of their per-
sons, and the breaking-up of their commercial enter-

prise

Jose Tobar, in command of the prize Argonaut,
arrived at San Bias in August and reported to the
viceroy, doubtless bringing communications from Mar-
tinez. These reports were sent at once to Spain,
and through them news first reached Europe of what
had occurred at Nootka. A little earlier, in conse-
quence of the same reports that had caused Martinez
and Haro to be sent to the north-west coast, Spain
had notified Russia of the rumored intention of her
subjects to form trading-posts in the Spanish Califor-
nian dominion south of Prince William Sound; and

**I cannot agree with Jlr Greenhow, Or. and CaL, 198, to whom, as to
most writers, the real issue, the establishment of an English post near Nootka,
seems not to have occurred at all, when he says: 'The seizure of the Argo-
naut, the imprisonment of her other officers and crew, and the spoliation of
her cargo, cannot, however, be defended on those [the violent language of
Colnett] or on any grounds afforded by the evidence of any of the parties ;
for Martinez had no reason to apprehend an attack from the Argotuiut, and ho
had been specially instructed by his immediate superior, the viceroy of Mexico,
to suspend with regard to British vessels on the north-west coasts the cxccn
tion of tlie general orders to Spanish commandants, for the seizure of forci
vessels entering the iiorts of the American dominions. Sti'.l less excusaljlo
was the conduct of JIartinoz towaid the sloop Princess Royal, on her second
arrival.' This is all true, certainly, iu the sense tliat Martinez had no right to
seize the vessels merely because they entered a .Sp;misli port or because their
captain was insolent; but that was by no means liis rcivson.

, '

228

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

the Russian government replied that orders against
such encroachments had been issued, desiring the
Spanish king to put a stop to any such estabhsh-
ments that might have been founded in his pos-
sessions." On receipt of the news from Nootka,
Spain, after having apparently sent orders in January
for the release of the captured vessels, reported the
affair to the English government on February 10,
1790, through her ambassadors in London, at the
same time asking that the men who had planned the
expeditions should be punished, in order to deter
others from making settlements in Spanish territory.
The reply of the British minister on February 26th
was very different from that of Russia and from what
had been expected. It was to the effect that nothing
was known of the facts, but that the act of violence
mentioned by the Spanish ambassador must neces-
sarily suspend all discussion of the claims made until
the seized vessel should be restored and an adequate
atonement made for a proceeding so injurious to
Great Britain.

" The harsh and laconic style in which this answer
was given," to use the words of the Spanish min-
ister, "made the court of Madrid suspect that the
king of Great Britain's ministers were forming other
plans;" and the suspicion was strengthened by reports
of fleets being fitted out for the Mediterranean and
Baltic. The reply meant war indeed, and was so in-
terpreted by Spain, whose government at once began
to make warlike preparations. Spain, however, did
not desire war, and she soon sent another memo-
rial, setting forth that although her right to the
Northwest Coast, founded on treaties and imme-
morial possession, could not be questioned, yet, the
viceroy having restored the vessels, the king was
willing to look upon the affair as concluded without

*' This is the Spanish version in correapondence to be noticed presently.
It is not probable, however, that Russia committed herself to accept the pro-
posed boimdary of Prince William.

■yiT

THE MEARES ME^TORIAL.

229

entering upon discussions or disputes with a friendly
power, and would be content with an order that
British subjects should in future respect Spanish
rights on the coast in question. But England was
by no means ready to issue such an order or to regard
the affair as concluded. H» r answer was dated May
5th, and was a renewal of her remonstrances against
the act of violence, and of her refusal to consider the
question of right until satisfaction should be given:
but to it was joined the declaration that the govern-
ment "cannot at present accede to the pretensions of
absolute sovereignty, commerce, aid navigation, which
appeared to be the principal object of the memorials
of the ambassador;" and that the king would protect
his subjects in the right of continuing thcii fisheries
in the Pacific. Meanwhile preparations for w ar were
hastened in England, and on May 16th a formal de-
mand was presented for the restitution of vessels and
other property at Nootka, indemnification for losses
sustained by English subjects, and an acknowledg-
ment of their right to free navigation, trade, and
fishery, and to the possession of such establishments
as might be formed, with consent of the natives, in
places not previously occupied by other European
nations. A request was also made for a suspension
of armament, to which the Spanish court announced
its willingness to accede, but only on principles of
reciprocity.**

Captain Meares reached London from China at
this juncture, ready of course to furnish any evidence
that might be required of his wrongs at the hands of
the Spaniards. His memorial was dated April 30th,
and was presented to the house of commons on May
13th. I have already had occasion to refer to this
document, which was, like most others of its class in
all countries and times, full of misrepresentations and

^^-

**Up to this point the correspondence is not, so far as I know, extant in
its original form, but is only known from citations and references in later
documents.

I I
I i i

230

THE NOOTKA CONTRO\T:RSY.

exaggerations, in which everything is claimed in the
ho[)o that something may be obtained; but it con-
tained ample material for the national use that it was
intended to serve. His claim for 'actual and prob-
able losses' was $G53,433 and more." On May 25th
George III. made the whole affair known in outline
to parHament, it having been hitherto kept a secret,
and next day was duly thanked for his message by the
lords spiritual and temporal, who offered the most
zealous and effective support for his majesty's warlike
measures.** Mr Alleyne Fitzherbert was sent as am-
bassador to Madrid, and in June and July a corre-
spondence was carried on between him and Count
Florida Blanca, the Spanish minister.*'

In the negotiations referred to, the tone of Spain
was that of a nation whose interest, and therefore
desire, it was to avoid a war. ' Professing a wish for
peace, she was willing to give satisfaction for any in-
sult or pay any losses; and she would make no claim
to territory that did not justly belong to her; but it
was her right to claim that the nature of the satis-
faction, the amount of the losses, and particularly the
justice of her territorial claims, on the invalidity of
which alone depended the offence complained of, should
first be settled by arbitration or otherwise. Her posi-
tion was altogether a just one. It was humiliating
to Spanish pride that the nation was forced in her

"Meares' Memorial. . .on Capture of vessels at Nootka, 1790, was piblished
in London, separately, in tliree editions of 1790 and 1810, besides being
attached to Meares' Voy.

^^Greenhow, Or. and Cal., 203-4, erroneously makes the date of the mes-
sage May 5th.

*^Noiotka, English State Papers o» the Controversy of 1790. This title I
give to a collection of documents published in the Annual lieffister, xxxii.
235-300. Most of them are reprinted in Oreenhow's Or. and Cal., 418-30.
The documents are as follows : May 2jth, king's message to parliament; May
26th, address of the lords in reply; [May 13tTi], substance of Meares' Mftno-
rid; June 4th, declaration of king of Spain to all the European courts; June
13th, Florida Blanca's memorial to Fitzherbert; [June IGJ, Fltzherbert's
answer; June 13th, Elorida Blanca's reply; July 24th, declaration and
counter-declaration of the parties ; June IGth, letter of Count Fernan NuQez
to M. Montmorin, secretai-y of France; [August Cth or 26th], decree of
national assembly of France ; October 28th, Nootka convention ; November
24th, address of lord mayor et al. of Jjoudou to king on the Nootka convention.

MIGHT la RIGHT.

231

weakness to appeal in humility to justice instead
of haughtily asserting her power. Carlos IV. ex-
plained his position, his rights, and especially his un-
willingness to break the peace, in a declaration to the
European courts dated June 4th; lie continued the
preparations begun for war, and on June IGth called
upon Franco for the aid to which, under the family
-'impact, Spain was entitled.

England, on the other hand, ready for war and con-
fident that her rival must yield, maintained the atti-
tude assumed at first; demanded satisfaction for an
outrage on the British fiag; refused to discuss the
question whether or not any outrage had been com-
mitted; claimed the right of her subjects to trade or
settle on the North wei^v, Coast; and declined to admit
any investigation, discussion, or arbitration of Spanish
rights. Of course there was no element of justice or
right in the position assumed: but a powerful nation
in those times needed no such element. Had the
conditions of power been reversed, a corresponding
change in the respective position and tone of the con-
testants would have been noted: Spain haughtily
asserting her right and impatient of all argument;
England humbly but firmly urging her equities, point-
ing to the explorations of Drake, Cook, and other
British navigators, protesting great anxiety for the
tranquillity of Europe, dwelling eloquently on the
interests of other nations in a free fur -trade, and
showing the weakness of a mere discoverer's claim to
exclusive possession of territories which Spain had
made no attempt to occupy or utilize. On the real
merits of the case there were strong arguments to be
presented on both sides; but in this controversy the
merits had no place.

On June 16th Mr Fitzherbert presented as a kind
of ultimatum the willingness of his government to
accept, as a restoration of matters to their original
state and a necessary precedent to friendly negotiation,
an oifer of the Spanish king to give due satisfaction

- -)

I f a

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

for the insult, to restore the vessels, and to indemnify
the owners. The question might also be left open
whether the Iphigenia and North West America were
justly entitled to the protection of the British flag.
Florida Blanoa in his reply of June 18th, while pro-
testing against the principles asserted, consented to
the terras proposed on either of three conditions : that
the insult and satisfaction should be settled by arbi-
tration, England choosing any European king as arbi-
trator; that in the negotiations no facts should be
admitted except such as could be proved ; or that from
the satisfaction no inference should be drawn to affect
the rights of Spain, including the right to demand
counter-satisfaction if it should be found that England
had encroached on Spanish territory in violation of
(existing treaties. The British ambassador accepted a
jnodiiied fi^rm of the last condition; and by a declara-
tion and counter-declaration signed on July 24th the
required promises were given and received by Florida
Blanca and Fitzherbert, with the condition that these
documents were not to affect the rights of either power
to an establishment at Nootka.*

It is stated by Calvo that this agreement was re-
jected by the British cabinet, and that preparations
for war were continued." From a reference' in later
negotiations to the document as still in force I con-
clude that such was not the case, but that negotiations
in accordance with the declarations were begun for
the settlement of the real question at issue. Says
Mr Greenhow: they were "continued at Madrid for

'"TwisB, Or. Quest., 111-12, justly criticises Mr Greenhow's version, to
the effect that these decHrations were solely not to affect the Bpanisii riglit,
whereas the reserration was equally in favor of both powers.

"C'rt/ro, Recueil Complet de Tni'Ma, etc., Paris, 1802, iii. .138-59, which
contains a good account in Spanish of the necotiations and results, including
some of the documents given in the A niiital Register, l)esi(les others not in
that collection. The latter include two private notes of Florida Blanca, one
of January '20th to Count Moutmorin in France, and the other of April Cth to
fJouut Fernan Nunez, both explaining the dif&culties of Spain's position and
the apparent impcjaaibility of taking a finn stand airainst English ))retensions.
There is also a 'plan of what should be done v i, t actual circumstances of
Spain with England.' which treats of military : • i. J.ip) jmutic measures of self-
protection; also another unportant document, -^ l>j mentioned a tittle later.

IMPENDING WAR.

233

three m9nths aft'^r the acceptanre of the Spanish
declaration; duri )<■ which period couriers were con-
stantly flying between that city and London, and the
whole civilized world was kept in suspense and anxiety
as to the result."'** Mr Fitzherbert claimed for Eng-
lishmen the right to trade and settle on any part of
the coast not actually occupied; Florida Blanca pro-
posed to ?dmit the right above 51° and for a distance
of twenty leagues into the interior. Then other
boundaries were suggested, the English ambassador
finally consenting to the lino of 40°, from the Pacific
to the Missouri, beyond which line the territory
should be free to both nations, the subjects of each
having access to settlements of the other; but the
Spaniards declined the proposition.

Already, it will be observed, Great Britain had con-
siderably modified the spirit of her demands, because
in the ever changing developments of the European
; ituation war seemed less and l,ess to be desired as
the days and weeks passed on. It is not necessary
to describe those developments; but the attitude of
France was a controlling element. Louis XVI. was
ready enough to accede to the demands of Spain for
aid, but referred the matter on August 1st to the
national assembly,*^ which body on the 2Gth de-
cided to greatly increase the French armament, and
while promising to observe the defensive and com-
mercial stipulations of the former treaty, clearly im-
plied that France desired peace and could not be relied
on for aid in an offensive war. This action made it
the interest of England nov/, as it had been that of
Spain from the first, to avoid war. With Franco en-
tirely neutral, England would probably have insisted
on a rupture; with F'rance as an ally, Spain would

''^Oreen!u)w'a Or. and CaL, 207; Narrative of the NegotUitiong ofcanoned
by the Dispute between England and Spain in 1790, London (1791), 8vo, vi.
807 pp.

^ Calvo, 348, saya the demand of Ppiiin was made after the agreement of
July !i!4th had boon rejected by England. Acwjrding to the document in th«
Annual Hci/iitfr it was dated June IGth. Greenhow makea the date of the
assembly decree August Otb.

i : -itt.

H:t5

.' if.

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSy.

probably not have yielded without a struggle her
claims to exclusive sovereignty in the north-west;
but with France insisting on peace, an amicable set-
tlement seemed desirable to both disputants."

Fitzherbert accordingly submitted a new proposi-
tion, wliicli d,t'ter discussion and modifications was
agreed upon by both plenipotentiaries. Before sign-
ing it, liowever, Florida Blanca submitted it to a
junta of high Spanish officials, together with a lonff
argument in f*vor of its adoption.*' Ther* was
bitter opposition, for the concessiorn* wmm hun^'^'nting
to Spanish prifle; bat k. was neoe>*ry Vy it,

choosing the lesser of imo evils, and </fj ' )*^AM-r zM}i
was signed the ' Nootka convention,' the <*ubstance
of which I append in a note.^ By this treaty Eng-

" (Ireenliow, citing Tomllnf's Li/f of Pitt, describes Mr Pitt's secret efforts
to BOiuifl the intentions of the French Assembly ; and sayn that it was through
the mediation of uieroljers of that body that new negotiations wor(; opened.
Calvo, Recued, 340, tells us that the proposition canie from the ijuoen of
Poi-tuga).

**lhe d'x^nment is given in full in f'aho, Becmil, 350-5, and is a very
interesting one. The author paints the condition of his country in \'t;ry dark
colors, explaining that it haa neither money nor credit for a foreign war.
Ho takes up the other powers one by one in order to show the prospocts of
gaining foreign alliance ; some are hostile or b'^'.md to the foe ; some are willing
but not worth the having; others would demand too groat a price, llussia
U the most promising ally. The United States has been sounded and is wtU
disposed, but would insist on the free navigation of the Mississippi and or
a large part of Florida. The reply of France shows that she cannot Ijc de-
pended on, as there are a thousand definitions of a ' defer sive' alliiiiicc; and
even if well disposed her strength is unmanageable by reasoi of internal
complications. The count admits that to yield will greatly weaken Spanish
power in America, and encourage the ptetensionF of other p(>wers besides
England.

""'Tlieir Britannic and Catholic majesties, being desirous of tenninating,
by a speedy and solid ngrecnient, the differences which have lately arisen ho-
tweeu the two crowns, have adjudged that the best way of obtaining this salu-
tary object would bo that of an amicable arrangement, wliicii, setting iioide
all retrospective discussion of the rights and pretensions of tl.e two jiarties,
should fix their respective situation for the future on a Iwsis conformable to
their true interests, as well as to the mutual desire with which their said
majesties are animated, of establishing with each other, in everything and in
all places, the most perfect friendship, harmony, and good correspondence. In
this view they iiavo named . . . who . . . have agreed upon the following articles :

' ARTifT.E 1. It is agreed that the buildings and tracts of land, situated on
the north-west coast of the continent of North Amoricia, or on islands iwl-
jaeeiit to that continent, of which the subjects of His Britannic niaiesty were
ui8{)osaes8ed, about the month of April 1789, by », Spjiniih ollicer, shall be ro-
■tored to the said Britieih subjects.

'Akt 2. And furtlier, a just reparation shall be mtde, aecordiug to tho
nature of the case, for all acts of violence or hostility, which may have beew

THE TREATY.

235

land secured, and Spain retained, the riglits of col>
nierce, iiavigation, and settlement on the Pacilic coabo
above San Francisco. Each nation was to have iree
access to the establishments of the other in those
regions. In return for the rights conceded, England
pledged herself to prevent her subjects ft-om carrying
on an illicit trade with the Spanish settlements, or

committed subsequent to the month of April 1789, by the subjects of cither
of the contractLig parties against the subjects of the other; ami tliat, in ciuso
any of the said respective subjects shall, since the same jxTiod, have been
forcibly dispossessed of their lauds, buildings, vessels, merchandise, and other
property whatever, on the said continent, or on the seas or islands adjacent,
tiiey shall Ijo re-established in the possession thereof, or a just compenaatiou
shad be made to them for the losses which they have sustained.

' Ai;t. 3. And, in order to strengthen the bonds of friendship, and to pre-
serve in future a perfect harmony, etc. . .it is agreed, that their respective
subjects shall not be disturbed or molested, either in navigating or carryir^g
on their iishesies in tlic Pacific Ocean, or in the South Seas, or in landing on
the coasts of those seas, in places not already occupied, for tlio purpo.se of
ca'.Tyiug on their commerce with the natives of the country, or of making
settlements there ; the whole subject, nevertheless, to the restrictions specified
in the three following articles:

' Art. 4. His Britannio :najesty engages to take the most effectual mcas-
ares to prevent tho navigation and fishery of his subjects in the racific Ocean,
or in the South Seas, from being made a pretext for illicit tra<lo witli tlio
Spnuish 8ettlein<>nts ; and, with this view, it is moreover expressly stipulated,
tb t British subjects shall not navigate, or carry on their fishery in the said
» js, within the space of ten sea leagues from any part of the coasts akeady
occupied by Spain.

• Aet. 5. It is agreed, that as well in the places which are to l)e restored
to the Br tish subjects, by virtue of the first article, as in all otlier parts of
the i;<jrth- ivestern coasts of North America, or of the islands adjacent, situ-
ated to ths north of the parts of the said coast already occupied by Spain,
wherever the subjects of either of the two powers shall have made settle-
ments since thr month of April 1789, or shall hereafter make any, the subjects
of the otlier shall liave free access, and sliall carry on their trade without any
disturbance or molestation.'

Art. 6. No settlements to be made by subjects of either power on coasts
and islanths of South .^Vmerica south of parts already occupied by Spain ; yet
giibjocts of both powers may land for purposes of fishery and of erecting
temfiorary buildings serving only for those purposes.

kur. 7. In all cases of complaint or infraction of tlio articles of the prch-
«nt <.(mventi()n, the officers of either party, without permitting themselves
previously to commit any violence or act of force, shall bo bound to make an
exact report of tho affair, and of its circumstances, to their respective courts,
wbcj will terminate such diilerenccs in an amicable manner.

Aet. 8. Convention to bo ratified in six weeks or sooner from date of
signature, etc.

Secret Article. [Unknown to Greenhow, Twiss, et al.] Article is to
remain in force only as long as no settlement is made on those coasts by the
subjects of any third power.

To be found in Cati!0,Jieciteil, 356-9; Armucd Register, xxxii. 303-5; Oreeii-
*o?/'V Or and Cat., 476-7; Tmsa' Or. Queai., 113-17; and in many other
works. A copy was sent at once to California, and is iouudin. Arch. CaL, MS.,
Prov. iic. Pap., ix. 309-13.

-^iM)

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

I 1

even from approaching within ten leagues of those
coasts already occupied by Spain; also to found no
permanent establishments below the Spanish posses-
sions in South America, Lands and buildings taken
from British subjects in the Nootka region, that is
if any had been taken, were to be restored. The
ratifications were finally exchanged on November 22d,
in Madrid. In December the matter cam'e up in the
English parliament, where the opposition regarded
. the treaty very much as it had been regarded by the
Spanish junta, as a culpable concest;ion to a foreign
power. In Madrid it seemed simply that the con-
vention opened to English settlement a portion of
Spanish territory in return for concessions which
were but mere acknowledgments of well known Span-
ish rights; but the London view of it was that by
the same convention an Englishman's undoubted right
to trade and settle in any part of America had been
unjustly and needlessly restricted. The average Eng-
lish mind could never comprehend that Spaniards
had any rights worthy of consideration. The opposi-
tion in parliament amounted practically to nothing;
for the ministry had so large a majority that it was
not deemed necessary even to explain the difficulties
suggested by the opposition."

While the Nootka convention was in one sense a
triumph for Great Britain, since she gained the point
at issue, the right to trade and settle on the North-
west Coast, and a humiliation and defeat for Spain,
because she was forced to give up her claims to exclu-
eive rights in that region, yet it was pra,ctically n fair
arrangement, and not less favorable to Spain than

'>'' Ilanmrd'a Parliamentary Dthaief, xxviii.; Oreenhow's Or. avd Cal.,
211-1.5. The use of the date April 1789 inatead of May for tlie Nootka
events was naturally at the time a suspicious circumstance in connection with
the provision of Article 2, that property taken subsequently to April ohoui.i
be restortKl or paid for; yet, althougli carelessness in such a matter wou'n
seem unlikely, it is impoEsible to discover any hidden purpose in tht errrii- to
favor either pari y as against the other. Mr Fox's objection that the treaty left
room on several ix>ints for different iiiterpn tations auJ consequent troubles
was of more weight.

SPAIN RETIRES.

•237

England. Spain's concession was to her, except as a
matter of pride, a slight one, since she had no use for
northern possessions except as a means of protection
against foreign encroachments; while on the other
hand the concessions of her rival, if faithfully carried
out, would be of great practical advantage to her.
Spain might properly have made a similar treaty, not
including the satisfaction for Martinez' acts at Nootka
however, if she had been in condition for war; though
pride and popular sentiment would probably have pre-
vented it.

By the treaty Spain must be deemed to have relin-
quished forever all her claims to sovereignty on the
north-western coasts as founded on discovery. The
region was restored to what may be termed a state of
nature, with the exception of Nootka, which was
already a legitimate Spanish possession, though sub-
sequently abandoned, as we shall see. Within it either
Spain or England might form settlements at any
points not previously occupied, and by this act might
acquire sovereignty over extents of territory to be de-
termined at the time or later when questions of
boundary should arise. T cannot accept the theories
advocated to some extent in later years that Spain,
retaining the sovereignty, simply conceded to English
subjects the privilege of forming settlements within
her territory for spocial pi'.rposes; that the settlements
provided for were mere trading-posts for temporary
use; or that, as Mr Greenhow puts it, "both parties
were by the convention equally excluded . . . from exer-
cising that jurisdiction which is essential to political
sovereignty, over any spot north of the most northern
Spanish settlement on the Pacific."'* It i.s not un-

** Gri«enhow's idea in that the frpe nceess of each to the other's settMraenta
would destroy the sovei 'ignty, Witich seems .an absurdity. He also writes -.
'The convention, in fine established new basi s for the navigation and fishery
of the respective iiartics, and their trade vith the nativea on th« •noccupicd
coasts r>f America ; but it determined nothing regarding tlie ix^ihts of oitlier
to the sovereignty of any portion <if America, except ko far a» si; may imply
Ml abrogation, or rathei i mi-'oensiori. of all such claims, on both sides, to any
of those cojists ■ It was indeed an aorogation of all existing claims, bat not of
the right iu -jfcabhah new ones liy settlement.

'^g^^^-tM^

mma

mmm

238

THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY.

likely that Spain might in later years, had it seemed
for her interest to do so, have claimed that she had
granted nothing more than a privilege of establishing
temporary trading-posts; and indeed there is some
evidence that even now she had a vague hope of main-
taining that the whole territory in question had been
so fully 'occupied' as to preclude any English settle-
ments under the treaty; or at least of insisting on the
Nootka settlement as the southern limit of the rej^ion
free to the British traders.®^ But the meaning of the
treaty is clear, and Spain could not justly object to an
English establishment anywhere above Cape Mendo-
cino at the highest. No controversy ever arose, how-
ever, betvveen the two powers; and indeed it is not
impossible that the secret treaty of alliance, generally
believed to have been signed about this time, contained
a mutual agreement not to found any permanent set-
tlements on the coast.

This matter of sovereignty in the north-west under
the coi vention of October 1790, about which Spain
and El gland never found leisure to quarrel, or even
to intcifere with the trading operations of a third

{)arty, the Americans, assumed some importance in
ater discussions respecting the quality of the title
transmitted by Spain to the United States ; and
another question of interest in the same connection
-vas whether the Nootka treaty was of such a nature
as to be nulHfied by subsequent war between the
contracting parties. These phases of the topic will
receive attention in their proper place.*'

'"Viceroy Revilla Gigedo, Informe 12 de Abril, 179S. 134— '», seems to
havo no suMpicion that the Northwest Coast was thr"N to English

h'adcrs and settlors. He regards Articles ;i and 4 of tin " little iin-

l>artaucc, because there arc 'few or no unoccupied spotti. .wuicii are not
Rulijcct to Spanish domiuijn.' And he mcntiouB a royal order of Deceml>er 'J.'),
ITSM), to tlu- effect that the English could only settle nortii of Xootli;. the
dividing line between our legitimate possessions and the regions ofwu t.r the
reciprocal use and trade of both nations being fixed at 48".'

'"'September G, 1780. The viceroy writes to the governor of California t'""*^
\)y the king's ovder Briti^ii trading vessels must not be molested ; but. if t'-"^
make Hcttlemcnts contrary to the treaty they must be warned and the iuag
informed. Arch. Cat., .\iS., Prov. Si. I'ap., xi. ;]9-40.

CHAPTER VIII.

EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.
1790-1792.

Spanish Rkocoupation of Nootha by Eusa — Fidaloo's Explobatiox in
THE North — Qpimper im the Stratt of Fpca — His Chart — Colnett
AND THE 'Argonaut' — No Fcr-trade — Kendhick's Schemkh— Explo-
rations OF 1791 — The 'San Carlos' — Elisa's Survey of the Stuait—
His Map— The Nootka Coast — The Transpokt 'Aranzazu'— Malas-
pina's Expedition in the • Descudierta' and 'Atkkvioa' — The Gar-
rison—The Boston Traders — Gray and Haswell — KENORifK—
Inoraham — Makchand's Visit and Map — Fleurieu's Essay— Voyages
of 1792 — The Tr.vdf.rs — The 'Columbia Rediviva'— BniLDiN<i of
the 'Adventure' — Haswell's Log — Mauee, Coolidoe, Br(iwn,
Stewart, Baker, Shepherd, Colk — Portuguese Vessels— A French
Trader — Spanish Explorations — CaamaSo in the North — Galiano
AND Vald^s on the ' Sutil' and 'Mexicana' — Thkocoh the Stuait of
Fttoa — Navarrbte's Stmmaey — Vancocveb's ExPLoaiNo Expedition.

YicEROT Flores had resolved to occupy Nootka
on his own responsibility. Why ho ordered Martinoz
to abandon the post is not known; possibly he wa^
frightened at the prospective results of his subordi-
nate's sbcts, or royal orders may simj)ly have required
the presence of the vessels and officers elsewhere.
On October 18, 1789, however, the conde de Revilla
^j-igedo succeeded Flores as viceroy, and ho at once
t«>ok steps to renew the occupation, orders from the
king to that effect hii.ving been received too late to
prevent the recall of Martinez. Similar orders were
renewed after the news of Nootka tsvents had reached
Europe. The new expedition was put under the com-
mand of Lieutenant Francisco Elisa, who sailed on
the ship Coiuepcion, with the snow San Carlos, or

240 EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

Filipino, under Lieutenant Salvador Fidalgo, and the
sloop Princesa Real — that is, the captured Princess
Royal — under Alferez Manuel Quimper.^

The three vessels sailed from San Bias on February
n, 1790, well fitted and supplied for a year, carrying
also a company of volunteer soldiers for garrison duty,"
together with artillery and all the necessary war-storea
for the northern presidio. The voyage was uneventful,
and the first land sighted was at Woody Point. The
two Spanish vessels anchored at Nootka on April 5th,
and the less speedy English prize arrived two days
later.^ Work was at once begun on the restoration of
the old fortification and barracks. The formal act
of possession took place on the 10th, when the flag
was unfurled and saluted by a general discharge of
the newly mounted guns. During the rest of the
year nothing is known to have occurred to disturb
the peaceful monotony of garrison life at Santa Cruz
do Nutka.* The chief Maquinna had retired to some
distance from the port on account of unexplained diffi-
culties with Martinez; but on being assured that a

' Commander Elisa was instnicted to fortify the fort and erect the simple
necessary buildings for storeiiouses, dwellings, and work^jhops. He was to
Beck the friendship of tlie Indians, treating them with discretion, lo^'e, and

i)rudence ; to defend the establishment from every insult, whether from tJie
ndiaas or from the subjects of any foreign power ; not to insist on a minute
examination of their vessels, or on molesting or seizing them, nor even to dis-
lodge tlie Russians from their iixcd establishments, except after receiving
positive orders from the king. He was also directed to despatch hia vessels
at iitting times to carefully explore the coasts, islands, and ports up to 08°,
('ook River, and the strait of Juan de Fnca. Rcvilla Giijedo, Iiijhrme de 12 de
Ahr'd 179,), 130-1. It will be noted that these instrudtions were given before
the controversy between Spain and England was known in Mexico.

^This company seems to have been under tlio command of Don Pedro
Albemi, wlio remained but a short time, left his name attached permanently
to an inlet in Barclay Sound, became very popular with the Indians, and
finally served until death in California. See Hint. Cat., vol. ii. chap, i., this
series.

^ Elian, Salidn de Ion ires buques para Nolka, ano de 1790, MS. diary from
Spanish archives, in Viagea al Norte de CaL, No. 7; also Elka, Tabla diarla
de las huqnes para el jmerto de Nootka, 1790, MS., including the movements
of all three vessels, in Id., No. 9. Navarrete — I'iages Ajxic., 03-4; SxUil
y Mex., Viarjc, cix.-x. — falls into errors respecting the names of the vessels
and the date of arrival.

* ' Se fortified el puerto de Nootka : se formo una poblacion competente,
C(imoda en lo posible, y agradable ; se consiguii'j la buena correspondencia de
los indios por los medios del cambalache 6 comercio, y de alguuas cortas
dddivaa.' Jievilla Ghjedo, JiiJ'orme, 131.

FIDALGO AND QUIMPER'S MOVEMENTS.

new commander had been sent to replace his enemy
he returned and became friendly."

Explorations were in order as soon as the fort was
completed, and on May 4th Lieutenant Fididgo was
despatched to the north on the Fi.lqnno, with inter-
preters of Russian and English. An account of
Fidalgo's investigations on the Alaskan coast, mainly
in the region of Prince William Sound and Cook River,
though of some interest, does not belong here. His
orders Avere on the return to carefully examine the
coast from latitude 57° southward, but bad weather
prevented this, and would not even permit him to
enter Nootka, in the latitude of which he was at the
beginning of September. Accordingly he kept on for
Monterey, where he. arrived on the 15th of September,
spent forty days in refitting, and on the 14th of No*
vembcr was back at San Bias."

It was on the 31st of May that Elisa despatched
the Princesa Real under Alfdrez Quimper to explore
the strait of Fuca, which had been discovered, as we
have seen, by Barclay, and explored for a short dis-
tance from its mouth by Duffin and Gray, perhaps
also by Kendrick and Haro. Quimper explored not
only the strait proper, but the widening farther east,
which he called Seno de Santa Rosa. His progre'^jfi
was slow and his examination a careful one. By the
end of June he had surveyed the northern shore to
the region of the modern Victoria, and had discovered
the main northern channel, which still bears the name
he gave it in honor of his sailing-master. Canal de
Lopez de Haro; then he crossed over to the south
shore, and named for himself what is now Squini
Bay. He surveyed Port Discovery, which he named

''Quimper, Segundo recon. de Fuca, MS.

'^I'ldalfjo, Viage del Paquehot 'Filipino'. . .para loa reconocimie/itos del
Princip" Gtdllcrmo y rio de Cook, 1790, MS., in Viwjea al Nortf de Gal., No. 8;
also Fidalijo, Tabia que manijiesta, etc., MS., in Id., No. 10; lievilln Gi'jedo,
Iilforme, 140-1; Kavarrcte, I'iages Ap6c., G'l-G; Id., in Sutil y Mcxicana,
I'tar/e, ci.\.-xii. December 11, 1790, the viceroy has heard of the arriv.il of
the Sail Cdrlo-'i and Princesa Ileal at Monterey. Arch. CaL, MS., Prov. Ht.
Pop., ix. '24'].

Hist. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. 16

I:: y I

242

EXPLOIUNO AND COMMERCTAL EXPEDITIONS.

Bodega y Ciiadra; but ho mistook the nature f)f the
nuuii passage to southern waters, the mouth of which
he named Ensenada de Caamano. Sent northward in
boats, his men discovered also the secondary northern
channel, Boca de Fidalgo, now Rosario Strait. The
details of his survey are best shown on the appended
copy of his chart.'

^ ,j iSL.Df DA RO?/iV!-Vt^Fta.iJo Moreno do laVe<ja •"■''' C

'i" ,, '": ' ST A. nosA \

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Pta.de Menondez^'

Quimper's Map, 1790.

Though Quimper was the first discoverer of all this
region, the names applied by him were with a single
exception not peimanent; Squim Bay should bear his
name rather than that of Budd or Washington. On
the 18th of July he turned westward and followed
the southern shore of the strait to the ocean, taking
formal possession on the 1st of August at Port Nunez
Gaona, or Neah Bay, as he had at several points be-

' Chart made by the piloto, Gonzalo Lopez de Haro ; copy obtained by the
United States Govcminent from ^Madrid, and published in L'eply of the United
Slalt's. . .1S7~, in connection with the San Juan boundary dispute. For con-
venience I have omitted in my copy the western portion of the strait. The
names on the part omitted in their order from the entrance eastward arc aa
follows: North sliore, Pfa Bonilla, Pto de S. Juan or Narvaez, Rio Sombrio,
Pta Ma(idal( mi; south shore, Pla de Mariimz, Pta de liada, B. de Nuuez
Vaona, jLJns. de Roxas ; below the entrance on the Pacific are Pta de Jlijosa
and Boca de Alara. Ml, Carmelo and sierra of S. Antonio are in the north-
east and south-east, just beyond the limits of my copy. - '

rmiTnER op colnett.

Mt.'

fore' On leaving port the sloop steered for Xootka,
but she ct)uld not make the port, anil was driven soudi-
wai'd. Finally on August 13th she gave U}) the eflort
and turned her prow toward Monterey, where she
anchored on the '2d of September. Her consort, the
San Carlos, as we have seen, arrived at the same
port on the 15th, and Quimper and Fidalgo reached
San Bias together in November.^

Only one vessel besides those of the Spanish expe-
dition just described is known to have visited tho
Northwest Coast in 1790; that one was tho Arc/o-
naut, in which Captain Colnett after his release sailed
from San Bias, probably in August. lie had on board
the crews of both vessels, and an order for the de-
livery of the Princess Royal at Nootka, but on reach-
ing that port he did not find the sloop. He behoved
the Spaniards had deceived him intentionally;^" but
we have seen that unforeseen circumstances had com-
pelled Quimper to sail soutliward earlier than had been
intended, and he had probably passed Colnett on tho
way. It was said that the irate Englishman, not-
withstanding his distress, obtained a valuable lot of
furs before he left Nootka." However this may
have been, Colnett left the coast and, miraculously as
he thinks, arrived safely at ]\Iacao. The next year ho
received his sloop from Quimper at the Hawaiian
Islands. Thus, though the Spaniards had obtained a
few skins in the course of their explorations, the fur-

*The full act of possession is given in the diary. Neah Bay is errone-
ously stated by Grccnliow, Davidson, and others to bo the Poverty Cove of
the American traders, but Gray's Poverty Cove was on tho northern shore.
See last chapter; also Jlaswell'n Loij, MS., 93. Grecnhow, Or. and Cat., also
implies that the name Canal de Giiemes was given by Quimper, and states
that he returned to Nootka, though this author seems to have seen the orig-
inal diary.

^Quimper, Segundo reconocimknto de la entrada de Fuca y rosta comprcn-
dida iidre ella y la de Nootka, hecho el uiio de ll'JO, MS., in Viai/(s al Nortn
de Cal., No. 11. To this diary 'and table is added a long account of the
Nootka region, its people, language, etc., including an account translated
from one prepared by Mr Ingraham of the Columbia in ITS'J.

^"iWnetl'n To//., 101. He says that the orders of the .Spanish commander
(Quimper), which he saw when he met him later, showed that it had been im-
possible to meet him at Nootka; but this is not very intelligible.

" Cuadra, in Vaucouver'a Voy., i. 38^.

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EXPLORING AND COMMERCUL EXPEDITIONS.

trade had been practically suspended for the year.
Captain Kendrick might have reaped a rich harvest
in the Lady vVashington, but he was never in liaito,
and lost the season by remaining in China engaged
in other schemes."

Commander Elisa had remained at Nootka with the
garrison; and his ship, the Concepcion, had wintered
there.** On February 4, 1791, the San Carlos was
despatched from San Bias under the command of
Alferez Ramon Antonio Saavedra y Guyralda, with
Juan Pantoja y Arriaga as piloto, arriving at Nootka
after a long and stormy passage late in March. Elisa
had orders to complete his exploration of the coast from
Mount St Elias in the north to Trinidad in the south."
He accordingly transferred himself to the smaller
vessel, left Saavedra in charge of the Concepcion and
garrison, and sailed on May 5th. The San Carlos
was accompanied by the schooner Santa Satnrnina, or
Ilorcasitas, under Josd Maria Narvaez." The winds
compelled the explorers to direct their course south-
ward instead of to the north, as they intended. About
fifteen days were spent in a careful examination of

"Haswell, Log of the Columbia, MS., 7, says he 'began to make his vessel
a brig. Th-s operation being under his directions, took such a length of time
that he lost bis season. ' Greenhow tells us Kendrick ' had been engaged, since
1780, in various speculations, one of ^vhich was the collection and transporta-
tion to China of the odoriferous wood called sandal, which grows in many of
the tropical islands of the Pacific, and ia in great demand throughout the
Celestial Empire. Vancouver pronounced the scheme chimerical ; but expe-
rience has proved that it was founded on just calculations.' Kelley, letter of
January 1, 1810, in Thornton's Or. Hist., M8., 89, incorrectlv states that Ken-
drick had remained over from 1789, ^nd in the winter of 1790 built a Fort
Washington at Mawinah, making a trip into the Fuca Sea later. All this ia
a confused allusion to earlier and later evonte.

"Navarrete, Vial/en Ajnie., 115, says tlmt the two vessels suflFered much,
until the Princeaa had to be sent south with 32 sick men, suffering with
scurvy, etc. But this does not agree at all with the facts as shown by
Quimper's diary, since it is hardly possible that the sloop went back to
Nootka in the winter after reaching San Bios in November 1790.

'• Particularly the entrada de Biicareli, strait of Fonte, port Cayuela, boca
de Carrasco, strait of Fuca, entrada de Heceta, and port of Trinidad.

''The presence of this schooner at Nootka is not explained; neither is it
Rny where stated what had become of the North Wcxl Amrrica, or Oer'nidis
of 1789. Later the Santa Satuminn and Horcasitas are mentioned as diatioct
vefebela.

MOVEMENTS OF ELISA.

245

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Eusa's Map, 1701.

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EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

Cayuela, or Clayoquot, and the adjoining region."
Then the snow entered the strait of Fuca, and on
^lay 29th anchored in Quimper's ]iort of Cordoba,
■while the schooner first explored the Boca de Car-
rasco, in Barclay Sound. From Cordoba the boat was
first sent out under the second piloto, Jos6 Verdia, to
survey the Haro Channel; but the hostile actions of
the natives, some of whom were killed, caused the
party to return. On June 1 6th, however, Narvaez
having arrived, the schooner and launch, prepared for
defence, again entered the channel, and continued
their search in this and subsequent entrances until
August 7th. What they accomplished is best shown
by the accompanying copy of their chart.

In the south-east Elisa added nothing to Quimper's
survey beyond discovering that the bight of Caamano
was the entrance to an unexplored southern channel;
but eastward and north-westward a very complete
examination was made of the complicated maze of
i:dands and channels, into the great gulf of Georgia,
which was named the Gran Canal de Nuestra Seuora
del Rosario la Marinera, and up that channel past
Tejada Island to 50°." Several inlets extending east-
ward and north-eastwaid into the interior were dis-
covered, which might afford the desired passage to
the Atlantic, but their exploration had to be post-
poned for a later expedition. Several names, such as
San Juan, GUemes, Tejada Island, and Port Los
Angeles, are retained on modern maps as applied by
Llisa, while others given by him and Quimper, such
as Rosario, Caamano, Fidalgo, and C(5rdoba, are still

'"Pnntoja, with the launch, from the 11th to the 19th, explored what ia
ciillod the north-west in(;uth of the [)ort. The names applied were bocas de
isddretlra. gulf of San Ju<n Uatit-gld, canal do ^an Antonio, port >a)» Isiilro,
ip and .S'(i/» Pedro, hay San Rnfael, canul do San Francisco, Iwwia de San
Sdliiininii, caiiul do San Juan Ncpomucuno, and tho gieat jiortH of liucniPii
aiid Oiralile. 'i'lie schooner had meanwhile explored the northern mouth
and several branches, but no names are given.

"On Vancouver's map the name was applied to the channel lietween
Tejada Island and the main, wliy is not ktiown ; and for some eijually mys-
terious reason the name was nj^uin transferred in later years by Eng.ish geog-
raphcra to the narrow soutiieru strait tluit sti.l bears it.

■^\

ELISA'S NOMENCLATURE.

247

Elba's Map of Nootka Coast, 17!)1.

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EXPLORING AND COMMERaAL EXPEDITIONS.

in use, but not as originally applied. The expedition
left the strait in August, on account of prevalent
scurvy among the men. It is not strange that on his
return to Nootka from the labyrinth, Elisa wrote to
the viceroy: "It appears that the oceanic passage so
zealously sought by fondgners, if there is one, cannot
be elsewhere than by this great channel." I append
here another part of Elisa's map, showing the outer
coast from above Nootka down to the entrance of the
strait. It includes not only his own surveys but those
of earlier Spanish voyagers."

In Elisa's absence, perhaps before his departure,
the Aranzazu, commanded by Juan B. Matute, ar-
rived at Nootka from San Bias, presumably with
supplies for the garrison. There was, however, a

Eressing need of certain articles which she had not
rought, and to get these and also the men who had
been left sick in California, the vessel made a trip
to Monterey and back, Matute leaving some of his
mechanics in the north temporarily. He sailed about
May 26th, was at Monterey June 12th to 28th,
and was back again in California befote the end of
August.

All that I know of this trip is derived from frag-
mentary correspondence in the California archives of
the year, showmg Matute's presence and the nature
of his mission. He brought from the north despatches
which were sent to Mexico overland; and he seems

'*The only sonrces of information about this voyage, wholly unknown to
Greenhow and other writers on north-west disL„ »cry, are a riaunU of Pantoja'a
original diary in Naranrle, I'imies Apdr., 114-21, and an extract from the
same diary in Jiepl'i q/'the United Staten, 97-101, from a certified copy of the
original in the Hydrograpliio Bureau in Madrid. The map which I have
copin.d ia from the same source. The parts not copied are the soutliem slioro of
tiie strait and for a short distance belG~v Cape Flatter} , or Point Martinez, on
tlie Pacific shore (as in Quimper's map, already describe' ); also sketch charts
of Clayocuat, Los Angeles, JJuena Esperanza, Nuca, and San Rafael. The
only name in the extract from the diary not on the map is Zayas Island.
See also mention of the exp'^dition in Imnila Gifjido, If forme, 141: 'En el
tcrcero (reconocini'ento) pract cado el aflo de 01, se intern^ la goleta Sntuni'ma
que llev6 en su con»erva el Teniente do navio D. Francisco Eliza, mandando
el paquebot S. Cdiioi hasta (I gran canal quo llamaron do Nuestra Seflora del
Rosario. ' A mention in the c iary of Kendrick's arrival at Nootka on July I'Jth
may indicate that one of Elisi's vessels returned before August.

MALASPDfA'S VOYAGE.

240

also to have brought despatches of some importauco
from Mexico to the northern commantler."

Still another Spanish expedition arrived at Nootka,
on the 13th of August, or just about the time of
Elisa's return from the strait of Fuca. The corvettes
Descubierta and Atrevida, under the command of
Alejandro Malaspina, engaged in a scientific exploring
voyage round the world, arrived at Acapulco at the
end of 1790 or beginning of 1791. Whether Malaspina
had intended to visit the Northwest Coast or not
does not appear, but here he received from the Span-
ish government a copy of the memoir in which M.
Buache of Paris haa lately attempted to support the
genuineness of Maldonado'3 discoveries, with orders
to verify the existence or non-existence of the strait
which Maldonado pretended to have found. The two
vessels sailed from Acapulco on the 1st of May, the
Atrevida being under the command of Jos6 do Busta-
niante y Guerra; and land was first sighted on the
23d of June, in the region of Mount Edgecombe.
Of their explorations on the Alaskan coast suffice it
to say that nostrait was found; and when about the
1st of August they entered the waters of the North-
west Coast, the weather permitted no observations
until on August 13th they anchored at Nootka.

The observatory was at once set up on shore, and
fifteen days were spent in a scientific survey of the
adjoining region. The only narrative extant contains
not a word about the Spanish garrison or its com-
mander, or any vessels except those of the expedition.
The diaries and scientific observations of Malaspina's
voyage have, however, not been published, and we
have only one account by an officer of the expedition.'"

k\i

i M. .

'M»cA. Cal., MS., Prov. St. Pap., x. 1-2, 9, 22. 32, 30, 45-6, 140. Elisa's
letters are dated April iOth, and Saavedra's May 26th, so that tlie Aranza'.u
sailed from Nootka, if she did not an-ive tliere, after Elisa's departure for his
exploring trip. September 5th. The viceroy orders the governor of California
to supply all demands from Nootka.

^"MahiH/iiiia, Viaqe 1701, in Navarrctf, Viwjes Ap6r., 268-320. It is iin
abridged diary by one of tlie officers, and so far as Alaska is concerned con-
tains information that is tolerably complete. In Jd., 9G-8, is on account of

iil^'

' ■,■1

ft;

**l

250

EXPLORING AND COMMERaAL EXPEDITIONS.

If we may credit Seuor Navarrete, the original man-
uscripts were very complete, and their publication
would have been a credit to the government; still it
is certain that their chief value would not have been
in connection with what we term here the Northwest
Coast. Malaspina sailed on the 28th of August, and
ho made no ooservations of interest or importance
until he reached California."

Of Elisa and his garrison and vessels for the rest
of the year nothing appears in the records, except
that the Sail Carlda and Santa Saturnina returned to
San Bias. Viceroy Revilla-Gigedo says: "Although
various craft of England and the American colonics
frequented the adjacent coasts and ports, some of them
entering Nootka, nothing occurred to cause unpleas-
antness or damage; and our new establishment was
always respected by them, and provided with all that
was needed by the other San Bias vessels, which
brought at the same time the supplies for the pre-
sidios and missions of Alta California.""

Some of the Boston owners were not yet discour-
aged at the comparative failure of their first fur-
trading enterprise; and the Columbia Rediviva was
fitted out for a new voyage, still under the command
of Captain Gray, with Mr Haswell as first mate. The
Columbia sailed from Boston on the 28th of Septem-
ber 1790, and after an uneventful trip anchored at
Clayoquot on tlie 5th of June 1791. "Thence she
proceeded," says Greenhow, " in a few days to the
eastern side of Queen Charlotte's Island, on which, and
on the coasts of the continent and islands in its vicin-

the originnl MSS., maps, plates, etc., and the reasons of their non-publica*
tion. Mulaspinn fell into disgrace with the government in some political
mutters, and this caused n suspension of publication until it was deemed too
late. AH that was known to Greenhow and other writers on the subject
came from a brief account by Navarrete, in Siitil 1/ Mex., Viage, cxiii.-xxiii., in
which Malospina's name was not mentioned. On a map in Jd., atlas, No. 3,
Mahispiua's course above Nootka is laid down.

-' For Malaapinii's visit to Monterey, where he arrived the 13th of Septem-
ber, sou JIIkL L'.iL, i. chap, xxiii., this series.

**Iii:vi,ia Oiyedo, In/oriue, 131.

■

HASWELL'S LOO.

9S1

ity, she remained until Septcrubcr, engaged in trading
and exploring. During this time, Gray explored many
of the inlets and passages between the 54th and the
5Gth parallels, in one of which — most probably the
same afterwards called by Vancouver the Portland
Canal — he penetrated from its entrance, in the lati-
tude of 54 degrees 33 minutes, to the distance of a
hundred miles north-eastward, without reaching its
termination. This inlet he supposed to be the Rio do
Keyes of Admiral Fontd; a part of it was named by
him Massacre Cove, in commemoration of the nmrdor
of Caswell, the second mate, and two seamen of his
vessel, by the natives, on its shore."'^

My copy of Mr Haswell's log begins on the 14th
of August 1791, just before the ship arrived at what
was called Hancock River, an indentation on the
northern end of Queen Charlotte, or Washington
Island.'** Here he met the Hancock, Crowell master,
from Boston.'*' The Columbia sailed on the 19th, and
touching at a few points for skins, directed her course
southward between the great island and the main
without noticeable adventure,'" except meeting the
Hope, Captain Ingraham, from Boston, on the 22d in
53° 2', and arrived at Clayoquot on the 29th. As
they entered, two Spanish vessels were seen passing
southward, doubtless Malaspina's corvettes, which had

** Gmenhotc's Or. and Col., 229-30. He cites the log of the Columhia from
September 28, 1700, to February 20, 1792. Ho says tlie disaster hapi>enc(i on
August 22i], but it must have been earlier.

''//(WifcW'ft Lo'j of (he Columbia liediviva and A dvfnture, 1701-2, MS. This
companion diary to the same ofliccr's voyage of the JauIij Waxhbigtnn in 1788-9
Avas obtaine<l from the same source ; see page 1 87 of this volume. The lii-st pa rt
of the log is missing, the entries Ixiginning with August 14, 1791. It extends
to the arrival of the Columhia in China the 7th of December 1792, but a part
is devote«l to the movements of the Adventure, under llaswell's command.
It is a<locuni«.'i(tof great interest and value, and includes a numl)erof charts.
The original contains albo views of several places, the author having much
s'all with tho pencil.

^^Kelley, Discov. N. W. Coaxt, 3, calls her the Hannah, and says she
an-ivcd at Brown Sound, in 5."/ 13', on August l.")th.

'" The names used are as follows : Port 'J empcft; MnxiiacreCotr; Miirdorrrx'
Cape, o4° 4;j'; \Vashin<]toii /"laud, rA" 5'; llanrocl: I'iv-r, 54° .">'; Cape Ihuirock,
tyV \'; f'a/.e Lookout, 54" 24'; Coi. siica village; T'Ochcond.llh, :.',V 37'; iir.d
Cijte Ilaswell, 52° 5', All are on or about the north-custern part of the
isLmd.

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252

EXPLORINO AND COMMTIRaAL EXPEDITIONS.

sailed from Nootka the day before; and within the
sound they found Cai)tain Kendrick, their former
commander, leisurely engaged in repairing his sloop
at a place he had named Fort Washington.

A week later Gray sailed again for a cruise to
winter quarters, which it was intended to establish
at Bulfinch Sound, the year's trade having proved
only moderately successful, because at the best places
ho had been preceded by Kendrick, or Ingraham, or
Crowell. After being carried south by adverse winds,
and narrowly escaping shipwreck near Cape Flattery,
they returned to Clayoquot on the 1 8th of September,
and resolved to winter there instead of making new
attempts to reach a harbor farther north.*" Kendrick
was still there, but soon departed. A spot near the
native village of Opitseta was selected for winter-
quarters; and before the end of September a house was
built, cannon were mounted, and the frame of a small
sloop was landed from the ship. The keel was laid
on the 3d of October, and from that time the work
was carried on as rapidly as the short dark days and
rainy weather would jicrmit. The natives were very
friendly; there was good shooting of geese and ducks
for the officers, plenty of hard work for all in felling
trees and sawing planks, and no special excitement in
camp until after the end of the year.

Joseph Ingraham, formerly mate of the Lady Wcish-
ington, left Boston in command of the brig/Zope** before
Gray, on September 16, 1790. "On the 1st of June,
Ingraham left the Sandwich Islands, and on the 29th
of the same month he dropped anchor in a harbor on
the south-east side of Queen Charlotte's or Washing-
ton's Island, to which he gave the name of Magee's
Sound, in honor of one of the owners of his vessel.
On the coasts of this island, and of the other islands,

" Kelley says ho returned on the 20th, and that on the Iflth he had anchored
at the village of Alishewat, on the north shore of Fuca Strait.

" Fitted out by Tliomas H. Perkins of Boston, who had been in Canton
in 1787. D(titoninNoi-thWest,'il^.,5. Perkina was also interested with Magee
in building the Margaret.

aoesBs

KEJCDRICK Oy THE COAST.

253

and the continent adjacent on the north and cast, lie
spent the summer in tradin<j, and collectin<; informa-
tion as to the geography and natural history, and tho
iang'.ages, manners, and customs, of the inhabitants,
on all which subjects his journal contains minute and
interesting details; and at the end of the season ho
took his departure" with fifteen hundred skins "for
China, where he arrived on the 1st of December,
I791."»

Captain Kendrick, on the Lady Washington trans-
formed into a briw, arrived on the coast from China"
on the 13th of June. His landing was at Barrel
Sound, where the natives attempted to capture him,
but were repulsed and many of them killed. Not
being ver}' successful in trade in the north, the
captain turned his course down the coast on the
12th of .K«'y and entered Nootka. The Span-
iards aided in towing the brig into port, and were
most hospitable in every way, but the Yankee com-
mander was suspicious, went on up to his old an-
chorage of Mawinah, and having obtained about
eight hundred sea-otter skins, left the sound by
the northern passage, preferring not to risk a second
exposure to the guns of the fort.** He next went
down to Clayoquot, where he was also fortunate
in obtaining many furs before Gray's arrival. After
some repairs, conducted, according to Haswell, in his
usual leisurely manner, Kendrick sailed for China on
the 29th of September.^ During this visit the cap-

** Oitenhow's Or. ami Cat., 220-7. He cites Ingraham's MS. journal anil
an extract from it in the MoHHOchuselts Hist. Col., 1793. Kelley, Ducov.
N. Pr. Cixut, 3, Bays lugraham arrived- appai'ently at Clayoquot, on July
23d. Haswell, Log, MS., 5, says that the Iiopevfas almost ready to leave the
cuast when hor boat, with Mr Crup, was met on August 22d. Crup hinted
that they had been very successful in getting furs. Marcband, Voy., ii. 333,
met Ingraham at Macao. He mentions the lo03 skins.

'" Delano. Narrative, 43, aided Kendrick in fitting out his vessel at Lark
Bay, near Macao, in March.

*' This was Kendrick's version. In an extract from the diarv of FJlisa's voy-
age, liqply of the United States, 100-1, it is said that Kendrick entered 'with
lighted linstocks;' could not understand when hailed ; but later, whrn he had
rcachctl his anchoraee, and was ordered not to trade or anchor in Simuiah
ports, he obayed, asid departed next dav by the noi'thcrn passage.

*'JIa«w€W« LogoflU Vclambia, MS., 7-10, 14, 10.

,:1

154

EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

tain socms to have purchased larfjo tracts of land in
the Nootka region, from the chiefs Macjuiiiiia and
Wicananish, obtaining their marks on his dcodw.'" I
shall speak again of these land titles. Greonhow and
others were perhaps in error, as we shall see, in
statinjj that Kondrick never returned to America
after this year."

'^ Kenilrick's docda are given literally by Hull .T. Kcllcy, Dlseov. N. W.
CooKt, and are worth rcpnxlucing, as follows: July '20, I Till. Deed to John
Kcndrick. (I). 'A certain Harbor in said Nootka Sound, culled ChoAlnctooK,
In which the brigantine Lady H'onhiii'iton lay at onclior on the 'iOtli July
1V9I, mth all the land, rivers, creeks, liarlwrs, islands, etc., with all the pro-
duce of both sea and land appertaining thereto. Unly the saiil J. Kcndrick
dues grant and allow the said Mnr|uiuna)i to live and tisli on the saii) ten-i-
tory, as usual. Tlu) above named territory known by the Indian name Chan-
tactooH, but now hy the name of Sn/e llctreat Harbor. [Signed] Ma(|uiiuuvh,
his X mark [l. s.]; Warclosman, his x mark [l. a.],' and four other natives.
'Witnesses, John Williams, .lohn Redman,' and cloven others. 'A true copy
from the original deed. Attest, J. Howell.' (2). A-iguat o, 1791, 'A certain
Harbor in said Aliassct, called by the natives Cheiicrk'nUtn, in which the brig
Lwli/ IViiKhinjlou lay at anchor August 5, 1701, which is situated in lititudo
49 deg. 50 m. N. and long. 127 dog. 8 m. w. , on the north side of the Sound
Aliasset, being a territorial distance of eighteen miles square, of which t!io
harbor of Clienerkintan is the centre, with all the lands, minerals, etc.
[.Signed] Nory-Youk, his x mark [l. a.],' and throe others. Witnesses as Ixv
fore. {'^). August."), 1701, 'A certain Harbor in New Chattel, culled by the
natives Hootsee-ess, 1 , now called Port Montgomery ... in 49 dog. 40 ni. .v . . .
on the south side of ..no Sound of Ahassefe, now called Massachusetts Sound. . .
eighteen miles square, of which the harlwr of Hootsee-ess. . .is the centre,
etc. [Signed] Tarasson, his x mark [l. a.],' and three others. Witnesses as
above. (4). August 0, 1791, 'The head of Nootka Sound, called by the na-
tives Taahees. . .with the land nine miles round said Tashees, etc. [Signed]
Caarshucomook, his x mark [l. a.], and Hannopy.' (.")). August 11, 1791,
* A territorial distance of eighteen miles north,' south, east, and west from the
village of Opiaitar as a centre, in 49° 10'. 'The above territory known by the
name of Clyoquot.' Signed by Wicananish and five others. Boston, October
30, 1838. Sworn certificates of Samuel Ycndell and James Tremere, sailors on
the Colum/nii and Je^'crnoH in 1791, to the effect that they knew personally of
the purchases of lands. June 20, 183.5, sworn certificate of John Young at
Hawaii, that he had often heard Kcndrick speak of his purchase, and liail
seen his deeds. Witnessed by Henry A. Peirce and Hall J. Kelley. May 1 1 ,
179j, to May 28, 1798, extracts from letters of J. Howell, Captain Kendrick'a
clerk, transmitting and mentioning the deeds. March 1, 1793, letter of Kcn-
drick from the island of King Kong to Thomas Jetferson. He mentions the
purchase, and incloses copies of the deeds to remain in the department of
Btute. He says his title was recognized by the Spaniards, by being excepted
in a deed of lands at Nootka from Mof^uina to Cuodra. He thinks the acqui-
sition a most important one for the United States. KoUey says another large
tract between 47" ami 50° was purchased by Kcndrick for his company, nil
the purclioscs extending some 240 miles. The company's territory embraced,
according to Kelley, all of Cuodra's Island not so! I to Kcndrick and to Spain.
Of course Kelley deems this purchase the strongest possible foundation for
a title in the United States. In a letter of January 1, 1870, in Thornton's
Or. Hist., MS., Kelley writes on the same subject. Ho says the original deeds
are in Ingraham's Journal, in the United States Department of State, and for
printed copies refers to U. S. Goxk Doc., 16 th Con;/., 1st Sr^a., H. liept. No. 43.

**Oreeithow'8Ur.andVal.,22S-d)iit\irgi3,iixJJuiU'ajiIerchaiUit'May.,xiv.5'i5,

A FllEXCn VESSEL.

Two other American trailliii;- vessel;* are named
by Grcenhow as having visited tlio coast this year,
the Jefferson, Roberts, fiom Boston, and the M((r-
(/aret, 5lagee, from ^Jo.. ^'^orlc; but the latter was a
Boston ship of the next >\;ar, and we have no details
of the other's voyage." It is probable that England
was represented ir he fleet of './"Jl" by the (mice,
Captain William Douglas. And now, for the first time
since Lo Perouse's adv<'iit, /tie French apnc'ared on the
scene, in the person ot t'.tiennc Mardiand, who sailed
from Marseilles on December 14, 17'J0, on the Soli<le
for purposes of trade; first sight-d the Northwest
Coast in the vicinity of 57° on the 7th oi ^^.ugust, and
on the 2l8t reached the northern parts of Queen
Charlotte Islands. A «"areful survey and map of
Cloak Bay and Cox Channel was made in the shiii's
boat by Captain Chanal; and by the same olliccr,
aided by the surgeon Roblet, material was obtained
for a long description of the natives and their customs.
Success in trade was very slight, the Americans
having left but few furs. A briji: and boat were seen
on the 2Gth, showing no colors, but thought to be Eng-
lish." From the 28th to the 31st Chanal made in
the shallop an exploration of the coast farther south
as far as Rennell Sound, as shown with the northci-n
survey in the appended copy of his map. Obtaining
few skins, Marchand sailed for Barclay Sound, where
he arrived on the 6th of September; but before he
could enter he saw a ship, doubtless the Columbia,

"Greenhow, "Jr. and Cat., 220, cites the ^fassach^u^ sUs I flit. Col., IT'.'J,
aa containing a tleacription of Hobcrts' visit to certain islands in the Soufh
Pacific. In 1838 James Trciiico certified that he was on the Jcjernuii, Captain
Robinson, which sailed from Loston in November 1789, and was at IVootka
in 1791.

^"Delano's JVar., 43, The author's brother accompanied Douglas. Has-
well tells us that Douglas sailed from Cliina in company with Kcndriok, bat
that they afterward scijaratcd, so that ho may possibly have visited the coast.
The Indians at Clayoquot told Elisa in May that Kendrick and Douglas ii.id
lately left the sound, but this could not have been true. Marchand, I '"/'•' •'•
390, was told by Ingraham at Macao that he ha<l left on the coast two bii'/s
and a schooner, the latter having had two of her men killed by natives of
the Sandwich Islands. They had left a Ixiat to collect skins on tho coast
during the winter, and were to return m the spring.

•' Proliably the American brig Jlope,

V'^

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I i

256

EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

in whose log the sight of a ship in the south-west ia
noted, bound apparently down the coast, and was dis-
couraged from further efforts to trade. He resolved

Mabchahd'b Map, 1701.

to make haste to China and sell his few blcins for
as much as the rival traders coming later would get
for a larger quantity; and he turned from the coast

MAllCHAND'S VOYAGE.

287

the night of the 8th, arriving at Macao by way of
the Sandwich Islands in November, and finding no
market for his furs after all.

The fruit of Marchand's unsuccessful trading voy-
age, so far as my present topic is concerned, was a
description of the north-western portions of Queen
Charlotte Islands by Chanal and Robloc, considerably
more complete and extensive than that of Dixon or
any other earlier navigator, particularly in its presen-
. tation of the natives and their institutions. The orig-
inal log and narratives were developed, however, into
a ponderous work of six volumes, covering a broad
scope of South Sea discovery. Count C. P. Claret
Fleurieu, the French scientist and geographer, was
the editor of the work. As an introduction he gave
a summary of explorations on the Northwest Coast
of America down to the time of Marchand. It was
a paper read before the National Institute of Sciences
and Arts in 1798; and although not free from errors,
was worthy of much praise as one of the earliest and
most complete essays on the subject. Then the editor
presented the relation of Marchand's voyage — that
is, the diaries of Chanal and Roblet, for he did not
have access to Marchand's own narrative at all —
not literally, but in the third person, a very slight
foundation of the original with a vast superstructure
of editorial comment. There is infinitely more of
Fleurieu than of the navigat:)rs, the voyage being in
fact but a pretext for a work on South Sea discovery
and geography. The editor was an able man and a
brilliant writer; but he often wrote carelessly and
fell into occasional errors. At the time of its pub-
lication the work had considerable value on account
of its comprehensive treatment of various subjects;
but now, so far at least as present matters are con-
cerned, it adds nothing to the information obtainable
from better sources.^

**Marchand, Voyage autour du Monde, r»vdnnt Jes anvfen 1790, 17D1, el
1792, par L'tienne Aliirchand, prMdi d'unt inlroducUon hintorique ; aunuel o»
Hmt. M. W. Coaat, Vol. I. IT

\ ' I

; I ' ;

smmmmam

S58

EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

Not less than twenty-eight vessels, and probably
a few more, visited the north-west coast in 1792.
More than half of the number were engaged in the
fur-trade, under the flags of France, Portugal, Eng-
land, and the United States.^ Five of them came
expressly to make geographical explorations. The
rest brought government commissioners on diplomatic
missions, or supplies for garrison and national vessels,
or despatches to commanders. Let us first follow the
movements of the traders:

We left Captain Gray with the Columbia in winter
quarters at Clayoquot, hard at work on a new sloop,
the material for which had been brought in part from
Boston. Fort Defence and Adventure Cove were
the local names applied, most of the men living in
the house on shore. In February a plot of the
Indians to seize the ship was discovered, and kept
the Americans in great anxiety for many days.
Months of friendly intercourse had removed all fear
of native treachery, and the plot might have been
successful had the Indians not attempted to bribe an
Hawaiian servant to wet the primings of all fire-arms
on a certain night. All but this boy were to be killed,
was his story. By moving the ship to a less exposed
position, strengthening the defences, and a general
discharge of the cannon into the woods at. random,
the attack was prevented on the night appointed ; and

a joint (lea recJwrches sur lea terresaus' rales de Drake, etc. Paris, an vi.-viii.
(1798-1800), 8vo 5 vols., 4to 1 vol. The Introduction is in vol. i. pp. i.-cci.;
Voyage of Marchand, i. 1-204, and ii. ; Geographical observations and
notes, iii. 1-318; Tables of latitude, longitude, etc., iii. 31&-403; Additions
to the relation notes, etc., iii. 405-74; Natural history, iv. 1-494; vi. 316;
Researches on Drake's Discoveries (in Southern Pacific), v. 317-74; Examina-
tion of Roggeween's voyage, v. 375-499 ; List of voyagers and authors cited, v.
601-18; Index, v. 519-59; Proposed changes in the nydrographic uomencla>
ture of the world, vi. 1-82 ; Metric decimal syt tem applied to navigation, vi.
85-149; Maps and plates, vi. pi. i.-xiv. The matter relating to the north-
west coast is found in vol. i. 288; ii. 273; iii. 80-92, 300-5; v. 160-88; ^^.
pi. i., general map; pi. iii., De I'lale's map of 1752; pi. viii., Norfolk Bay;
pi. ix.. Cloak Bay and Cox Sti-ait; pi. x., west coast of Queen Charlotte Islands
(copied on p. 256, this chapter).

"la Sulily Mexit-nna, Vlage, 112, it is stated that the whole number of
trading vessels was 22, of wliich eleven were English, eight American, two
Portuguese, and one French ; but this must be an exaggeration, so far as th«
Euglislt vessels were concerned.

MEETING OF GRAY AND VANCOU\'ER.

2o9

thereafter a strict watch was kept, the friendly rela-
tions of the past being broken off. On the 23d of
February the new sloop, named the Adventure, the
second vessel built within the territory, was launched ;
and by the 2d of April both vessels were ready to
sail for their spring harvest of furs, the new sloop
under the command of Mr Haswell.*"

The vessels parted at Clayoquot, the Columbia going
southward. On the 29th of April, Gray met Van-
couver just below Cape Flattery, and gave that com-
mander an account of his past discoveries, including
the facts that he had not sailed through Fuca Strait
in the Lady Washin(jiton, as had been supposed from
Meares' narrative and map, and that he had — just
before the meeting in this same trip, I suppose —
"been off the mouth of a river, in the latitude of 46°
10', where the outset, or reflux, was so strong as to
prevent his entering for nine days."" The log of the
Columbia on this trip has been lost, with the excep-
tion of a valuable fragment covering the time from
the 7th to the 21st of May." On the former of these
dates Gray discovered and entered the port in lati-
tude 46° 58', called at first Bulfinch Harbor, but later
in the same year Gray Harbor, which name it has
retained." On the 10th he left this port, where he

{ \

f i

■ U\''i

^^HaguxlVs Log of the Columbia, MS., 23-35. Benjamin Harding, the
boatswain, died on March 21at.

*• Vancouver's Voy., i. 2i;j-10. Here also is mentioned the plot of the In-
dians at Clayoquot, under Wicananish. Haswell, Log, MS., 66-7, mentions
the meeting with Vancouver is told him by Gray at their first meeting.
Except this meeting with the English navigator, nothing is known of Gray's
movements until May 7th; but as he may not have left Cliyoquot for some
days after April 2d, and nine days were spent off the river's mouth, it is not
likely that those r.uvements were of any special importance.

" This was an extract made in 1816 by MrBulfincli. one of the owners, from
the 2d volume of the log, which subsequently disappeared. The Ist volume,
down to February 1792, was consulted by Groenhow, as we have seen. Tiie
fragment was printed in 1839 in U. S. Gov. Doc.,2oth (Jong., 3<l Sess., II. Re/it.
No. 101, and may bo found in Oreenliow's Or. and Tre/., 23.3-7, 434-6, and also
in wny other books, government reports, and newspapers treating on the
later complications of the famous Oregon question.

*' fiumnch Harbor is the name used in the log ; but Haswell in his log
used the other name in June of the same year; and so does Vancouver in the
same year. There was a Bulfinch Sound where Gray and Ha.=weU met, and
11 was at the meeting probably that the change was agreed upon.

: 1}

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260

EXPLORING ANT COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

was attacked by the Indians, and killed a number of
them," and next day passed over the bar of the port
which he had before been unable to enter, at the
mouth of the great river. This was the Entrada de
Heceta, discovered in 1775 by Heceta, who named its
points San Roque and Frondoso; the Deception Bay
behind Point Disappointment of Meares in 1789.
Earlier in this year it had been seen by Gray him-
self and by Vancouver, but now it was entered for
the first time, and named the Columbia River, from
the vessel's name, the northern and southern points
being called respectively Cape Hancock and Point
Adams. The first anchorage was ten miles within
the entrance, and on the 14th the ship went some
fifteen miles farther up, where she was stopped by
shoals, having taken the wrong channel.** Gray then
dropped down the stream, noting the Chinook village,
and landing in the boat at one point, was visited by
many natives in their canoes, and obtained a good
quantity of furs. Rough weather did not permit the
ship to recross the bar till the 20th, and next day
our fragment of the log comes to an end.

This achievement of Gray, which Americans ch*. pq
to regard as the 'discovery of the Columbia, figured
very prominently, as we shall see, in the interna-
tional discussions of later years.** From the river

*^Ha8welVs Log, MS., 67. The fight is not mentioned in the Columbiana
log, aud may therefore be an error of Haswell.

*^ Haswell says they 'went up about 30 miles and doubted not it was nav-
igable upwards of a hundred. '

*' I shall have occasion iu this and later volumes to name the works in
which Gray's voyage is described or mentioned ; but none of them add any-
thing to the original log which I have cited ; and the errors made axe not
BuiBciently important to be noted. Captain Robert Gray, who had been in
the United States naval service during the revolutionary war, died in ISOO,
leaving a widow aud four children in straitened circumstances. In 1848 a
petition in their behalf was presented to congress, and a committee report,
never acted on, was obtained in favor of a pension of $500 and a township of
land La Oregon. In 1 850 a new memorial was introduced in behalf of Mrs
Gray, and a bill in her favor was passed by the house, but I do not know
whether it ever became a law or led to any practical result. The discovery of
the Columbia was the great service to the United States on which the claim
was founded. Congrtanional Globe, 1850-1, pp. 34, 203, 595, 612. In 18G0 Mi
Thornton presented to the state of Oregon a silver niudal which ho represented
to have b.eu sauck off iu 1703 in commemoration of the discoveries made ou

THE COLIBrBIA.

261

W-'

!';'.

Gray sailed northward to Naspatee, above Nootka,
and thence to Pintard Sound, apparently what was
known later as Queen Charlotte Sound. At ^"toth
places he was attacked by the Indians, and was obi ged
to kill many of them.*^ As the Columbia left the
sound she met the Adventure, and both vessels pro-
ceeded to Naspatee, where they anchored on the 1 8th
of June. Gray had collected seven hundred sea-otter
and fifteen thousand other akins.*^

Meanwhile Captain Haswell in the Adventure had
made a northern tour after leaving Gray at Clayoquot
on the 2d of April. He had no startling adventures
beyond the ordinary and expected perils of such a
navigation. In trade he was less successful than had
been anticipated, though first in the field, for the
natives said that many vessels were coming, and de-
manded exorbitant prices, two overcoats for a skin
being at many places a current rate; and only two
hundred and thirty-eight skins were purchased. On
the 7th of May he met Captain Magee of the Mar-
garet, with news from home; and early in June he
visited the grave of Mr Caswell, his former associate,
who had been buried at Port Tempest, but whose re-
mains had been removed by the Indians. With the
aid of a chart, by which Haswell's course miglit be
traced, his log would be of great value from a geo-
graphical point of view, for he describes many ports
and gives skccches of some; but most of the places
named he had visited before, and furnishes slight
means for their identification. His course was first

the voyage. Oregon, Journal of Senate, 1800, app., 37^0; nad this medal has
often been spoken of in newspapers, etc. It was, however, the medal inado
in coppor and bronze before Gray started from Boston in 1788; but it is not
impossible that a few were struck off in silver later.

"In Sutil ji Mexicann, I'iwje, 24, we arc told that on the 3d of June the
Indiana from the nortli came to Nootka to complain that a vessel had attack<Kl
them, killing seven and wounding others, besiiles taking by force all tlicir
furs, which they had been unwilling to sell at the price oU'ered. This was
doubtless the first of the two ligiits alluded to by Ilaswull.

**//(MurU'i> Lo<j, MS., 06-7. A chart or sketch is given of Dtiljii\ch Sound,
with Chiclcteset at the eastern point of entrance, NaKjialce or Columbia CoJC
and }Vait Point at the western point, and Ctoonuck at the head, or north.

i:,

t >l I

f :

I f

( ■ r

^- 1

902

EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS,

up the outer coast, into Dixon Entrance, and back to
Cape Scott; then up the strait to the same latitude
as before, and back, the whole amounting to a double
circumnavigation of Queen Charlotte Islands, with an
examination of the mainland coast. Names from the
log are appended.*®

*^ Jfagwell'i) Log of the Adventure, MS., .35-GC. The following are the names
used, with approximate dates and latitudes: April .3d, Cechuhl Cove, in Com-
pany Bay [Barclay Sound ] ; a Higua chief of Hichnht; 7th-8th, pastClayocpiot,
Point Breakers, and Nootka; 9tU, Jlope Dry, lut. 4!)° j', long. VlT'l^'; ICth-
l'2th, still in sight of Nootka and Ahalsell Sound [Msiieranza Inlet; a chart is
given of the two sounds and connecting passages, which I repro<lucc]; 13tli,

Haswell's Map of Nootka, 1792.

CO" IC; Woody Point, five leagues s. E. ; Port Lincoln, a large sound with good
harlK)rs, in 50" -!5', long. 1'28° 30' [Quatsimi SoumlVJ; llth, .")0° 4!>'. six leagues
s. of outwardmost island off C. /nijraham. [Cape Scott]; 17th, Washinglion
Island u.id Vajie IlaswcH [Cape St James], 52^ 10'; liarrel Sound; 18th, ^i'A' .'>';
ToDscomlolth tribe, subject to Ciininiiah, on the strait dividing the island ;
anotlier strait where the coast turns w., in about .")3' '20' [Skiddegate Channel] ;
19th, near Tudents village [Cloak Bay and Cox Channel?] ; ilat, round the n. \v.
point of the island ; 23d, Shoal Inlet, or Neden, lat. W 9', long. 132" 45', seven-
teen leagues E. of 'Tadi'nts; C. Coolidue, seventeen leagues w. s. w., in .54° 15',
long. 134° 13' [?] ; C. Lnokoid, eighteen leagues E. N. e. [Cape Ch.acon on x. sido
of strait?]; 24th, lliuicock Hiver, 54° 5', long. 132° 18' [chief, Cntlar; a chart is
given, with names Ila^ihul Hi' id. Sand Point, ami Muhnhoet [V^irago or Maza-
redo Sound, or Masset Harbor, ou n. side of the isL-ind]; Lejonee is in this

GRAY TELLS VANCOUVER.

The two vessels sailed together from Naapatee on
June 24th, bound for the north; but two days later,
when they had entered the great strait and were
just above 52°, opposite Loblip Sound, the Columbia
struck a rock and was considerably damaged. They
went on, however, for Derby Sound, but lost each
other on the 29th. The Adventure went on and
waited at Derby Sound for her consort, Haswell
fearing that she had sunk. Then she continued her
trip through Dixon Strait and up the Alaskan coast
to about 57°, in the region of the modern Sitka. Has-
well touched at many of the places visited in the
former trips; obtained only seventy -five skins; met
six other trading-vessels at different points; and re-
turning down the outer coast met Gray on the 3d of
September at Port Montgomery, on the south-western
shore of Queen Charlotte Island. Meanwhile the
Columbia, her leak increasing after the parting, had
returned to Naspatee and attempted some repairs,
with the aid of Captain Magee; then she went to
Clayoquot and soon to Nootka. Here the Span-
iards rendered every possible assistance and cour-
tesy/" and when his ship was again in condition Gray
sailed for the north to meet Haswell, as just related.
Both sailed on the 13th of September and reached
Nootka seven days later. Here they met Vancouver

region ; 2Sth-29th , past shoal off f. Lookout ; Sea-Uon rtoclcn, 54° .30', long. 1 .30° o."/ ;
Cape Lookout W. by N.; gales; A damn Strait near; SOtli, viiul and haze iiboiit
the shoal; May lst-'2d,oft'Taik'nts; cliief, C'M»;(ea; 4th,.s.of Tooscondolth; ."itli,
St Tammoiiie (Jove and I'oil Muiilyvrnfrii, o2° '2o' [on \v. side of the islandj;
7th, Barrel Inlet and O -ai/ Cove meeting tlie MarijaiH, Captain Magee;
I'itli, near C Haswell and in mouth of StraU of Font ftliat is, the passage
between Queen Clmrlotte and tlie main]; course toN.; l.ith, 52'4,'i'; opposite
Cumsuah's village [Cumshmva Island .ind Harbor?]; KJth, 'J'oo.irO!iil(it//i Saninf
[Skiddcgate JJay?]; //o/x? Cow n> ar on x.; lOtli, o'.i' 7'; 20tli, over to mainhm I
and Jfatr/irs Island anil Sound, a very ileej) sound running s. E. ; 22d, Ihrli'i
Sound and Allni Cove.; 25th, sailed for Jircrii Sound, but wind prevented;
off C. Lookout; 2Cth, off Tadents; 27th, 54^ .W; 2Sth, abreast of /Jinlrr-H
Core; 30tli, Dow/las Island, 54" 42'; .Slst, C. Lookout e. h. e. and Miirdorers'
Cape N. 4 \v. ; .Tune Ist, 54' 27'; passed Murderers' Cape ; 2(1, Port Tenifx't
ami Caswell's grave; 7th, Brown Sound; 8th-9th, coasted down to 5;}' l.Y;_
1 Itli, Barron llill Bay, 52" 59'; 15th, past Ingraham Cape ami islandu to Woody
Point; 17tli, met (iray, just out of Piiitard Sotiiid; arrived at .\<i:</iii/('t'.

JJ l>"or which, liowever, Cray ami Ingraham furiiislied some valuable testi-
mony, on events of 1789, in their letter of August 'M.

h f ■;;■

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264

EXPLOriNG AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

again, and gave him an account of their discoveries.
On the 22d they sailed for Neah Bay, the Nunez
Gaona of the Spaniards, within the strait of Fuca,
which port it took them four days to reach. Here the
sloop Adventure was sold to Commander Cuadra for
seventy -five choice sea-otter skins, and the Columbia
went across the strait to Poverty Cove, to obtain
wood, water, and masts. From this port the ship
sailed on the 3d of October for home, touching at the
Sandwich Islands and anchoring at Macao on De-
cember 7, 1792."

Gray's is the only one of the trading voyages of
the year that is at all fully recorded, though it is not
unlikely that the logs of other vessels may yet come
to light. The other trips, as incidentally mentioned
by Haswell, Vancouver, and the Spanish voyagers,
may be briefly disposed of here: Ingraham in the
Hope had returned from China; was at Nootka on
the 3d of August, on which date he wrote a letter to
Cuadra; was in company with the Adventure August
21st to 27th about the northern end of Queen Char-
lotte Island; returned to Nootka the 11th of Septem-
ber; sailed for Fuca Strait on the 20th; returned in
company with the Princesa on the 2d of October,
and soon sailed for China. ^'^ James Magee, on the
Margaret, Lamb first mate, sailed from Boston Oc
tober 25, 1791,*^ and reached the Northwest Coast,
just below Cape Scott, April 24, 1792; he first
anchored at Gray Cove, on Queen Charlotte Island,
where he had been ten days when Haswell met him

^^Hagicell'a Log of the Columbia and Advfiiiture, MS., 68 et seq. JaSutil
y Mex'icana, I'iagc, 1 1'2, it is stated that Gray collected 3000 skins.

^'^Snlit I) Mexicana, Vinqe, 116; Haswell s Log, MS., 83, 9*2; Vancouver'a
Voy., i. 400, 410. Greenhow, Or. and Vol., 237, tells us that 'Ingraham
Buliseqiieiitly entered the navy of the United States as a lieutenant, and was
one of the o'.iicers of the il'-fated brig Pikeriiig, of which nothing was ever
hoard after licr di'parturc from the Delaware in August, 1800.'

^' In NUch' L'egWer, xviii. 417, William Smith, afterward famous, is said to
have made his first voy.-ige round the world in the Magiirt, Captain Ma.'jee,
whicli loft Boston the 17th of Octol)cr 1701 — probably the Margaret. Both
this vessel and tho Hope left Boston iu 1702 according to Tufts' List.

MISCELLANEOUS VOYAGES.

on the 7th of May; on account of his ilhioss Mr
Lamb was in command. The vesKsel was a fine one
and well fitted for the cruise, but thus far had ob-
tained few skins. In July he was with Gray, for
whom he brought letters, at- Naspateo; and ho is last
heard of at Nootka late in September." R. D.
Coolidge, perhaps the same man who had been mate
of the Lady Washington in 1789, now commanded the
Grace of New York. He came from China, and was
in company with Haswell in the north in August."
Captains Rogers, Adamson, Barnett, and Douglas
were reported in July by the northern natives to be
on the coast, but nothing further is known of them."*
William Brown commanded the Butterworth, an Eng-
lish trader." The English brig Tliree Brothers was
commanded by Lieutenant Alder of the navy. The
schooner Prince William Henry, Ewen, from London,
and the brig Halcyon, Barclay, from Bengal, are
named in Vancouver's list. He also names the Boston
vessels Lady Washington, Kendrick ; Hancock, Crowell ;
and Jefferson, Roberts; the first two were on the coast
in 1791, and perhaps again this year, though I find
no other evidence. The English sloop Prince Le
Boo, Sharp master, is mentioned as having been
at Nootka. '^ The cutter Jacked, of London, Captain
Stewart, was on the northern coast in August, and
at Nootka in September.*^' The brig Jenny, Captain
James Baker, came from Bristol, bringing two Sand-
wich Island women to Nootka, and arriving on the
7th of October; sailing later for England, she was

^Ilaaipell's Lofi, MS., 54-6, 86, 91; Sutil y Mexicana, Viofje, 116. Green-
how, Or. and Col., 228, says that the Maiyarct was from New York, and
implies that she made a trip in 1790-1, which seems impossible.

^'^IlaswtWs Log, MS., 83-4. Vancouver, Voy., iii. 498, names Costidge aa
master of a brig.

'^HcmwelVa Log, MS., 74-5.

*'Greenhow, Or. and Cal., 223, names Brown as one of the most enter-
prising of the English traders, to whom Vancouver was indol)ted for uscfid
information. In Sulil y Mfxicana, Viaiie, IIC, the Butterworth is described
as an English frigate of .30 guns that brought despatclies to Vancouver.

^ I'micottvcr's Voy., iii. 498; SutU y Mexicana, Viage, 116. The latter
makes it the Prince Leon, Captain Spar.

»»iy«su.e«'« Log, MS., 83, 91 ; Vancouver's Voy., iii. 498.

i'i

H\li

1:1

■ y '1

*Kll

il: '

\^<^

■in

2G0

EXPLORING AND COMMERCT^M EXPEDITIONS.

found by Broughton on November Gth anchored in
the Columbia River.** The Venus, Shepherd com-
niandcr, from Bengal, was met by Vancouver in the
chaimel north of Queen Charlotte Sound on August
17th; she had touched at Nootka." The Florinda,
Thomas Cole commander, 'the most miserable thing
that ever was formed in imitation of the Ark,' loft
Macao in March, arrived on the coast in July, and
was met next day at Tadents by Haswell, who found
her overrun by natives, who but for his arrival would
soon have made her a prize.** The Portuguese Felice
Aventurero, formerly Meares' vessel, came back this
year under Francisco Viana; she left Macao in May,
lost part of her crew at Prince William Sound,
touched later at Queen Charlotte Island, and thence
came down to Nootka before September. '''' A Captain
Mear, possibly the illustrious John Meares, com-
manding an unnamed snow from Bengal, was met in
Dixon Strait in July." Another Portuguese trader
was the Fenix, Captain Josd Andres Tobar, or as
Vancouver says, the Fciiis and St Joseph, Captain
John de Barros Andrede; she was on the island
coast in August, at Nunez Gaona in September, and
sailed for China from Nootka on the last of Septem-
ber. Her supercargo was Mr Duffin, formerly of
the Argonaut, and she carried to China^ one of Van-
couver's officers with despatches. Finally I have to
mention a French vessel, whose business is not clearly
explained; this was the Flavia, of about five hun-
dred tons, commanded by M. Magon, Dupacy second

«" Vanronver^n Voy., i. 415; ii. 72; iii. 498. Grav, IliM. Or., 14, speaks of
the Jevnct, Captain Baker, from Bristol, 'Rhode Isi.and.'

"' Vanrovver'a Voy., i. 37o; iii. 408. 'Chepens' is the captain's name in
Sulil y Mfixkaiia, Vinge, 116.

'^KiJasweWaLotj, MS., 70.

^Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, 115-16; HasirelPa Log, MS., 74-80. He saya
Viana was first mate, Ugon, a Frenchman, being captain. Vancouver, Voy.,
iii. 498, calls Viana's ship the Iphigenia.

'^^llanwelVa Log, MS., 80. Mear had come from Alaska, and had met
Viana's vessel in distress. Perhaps Mear was Vancouver's (iii. 498) Moor,
commanding a snow from Canton.

'5 VaiicvHvcr'H I'o.i., i 40.3, 409-10; iii. 498; TlmwcWH Log,U%., 83-4,91.
Gray m«it tlie Ftnix at the Sandwich Islands in October.

SPANISH VOYAGES.

captain, and Torcklor supercargo; slic arrived at
Nootka on the 2Gth of May, her nii.ssion being, as
was represented, to buy furs for the Asiatic market
and to seek news of the expedition of La Perouse."*
Meeting Haswell on tlie north end of Queen Cliar-
lotte Island in August, Magon represented liis vessel
OS bound from L'Orient Sound to Kamcliatka with
supplies, intending to touch at Unalaska. The super-
cargo was a Russian; from him the Americans re-
ceived a very welcome gift of liquors.*'

It was deemed essential to Spanish interests, for
reasons to be more fully noticed later, to complete as
speedily as possible the exploration begun by Fidalgo,
Quimper, and Elisa in 1791. Accordingly two expe-
ditions were despatched early in 1792. The transport
Aranzazu, under the command of Lieutenant Jacinto
Caamauo, carrying supplies for California as well as
Nootka, sailed from San Bias the 20th of March,
and arrived at Nootka the 14th of May. Her
California cargo was transferred to the Conccp-
cion, which had been in the north for two years,
and which under Elisa's command touched at Mon-
terey the 9th of July on her way to San Blas.*^
Caamano had instructions to explore the coast up
to Port Bucareli, and to search for Fonte Strait;
he started on his trip the 13th of June, arrived
at Bucareli on the 25th,^'' and after a survey of
that northern port he anchored on July 20th at tlio
entrance of Dixon Strait, which he very properly
named Entrada de Perez. From this time until the
end of August was made the first otficial exploration
of the northern end of Queen Charlotte Island, and of

"' ' Este punto nos pareci6 muy Becundario respecto A la derrota que habia
empren Jido. ' Sulil y Mexicana, Viwje, 20.

^^ JJa-iu'eU's Log, MS., 81. Tho Flavia was also met by Coamafio June
29th, at Port Bucareli. He was then seeking uewa of La PtSrouse. Caamafw,
Expi'd., 326.

^Ilisl. Cal., i., cha^i. xxiv., this series.

'^^Rcmlla Oiijedo, L-firme J J df Ahril 1703, 144. ' ic other authorities
are hopelessly couf uaed respecting these two dates.

:' f

!,;

t'ii

1 '■>

lU'

^■■i

208

EXPLORING AND COMMKRCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

the eastern coast of the strait dividing that island
from the main. The Aranzazu was too large and un-
wieldy for such work, and the weather was not favor-
able; yet the survey was a tolerably complete one.
Several of Caamailos names have been retani6d; and
from his charts Vancouver derived much of his pub-
lished information about tlieso regions.'" A copy of
his chart on a small scale is appended. On a chart
that had been obtained from Colnctt, Fonte Strait
was located just above 53°, at the entrance between
what are now Pitt and Princess Royal Islands; but
though Caamano did not roach the head of those
channels, he was certain from the tides that they fur-
nished no interoceanic passage, and he changed the
name from Fonte to Monifio. Intercourse with the
natives is somewhat minutely described, but the only
noticeable adventure was the capture, by treachery, of

" Caairafio'g exploration it, shown on a small scale on map No. 3, in Sutil y
ifexicana, Viage, atlas. The ioUowiiig is a geographical summary of the
voyage in tho strait: July 20th, Fort Floridahlanca [Cloak Bay], 51" 20', on
the north end of Queen Charlotte Island, and south of Ldmjara Island [North
Island]; an anchorage east f the island seems to be called Navarro; 23d-
2ttli, on tho northern or Alaskan coast of the strait; 2Jth, back to t!i6
island from Pi Invisible region sighted ports Estrada and Mazarredo [all
three i. nies on Vancouver's maj), called on some modern maps Masset iSpit,
Massct nrbor, and Virago Sound; one of the latter was Ilaswell's Hancock
Ilivcr]; ••.h, in the archipelago of Once Mil Vir<iene-<, on map Port Nar-
va:z anu Iva Island, S. and N. of tlie archipelago; also Port Qniviixr;
30th, cnte, ' the Canal del Principe [still so called], between the islamls of
Calamiilad 'anks] and Enriqnez [Pitt]; past Iwiy of Oorosliza and Point
Enuano [a pt of Canaveral, also nxentioiiud by Vancouver]; 31st, sought in
vain Colnett'i Port Bala, Point Mala Iiidiada; passed through tho strait
[Nepcan Soui ], between the islands of Compunla [still so called] and
Enrifjucz, into anchorage of Sail Roqiie, or Mai fondo, in bay of San Jos6
[Wright Sound, or mouth of Douglas Channel]; August 1st, ceremony of
taking possession ; 2d, piloto sent to explore tho different channels, named,
after his return on the Cth, Duca y Brazos de Mofdno, 53° 24' [that is, tho
channels "f Grenvillo, Douglas, Gardner, etc.; here Colnett had placed the
strait of Fonte]: one of them, extendina; N. w., by which the Indians said they
went to Queen Charlotte Island, was followed eighteen leagues, and etilled —
or the anchorage at its mouth — port Gastini [Grenville Channel], with island
Sim Miguel [Farrant Island?] and brazo de Maldonado, on maps island .S'a/j
Es'.cvan [still so called; tho island of Gil, E. of Com;iaflia Island, on Van-
couver's map, and still so called, was doubtless niimed by (/aamaflo]; 7th-l 2th,
further explorations; 13th-29th, detained by bad weather; 30tli, through
the Laredo channel, between A ridi-.iihal Island and the coast [names stdl
ri'tained], tho southern point of t'le island being called Santa Ofrtriidis; Slst,
Point Vintuyxen, on map bocas de Cicnega; September 1st, San Joaquin Island
[Scott Island]; 2d, Brooks Bay; 7th, Nootka.

MiVLDOKADO'S OBSKRVATIONS.

two sailers. Thoy were rescued and restored by a
faction ot the Indians wlio would not consent to such
an act in return for kind treatment by the Spaniards.
In addition to the narrative, and to tjeograpnical de-
scriptions, there were added to the diary some obser-

^^ W.^^'l"

CM. S.B,

%.•>"

^l«^"'

ahosv -j^.-m f:i^

'^y-. ^ n IA.OC BAhKI&OC LACALAMIDAO

rMte JfuHfNO

-=^ \ ^iC

CaamaSo's Map, 1792.

vations of animals and plants, by Josd Maldonado.
Emerging from the strait south of the great islands,
Caamano anchored on the 7th of September at
Nootka, and remained there in temporary con? nand
of the garrison until Fidalgo's arrival, sailing the ,3d

?i,

, I-';

270

EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

of October, touching at Monterey on the 2 2d of
October, and arriving at San Bias Feburary 6, 1793."
Viceroy Revilla Gigedo had already made prepara-
tions for an expedition under Lieutenant Maurelle to
complete the exploration of Fuca Strait when Malas-
pina, returning from the north, proposed to make
the new enterprise a branch of his own, furnishing
officers and instruments. This proposal was accepted,
and two schooners were transferred to Acapulco for
outfit. They were the Sutil and Mexicana, com-
manded by Dionisio Galiano and Cayetano Valdds,
with Secundino Salamanca and Juan Vernaci as
lieutenants, Joseph Cordero as draughtsman, and a
crew of seventeen men to each schooner. They
sailed from Acapulco on March 8th, and arrived at
Nootka on the 12th of May, two days before Caa-
mano. It was the 4th of June when they started for
the strait, which they entered next day and anchored
at Nunez Gaona, or Neah Bay. The survey of the
inland waters up to the Tejada Island, or rather re-
survey, for all this region had been explored by
Quimper and Elisa, lasted until the 26th. On the
13th the Spaniards first met a boat from one of the
English vessels, and on the 21st Galiano and Van-
couver met personally, showing to each other their
charts of previous discoveries, and agreeing to carry
on subsequent explorations in company. They worked
together amicably until the 1 2th of July in the chan-
nels about Desolation Sound; but Vancouver, while
freely giving the Spaniards the benefit of his own
labors, would not accept the results of their survey

" Coawiaffo, Expedicion de la corheta Aranzazu al mando del tenlente de
vavio D Jacink) Caamaiio d cojiiprodar la relacion de Fonte, 1793, in Col. Doc,
IikUI., XV. 3^3-03. This is not the original complete diary, but a rdsumA with
extracts. A less complete rdnumd was given by Navarrete, Sulil y Mericana,
Viaii<', cxxiii.-xxxi. 113; Bee also mention in /(/., Viane Apdc, 66, 160-1;
Viiiicouvtr'n Voy., i. 398. 'He appears to bave displaye<i much skill and in-
dustry ill his examinations, as Vancouver mdirectly testifies in hia narrative:
but ho effected no discoveries calculated to throw much light on the geography
of that part of the coast ; and his labors were productive of advantage only
in 80 far as they served to facilitate the movements of the English navigator,
to whom his charta and journals were exhibited at Nootka.' OreenhowH Or,
and Cal., 241, 231.

THE SUTIL AND MEXICANA.

271

as conclusive, insisting on penetrating to the head of
each inlet for himself. This was not agreeable to
Galiano's pride; and though friendly relations were
not disturbed, yet on account of difterences between
the schooners and ships in speed and draught it was
decided to part. The Spaniards continued their survey
in a very careful and effective manner, came out into
the Pacific by a northern passage on the 23d of
August, and on the 30th anchored at Nootka. The
Sutil and Mexicana left Nootka on September 1st,
and were at Monterey from the 22d of October to
the 4th of Novemb'^r, having taken a glance in pass-
ing at the Entrada de Hoceta, so as to be sure of
its identity with the river mouth explored by Gray,
of whose chart the Spaniards had a copy. They
anchored at San Bias on the 23d of November." No
detailed description of their movements is possible
here; their explorations below Tejada Island added
but very little to the earlier ones of Quimper and
Elisa, to whoso maps, already given in this chapter, I
refer the reader ;" while Galiano's survey farther north
is shown on that part of his map which I here repro-
duce." I may add that Galiano on June 20th was

"(S'w<i7 y Mexicana, Relacion del vtage hecho por las goletas. . .fn el aiio de
1793, para rcconocer el Estrerho de Fuca; con una introduccion, etc., Madrid,
1802 ; 8vo, with small folio atlas. The atlas contains a general map of the
whole coast, from Baja California to Alaska, in throe sheets, the northern
sheet showing the explorations of earlier Spanish voyagers ; also, sheet No. 7,
presenting a plan of Cala Do Amigos [Friendly Cove], at Nootka; No. 10,
view of a Nootka festival; No. 11, view of Friendly Cove and Sranish fort;
also portraits of the chiefs Maquinna and Tctacu, with Maria, wife of the
latter. See also Hist. Cal., i., chap, xxiv., this series.

'^ Several of Elisa's names are omitted on Galiano's map, but the additions
are few. Punta de Santa Saturnina becomes Island dc Saf.unm [as it has re-
mained, probably a typographical eiTor, on the later map]. Tlio islands of
Cepeda and Lilng:ira becoiro points on a peninsula, north of which is found
the entrance to tlie Canal de Floricha Blanca, wliilc the place of the southern
entrance is taken by Ensenada del EnijaHO. Seno do Oant'in is a new name fjr
the bay above Point Socorro ; and Punta de Loera becomes Ensenada do Locia.
The Punta and I^aguna de) Garzon become an 'ensenada' of the same name.
The 'bocas' of the Florida Blanca, Carmelo, nnd Moniflo, being explored to
their heads, beoome 'brazos'; and the name of the last is changed to Mavir-
redo. Poliel [.ii.' "rror] is clionged to Forlier, and Cala de Dcscvliiko is adiled
to the boea do \i entuhuysen.

' ' The map is No. 2 of the original atlas, nnd is also found on a larger scale
in Keply of the United States. To the land uortli of the Salida are given, on

'I 1

' ! i

272

EXPLORING AKt) COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

Gauako's Map, 1792.

• i

SPANISH AKD ENGLISH ACCOUNTS.

273

off the mouth of the river afterward called Frascr,
noting the signs of its existence, though assured later
by Vancouver that no such river existed."

Thus Galiano and Valdes had sailed through Fuca
Strait and come out into the Pacific, proving the ex-
istence of another great island, and, what was much
more important to them and their nation, that none
of the strait's many channels afforded the desired or
dreaded passage to the Atlantic. This was the last
Spanish exploring expedition on these coasts, and the
only one whose results were published b}- order of the
government. The journal and maps appeared in 1802,
with a most valuable introductory resume of preceding
voyages by Martin Fernandez de Navarrete; but ex-
cepting the introduction, this work attracted very
little attention, being obscured by the previous ap-
pearance of Vancouver's great work. So far as the
exploration of 1792 is concerned, however, the differ-
ence between the Spanish and English works is very
slight, except in matters pertaining to the printer's
and engraver's arts. Mr Greenhow's contrast between
Galiano's "meagre and uninterestinsf details" and Van-
couver's "full and luminous descriptions" is purely
imaginary, while his severe criticism of Navarrete
has no better foundation than the occurrence of a few
unimportant errors and the occasional display (jf
national prejudice, which is far less marked than i.^
the bitter feeling against all that is Spanish to be
noted in English and 'French writers of the time.
Indeed Navarrete's essay was intended as a reply to
the sneers of Fleurieu and other foreign writers.

No. 3 of the atlas, already copied, the namca islandsi of GaUann and I'alili'/i.
The portit)n in fine line8 in the north Mas taken by Galiano from Vancouver,
and also the portion in the south, not copied, representing Admiralty luk-t
and Hood Channel.

'■" ' Estdbamos ya en agua casi dulce, y veamos flotar grucsos madcros con-
fimidndonos estos indicios en la idea de que la Boca que llnmiilmuios de 1 lot da-
blanca era la de un rio caudaloso.' SiUil y Mtx., Vhnje, G5. 'They ^■ee^K■d
much surprized tliat we had not found a river said to exist in the region wo
had been exploring, and named by one of their officers Rio Blanclio. . .wliich
river these gentlemen had sought for thus far to no purpose.' I'mnounr'a
l^oy., i. ^14. Tims it is possible that Elisa in 1791 had also sctu s.^ua ol vl. river.
IIIST. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. 18

. ^ !

4'^ M

^iiii^.

\ f
I :

It. i

274

EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

An English exploring expedition under the com-
mand of George Vancouver was despatched for the
North Pacific in 1791. Vancouver's instructions,
dated the 8th of March, were to make a thorough
survey of the Sandwich Islands, and of the north-
western coast of America from 30° to 60°, the latter
with a view of finding, if possible, a passage to
the Atlantic, and of learning what establishments
had been founded there by foreign powers. He was
also notified that he might be called on to receive
certain property at Nootka, of which the Spanish
minister had ordered the restoration to British sub-
jects, according to the convention of 1790. He com-
manded the sloop Discovery, carrying twenty guns and
one hundred men, and as consort the tender Cfiatham,
with ten guns and forty-five men, under Lieutenant
W. R. Broughton. The vessels sailed from Falmouth
on the 1st of April, proceeded to the Pacific by way
of Cape Good Hope, and left the Sandwich Islands
for America on the 16th of March 1792.

It was on the 1 7th of April that the coast of New
Albion was sighted just below Cape Mendocino. The
trip up the coast to Cape Flattery, in good weather
and with all conditions favorable for observation, lasted
twelve days, and several new names were applied.'"

On th^ 27th the explorers noted "the appearance
of an inlet, or small river, the land behind not indi-
cating it to be of any great extent; nor did it seem
accessible for vessels of our burden, as the breakers
extended" quite across the opening. It was correctly
identified as Meares' Deception Bay. Two days later
Captain Gray was met on the Columbia, and from him
Vancouver learned that the Lady Washington had not,
under his command at least, sailed through the strait

'* The new names were : Rocly Point, at Point Trinidad ; Point and Bay of
Saint Oeorge and Dragon Iiocks; Cape Orford, from the earl of that mime
(Greenhow 8 criticism, (Jr. and Col., 232, that Vancouver, though inclined to
think the cape identical with Aguilar's Cape Blanco, 'did not scruple' to
name it Orford, is aucccssfully overthrown by Twiss, Or. Quest., 13ft-l);
Point OrenviUe, f'x>m the lord of that name; and Duncan Rock, from the fur-
trader.

THE RIVER AND THE STRAIT.

275

of Fuca, as had been reported — a statement that
caused much satisfaction, since it left a grand field for
discovery open to himself, as he incorrectly supposed.
He also learned from Gray that the latter had found
a great river in the south; but this did not trouble
him, because Gray had been unable to enter it by
reason of the currents, and because "I was thoroughly
convinced, as were also most persons of observation
on board, that we could not possibly have passed any
safe navigable opening, harbour, or place of security
for shipping on this coast, from Cape Mendocino to
the promontory of Classett; nor had we any reason
to alter our opinions, notwithstanding that theoretical
geographers have thought proper to assert, in that
space, the existence of arms of the ocean. . .and ex-
tensive rivers." This record of failure to find the
Columbia River was repeated ad nauseam (Britanni-
cam) by American writers in later controversies, and
this chapter would perhaps be regarded as incomplete
without it:

Entering the strait the last day of April, they fol-
lowed the southern shore to Port Discovery, which
became a station for refitting and for explorations in
the surrounding region." From this station Van-
couver, Menzies, Puget, and Johnstone set out on the
7th of May in yawl, launch, and cutter. In this and
subsequent trips, lasting about a month, the whole
south-eastern extension of the inland sea was discov-
ered, fully explored, and named, as shown by the
annexed copy of Vancouver's map.''^ The record of
adventures and observations, though full of interest

''''New Dungeness, a sandy point resembling Dungeness in the Engliuh Chan-
nel (Quimper's Point Santa Cruz), and Mount Baker in the far distance, dis-
covered by Lieutenant Baker, were the only new names applied west of Port
Discovery; and Loh Anyelea vfaa the only Spanish name put later on Van- 1
couver's map of the southern shore.

"The map also shows, besides Vancouver's southern discoveries of Ad-
miralty Inlet, Iloo'l. Canal, and Pugtt Hound, the northern parts explored
before by Elisa and Quimper. See map already given. Mount liainier, beyond
the limits of my copy, was so named for Rear-admiral Rainier of the British
navj". Other names used in Vancouver's text, but not appearing on the map,
are Marrow-stone Point, Oak Cove, FoulweaUitr Blujj', Jluzel Point, Jlealoror
tion Point, and Cypress Island.

'■ • i

! I
.1111:

876

EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

i^?

1 H a ^i w

fellingham
" Bay

'^•*S„,

Vancocveu's Map. 1792.

'$ ■■

THE EXGLISH NAVIGATORS.

277

FelUngharu

In its details, cannot of course bo reproduced hero,
even en resume. On the king's birthday, the 4th of
June, at Possession Sound, formal possession was
taken in the name of his Britannic majesty of ail the
countries round about these inland waters, including
the outer coast down to 39° 20'; and to the inland
coasts and islands above 45° was given, in honor of the
king, the name of New Georgia, This act of posses-
sion, like previous acts of similar nature by the Span-
iards at half a dozen points within the strait, of course
had no possible force under the Nootka convention;
but the men got an extra allowance of grog, and no
harm was done.

Next the English navigators penetrated the north-
ern channels; but what they found in the gulf of
Georgia, or Canal del Rosario, has already been clearly
enough laid before the reader in the charts of Elisa
and Gahano.™ From June 22d to July 12th the Eng-
lishmen were in company with the Spanish explorers,
as noted in a former part of this chapter. Though
grievously disappointed on learning that he was not,
as he had believed, the discoverer of this north-
western Mediterranean, with its coasts and islands,
Vancouver fully reciprocated the courtesies shown by
the strangers, and consented, as required by his in-
structions, to a joint survey and mutual inspection
of charts.

The operations in company were in the region of
Desolation Sound, and the results are shown on the
appended section of Vancouver's map, which with its

'•Tho Spanish. names retained by Vancouver in this section were Canal
del Roaiiiio, wrongly applied to make room for the name giilf of Georgia,
and Tcjada Island, mis|iiiutcd Fcvada Jind Favidn; but ho also condescended
to leave a few oth'.T point^i, previously named by tlie Spaniards, without any
names at all. His clianges were as follows: Garzon to Hirch Buy, Point
Ccpeda to Poiut Roberts, J.'oint LAurara to Po\nt Ora;/, Florida lilanra to
Durrard fnlct, Cannclo to Iloire ^ioiind (naming also Points Ai/ciii.'ion and
Oore or Giiwer, and islands of rasnaije and Anvil in connection with the
Bound), Mazarredo to JervU Canal, with Scotch Fir Point and Coiicha to
llarmood Idaiid. Points Upwood and Marnliidl were added lo Tcjada
Island, and Savai-y Island was named. Sturyeon Bank ia also named iii
th'e text.

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VANCOUVER'S MOVEMENTS.

279

names may be compared with Galiano's chart of the

same region

Leaving the Spaniards behind, Vancouver proceeded
up the h)ng channel, which he named Johnstone Strait;
thence he sent letters to Nootka overland by Indians
who knew Maquinna, and early in August emerged
into the Pacific, not by the narrow channel followed
a little later by Galiano, but by the wider passage
named in ear-lier years Queen Charlotte Sound, where
now the Chatham grounded and narrowly escaped
wreck. From the 9th to the 19th of August the
vessels followed the coast up to Fitzhugh Sound, and
the boats were sent up to 52° 18', with results shown,
on the accompanying section of the chart Then,
partly by reason of news received from Captain Shep-
herd of the Venus in this region, the commander
turned his course southward, and on the 28th of
August anchored at Nootka. Here he found the
DcBclalus store-ship of his expedition, which had ar-
rived from England by way of the Sandwich Islands,
where the commander Hergest and the astronomer
Gooch had been killed by the natives ; and also the '
brig Three Brothers of London, commanded by Lieu-
tenant Alder of the navy. Galiano and Valdes came
in the next day.

The stay of more than a month at Nootka was not
marked by any occurrences requiring special notice, if
we except certain diplomatic negotiations between
Vancouver and Don Juan de la Bodega y Cuadra,
which I shall notice in the next chapter. Socially,
relations with Cuadra were in every way most friendly;
and the broad territory just proved an island by the
joint English and Spanish survey was named the
Island of Cuadra and Vancouver. The Aranzazu soon
arrived from her northern explorations, and her charts
were placed at the Englishman's disposal.^^ Lieuten-

*" XL'S onlj' name in Vancouver's text not on the map is that oi Alleviation
Inland.

^'It is noticeable that while Vancouver lays down the island coasts from
Rpaiiiah cliavts ho does not note the fact that Nootka is an island, su clearly
sliowu on those charts.

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280 EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

Vancouver's Map, 1792.

,1 , " 1 1

VANCOUVER'S NARRATIVE.

281

>^>*

ant l^.Tiulgc was sent with dcspatclicH to England I'ia
China on a Portuguese trader; and on tlic 13tli of
October tlie Discovery, Chatham, and Dccdalus sailed
together for the south. On the way down the coast
Vancouver made some observations at difterent points
for the purpose of rectifying his charts; named Mount
St Helens; and arrived at San Francisco on Novem-
ber 14th. Lieutenant Whidbey on the Dcedulus made
a survey of Gray Harbor,*^ and reached Monterey
the 22d of November. Lieutenant Broughton in the
Chatham entered the Columbia River, and in boats
went up that stream about one hundred miles, to the
region of the Cascades, taking possession of the
country for his king. He had Gray s chart; but it did
not appear that the American navigator "either saw,
or waa ever within five leagues of its entrance," a very
fine distinction beinsf drawn between the river and
the estuary into which it flows,^ Broughton arrived
at San Francisco about the 23d of November. Of
Vancouver's experience in California much has been
.said in another volume of this series.®*

The narrative of Vancouver's expedition, including
not only the voyage of 1722, but two subsequent ones
of 1793-4, to be described in their place, was published,
with an atlas of finely engraved maps, in 1798, and
the work appeared in several later editions and trans-
lations. It was doubtless from this explorer's text,
and particularly from his maps, including much mate-
rial from Cook, the Spanish explorers, and the fur-
traders, that the world derived most of its knowledge
respecting the Northwest Coast and Alaska. The

^''Poiiit Droion, Point Hanson, and Point New were the names applied.
A chart is given in connection witli tlie general map.

**Tho survey lasted from the 21st of October to the 10th of November.
The names given were as follows: Baker Bay, Chenoke Point, Sjiit Bank,
Tongue Point, Point George, Young Iliver, Gray ]5ay, Orchard River, Pugct
Island, Manby River, Swaine River, Bilker Island, Point SherilT, \\'alker
Island, Mount Coffin, River Poole, Kniglit River, Uiry Islan<l, Oak Point,
I'oint Warrior, Rushleigh River, Call River, Manning River, ISello Vuc Poiiii,
Menzie Island, Baring Islnnd, .Johnstone Island, Point Vancouver (the eastern

i)oint of the survey), Goose Island, Friendly Reach, Parting Point, and Whid-
jey River. A chart is given of the mouth.
*'Sce Hist. Cat., i. chap, xxiv., this series.

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ttt EXPLORING AND COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS.

work deserved much of its great reputation, for Its
maps were the best thus far pubUshed, and the na**-
rative was accurate and comprehensive. The author
had, however, some disagreeable weaknesses of char-
acter, already known to the reader from events con-
nected with his visit to California. His statements on
many topics were often marked by an unworthy spirit
of unfairness and petty injustice toward Spanish and
American navigators, a defect which was pointed out
and exaggerated by Greenhow and others in the dis-
putes of later years. It was Vancouver's good fortune
that the geographical names applied by him were
generally retained instead of those originally g: ven
by the discoverers.

A work published at the same time and in the same
style, containing the Spanish explorations, would have
been in few respects inferior to the work in question,
and would have taken away much of Vancouver's ex-
clusive fame. The logs of the American traders would
also have made a difference in his lists of names and
des'nhitions. Spain's policy, whatever its merits from
a pol it' 3al point of view, was most damaging to the
glory of her discoverers; and English enterprise
mad J Vancouver a very fortunate, as he was a very
meritorious, explorer.*

Besides the exploring craft Aranzazu, Sutil, and
Mexicana, there were other Spanish vessels on the
coast this year, whose movomcnts it is well to record
before proceeding to matters of diplomacy: The

^A voyage of (discovery to the North Paclfi'' Ocean, and round the vorld;
in v'hich the coast of norlh-ioeet America has been carefully cxaniined and accii-
rateji) surveyed. Undertaken by His Majesty's command, principally with a view
to ascertain t/ie existence of any navii/able communication between the North
Pacijic and North Atlantic oceoius; and j)erformed in ihe years 1700-1705, in the
'Discover;/' sloop of war, and armed tender ' Chatham,' under the command of
Captain George Vancoucer, London, 1708; 4to, 3 vols, and folio atlas; also,
London, 1802, 8vo, 6 vols. ; Vancouver, Voyagede Ddcomvrtes, etc. , Paris, an viii;
4to, 3 vols, and atlas ; also, Paris, 1802; Svo, 6 vols. The text contains several
engravings of views on the coast, and tho atlas has many n-.ifrinc views in
addition to maps. That part of the narrative relating to'^''aJic mvcr's opera-
ti Tw (ju t'le N'orthwest Coast during this first voyage is iound in vol. i. 196-
432; ii. 62-85.

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SPANISH VESSELS.

283

Santa Gertrndis, cominaiulod l)y Alonso do TorroH,
and having on board ]3on Juan do la Bodega, com-
mander of San Bias and S[)ani.sli conunissioner, sailed
the 1st of IMarch and arrived at Nootka at the end
of April, where she was soon joined by the schooner
Activa, Captain Salvador Mencndez Valdes, which
had been delayed until the middle of IMarch at San
Bias. Elisa in the Concepcion left Nootka in Juno,
arriving at Monterey the 9th of July, while Cuadra
seems to have acted as commander of the garrison
during the absence of Caamano in thoAranzazu on his
northern trip of exploration until September. Mean-
while Lieutenant Salvador Fidalgo left San Bias
the 23d of March in the Princesa, and proceeded
direct to the port of Nuilcz Gaona, in the strait of
Fuca, where he arrived early in May, ft»unded a regu-
lar post, with the necessary buildings and fortifica-
tions,^ and remained until September, when by order
of Cuadra he abandoned the settlement and trans-
ferred all the material "to Nootka, where he succeeded
CaamafiO as commander, and retained his vessel, with
probably the newly purchased Adventure. The Santa
Gertnidis, under Torres, had returned southward,
touching at Monterey in August. Cuadra left Nootka
in September, touched at Nunez Gaona to leave orders
for Fidalgo, and arrived at Monterey in the Activa
on October 9th. The only other vessel of the year
was the schooner Horcasitas, which had perhaps
been in the north since the preceding year, returning
to California either with Elisa or with Cuadra, anil
which now sailed again for Nootka in November,
carrying despatches from Cuadra to Fidalgo, sent in
consequence of orders from the viceroy which had
been brought up to Monterey from San Bias by the
Saturnina.^

'"Evans, Hist. Or., MS., 67, tella us that pieces of masonry arc still found
at Neah Bay.

^UU-vUla Oi'jedo, Informe, 130-9; Sutil y Mexkana, Vinge, 10, 29, 103, 113;
Hint. <'al., i., chap, xxiv., this series; IlaswdVs Voi/., MS., 80-7, 92; Van-
couver's Voy., i. 40S-10.

CHAPTER IX.

END OF CONTROVERSY AND EXPLORATION.

1792-1800.

The Policy of Spaik — Delay for Exploration — The Viceroy's Ideas —
Instrpctjons to the Commissioner — Cuadra's Investigations —
Vancouver's Mission — The Commissioners at Nootka — English
Claims — Spanish Offers — Agreement to Disagree— Convention op
1793 — Damages Paid — Revilla-Gigedo's Report — Vancouver's Sec-
ond Voyage — The Garuison — Saa\'edra Succeeds Fidaloo — The
Trading Fleet of 1793 — Cuadra Succeeded by Alava — Trip of the
•Aranzazu' to Californli — Cap'vain John KEironicK — Vancouver's
Third Voyage— Traders of 1794 — Treaty of 1794 — The Controversy
Ended — Alava and Pierce — Final Abandonment of Nootka in
March 1795 — The Title — The 'Phcenix' of 1795 — Broughton's
Visit — Dorr, the Yanicee Trader of 1796 — Rowan and the 'Elisa'
of 1798 — Cleveland's Cruise — The 'Betsy' of 1800.

Spain had in a sense been forced by England to
relinquish her exclusive claims to territory in the
north-west, or at least she had not deemed herself in
condition to fight for what appeared likely to prove a
mere matter of pride ; for as we have seen, Spain had
no desire for northern possessions except as a moinis
of protection for those in the south. If there v, : no
interoceanic passage, then a broad frontier without
good ports was all that was desirable; consequently
an accurate' knowledge of the coast was of the first
importance, and we have seen with what unusual
energy the exploration was pushed forward in 1790-2
by the successive expeditions of Fidalgo, Quimper,
Elisa, Malaspina, Caamano, and Galiano. Should the
strait bo found, then Spain had an equal chance with
England to occupy the necessary points; and as for

(284)

mSt^

JUAN FRANCISCO DE LA BODEGA Y CUADRA.

285

exclusive control, there was yet room for diplomacy,
and always for war as a last resort. Meanwhile delay
was essential and by no means difficult. By the spirit
of the Nootka convention the whole coast above San
Francisco, or at least above Cape Mendocino, for there
was an equitable right to a broad unoccupied frontier,
was open for trade and settlement equally to Spain
and England, each having also free access to the set-
tlements of the other, though literally the limit fixed
was neither San Francisco nor Mendocino, but the
" parts of the coast already occupied by Spain," which
might very plausibly be interpreted to mean Nootka;
'ind so the Spanish government decided to interpret
it, at least as a basis for future negotiations. It is
not unlikely that many Spanish officials, and even
the viceroy of Mexico, may have taken this view of the
matter in good faith.

By royal orders of December 1790 the carrying-
out of the Nootka convention, so far as the restora-
tion of property and the fixing of boundaries were
concerned, was committed as a matter of form to
the viceroy, with a recommendation that Juan Fran-
cisco de la Bodega y Cuadra should be the Spanish
commissioner, and that the boundary between the ex-
clusive possessions of Spain in the south and the
territory free to both powers in the north should bo
fixed at 48°, Nootka being divided between the two.*
Cuadra was accordingly appointed and summoned to
Mexico to receive instructions early in 1791. Quim-
per's late explorations had, however, furnished a more
definite idea of the northern strait than the Spaniards
had before pcs.^CHsed, and Revilla Gigedo took the
liberty to introduce some changes in the royal recom-

* 'Que lo8 ingleses .^cupaaea en Nootka los tcrritorios situados al Norte, y
noBotros ka du la parto del Silr, fijdndose en los 48 grades de laHtud In, linca
divisoria de los estaLIeuimientos de nucstra legitima pertenensia, y de Lis
coDiunes para h, . ^ ;iproJidad, uso y comercio de ambas nacionca. ' By Nootka
Is meant, I suppose, the legion extending north and south from tlie sound. IJy
this arrangement each nation would have an establislimcnt on J.ootka Sound
free of access to vesyils of the other, but the Euyliah cjuld not trudo or scUle
below 48'.

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ENO OF CONTROVERSY AXD i:-XPLORATION.

mendations; he believed it would be best to give up
Nootka altogether, and to make the strait of* Fuca
the dividing line, transferring the Spanish establish-
ment to a convenient site on that strait, Cuadra was
instructed accordingly, and the purport of his instruc-
tions was made known to the home jtov^ rvie.ct." The
viceroy took a deep interest in the r? ,att i . ^ and made
the fullest possible investigation respert'n;^ the occur-
rences of 1789, closely examining all available witnesses
on the points mentioned in Meares' memorial, and
communicating the results of his investigation both
to Cuadra and to the government. He was satisfied
that, as the English had been dispossessed of no lands
or buildings at Nootka, nothing was to be restored,
according to the first article of the convention, and he
flattered himself that the English would be therefore
the more ready to obtain thu port of Nootkii by ac-
ceding to the terms proposed. Fully acquainted .vith
the facts of the case and with the viceroy's .ic*^'9
Cuadra sailed for Nootka in March 1792, au''! at the
same tirae Fidalgo was sent to found a sett'";KTe.K at
Nunez Gaona, within the strait.^ At Noot^.a. -; hilc
waiting for the English commissioner, Cu^ul^a ras
able to make some further investigations about tho
controversy of 1789, and was so fortunate as to meet
captains Gray, Ingraham, and Viana, who testified
in writing that British subjects had not been dispos-
sessed of any lands or houses whatever, thus fully con-
firming his own previous conclusions and tbof=e of his
superior officer.*

In his instructions of the 8th of Marc "a 791 Cap-

*In a report of the 27th of March 1791. A reply in a roy-^ der of the
2nth of June postponed a definite dcci.sion on the changes, but lei tho viceroy
to infer that they wouhl bo approved. Kovilla-Gigedo also f.ivored a north
and south line f;oin some f.oi"*. on i^o !;*^,,iit up to 00°, to keep the English
from penetrating the interr^" ur. ! reaoi)';,j,' New Mexico, but it is not clear
that Cuadrn's instructiona i..uladod thi'? 'c,.l .re.

^A clear though brief account of t'>.■^<^■ ;;i.'vttcrs is given in Revilla-Oigedo,
Ill/or me, l.'JS et seq., with rlcrencc to much original correspondence that la
not accessible.

* Gray and Iiir/raham's Letter of Awjitst 5, 1702, in Oreenhow'a Or. ami Col.,
414-17. This letter and that of Vianr. are mentioned in Vancouver's Voy., i.
389 et seq.

Cap.

TH?i: COMMISSIOXERS AT NOOTKA.

287

tain Vancouver had been informed that he niis^ht in
the course of his voyage be called upon to receive
from Spanish officers the property at Nootka, which
his Catholic majesty had agreed to restore; but he
was to await further instructions on the subject.
Such additional instructions were dated the 20th
of August 1791, and were sent by the Dcsdalus!,
Lieutenant Richard Hergest, together with an order
from Count Florida Blanca to the commander at
Nootka. Hergest was authorized to receive the
property himself if he did not find Vancouver at
Nootka ; but he was killed by savages at the Sand-
wich Islands. Thomas New succeeded to the com-
mand, and on reaching Nootka in July preferred
to await the arrival there of his superior officer.
Vancouver was meanwhile exploring in the strait,
where he heard, both from Galiano of the Sutil and
Shepherd of the Venus, that Cuadra was waiting to
comply with the terms of the treaty; and he finally
arrived at Nootka at the end of August.

Vancouver's instructions were to receive, and
Cuadra's to deliver, "the buildings, and districts,
or parcels of land . . . which were occupied by his
majesty's subjects in the month of april, 1789, agree-
able to the first article of the late convention." Cuadra
had very properly tried to learn what lands and build-
ings were intended; Vancouver took it for granted
without investigation that the port of Nootka, and
probably Port Cox also, were simply to be trans-
ferred, with whatever structures might exist there,
from Spanish to English possession. Such a sur-
render of the post of Nootka had never been hinted
at, so far as is known, in the European negotiations;
there was not a word in either treaty or instructions
to support Vancouver's theory; but he would have
nothing but an absolute surrender of the place.
Cuadra at once presented his evidence, showing that
as British subjects had been dispossessed of no lands or
buildings whatever, there was nothing to be restored

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END OF CONTROVERSY AND EXPLORATION.

under the treaty ; but at the same time he submitted
his proposition, offering to give up Nootka and retire
to Fuca, making all south of the strait exclusively
Spanish, and leaving all north of Nootka free for tho
entrance of both powers. Subsequently he offered to
give up the small lot of land on which Meares had
built his house, and even to leave at Vancouver's
command, without prejudice to Spanish rights, all tho
structures of the port, retiring to Fuca to await tho
decision of the respective courts. But Vancouver
would enter into no discussion, and did not even
attempt to defend his own position or oppose that of
Cuadra, so far as the events of 1789 were concerned;
he must have Nootka or nothing. In this he was
wrong, as he was probably well aware, though Mr
Duffin, arriving from China, furnished stronger evi-
dence on his side than had ever existed before. As
to boundaries, he said he had no powers, that matter
having been settled by the treaty; "and in this he was
right. Perhaps he acted wisely also in refusing to
accept anything less than a full surrender of the port,
if he had reason to think his government expected
such a surrender. Of course Cuadra was not willing
and had no authority to make the surrender; there-
fore the two commissioners, whose relations through-
out were most friendly, agreed to submit the question
anew to their respective governments, Nootka re-
maining in the mean time a Spanish port."

^Vancouver's Vbij., i. 384-409; Eevilla Oigedo, fn/orme, 137-9, 161-3, with
brief atatemcnta in Hutu y Mexicana, Vi<tye, ll^lG, and IhimveWa Lor;, MS.,
90; also an account by Howell, supercargo of the Manjaret, who acteJ ca
translator, quoted from Ingraliam's JoumaJ, by Greenhow, Or. and Cat., 245.
Vancouver complains of Cuadra 'o vacillation in tho matter, perhaps with some
reason, but probably because he chose to understand tho Spaniard's polite
phrases at verbal interviews as implying assent to his claims ; he says that
Cuadra agreed on tho 12th of September to leave him in full possession, tho
Spanish flag being struck and the British raised in its place, while each should
Bend his objections to his government, but next day in a letter changed his
mind. Such an agreement on Cuadra's part seems improbable, though ilovilla-
Gigedo repeats Vancouver's complaint without disputing its accuracy in tliia
respect. But it seems that the complaint as carried by Broughton to Mexico
wos also t)iat Cuadra did not chojigo hia mind until Vancouver had worked
for several days unloading his vessel ; t' ... the latter's expodition had been
detained for a whole year; and that the viceroy's instructions had been ob-

DAMAGES DETERMINED.

289

Vancouver sent an officer with despatches to Eng-
land via China on a Portuguese trader; and later from
Monterey, where his most agreeable social relations
with Cuadra were continued, Lieutenant Broughton
was taken on the Activa to San Bias, from which
point he went to England by way of Mexico to an-
nounce the result of his superior's mission, and ask
for new instructions. Meanwhile a royal order was
received in Mexico requiring that under no condition
should Nootka be surrendered. The viceroy made
haste to despatch the order to the north by the Satur-
nina, fearing it might be too late, but it found Cuadra
in California, and was sent at once to Fidalgo at Nootka
by the Horcasitas, which returned in time to accom-
pany the Activa southward early the next year.

No details have ever been published of European
negotiations 'U the Nootka question after the sign-
ing of the convention of 1790, but something is known
of final results. Don Manuel de las Heras and Mr
Rudolph Woodford were the commissioners appointed
to determine the amount to be paid British subjects as
a compensation for their losses caused by the seizure
of their vessels in 1789. The commissioners agreed
upon the sum of two hundred and ten thousand dollars
in coin in full payment of all claims, and a convention
to that effect was signed at Whitehall on February
12, 1793; it was ratified the same day by the British
monarch, and presumably the money was paid without
delay, greatly to the satisfaction of Meares and his
associates, who if they got half the amount named,
though their original claim had been six hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, had every reason to be content."

acure, causing needless delays and great losses. In his desire to prevent a
rupture, Cuadra may liave gone beyond his plain instructions and duty; but if
80, the fault was a slight one and was repaired immediately. Fairness to op-
ponents was not one of Vancouver's characteristic". Bustamante, Siiplemento,
164, tells us that D. Mariano Mozifto, who accompanied the Spanish expedition
as botanist, wrote an ' historia de ella de una manera digna de leersc, ' not pub-
lished.

*TUo Spanish text of the convention of February 12, 1793, is given in
Calvo, liecwil de Trait^n, iii. 304-5.

TTIST. N. W. Coh»t. Vol. I. 19

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END OF CONTROVERSY AND EXPLORATION.

It was on April 12, 1793, that Viceroy Re villa
Gigedo dated the report which I have so often cited.
It is by far the best summary extant of all the trans-
actions pertaining to the Spanish occupation of the
Northwest Coast. The r jthor presents at the end his
conclusions respecting the policy that Spain should
follow in the future. The late explorations were, in his
opinion, very nearly conclusive as to the non-existence
of any interoceanic strait; yet the coast from Fuca
south to San Francisco, and especially the Entrada de
Heceta, or Columbia River, required a closer exami-
nation than had yet been made, and he had already
taken steps to organize an expedition for that purpose.
It was evident that British subjects desired to form
establishments on the northern coasts, ostensibly for
the profits of the fur-trade, but really, as he believed,
with a view to interference with the Spanish control
of the Pacific and to the profits of illicit trade with
Spanish settlements. He did not think the fur-trade
would long continue to yield extraordinary profits;
and while it might be well to encourage Spanish
traders to enter the field as rivals of the English,
Americans, and Portuguese, he did not favor the for-
mation of any such great company enjoying govern-
ment support and exclusive privileges as had been
recommended by Martinez and others. Neither did
he deem it desirable or possible, by reason of the im-
mense expense involved, to take and keep actual pos-
session of the northern coasts merely to prevent such
occupation by foreigners. What should be done in
that direction was to strengthen the Californian pre-
sidios, and to occupy the port of Bodega, for which
orders had already been issued.'' If another port
should be found above Bodega it might be necessary
to occupy that also ; moreover, if the Columbia River
should be found to aiford either the long sought pas-
sage to the Atlantic, or even access to the province

'For what was doae in this direction, see //ist. Cal,, i., cliap. xxiv., this
Beries.

FIDALGO AT NOOTKA.

201

of New Mexico, that stream would of course have to
be fortified by Spain, which could be most advan-
tageously effected probably by a land force from New
MexiCO, acting in concert with a maritime expedition.
If, as was most likely, there was a long harburless
coast above Bodega, the Californiaii posts alone would
call for attention, and would furnish the best and
only available safeguard against English or Russian
encroachments. As to Nootka, the viceroy says:
" I am, then, of opinion that we should cede to the
English wholly and generously our establishment
of Nootka, since, so far as the way of thinking of
the English commander Vancouver and his emissary
B rough ton could be ascertained, it seems that they
desire and aspire to wave the British flag over that
port without recognizing that of Spain, moved rather
by the idea or vainglory of sustaining what by reason
of opposition they have made a point of honor than
by motives of interest or advantages which are truly
problematic in connection with the fur-trade."^

Vancouver's vessels came back from the Hawaiian
Islands in the spring of 1793; the Chatham, now
commanded by Puget, after having spent a week in
Port Buena Esperanza, anchored at Nootka on the
15th of April, remaining t)iere a month for repairs,
and then departing for a cruise of exploration on the
northern coast. Vancouver in the Discovery sighted
Cape Mendocino on April 26th, anchored at Trinidad
from May 2d to the 5th, and then jjroceeded up the
coast. He arrived at Nootka on the 20th of May,
being received, as Puget had been before him, with
every courtesy by Commander Fidalgo. The San
Carlos was at anchor there, and had brought letters
from Cuadra and the viceroy; but there were as yet
no despatches from Europe, and Vancouver started
for the north after a stay of only three days, joining

^Hevilla Gigedo, In/orme 13 de Abril, 1793, in BiiKtnmnnfi', Suplemenfn d
lo8 Tree Sigloa de Cavo, iii. 112-64. Among the meaaures recommended by
the N-iceroy were also a reorganization of the Pious Fund and a transfer of
the San Bias department to Acapuluo.

END OF CONTROVEESY AND EXPLORATION.

Puget on the 26th. The highest latitude reached
was about 56° 30'; the only noticeable adventures
were the poisoning of some of the men, one fatally,
by eating mussels, and the wounding of two men m
an attack by hostile Indians; and the geographical
results ot the expedition, as far as my territory is
concerned, are shown on the accompanying copy of
the chart. A few names were retained as applied
by earlier navigators, and the unshaded portion was

ISLE D£ ZAYA* / I - \ <\

Nortir

STA.UtLAHUARA

ILE D£ ZAYAST/ ' "=• \ \\

■^loikelyne
'FLUunlwrt

rPt.HopliIni

'{ ijjii**- llfurj^'

■♦

^
r

=WKs

Ui^^i^Sii^isrSi!

: -r— !;y/iii.v.ik.t J u5!

831 /'zMi/ryf'y-:iZV:x''"^^

VAKOOuvKR'a Map, 1793.

laid down from Caamano's chart. The country from
Gardner Canal, in 53° 30', up to 57° was named New
Cornwall, while that extending southward to New
Georgia, at about 50° 30', was called New Hanover,
form^ possession being t^ken of course in the name
of the British king. On the 20th of September he
turned southward, passing along the outer side of
Queen Charlotte Island, and anchoring at Nootka
on the 5th of October. No despatches from Mexico
or Europe had arrive ' since his departure, and after a
stay of three days he again put to sea for California,

len m
)hical

5a,

DECLINE OF INTEREST.

293

his fancied wrongs in which country have been do-
scribed in another volume.'

No other narrative or log of a voyage on the
northern coast in 1793 is known to be extant; and
therefore all that is known, which is very little, about
the movements of other vessels, and Nootkfo events
generally, comes from Vancouver's journal. Fidalgo
and his men of the garrison had passed a most dreary
winter, confined within doors by almost incessant
rains, and shaken by a violent earthquake on the 17th
of February; yet "notwithstanding the badness of
the season, he had found means to erect a small fort
on Hog Island that mounted eleven nine pounders,
and added greatly to the respectability of the es-
tablishment." In May the 8an Cdrlos arrived from
San Bias under Alfc'rez Ramon Saavedra. the vessel
to replace the Princesa at the Nootka station, and
Saavedra to succeed Fidalgo in the command. The
latter sailed soon for the south, and touched at San
Francisco on his way to San Bias the 21st of June.^"

Exceedingly meagre is our information respecting
the trading fleet of this and the following years.
The era of exploration and diplomacy on the North-
west Coast had, in a sense, passed away; there were
no longer international disputes giving importance
to items of testimony, and thus revealing the names of
visitors; there were no more exploring expeditions to
meet the trading craft in out-of-the-way places, and
to seek information o the masters about their voyages
and discoveries. The fur-traders had the field to them-
selves, and for the most part they have left no record.
The Buttcrworth, Prince Le Boo, and Jackal — two of
which vessels had been on the coast the year before,
all belonging to the same English house, and all
imder the general command of Captain Brown — were
met by Vancouver in Chatham Sound in June ; and
Brown's name was given to the passage leading into

• rajicoMiw's Voy., ii. 2.38-43.3.

^"Arch. Gal., MS., Prov. St. Pap., xxi. 101; Vwicouver'e Voy., ii. 252-4.

I ;

I ti

' 11

iiiil

ml ji

lit ill

till

394

END OF CONTROVERSY AND EXPLORATION.

that sound." On his return to Nootka, Vancouver was
informed by Saavedra that during his absence the
port had been visited by the French ship Flavia,
perhaps still searching for La P(jrouse, "having on
board a very valuable cargo of European commodities,
which was carried to Kampschatka, there to be dis-
posed of to the Russians for furs, with which a cargo
of tea was to have been purchased in China ; but their
expedition had not hitherto answered their expecta-
tions;" and, moreover, the crew were disposed to be
mutinous. "Some few Americans had also arrived in
our absence, but in a most deplorable condition, totally
in a want of provisions, naval stores, and even such ar-
ticles of merchandize as were necessary for trading
with the natives." Their names are not given, and
the writer is almost sure to have exaggerated their
destitution."

The viceroy had intended to despatch the Activa
and Mexicana in April 1794 to carry out his projected
exploration of the coast south of Fuca;" but though
there was nothing in the diplomatic developments, to

" Two English vessels were reported to bo at Bodega in January, and in
March two English vessels caused much uneasiness to the Spaniards by their
suspicious movements on the coast of California ; one of them, which touched
at Monterey for wood and water, was commanded by Captain Brown, who
said he was bound for Nootka, and the other was understood to be the
Princess. Probably the vessels were those of the trading fleet met by Van-
couver. Arch. Cal., MS., Prov. St. Pap., xxi. 94; Prov. Uec, ii. 162; St. Pap.
Sac., ii. 131-2.

^* Vancouver's Voy., ii. 429, 324. In Tufts' List the sloop Union, Boyd
ooaster, from Boston, is mentioned as having been on the coast in 1793, besides
the Bhyajefferson, Iloberts, and brig Hancock, Crowell, which left Boston in
1792. The full title of this authority is as follows; List of American Vessels
engage'l in the Trade of the, Northtvest Coast of America for Sea-otter Skins
from 1787 to ISOO, compiled hy William Tvfts, Esq., from his own Memoranda,
and from the very valuable Notes kindly furnished by Captain William Sturgis,
of Boston. Published in Swan's N. W. Coast, app., 423-4. It was prepared
in 1857, when the author writes: 'The foregoing list is nearly correct as it
regards the vessels engaged in the early traido in sea-otter skins by American
enterprise. The owners in all cases are not known. There may have been
other vessels on the Coast during the time who were engaged in collecting
the smaller skins and less valuable furs, but the above are the regular North-
west traders for sea-otter skins.' There are 64 voyages mentioned; but
some well known Boston ships are strangely omitted, possibly because their
owners were rivals of Sturgis and his partners.

^^Eevilla Oigedo, Informe, 145-6, including ' Instrucciones para el prolijo
reconocimiento de la entrada do Ezeta y rio do la Columbia.'

1 1 ii 'i '•

r ■ r

VICEROY REVILLA GIGEDO.

295

was

the
lavia,
[g on
jitics,

dis-

argo

their

ecta-

to be

ed in

otally

h ar-

ading

, and

their

be noticed presently, which in any sense removed the
necessity of such an exploration, it was abandoned for
some unexplained reason, perhaps arising from the war-
like aspect of affairs in Europe." Early in the spring,
however, the Aranzazu was despatched under Jos6
Tobar for Nootka with the year's supplies. Orders
from Spain required Re villa Gigedo to send the com-
missioner back to Nootka for the completion of the
suspended business with Vancouver, an agreement
having been reached by the two courts respecting the
points in dispute; but Don Juan Francisco de la
Bodega y Cuadra died in March, and the viceroy ap-
pointed General Josd Manuel de Alava to succeed him,
both as commander of the San Bias establishment
and as Nootka commissioner. The nature of the new
agreement was not yet known to the viceroy, or at
least the commissioner's instructions had not arrived;
but Alava sailed iti May on the Princesa, Fidalgo in
command. His instructions were to be forwarded as
soon as they should arrive."

The Aranzazu being at Nootka in the middle of
June, Saavedra, the commander of the garrison,
resolved to send her to California for needed supplies,
particularly medicines. He also wished to secure for
his garrison the men that Matute had left in Cali-
fornia the year before; and h( ' o t a warning, brought
by a trader from China, that u, British ship of forty
guns was coming in October." For some unexplained
cause, instead of Tobar our old American friend Cap-

"It is posaible that one of the three Spanish vessels of the year made a
survey of the Columbia and closely examined the coast below, but there is no
record of such a fact.

" May 10th, viceroy to governor of California, announcing Alava 's mission,
and bespeaking attentions in California ; tlie 20th of August this order com-
municated by the governor to presidio commanders ; and replies of the latter
at various dates. Arch. Cat., MS., Prov. St. Pap., xi. 171; xii. 101-2, 149;
Prov. Pec, iv. 117; Vanco7tver's Voy., iii. 301-2. The Princesa did not touch
in California on her upward trip.

■" Saavedra, Cartas al gobernador de California sobre Conas de Nootka, 1704,
MS. , including also the governor's replies. Among the supplies demanded were
' Gacetas para divertimos en la inveruada. ' The governor assured Saavedra
that there was nothing to be feared from British vessels, as a treaty of friend-
ship l:ad been concluded.

;■ i '

1 -

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'•■■:'!

.!' I

■ '■ .

'■ 1 »'■

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■ ,■■

END OP CONTROVERSY AND EXPLORATION.

tain John Kondrick — or possibly his son John— was
sent in command of the transport, which sailed about
June 15th and anchored at Monterey on July 2d."
Kendrick at once made known his wants, which were
supplied as far as possible, though the men desired
had already been embn^'kod for San Bias, and there
was a great scarcity of some of the articles asked for.
Padre Magin Catald, the missionary, came to Cali-
fornia by this trip of the Aranzazii, eerving as chap-
lain, and was not willing to repeat the northern trip.
As the president had no authori^ ^o send another
father unless as a volunteer, and 'le Yankee cap-
tain was horrified at the prospect v.i liis ci'ew being
deprived of their panto espiritual, the situation was
embarrassing; but finally a retiring friar consented
to serve as chaplain on the Concepcion, and Gomez of
the latter sailed with Kendrick.^^

Captain Vancouver came back' to the American
coast this year, for the last time, to complete his sur-
vey of Alaska up to the head of Cook Inlet, in about
61° 15'; after this was accomplished he turned south-
ward, and on the 2d of September the Discovery and
Chatham anchored at Nootka. Alava had arrived the
day before on the Princesa. Neither commissioner
had any idea of his official duties; a id there was
nothing to do in that direction but await the instruc-
tions that were to be sent to the Spaniard before the
15th of October. Vancouver was deeply grieved to
learn that his old friend Cuadra was dead; but Alava
rivalled his predecessor in courtesy, and together with
Fidalgo, Saavedra, and other Spanish officers., did all
in his power to make the stay of the Englishmen
agreeable ; though, because Vancouver's store of pow-
der was nearly exhausted, it was agreed to dispense

"June 15th is the dato of Saavedra'a letters, and the arriTal at Monterey
is recorded in Arch. Cal., MS., Prov. St. Pap., xii. 211.

'* Kendrick, Correspondencia sohre Coma deNootha, 1794, MS. ; Catald, Carta
aobre Nootka, 1794, MS. The Aranzazu, under Tobar, left Nootka on the
11th of September, and again touched at Monterey September 22d to 28th
on her way to San Bias. Vancouver^a Voy., iii. 305; Arch. Cal., MS., Prov. 8t
Pap., xii. 150.

TRADING CRAFT AT NOOTKA-

297

-was
bout
2d."
wero
sired
,here
for.
:!ali-
sliap-
trip.
ither

with ,the customary salutes. Tho observatory was
set up on shore; there was plenty of work to be done
in refitting the vessels; and a visit was made to the
village of Maquinna, up the sound."

At Nootka Vancouver found the following trading
craft : the Phoenix, Captain Hugh ]\Ioor, from Bengal ;
tho Prince Le Boo, Captain Gordon, from China; tho
Jenny, Captain John Adamson, from Bristol; the Ladi/
Washington, Captain John Kondrick, from Boston;
and heard of tho J> ckal, Captain Brown, from China,
on the northern coast. The English vessels had been
very successful in their trade; ami the American brig
was laid up for repairs. Respecting the trading fleet
of 1794 nothinjj;' more is known.*' Mr Greenhow tella
us that "neither Kendrick nor his vessel ever re-
turned to America [after 1791, as is implied]: ho was
killed, in 1790, at Karakakooa Bay, in Owyhee, by a
ball accidentally fired from a British vessel, while
saluting him."^^ But the correspondence with the
governor of California in 1794 proves this to be all
wrong, so far as the date is concerned ; and still less
accurate in this respect is the statement of Mr Sturgis
that the accident occurred on Kendrick's birthday,
in 1792.'" The fatal shot was fired perhaps early in

1795, though the Lady Washington was at Nootka in

1796, perhaps under her old master; and certainly be-
fore 1801, when Delano at the Sandwich IsluaJs heard
of the disaster, naming no date. The adventurous
mariner, if we may credit his associates, was always
so wrapped in grand schemes as to be behindhand
in the ordinary affairs of life. It seems he could not
even die ' on time.'*^ I have already noted the possi-

^^Vancouvf.r^a Voyage, iii. 299-316.

'"> Messrs Tufts and Sturgis give no names between 179.3 and 179G.

*'Wree7t/iJi'.-'s Or. and Col., 229. He also says, p. 223, that Captain Brown
was killed by the na'dvea of the Sandwich Islands in January 1795.

'"Sturgis Lecture on the Nurih-west Fur-trade, 1S4G, in JIuiU's Merch.
Mag. , xiv. 635.

"^ According to the North Amer. Review, xvi. 385, a son cf Kendrick was
with his father and remained some time at Nootka in the Spanish set v:r-
In the California archives a John Kendrick is named as supercargo of fv--
Elisa, Rowan, but this is very likely an error, or at least another man t*

'1 i

I I

:l I.

' ^'11

END OF CONTROVERSY AND EXPLORATION.

bility that the Kendrick who visited California may
have been a son of the original.

meant. According to a report in U. S. Gov. Doc., 19th Gong., .l^tSess., H.
Rept, No. S13, p. 14, the title-deeds to the land purchased by Kendrick from
the Indians were deposited in the office of the United States consul in Canton.
In 1796 the lands wcro offered for sale in London by Mr Barrel, agent for
the owners of the Columbia. The author of Boston in ilie Northwest, MS., 2-6,
says: 'Captain Kendrick wrote to hia wife of this purchase, also of de-
positing the original title in Canton, and transmitting the duplicate to Wash-
ington. It was never seen by the family, and the letter in relation to it was
lost ... by fire. ' The representatives of the owners of the vessels applied to the
U. S. government for a uoniirraation of the title, but a conmiittee of congress
rejwrted that though the claim was a just one the rightful heu-s had not ap-
peared. Kendrick bought the Washington before altering her into a brig.
' When dying ho called his mate into the cabin and pr ., him in charge of the
vessel, with instructions to proceed direct to the United States. Tlie vessel left
the islands, but was never heard from afterward [therefore this must have
been after 1796].' And thus 'were lost all his effects, including journals and
records. 'There are proofs in the family that Captain Kendrick was one of
the famous Boston Tea Party in 1773, and that he was with Captain Cook
in his last voyage of 1776.' Captain Amasa Delano, Narrative of Voyages,
Boston, 1817, pp. 399-400, who met Kendrick at Canton in 17 1, and who
in 1801 at the Sandwich Islands heard of his death, eulogizes him as a
navigator with but few equals, noted for his enterprising spirit, good judg-
ment, and courage. A man of rare merits, his faults being but few compared
with hia amiable qualities. In about 1839-40 Hall J. Kelley became inter-
ested in the Kendrick title, and was instrumental in bringing it before con-
gress. From a pamphlet on the subject, Kelley' a Disco o. N. ]V. Coast, I
nave already cited in the preceding chapter, note 33, the title-deeds and
some correspondence. This writer speaks of the attempt to sell the lands in
London in 1796, when advertisements in four languages were circulated, bear-
ing impression of the Columbia medals. Mr Wardstrom, in a work on True
Colonization, is said to have expressed confidence in the title, giving also the
pictured medals. Kelley, Letter of January 1, 1870, states that Kendrick's
death waa on the 4th of July 1793 ; but tho correspondence above cited — if Mr
Howell, as represented, sailed fOr China with tho papers after the captain's
death — sroms to show that it must have been early in 1795; while if it were
not for the date of Howell's letters I should place it ufter 1796. The follow-
ing, in which the reader will note a few errors, is from tho New York Tribune,
November 2o, 1871 : ' The name of Captain John Kendrick, the first American
explorer to the north-west Pacific, is one whicli our history can hardly afford
to lose. The young and daring men who are attached to tho scientific expe-
dition in that quarter to-day, could not ask a worthier figure to head their
t ijials than this upright and fearless captain whom tradition says absolutely
^new noc the fear of savage or storm, whom no disaster could daunt or suffer-
ing subdue. He commanded the expiedition sent out by a company of Boston
merchants to the Pacific, vhich Vt an actually the first time that au American
ship sailed round the globe. He met with incredible hardships on different
voyages ; two sons were killed by Indians before his eyes ; yet he returned
again and again to the Pacific, doing great service in exploring tho islands
and tho coast about Vancouver's, to the northward. For this he received finally
the patent of a large tract of land equal in extent +j nearly the whole state
of Orecon ; but the papers were lost with him on his last voyage, and his
family, after a few efiorts, gave up their claim. Ho brought home mnps of the
coast and pictures of savage costume, as well as the scenery, painted with no
small skill by tho ship's painter, a man who had talent beyond his trade. Yet
there is scarcely a trace left of this gallant navigator, and his name is barely
mentioned in any record of nortli-wrrilcm explorations. His services were so

COLNETT'S ASSERTIONS.

299

may

ss., II.
k from
lanton.
ent for
2-6,

of de-
Waah-
it was

to the

On the IGth of October, no despatches having
arrived, the English vessels sailed for Monterey,
where they arrived on the 2d and 6th of November,
and were joined by the Princcsa on the 7th. Four
days later Alava's instructions came from Mexico;
and that officer, says Vancouver, who had received no
despatches, "very obligingly confiding to me, that part
of his instructions which stated, that no further alter-
cation would take place with respect to the precise
meaning of the first article of the convention of . . .
1790, as the documents transmitted by the late Seuor
Quadra and myself, had enabled our respective courts
to adjust that matter in an amicable way, and nearly
on the terms which I had so repeatedly offered to
Seuor Quadra in September 1792. In addition to
which the Spanish ministers set forth, that this busi-
ness was not to be carried into execution by me, as a
fresh commission had been issued for this purpose by
the court of London.'" The same was announced to
Governor Borica by the new viceroy of Mexico, with
instructions to receive the person acting under th's
commission into their presidios."'"' Accordingly Van-
couver sailed for home by way of Cape Horn on the
2d of December, reaching his destination in October
1795. This famous explorer died before his work
appeared in print, but not before he had convinced
himself by conversations with Captain Colnett that

valued that the city of Boston gave him a public reception on his return from
the first voyage, and a medal was struck in honor of tlie event. A few of
these medals are still preserved, and papers relating to the voyage and explo-
rations are in the state department, but all ciforts of historians and othere to
get sight of them have yet proved useless. The work of setting the dauntless
Kendrick before the country which owes him so much has been undertaken
by loyal and loving hands, but is sadly liampered for want of authentic docu-
ments.'

'* In a note, p. 332, Vaticouver says this was not the fact, as the fresh in-
structions were at %g'u ti'.ldresEed to him.

"^^ReviUa Gigedo, Iiistruccion rcservcula d 8u Sucesor Braiici/ortc, 1794, a
MS. in tlie libiary of congress cited by Greenhow, states 'that orders liad been
sent to the commandant [at Nootka] to abimdon the place, agreeably to a royal
dictamen;' and also contains advice not to extend the Spanish establishnicnts
beyond Nootka. The viceroy's announcement that a new commission hau
been issued is dated tlio 16th of May 1794, and the governor's receipt the 12th
of November. Arch. Cat., MS., Prov. Hi. Pap., xi. 172; Prov. Rec, vi. 29.

'( \

IE 331;:;

I I

END OF CONTROVERSY AND EXPLORATION.

i hI

IP iil!

! if

1 j:;i(

I -W

! ''Hi i

I ill'

iiii

the latter "had been extremely ill used, and that no
dependence is to be r' d on the accounts given
to Seuor Quadra, or Ti.^ self, by the American com-
manders, who are stated to have been eye-witnesses
of most of the transactions. The documents and
papers which Captain Colnett has since produced to
me, fully prove that the Americans wilfully misrep-
resented the whole affair, to the prejudice of his
c^iaracter, and the interest of his British majesty's
subjects."'^ Vancouver was very williag to be con-
vinced of American perfidy, and the reader already
knows what weight is to be attached to Colnett's
testimony.

Meanwhile the Nootka controversy had been defi-
nitely settled by a convention signed at Madrid on the
11th of January 1794, by the British and Spanish
ministers St Helens and the Duke of Alcudia. By
the terms of this agreement the respective commis-
sioners were to meet as soon as possible on or near
the spot where stood the buildings formerly occupied
bj'^ British subjects, and there to exchange declaration
and counter-declaration as literally prescribed in the
document. The former was a final restoration of the
buildings and lands of which British subjects had
been dispossessed about April 1789, and the latter a
formal declaration that the restoration was complete
and satisfactory. "Then the British officer shall un-
furl the British flag over the land thus restoxed as a
sign of possession, and after these formalities the offi-
cers of the two crowns shall retire respectively their
people from the said port of Nootka. And their said
majesties have furthermore agreed that the subjects
of both nations shall be free to frequent the said port
as may be convenient, and to erect there temporary
buildings for their accommodation during their resi-
dence on such occasions. But neither of the two
parties shall make in said port any permanent estab-
lishment, or claim there any right of sovereignty or

" Vaihcouver'a Voy., iii. 31G et seq., 491 et seq.

ABANDONMENT OF NOOTKA.

territorial dominion to the exclusion of the other.
And their said majesties will aid each other to
maintain their subjects in free access to the said
port of Nootka against whatever other nation may
attempt to establish there any sovereignty or do-

"27

mmion.

General Alava seems to have passed the winter
in California. On the 13th of January 1795 tho
Activa sailed from San Bias, commanded by Lieu-
tenant Cosmo Bertodano, and having on board Lieu-
tenant Thomas Pierce of the marines, the newly
appointed British commissioner. One month later
the brig touched at Monterey, and having taken
Alava on board sailed on March 1st for the north.
We have few details of the acts of restitution on the
23d of March, change of fla^s, and final abandonment
of Nootka; but the formalities were clearly prescribed
in the treaty, and were doubtless closely followed.
Letters were left with the Indians for subsequent
English or Spanish visitors, explaining what had boon
done; then the establishment was broken up, and all
movable property transferred to the ships.

Of the ActicaJs return I have no record, as she
did not probably touch at any California port; but
the San Carlos, bringing Comandante Saavedra and
his men, arrived at Monterey on the 12th of May.
Some of the garrison remained to strengthen the
presidial forces, and some twenty northern Indians
were brought down to be baptized and to settle in
California, as others of their race had been in the
preceding years. The next year Maquinna's sub-
jects had transferred their village to the site of the
abandoned Spanish post; and from 1795 to 1883, so
far as I know, there has been no settlement of wliito
men at Nootka. The glory of the place had departed,

*' Nootka, Acuerdo d convenio entreEspailad Inglaterra para la ejecucion del
articulo 1" de In convencion 'e S8 de oclubre de 1790; firmado en Madrid el
11 de Ewro de 1794, in ' -vo, Beaieil complet dea TraiUa, iii. 306-8.

i'. i

•

. ■ j

':•■■: i

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■

i ■ ■

t '■ :

«|[Hi

i''

■■:■ -i- 1

.-.

302

END OF CONTROVERSX- AND EXPLORATION.

■•»i

but its name was often on the lips of learned partisans
in later discussions.'*

The nature of this final settlement of 1794-5 has
remained, so far as I am aware, for the most part un-
known to writers on the Northwest Coast. Lieutenant
Broughton, who was informed the next year by letters
from the commissioners of what had been done, chose
to reveal in his narrative only the restitution of the
port to the British; and most English writers have
since stated or implied uniformly that Spain was
obliged to give up Nootka in accordance with the
treaty; only this, and nothing more. If any of them
knew of the treaty and the enforced abandonment by
England as well as Spain, they maintained a discreet
silence. Mr Greenhow, the leading American writer
on the subject, quotes an English historian: "It is
nevertheless certain, from the most authentic subse
quent information, that the Spanish flag flying at
Nootka was never struck, and that the territory has
been virtually relinquished by Great Britain ;" and he
deems it unlikely that under the circumstances Eng-
land should have required, or Spain assented to, the
surrender; but "more reasonable to suppose that the
Spaniards merely abandoned the place, the occupation
of which was useless and very expensive."^ Doctor

''Arch. Cal.,US.,Prov. St. Pap., xiii. 80,89; Prov.Jiec.,\i. 37-46; Gaeeta.
de Mexico, vii. 2CG ; Broughton- s Voy. , 50. The last named writer simply
learned from a letter received at Nootka in 1790 ' that the Spaniards had
delivered up the port of Nootka, etc. , to Lieutenant Pierce of the marines,
agreeably to the mode of restitution settled between the two courts.'

'^Oreenhow'a Or. and Cnl., 257-8, citing Belsham's Hist. Great Brituiii,
viii. 3.37. The second clause was quoted by me from the edition of 1845 ; but
in the later edition of 1847 it reads as follows: 'It is more reasonable to
suppose the agreement to have been, that the lands at Nootka should be
delivered up in form, to save thr credit of the British ministry, and tliat both
parties should abandon the north-west coast of America, than that either
should have persisted in its original demand at a moment when their cordial
union and cooperation was so desirable for both. ' He also quotes the follow-
ing letter from Lieutenant Pierce from Tcpic, in 1795, which still, as will be
noticed, gives a wrong impression about the final settlement : ' I have the
honor of acquainting your grace, that, in obedience to your instructions, I
proceeded from Monterey to Nootka, in company with Brigadier-general
Alava, the ofiBcer appointed on the part of the court of Spain, for finally ter-
minating the negotiations relative to that port; where, having satisfied
myself respecting the state of the country at the time of the arrival of the

NATIONAL RIGHTS.

303

Twiss, on the other hand, deems the statements of
Broughton, Koch, and Mofras as conclusive against
that of Belsham, and behoves there can be no doubt
that the place was restored to England.** But neither
champion had the least suspicion of the formal aban-
donment by England, or of the mutual agreements
made respecting the future.

As to their respective rights on the Northwest
Coast, no controversy ever arose between England and
Spain after the abandonment in 1795. Neither party
ever attempted to found a settlement or to exorcise
any rights in this region under the treaties of 1790
and 1794. Neither power contemplated the forming
of any permanent establishment on the coast. Nor did
they have an opportunity to show their policy respect-
ing settlements founded by other nations. For years
the country was practically forgotten by all but the
fur-traders. It is possible that there was an under-
standing in 1794 that the stipulations respecting
Nootka should apply to the whole coast; that is, that
no permanent establishments should be founded any-
where. It is almost certain, at any rate, that such
would have been the position plausibly assumed if
either power had subsequently attempted to occupy
any part of the territory against the wishes of the
other. By the letter of the treaties, however, both
and Spain

England

had a right to trade and settle

Spaniards, preparations were immediately made for dismantling the fort which
the Spaniards liad erected on an island that guarded the mouth of the harbor,
and embarking the ordnance. By the morning of the 28th, all the artillery
were embarked, part on board of his Catholic majesty's sloop of war Active,
and part on board of the San Vdrloa guardship. Brigadier-general Alava
and myself then met, agreeably to our respective instructions, on the placo
where formerly the British buildings stood, where wo signed and exchanged
the declaration and counter-declaration for restoring those lands to his
majesty, as agreed upon between the two courts. After which ceremony, 1
ordered the British flag to be hoisted in token of possession, and the general
gave directions for the troops to embark.'

^"Twiaa' Or.Que>'t.,l'21-3, citiag Mofras, Kxiilor., ii. 145, and Korh, Hiytoire
Ahrfgie des Traitis, i., chap. xxiv. The latter says of the explorations of
restoration : ' Elles furent termindes le 23 Mars do cetto annde, sur Ics lieux
mOmes, par le brigadier espagnol Alava, et lo lieutenant anglais Poai"a [Pierce],
qui (Schangferent des declarations dans le golfe do Nootka mfime. Apris (lue
le fort espagnol fut ras(;, les espagnola s'ombarquirent, et lo pavilion anglais y
fut plaat(S en eigne de possession.'

■11

iijii, J

..'

Ml'

804

END OF CONTROVERSY AND EXPLORATION.

anywhere above Bodega, subject to the condition that
all settlements were to be free of access to subjects of
either power, and that at Nootta there should be no
permanent settlement. Neither nation had the slisfht-
est claim to exclusive possession or to sovereignty;
either might acquire such a claim, but only by actual
occupation in the future. The old formalities of taking
possession were now null and void; the Northwest
Coast, though so fully explored, was open for settle-
ment to the whole world ; exclusive titles were matters
for future creation. For some years no nation tooli
steps to acquire such a title ; Spain never took such
steps. The theory that the Nootka convention —
especially as supplemented by the agreement of 1794
and resulting in official acts — was nothing but a series
of temporary concessions by which during the con-
tinuance of peace Spain merely encumbered her ex-
clusive title, seems to me, with due respect to the able
men who have sustained it, an absurdity. Spain re-
tained no title which she could transfer to another
nation; and this is equally true whether or not the
treaties of 1790 and 1794 be deemed to have been
ended by a subsequent war with England.

The only trading-vessel of the year of which any-
thing is known is the Phcenix, Captain Moor, from
Bengal, which has been noticed as one of the fleet of
earlier years; and all that we know about her trip is
that she touched on the California coast in August,
leaving a 'Boston boy' in that country, and creating
quite a ripple of excitement among the people on guard
against an attaclc by Great Britam.'^

Captain Broughton's visit to the coast in 1796 has
already been mentioned. He came from the Sand-
wich Islands on the sloop Discovery, after a survey
of the northern Asiatic coast, arriving at Nootku
Sound on the 15th of March, remaining two months
for repairs, visiting Neali Bay, and thence proceeding

*^Hxst. Col., i., chap, xxv., thia series.

iv:

T''^ SHIP OTTER.

305

to California. There is nothing further to be said of
his visit, except that he found the Lady Washington
at Nootka.** The only other traders of the year of
which we have any definite record were the snow Sea
Otter, Hill master, and a vessel, perhaps the Dispatch,
under Captain Newbury, both of which are named
by Mr Tufts as having left Boston the year before,
though there is no reason to suppose the trading fleet
of this year was smaller than that of the preceding."'
There are, hov/ever, a few vague references to the
northern traders in the California archives, reveal-
ing also apparently that a Spanish ship was sent to
northern waters this year, either to obtain some rem-
nants of property at Nootka or possibly to make a
secret examination of the Columbia, nothing but one
indirect reference being extant respecting the voyage.
On the 15th of July Governor Borica writes to his
comandantes : " The American captain Dorr, who re-
cently met Don Josd Tobar, commander of the Sutil,
at Nootka, reported to him that he had been told at
Botany Bay by the English captain Barba that ho
had orders to attack the [Spanish] expeditions, and
that he had similar orders for Broughton, of the
Providence."^

There is nothing more about the Sutil, but Captain
Ebenezer Dorr, commanding the Otter of Boston, the
first American vessel that ever anchored in Cali-
fornian waters, made his appearance at Monterey in
October, doubtless coming from a fur-seeking cruise
in the north. She was possibly identical with the
Sea Otter already mentioned, though probably not.
Captain Dorr created some excitement oy leaving in
California, against the will of the officials, a number

^^Broughton (William Robert), A voyage of discovery to the North Pacific
Ocean, London, 1804, 4to. The matter relating to our territory is on pp. 48-58.
The commander of the Lcidy Washington i3 not named.

" Tvfts' List. Newbury's vessel is called a schooner and not named ; but
in Niks' Register, xviii. 417, it is said that the Dispatch, Newbury, with
William Smith on board, sailed from Boston on the 28th of October 1704,
returning in June 1790.

8M(cA. C<d., MS., Prov. Rer., iv. 148-9.
HiBT.N.W. Coast, Vol. I. 20

i ,1 .

'i i'Ji'! ,'i

I-

i;;

END OF CONTROVEBSy AKD EXPLORATION.

of convict stowaways from Botany Bay, as related in
another volume of this series.*'

From 1797 we have but a meagre record of trading
vessels that visited the Northwest Coast. It is not
probable that the names even of half the number are
known. It is fortunate, from an historical point of
view, that it is the latest rather than the earliest
period of the fur-trade whose annals are so incom-
plete. In 1797 the Sea Otter remained on the coast,
entered the Columbia, and it is said that Captain Hill
was killed. The ships Dispatch and Indian Packet,
commanded by Jonathan Bowers and by Rogers —
Dorr and Sons owners — and the ship Hazard, Swift
master, owned by Perkins, Lamb, and Company, are
named as the Boston ships of the year.^

The fleet of 1798 included five vessels which
cleared from Boston the year before with trade
cargoes invoiced at from seven thousand to seventeen
thousand dollars, as shown by the custom-house rec-
ords. The Alexander, under Captain Asa Dodge,
with Charles Winship as supercargo and part owner,
was the only one of the number whose invoice was
less than thirteen thousand dollars. The Hazard,
Swift master, which had wintered in the Pacific, ac-
cording to Gray entered the Columbia. The others
were the Jenny, Bowers master; the Alert, Bowles
master; and the Elisa, commanded by James Rowan.
Of the adventures and achievements of the fleet we
know nothing." The cutter Dragon, Lay master, from
China, was also on the coast this year or the year
before.^

In 1799 there was one voyage recorded in a printed

'^See Hkt. Gal., i., chap, xxv., of this scries, which and the following
chapters contain also information about the war between Spain and Eng-
land as waged, on paper, in California.

^^ Tufts' List; Gray's Hist. Or., 14; Niles' Register, xviii. 417.

'^Boston in the Northwest, MS., 71; Custom-house record, in Id., 76-7.
In Tufts' List no vessels are named for 1798, but the Elisa is accredited
to the next year, perhaps con'ectly; she was oyraed by Per^una, Lamb,
and Company.

'« Cleveland's Nar., 46. 94.

I]|

CAPTAIN CLEVELAND.

307

narrative, that of Richard J. Cleveland, a young
commercial adventurer from Salem, Massachusetts.
He bought the Dragon at Canton, changed her name
to the Caroline, and fitted her out for a fur-trading
oruise. He sighted land on March 30th at Norfolk
Sound, and most of his operations were on the Alaskan
coast; but he finally came down to Queen Charlotte
Islands, and with a valuable lot of furs he reached
the Sandwich Islands in July, and Macao in October. *•
Cleveland met five other traders. The Ulysses, Cap-
tain Lamb, which left Boston with* a cargo valued at
fourteen thousand dollars, had, arrived in February,
"but the success which ought to have resulted from
so early an arrival, was defeated by a mutiny of long
and ruinous duration."*" The Elisa, Captain Rowan,
had wintered probably at the Islands and had arrived
on the trading-grounds in February. When Cleve-
land met Rowan on the 9th of April he had been
very successful, and "was on his way to the south-
ward to complete his cargo, and then to leave the
coast. He mentioned, that ten vessels would prob-
ably be despatched from Boston for the coast this
season." In May, Rowan made his appearance at San
Francisco, the Elisa being the first American vessel to
anchor in that port. She carried twelve guns, and
John Kendrick — probably not our old friend of that
name — was understood to be her supercargo. Rowan's
letter of the 27th of May, promising to pay cash for
needed supplies, to depart at once, and to touch at
no other port, is still preserved in the California
archives. Cleveland met him again in October at
Macao, and was told of his visit to the Spanish coast.*'

"CfereZond's Narrative of Voyages and commercial enter prwes. Cambridge,
1842, 12mo, 2 vols., pp. 45-6, 51, C9^94; alsoiV. Am. Review, xxv. 458, in whicli
the vessel is termed an English one. The na.Ties used by Cleveland, as ap-
plied to tribes, chiefs, and places are: SkittigaUs, Coneyawu, Cumraashaw,
Tytantes, Tatiskee Cove, Noriih Island, Kiganny, Poiiit Rose, North Island,
Eltargee, and Kow.

*" Cleveland's Nar., 90; Boston in the Northwest, MS., 76. Owned by Lamb
and others. Tkifta' List.

'^Hist. Cal., i., chap, xxv., this series; Cleveland's Nar., 74, 102; Tufts'
List. . ,

■ ( f3

I I

-•t ^ fi

i I

i r jl

I'lj!

308

END OF CONTROVERSY AND EXPLORATION.

Two other Boston ships, the Hancock, Crocker, and
the Dispatch, Breck, were met by Cleveland near Nor-
folk Sound early in June, having arrived on the coast
rather too late to insure successful voyages the present
season." The English ship Cheerful, Captain Beck,
had also not obtained many furs, having moreover

f rounded on a sand-bank and been attacked by the
ndians.** And finally Mr Tufts names the Canton
ship Dove, commanded by Duffin.

The fleet of 1800, as named by Tufts, consisted of the
Alert, Bowles, owned by Lamb; the Jenny, Bowers;
and Rover, Davidson, owned by Dorr and Sons; the
Alexander, Dodd master, Bass owner; the Hazard,
Swift, Perkins; and the Dove of Canton, commanded
by Duffin.

The Betsy, a Boston brigantine under the com-
mand of Captain Charles Winship, is the only other
trader of 1800 of which we have any record. She had
left Boston the preceding year, and after a trip in the
north, of which nothing is known, touched at San
Diego for supplies, remaining at anchor in that port^ —
the first American vessel to enter it — from the 25th of
August to the 4th of September. It is not unlikely
that a full record of her movements would show the
Betsy to be the pioneer in a new field of west-coast
enterprise, that of contraband trade and fur- hunting
on the shores of the two Califomias, in addition to
legitimate trade farther north; or at least Captain
Winship may have been engaged in exploring the new
field, in which his brothers subsequently reaped so
rich a harvest. He obtained the desired assistance at
San Diego, with the usual warning to touch at no
other Spanish port; but later he anchored at San
Bias, again in great need. Presently a Spanish man-
of-war entered the port, and the Yankee craft, fearing
doubtless a confiscation of her contraband furs, put

*^ Cleveland' g Nar., 83-4; Tufta' List. Both ships were owned by Dorr
and Sons.

^if Cleveland's Nar., 89; Tufts' List.

CAPTAIN CHARLES WINSHIP,

ao0

;on

ihe

to sea in such haste as to leave her captain and
supercargo on shore with the supphes they had ob-
tained. How these officers regained their ship does
not appear in the records; it is said that later in
this voyage Captain Winship died of a sunstroke at
Valparaiso.**

**Arch. Cat., MS., Prov. St. Pap., xxi. 44; Prov. Rec., viii. 132; xii. 6;
8t. Pap. 8ae., ix. 12-13; Boston in the Northwest, MS., 71-2.

I!' , !I

CHAPTER X.

LAST OF THE EXPLORERS.
1801-1818.

Boston Shifs of 1801 — r'^ooBO of 1802 — Mishap of the 'Manohi ki —
Stukois on thk Coasi— Loss of the 'Boston,' 1803 — Massai "^e of ' he
Ckew — Jbwztt's Captivitt — Rowan and Brown at San Fr.' fcisco
FBOM the North— List of 1804— Smugglers— O'Cain and his New
Idea — Russian Contracts — Indians Attack the 'Atahualpa,' 1805 —
Lewis and Clarke's List — RezAnof and his Plans, 1806 — Coming
OF the Winships — 'O'Cain,' 'Derby,' and 'Guatimozin' of 1807—
'Pearl,' 'Vancouver,' and 'Mbr*.7by' of 1808-9— The Fur-hunters

OF 1810-11 — WiNSHIP'S COLU? BIA SETTLEMENT — ThE 'AlDATROSS' —

Voyage of the 'Tonquin' — The 'Beaver' of 1812 — Effects of the
War — The Traders Blockaded — Seizure of the 'Mercury' and
'Charon,' 1813 — Captain Smith — H. B. M. Sloop ' Raccoon' Takes
Astoria- The 'Pedler'of 1814— The 'Isaac Todd'— The North-
west Company's 'Columbia' of 1815 — The 'Colonel' in California,
1816 — Last of the 'Albatross'— Roquefeuh-'s v< of, in the 'Bor-
DXLAis,' 1817-18 — Last op Maquinna and ^ otka Me; of-war

•Ontario' and 'Blossom' — Vkssfth is 40.

Tub vessels trading on Northwe? Coast in

1801 from American pon ere t least thirteen
in number. From Boston, Perkin and Company had
despatched the Globe, Captain Magee, the Caroline.
Captain Derby, and the Charlotte, Captain IngersoU ,
Lyman and Company, the Guatimozin, Captain Bum-
stead, and the Atahualpa, Captain Wildes ; Dorr and
Sons, the Dispatch and Littiler, each commanded by
one of the Dorrs; Cobb, the Lucij, Pierpont maste ;
Coolidge, the Belle Savage, Captain Ockington ; and
Thomas Parish, the Polly, commanded by Kelley.
The Manchester, Captain Brice, was from Philadel-
phia; the Lavinia, Captain Hubbard, was owned by

(310)

BOSTON VESSELS.

De Wolf of Bristol, Rhode Island; and the Enterpnse,
Captain Ezekiel Hubbell, by Hoy and Thorn, of Now
York.* Their invoices ranged from $9718 to $29,253.
the amounts carried respectively by Pierpont ana
Magee. None of the fleet has left any record of
operations in 1801 except the Enterprise, about which
vessel we know that she touched at San Diego for
supplies in June, carrying ten guns and a crew of
twenty-one men.'' The Hazard, under Captain Swift,
is said to have entered the Columbia River this
year. The afterward famous William Smith was on
this vessel in a subordinate capacity, making his fifth
voyage round the world.'

The new names of 1802 were those of the Boston
ships Alert, commanded by Ebbetts and owned by
Lamb; the Catherine, y^orth captain, Coolidge owner;
the Jenny, Crocker captain. Dorr owner; and the
Vancouver, Brown captain, Lyman owner; also the
Hetty, Captain Briggs of Philadelphia; and the Juno,
Captain Kendrick, owned by De Wolf of Bristol.*
The Manchester touched at Nootka this year, and, as
the natives reported to Jewitt later, seven of her men
deserted and joined Maquinna, by whose order six of
them wore put to death for an attempted redesertion
to the service of a rival chieftain, while the other, a
boy called Jack, was sold to Wicananish, and soon
died." According to Mr Tufts, Captain Magee of the

' Cuatom-'noiise records, in Bonton in the Northioest, MS., 76-7, 11 ; Tufts'
Lift. Captuin O'Cain seems to have been on the coast, but perhaps not in
cominiaid of a vessel.

*Arch. Cah, MS., Prov. Rec, xii. 11-12.

^ Niks' liegiMer, xviii. 418; Oray's Hist. Or., 14. The Hazard returned
to Boston May 6, 1802.

* Tufts' List.

'' Jewitt' s Nar., 90-1 : ' He gave mo a book in which I found the names of
seven persons belonging to the ship Manchester, of Philadelphia, Cap*^ Brian,
viz. — Daniel Smith, Lewis Gillon, James Tom, Clark, .Tolmson, Ben, and
Jack ... A most cruel death it was, as I was told by one of the natives, four
men holding one of them on the ground, and forcing open his mouth, while
they choaked him by ramming stones down liis throat. As to Jack . . , I was
informed by the princess Yiiqua, that ho was quite a small boy, who cried u
gTPfit deal, being put to hard labor lx;yond his strength by the natives, in
cutting wood and bruigii.g water, and that when he Jieard of the murder of
our crew, it liatl such an effect on him that he fell sick and died shortly after.*

'\'\'.

„i ^

|?ffi:

\:\ u

:-i!;Bl. j : .!.

i-Bi; \

■ajiij

:. \

if i m

» ■ ,.,.ii

i> <

! i|

31f

LAST OF THE EXPLORERS.

Globe was killed during this voyage. The Caroline
went to the Hawaiian Islands, probably to spend the
winter there as the traders were wont to do, and there
Captain Derby died. His grave on the island of
Oahu was visited the next year by Captain Clev^e-
land.* Wildes of the Atahualpa is recorded as having
first heard of the Stikeen River in August of this
year while his vessel was in the region of Queen Char-
lotte Sound.^ Captain William Sturgis, who became
wealthy and famous in connection with the fur-trade
of the North Pacific, seems to have visited the coast
personally in 1802, perhaps as owner or supercargo of
one of the vessels named. He says: "In 1801, the
trade was most extensively, though not most profit-
ably prosecuted; that year, there were fifteen vessels
on the coast, and in 1802 more than 15,000 sea-otter
skins were collected, and carried to Canton. But the
competition was so great, that few of the voj^ages were
then profitable, and some were ruinous."* There were
no arrivals on the Californian coast this year, or at
least no record of such arrival appears in the archives.

The ship Boston, owned by the»Amorys of Boston,
having obtained a cargo in England, sailed from the
Downs in September 1802, doubled Cape Horn, and
without touching at any port, made Woody Point,
on the island of Cuadra and Vancouver, March 12,
I80o. John Salter was the captain, his mates were B.
Delouisa and William lugraham, and the crew num-
bered twenty-four. The natives had established their
village* on the site of the old Spanish post in Friendly
Cove; and Salter anchored his vessel several miles
farther up the sound, so near the shore that she was

" 'In a retired spot, clothed with verdure and surrounded with cocoa-nut
trees, my guide pointed to the grave of my old friend and former shipmate,
Charles Derby, who died here last year, on board a Boston ship, which he com-
mc :id"d, from the Northwest Coast. Charles and I had sailed many a thousand
leagu- together, and, being ff the same age, the probability was as great
when >> •> parted, that he would visit my grave as I his.' Cleveland's Nar. , 232.

' ''ff lliit. Soc. Col., 1804, 242, containing an extract from the log, as
-jittiA bv Greenhow, Or. and Cat., 254.

^Stiir'jia' Aorthwest Fur Trade, 536.

JEWITT'S NARRATIVE.

31.1

secured by a hawser to the trees. For several days,
while the Americans were occupied in obtaining wood
aiid water, Maquinna and his men often visited the
ship, and were entertained as was usual in such cases.
They made themselves entirely at home, gratified
their curiosity by examining everything on board,
and maintained the most friendly relations with tbeir
visitors. To Maquinna was given a double-barrelled
fowling-piece, with which he appeared greatly pleased ;
and on March 21st, when the ship was nearly ready
to depart, he came back v/ith a gift of wild ducks.
He brought back the gun, however, with one of the
L '^'^i broken, remarking that it was j^f^shak, or bad.
"Captain Salter was very much offended at this ob-
servation, and considering it as a mark of contempt
for his present, he called the king a liar, adding other
opprobrious terms, and taking the gun from him
tossed it indignantly into the cabin . . . Maquinna knew
a number of English words, and unfortunately under-
stood but too well the meaning of the repi'oachful
terms that the Captain addressed to him. — He said
not a wor<l in reply, but his countenance sufficiently
expressed the rage he felt, though he exerted himself
to suppress it, and I observed him while the Captain
was speaking repeatedly put his hand to his throat
and rub it upon his bosom, which he afterwards told
me was to keep down his heart, which was rising into
his throat and choaking him. He soon after went on
shore with his men, evidently much discomposed."*

The Nootka chieftain had resolved on vengeance
for the insult received at this time and for 'other

•This ia Jawitt's account, to be noticed presently. The version received
by Captain Rowan of the Hazard from the Tatacu chief at Fuca Strait and
brouglit down to California was as follows : The chief Quatlazape was told by
the American captain 'that ho was a mean fellow to trade with. The cap-
tain told hi'u he nad met many chieftains in the north, and knew that ho had
no appearance of a chieftain, and appeared a very low man. The chief re-
plic I, 'Piceque' [peshak], which in their language means ' bad man;' and the
captain talcing a musket threatened him. and ordered him on shore aa an
insolent fellow. Going to his ron'heria ho summoned all the Indiana from
Fuca Strait to the north point of Nootka, who assembled within three days ;'
and it waa resolved to capture the ship. Arch. Gal., MS., Si. Pap., Miss, and
Vol., i. 89-91; Captain Rowan's letter of August 12, 1803, to Arg-iello.

ill

f^- l'

vX,

314

LAST OF THE EXPLORERS.

wrongs perhaps of earlier date ;*" and the story of whav
followed cannot be better told than by continuing to
quote the words of one who was present. "On the
morning of the 2 2d the natives came off to us as
usual with salmon, and remained on board, when
about noon Maquinna came along side with a con-
siderable number of his chiefs and men in their
canoes, who after going through the customary ex-
amination were admitted into the ship. He had a
whistle in his hand, and over his face a very ugly mask
of wood representing the head of some wild beast, ap-
peared to be remarkably good humoured and gay, and
whilst his people sung and capered about the deck,
entertaining us with a variety of antic tricks and
gestures, he blew his whistle to a kind of tune which
seemed to regulate their motions."" Captain Salter
was induced in the afternoon to send nine men in
the boats to catch salmon, thus dividing the force.
"Shortly after the departure of the boats I went
down to my vise-bench in the steerage," says Jewitt
the armorer, "where I was employed in cleaning mus-
kets. I had not been there more than an hour when
1 heard the men hoisting in the long boat, which, in a
few minutes after, was succeded by a great bustle and
confusion on deck. I immediately ran up the steerage
stairs, but scarcely was my head above deck, when I
was caught by the hair by one of the savages, and
lifted from my feet; fortunately for me, my hair being
short, and the ribbon with which it was tied shpping,
I fell from his hold into the steerage. As I was falling,
he struck at me with an axe, which cut a deep gash in

"Ma(]^uinna told Jewitt later that he had several times been ill-treated by
foreign visitors. Captain Tawnington, commanding a schooner which win-
tereu at Friendly Covo, had entered Maquinna's house in his absence and
taken 40 fine skins, besides frightening the woraen. Then Martinez had
killed four chiefs; and soon after, Captain Hnnna of the Sea-otter had fired
upon the canoes and killed over twenty of the natives, Maquinna himself
having to swim for his life. His desire for revenge was rekindled by Captain
Salter s insult.

" In the account given to Rowan, the Indians are said to have obtained in
advance permission to have a dance on board as a ceremonial making-up after
the recent dispute, all as part of a plot to seize the vessel.

CAFTURlE OF THE BOSlKJN.

Sift

my forehead, and penetrated the skull ; but iu conse-
quence of his losing his hold, I luckily escaped the ftill
rorce of the blow. I fell stunned and senseless upon
the floor." When he regained consciousness he found
the hatch closed and judged by their yells that the
savages were in possession of the ship. Presently
he was summoned before Maquinna and promised his
life on condition of becoming a slave to make and re-
pair weapons for his master. On the quartei-deck he
was she ;vn in a line the heads of twenty -five murdered
companions, and was ordered to identify each by name.
After seizing the ship and killing all on deck, they
had sent a well armed force to bring back the heads
of those in the boats."

The Boston was moved from her anchorage, beached
at Friendly Cove, stripped of the more easily acces-
sible portions of her cargo, and a few days later ac-
cidentally burned. Meanwhile another man, John
Thompson the sail -maker was found in the hold,
where he had concealed himself after receiving a
knife-wound in the nose. Jewitt's life was spared
because of his skill in making weapons; and Thomp-
son's at the intercession of Jewitt, ^ho represented
him as his father; though there were many who
wished to kill both. The two survivors lived among
the savages in Maquinna's service for three years,
generally well enough treated, and suffering such
hardships only as were naturally connected with the
situation. Jewitt lived for a time with a native wife,
and they travelled considerably over the island; but
escape was ever in their minds. The traders avoided
Nootka after the massacre; but letters were sent in
various directions, and finally in July 1805, the Lydia,
Captain Hill, anchored in the port. Maouinna was
desirous of renewing the old commercial relations,
and he went on board, carrying such a letter of reconi-

liM

'ti^i^

— -if

h':

Ik :

! ' il

'•'According to Rowan tho massacre was begun while the dance wna going
on, fit a signal from the chief, a crowd of natives being close at hand in their
canoes.

816

LAST OP THE EXPLOREES.

mendation from Jewitt as caused his immediate arrest
as a hostage for th6 captive's release. After a trading
cruise the two men left the coast in August 1806, and
before the end of 1807 arrived in Boston via China.
Jewitt was an Englishman, only twenty years old at
the time of his capture. He had shipped at Hull for
this voyage^ and kept a diary during his captivity, from
which a book was published on his return in 1807, and
afterward in many diiferent editions. The narrative
is a fascinating one of the author's personal adven-
tures, containing also much valuable information on
the manners and customs of the Nootka Indians.
For details of the captivity beyond what has been
presented I have no space."

A few days after the capture of the Boston two
ships were seen approaching the port at Nootka, but
they were frightened away by the hostile demon-
strations of the natives, who opened fire upon them
with muskets and blunderbusses. "After firing a few
rounds of grape shot which did no harm to any one,
they wore ship and stood out to sea. These ships, as
I afterwards learned, were the Mary and Juno of
Boston. They were scarcely out of sight when Ma-
quinna expressed much regret that he had permitted
his people to fire at them, being apprehensive that
they would give information to others in what manner
they had been received, and prevent them from coming
to trade with him.""

^*A narrative of the adventures and at^fferings of John R. Jewitt; only aur-
vivor of the crew of the ship, Boston, during a captivity of nearly three years
among the savages of Nootka Sound; %oith an account of the manners, mode of
living, and religious opinions of the natives, embellished tviih a plate representiiig
the ship in the possession q/ the savages. New York, 1816, 12mo, 208 pp. This is
marked 3(1 edition. I have before me another of Ithaca 1849, 12mo, 166 pp. ,
'embellished with engravings.' According to Sabin the original, published in
Boston 1807 and New York 1812, was entitled: A Journal kept at Nootka
Sound by John li. Jewitt, etc. He also not«8 thirteen other editions, stating that
one version was compiled from Jewitt's oral relations by Richard AIsop, and
another edited by Goodrich, or ' Peter Parley.' Sproat, Scenes and Studies, 5,
gives some slight reminiscences of Jewitt's captivity obtained by \V. E. Ban-
Held from an old Indian who had known the captive.

^^ Jewitt's Nar., 36. The Juno was one of the preceding year's vessels; the
Mary was owned by Gray of Boston and commanded by Bowles, who is said
to have died during the voyage. Tufts' List.

K ^i

OTHER SHIPS FROM BOSTON.

Two other traders suffered this year from Indian
hostilities, the Alexander, Captain John Brown, and
the Hazard, Captain James Rowan. They made their
appearance at San Francisco on the 11th of August,
coming from the north in distress, and asking for relief.
Captain Brown was known in Cahfomia, having been
detected at the beginning of the year in smugghng
operations at San Diego, and having subsequently ob-
tained supplies at San Francisco under false pretences.
Therefore no attention was paid to his present demand,
and he was ordered away from the port. He suc-
ceeded better at Monterey, where he obtained supplies,
running away at night to avoid payment for the same.
The nature and extent of the Alexanders injuries on
the northern coast are not known. Captain Rowan,
on the other hand, was well treated and allowed four
days for refitting, having presented a written state-
ment of his vessel's condition, the truth of which was
verified by Comandante Arguello bj"^ a personal in-
spection. The Hazard had been several times attacked
by the natives in Chatham Strait, and had narrowly
escaped capture, besides receiving damages from
striking on a rock. None of her men had been lost,
but her hull and rigging were riddled with balls, the
Indians having been well provided with fire-arms. On
his way south Rowan had touched at the strait of
Fuca, where he heard of the Boston's disaster, and
brought the news to California."

The O'Cain, Captain Joseph O'Cain, sailed from
Boston January 23, 1803, and reached Sitka before
the end of the year. Jonathan Winship, one of the
owners, made his first visit to the coast on this vessel.
It does not clearly appear that she touched on the
Northwest Coast proper this year; but the voyage

^''Arch. Cal., MS., St. Pap., Miss, and Ool,, i. 84-9. See Hist. Col., ii. chap.
i., this series, for some additional particulars about the experience of Brown
and Rowan in California. The Hazard is said to have had 50 men and '22

Cs. In Niles' Register, xviii. 418, she is said to have sailed from Boston in
^ tember 1802, returning on the Gth of May 1805, under Swift as master and
Smith as mate ; so also in Tufts^ List; and as the Spaniards write the nama
AKr there is a possibility that Rowan commanded another vessel.

■ (
I

i!t

81&

LAST OF THE EXPLORERS.

lasted three years, and we shall hear more of this
craft." Mr Gray names the Alert, commanded by
Ebbetts, and the Vancouver, by Brown, among thr
vessels that visited the coast this year."

William Sturgis, probably commanding the Boston
ship Caroline, arrived at Kaigan early m 1804. On
a previous visit he had noticed the high value at-
tached by the natives to the ermine-skin, and he had
obtained about five thousand of them at a cost of
about thirty cents each in Boston. The result was
that in half a day he purchased five hundred and sixty
prime otter-skins, worth fifty dollars each, for half of
his ermines, or 'clicks,' as the Indians called them."
The Lelia Byrd was a ship that had caused some ex-
citement on the Cahfornian coast in 1803, and in 1804
she came back under the command of Captain William
Shaler. Coming from China, she arrived at the mouth
of the Columbia on the 1st of May, but for eight
days was unable to cross the bar, and finally pro-
ceeded down the coast in search of a more accessible
port, entering Trinidad the 9th of May."

The Haza^rd also came back from the Hawaiian
Islands this year, as is shown by records in the
archives of California. Having obtained supplies at
San Francisco in February, Captain Rowan sailed
for the Northwest Coast. Of his operations there
nothing is known, but in September he reappeared in
the southern ports, as usual in great need of pro-
visions.*' Smuggling and an illicit fur-trade on the
coasts of upper and lower California were becoming
much more attractive to the Boston men than the
barter of old with the northern savages, who had

^^ Boston in the Northwest, MS., 11-12.

"Gray's Hist. Or., 14.

^^Sturgis' Northwest Fur Trade, 536; Tiifts' List.

''/S'Ao/fir's Journal, 138-9. The opei-ationa of tlw Lelia Byrd on the Gali-
fomian coaat m 1803-5 ore related in Hint. CaL, ii., chap. i.-ii., this series.

^MrcA. Cdl, MS., Pruv. St. Pap., xviii. 330, 301, 373, 376-9; Prov. Bee,
xi. 103; 'St. Pap. Sac., v. 70. Gray, Hint. Or., 14, tells us that the Perkaaa
company sent tlie Hazard under Swift to the Columbia in 1804; also that
Theodore Lyman sent the OmxUinozin, Captain Bumstead, from Boston.

CAPTAIN O'CAIN.

319

now acquired new ideas respecting the value of their
furs, had become hostile and revengeful, often with
much cause, and who had become somewhat too well
supplied with fire-arms. Captain O'Cain had the
honor of introducing a new development of the fur-
trade this year. Ho was still prepared for barter
with the Indians, and he was still alive to the charms
and profits of smuggling; but his genius demanded a
broader field. On his arrival at Sitka in the fall of
1803, he induced the manager of the Russian estab-
lishments, Bardnof, to furnish Aleut otter -hunters
with their bidarkas for a hunting tour in the south,
the product to be divided between the Russian com-
pany and the Boston owners. The result of this first
trip of the O'Cain was eleven hundred otter-skins
carried from the Californian coasts, chiefly from thoso
of the peninsula, to Alaska in June 1804, the vessel
thence directing her course to China and homeward."
This new system of hunting on shares was continued
for years with some profit to the contracting parties,
especially to the Americans; but it was at last ter-
minated by the Russians when they convinced them-
selves that their Yankee partners could neither bo
trusted nor watched, besides arousing the enmity of
Spain by their unlawful operations. The whole sub-
ject is fully treated elsewhere in this work, mainly
concerning California and Alaska. Hunting under this
new arrangement was chiefly confined to the southern
coasts, almost exclusively so far as the records show.
Naturally the Spanish archives mention only compli-
cations with the Californian authorities; the Russian
records deal only with the contracts, outfits, and results ;
while but few log-books are extant. Yet as these
vessels passed each year up and down between Alaska
and California, it seems necessary to mention them in
connection with the maritime annals of the Northwest
Coast, even if no records appear of their occasional
landings and adventures within that territory.

"Boston in the Norlhicest, MS., 11-12; KhUbnikof, ZapMi, 8; Tlkhrruinef,
[ator. Obozranie, app., '272-6. See also Hist. Vol., ii., chap, ii., thia series.

• I

^.^

'A.

I 1

320

LAST OF THE EXPLOREES.

No traders visited Califomian waters in 1 805, or at
least they left no record of their visits; but there are
a few items extant respecting their movements in the
north. The ship Atcuiualpa, Captain 0. Porter, de-
spatched by Lyman of Boston, " wasattacked by the sav-
ages in Millbank Sound, and her captain, mate, and six
seamen, were kiUed ; after which the other seamen suc-
ceeded in repellingtheassailants and savingthe vessel."'"
The ship Caroline was still on the coast; and new ar-
rivals included the Boston ships Vancouver, Brown, and
Pearl, Ebbetts, despatched by Lyman and Lamb, re-
spectively.** Lewis and Clarke reaching the mouth of
the Columbia by an overland journey, learned from the
Indians their version of the names of a dozen foreigners
who had been wont to visit their country in command
of vessels; but none of the names can be identified."
The Lydia of Boston, commanded by Samuel Hill,
arrived at Nootka to rescue Jewitt and Thompson,
as we have seen, in July 1805. The ship then made
a cruise to the north, entered the Columbia for spars,
returned to Nootka in November, and finally sailed
for China in August of the next year.'*' The Juno,
Captain De Wolf, very likely visited this region this
year, as late in the autumn she was sold to the Rus-
sian American Company at New Archangel."

''^Oreenhoiv's Or. and Cal., 268. He says the Atahualpa was from Bliode
Island. Gray, Hist. Or., 14, tells us she was sent from Boston in 1805 by
Ljrman and Company. Henry A. Peirce, Memoranda, MS., 7-8, afterward
sailed with Nicholas Wrenthem, who had been mate of the Afaiiualpa, wlio
said: 'The natives became saucy, the mate not liking the look of things
told the captain, who pooh-poohed, but the natives made an attack on the crew.
They were at last beaten oflF by the crew, but they had no sooner done this
than they saw the Indians sawing away at the hempen cable. The captain
took his blunderbuss and fired at the natives, killing six of them. . .The
l>outswain was named Griffin. Captain Porter was stabbed in the back and
thrown overboard. He was carried on shore and lived a few days.' In Tu/ta'
List the Atahualpa arrived in 1804.

''^Grm/'a Hist. Or., 14; Tufts' Li»t.

^*Lewis and Clarke's Journey, 497. The names were as follows: Haley,
the favorite trader, stays some time; Zallamon, not a trader; Callalamet,
with a wooden leg ; Davidson, a hunter ; Skelley, only one eye ; absent for
several years ; Youens, Sivipton, Moore, Mackey, Washington, Mesship, Jack-
son, and Bolch.

'''^Jewitt's Nar., 154-63. Gray, Hist. Or., 15, speaks of the Lydia as sent
from Boston to theColumbia by Lyman in ISOiO. Tufts says she sailed In 1804.

''"Itezdnof, Zapiski, 203-4. She left Boston in 1804, being owned as well
as commanded by Da Wolf. Tu/ts' List.

WINSHIP AND BARANOF.

321

The imperial inspector Rezdnof from Alaska in
1806 urged upon his company and his government the
importance of founding a Russian establishment on
the Columbia River, with a view of gaining exclusive
possession of the fur- trade. "To accomplish this it
would be necessary to build as soon as possible an
armed brig to drive away the Bostonians from this
trade forever. From the Columbia we could gradually
advance toward the south to the port of San Fran-
cisco, which forms the boundary line of California.
I think I may say that at the Columbia we could
attract population from various localities, and in the
course of ten years we should become strong enough
to make use of any favorable tuin in European poli-
tics to include the coast of CaUfornia in the Russian
possessions."

"Captain Winship told Mr Bardnof that last au-
tumn sixty men had started from the United States
overland to settle on the Columbia River, which
would have been easier for us than anybody else.
The American states claim the right to those shores,
saying that the headwaters of the Columbia are in
their territory; but on the»same principle they could
extend their possessions all over the world, where
there was no previous European settlement. But I
think they have determined to settle there, because
the Spaniards have opened to them four ports on the
eastern side of America under tlie condition that they
should not touch on their western coasts.'^'' This
happened after Winship's departure from Boston,
and is yet unknown to the American vessels here.
Four Boston ships are at present cruising and trading
in the sounds, namely: Captain Heale on the brig
Lida;^ Captain Porter, brother of the one killed, on
the ship Hamilton;^ Captain Brown on the ship

^^ I do not understand this allusion. i'

" This may be the Haley of Lewis and Clarke's list.

™Gray, IJtst. Or., 15, mentions the Hamilton, Captain L. Petei , aa having
been sent to the Columbia by Lyman of Boston, arriving in 1807. Tufts, List,
gives the name L. Porter anil the date 1806.
HiHT. N. W. Coast. Vul. I. 21

■' i-ii

',!

■I ■';

322

LAST OF THE EXPLORERS.

I i

Vancouver;^ and Captain Giehitz in the ship Pearl}^
At Kaiijan there are also several vessels tradinsf, the
Urodel, Hazard,^ Peacock, and others. When shall
we drive these unwelcome j^uests away?" Rezdnof
himself went down to California on the Juno, as is
fully related in another volume of this work,^ and in
his letters he writes: "I had the intention to explore
the Columbia River. We sighted its mouth on the
14th of March, but contrary winds compelled us to
stand off. After keeping a northerly course for a
time we returned next day and expected to run in,
but the strong current had carried us sixty miles to
the north, and we were opposite Gray Harbor. We
sent off a bidarka, in which Dr Langsdorff entered the
harbor. We tried again to run into the Columbia as
the only harbor this side of California to obtain fresh
provisions, and we approached it on the evening of
the 20th. The following day we expected to enter,
but a rushing tide and a channel covered with high
breakers opposed us;" and four days later they reached
San Francisco.^

The Peacoch, named in Rezdnof's list, left Boston
in September 1805, doubled Cape Horn in company
with the Hazard, and came to California from the
Hawaiian Islands in February 180G. She is de-
scribed as of one hundred and eight tons, with eight
guns and fourteen men; and was commanded by
Captain Kimball, said to have been a brother-in-law
of O'Cain. Though bound for the north with sup-
plies for the Russians, she attempted smuggling —
that is, applied for provisions — at several southern
ports, and in consequence lost four men, who were

'" Sent out to meet Lewis and Clarke, but not arriving until after their
departure, according to Gray.

'•The captain's name was Ebbetts. She was fitted out by Lamb and
Company, according to Tufts.

'^ Left Boston July 22, 1805, under William Smith as master ; and returned
July 23, 1808. Xilcsi' Eegister, xviii. 418; Tti/ts^ List. Gray says she was sent
out under Smith in 1807.

^^llist. Oal., ii., chap. iv.

"^Rezdnof, Zapiski, 233, 254, 279 ; see also Langsdorff 's Voyages, ii. 9^7 et seq.

iff

THK SHIP O'CAIN. 323

arrested at San Diego an(' out to San Bias.'" An-
other vessel of the year was known to the Spaniards
as the Reizos, though there may be some error about
the name. She was apparently engaged in otter-
hunting, or at least was in company with other vessels
so engaged.*"

The O'Cain came back this year, having left Boston
in October 1805, under the command of Jonathan
Winship, with Nathan Winship as mate. She had a
force of thirty men, a coppered bottom, not common
in those days, and was specially fitted out for hunting
as well as trading. A hundred Aleuts with fifty
hidarhas were obtained at ^ cw Archangel in April,
and some attempts at hunting were made on the way
southward. Winship's chief operations were confined,
however, to the Baja California coasts and islands,
where he left his hunters and returned I ly the Sand-
wich Islands to Kadiak with skins valued at $G0,000."
Another vessel, not named, but commanded by Cap-
tain Campbell, possibly Kimball of the Peacock, made
a contract in October for hunting on shares, and came
back to Alaska the next Augugt with 1230 skins.^

The Winships on the OCain with a new party of
fifty hunters left Kadiak in January 1807. Touching
at the Farallones, at the islands of the Santa Bitrbara
Channel, and at San Pedro, Winship rejoined the
hunters he had left on the peninsular coast, where he
remained until April, and then returned to the north
with the whole force of Aleuts. There were over two
hundred souls on board, tvvo more at the end than at
the beginning of the trip northward, and the log
shows some narrow escapes from shipwreck on the
way. With a cargo worth $136,000 the OCain sailed

"ylrcA. Col., MS., Prov. St. Pap., xix. 13G-8, 153-5, 174-C; Prov. Jiec,
xii. 40; liezdnof, Zapinki, 273.

^^Arch. C'al., MS., /Vow. St.Pap.,xb!.. 129-30, 134-C, 141-3. The captain's
name is called O'Cain and in one place is written Poenicar.

"''Boston in the Norlhwfut, MS., 13-20; KhUhnikof, Zapiski, &-10, 137;
Bardnof, Shtneopusanie, 107-8; Tikhmcnef, Istor. Obozranie, i. 167.

"^KhUhnikof, Zapinki, 9.

iiH

It.'

M^i \

324

LAST OF THE EXPLORERS.

for China in October; and at tho beginning of the
next year Btarted for Boston in company with the
Atahualpa and Augustus, captains Sturgis and Hill.*
Meanwhile the old commander of tho ship, Joseph
O'Cain, was on the Eclipse, a vessel chartered by the
Russian company, which was wrecked among the
Aleutian Islands in September of this year, the cap-
tain and his men saving their lives after many hard-
ships.*" According to a Russian authority, Captain
Swift in the Derby made an otter-hunting trip to
California this 3'^ear under an arrangement similar to
that of the Winships; but nothing further is known
of the voyage except Mr Gray's statement that tho
Derby entered the Columbia River the next year.*^
The Guatimozin, Glanville master, Lyman owner,
left Boston in July 1806, and was on tho coast from
March 1807 to September 1808. She entered the
Columbia, and her trading operations extended up to
59° 30'. On July 4th the men had moose and salmon
for dinner on the Columbia; and a pewter medal was
found which had been given to the Indians by Lewis
and Clarke."

The Boston ships Pearl, Captain Suter, and Van-
couver, Captain Whittemore, owned and fitted out by
Perkins, were on the coast in 1808-9, according to
Tufts and Gray. In these years also the Mercury,
commanded by George Washington Ayres, was en-
gaged in hunting on shares under a contract with
the Russians. Captain Ayres lost some deserters in
California; but he obtained two thousand and eighty

"Boston in (he Northoest, MS., 12-27. The Atahualpa ia in lefts' Lint
for 1807, owned by Lyman.

^GampbelFs Voy., 26-7, 42-8. Tho author sailed on this vessel from
China tinder the assumed name of McBride. In some of the Russian author-
ities the Eclipse is spoken of as visiting the southern coast, being perhaps
confounded with the O'Cain.

*^ Tikhni/nef, Is'or. Obovanie, i. 171; Grm/s Hist. Or., 15; Tvjh' List,
owned by Perkins.

",?H'«7j'.s NoHiiwest Coast, 40G-7, 425, with a, facsimile of the medal ; Tufts'
List. Mr Tufts, who furnished the information published by Swan, was
supercargo of the Guatimozin on this voyage. The vessel was wrecked in
1810 on the New Jersey coast.

OTHER BOSTON SHIPS.

325

8oa-otter skins for sharing." Grecnhow tells us that
Mr Astor, in 1809, "despatched the shin Enterprise,
under Captain Ebbetts, an intelligent and experienced
seaman and trader, to make observations at various
places on the north-west coasts of America, and par-
ticularly at the Russian settlements, and to prepare
the way for the new establishments;" but nothing
further is stated about the voyage." Captain Kuskof
visited California in 1809 with a view to selecting a
site for the proposed Russian settlement; but he did
not touch on the coast between Alaska and Trinidad,

In 1810-11 four ships, the OCdin, Albatross, Isa-
bella, and Mercimj, commanded respectively by Jon-
athan and Nathan Winship, William H. Davis, and
George W. Ayi<^;S, Wv^re engaged in hunting otters
under Russian contracts. They also did a very large
and profitable business in hunting fur-seals on the
Farallones and at ot her points. Their hunting opera-
tions were exclusively in southern waters, and are
recorded in another volume of this work." It is prob-
able that they traded to some extent in the north,
but of their movements on the Northwest Coast
nothing is known beyond their trips to and fro be-
tween Alaska and California. There is, however, one
important exception to be noted in the case of the
Albatross. The Winships had planned a permanent
settlement or trading-post on the Columbia, and with
that end in view Captain Nathan, on hib first arrival
from the Sandwich Islands, spent nearly two months,
from May 26th to July 19th, in the river. A site was
selected at a place called Oak Point, on the southern
bank, about forty miles from the mouth. After con-
siderable progress had been made on a building, and in
preparing land for planting, an inundation forced them
to move the foundation to a higher spot near by ; and

^Bardnof, Shizneopiasanie. Ill; Khlihnikof, Zapitki, 9; Arch. Col., MS.,
Prov. Rec., viii. 97-8; ix. 120; xii. 283-4.
**Qremhote'8 Or. and CaL, 295.
* 8ee Hist. CaL , ii. , this series.

L -

: i

st#www!p™

326

LAST OF THE EXPLORERS.

41 -^=1^-

then the hostile attitude of the Indians caused the
project to be abandoned altogether, since although
the Indians might easily have been controlled during
the ship's presence, it was not deemed safe to leave a
small party exposed to such danger. Full particulars
of this earliest attempt at settlement in Oregon will
be given in a later chapter of this work. Captain
Ayres also entered the Columbia in the Mercuri/
while Winship was there. It seems that Ayres
took ten or twelve natives from the Nootka region to
serve in the south as hunters ; and instead of brinijincj
them back to their home, as he had promised, he left
them on some desert islands on the Californian coast.*"
Kuskof started this year on a new expedition to Cal-
ifornia; but touching at Queen Charlotte Islands he
was attacked by tlie Indians, who killed several ot
his men and left him in such a condition that he was
forced to return to Alaska.*^

Besides the four otter-hunting craft in southern
waters, five vessels were seen in the summer of 1811
at Kaigan, in the riorth. These were the New
Hazard, Captain Nye; the Lydia, Captain Bennett;
the Otter, Captain Hill; ind two ships, not named,
under captains Porter and Blanchard,*" the latter's
vessel being the Catherine, which was hunting for
the Russians on shares. Captain Blanchard and
Captain Thomas Meek of the Amethyst delivered to
the company this year over fourteen hundred sea-
otter skins. The Charon, commanded by Captain
Whittemore, was another of the hunting craft, which
carried north eighteen hundred skins, and was found
at the Farallones by Winship the next year.*" The
Otter is said to have been attacked by the natives at
Nootka, several of the crew being killed.'*'

**Franchcre'8 Nar., 187.

"Tikhminef, fstor. Ohosranie, i. 208.

"Ixjc of tho Albntrosn, in Boston in the Nortkioest, MS., 56.

*'KJMbnikof, Zapiski, 9-10; Bardnof, Shizneopissanie, 148-9; Boston in
the. Northwest, MS., 62.

^Peirce's Memoranda, MS., 14. Tho ■vriter's brother, Joseph, ■was on
bonrd and was voundcd. Captaui Hi. 's i pnken of as father of the actor
known as Yankee Hill. The date is g»> . ;:3 1810.

mf>£icrK^^M«Ki«Mi«*^<^yrii«4fl

THE SHIP TONQUIN.

327

The annals of the Pacific Fur Company and the
foundation o^' Astoria on the Columbia are presented
fully elsewltc.e in this work; bare mention of the
subject in its maritime phases will suffice here. The
party that actually founded the establislunent came
in the ship Tonquin, Captain Jonathan Thorn, which
left New York in September 1810 and entered the
river in March 1811. After the crow had assisted
in t]:8 preliminary work of the post, Captain Thorn
sailed for the north to enjja'jo in trade for the com-
pany. Two years later a native iuterpnjter who had
sailed on the vessel returned to Astoria with tlio
following report, as quoted from Greenhow: "The
Tonquin, after quitting the river, sailed northward
along the coast of the continent, and anchored, in the
middle of June, 1811, opposite a village on the bay of
Clayoquot, near the entrance of the Strait of Fuca.
She was there immediately surrounded by crowds
of Indians in canoes, who continued for some days to
'trade in the most peaceable manner, so as to disarm
Captain Thorn and Mr McKay of all suspicions. At
length, either in consequence of an aflfront given by a
chief to the captain, or with the view of plundering
the vessel, the natives embraced an opportunity when
the men were dispersed on or below the decks, in the
performance of their duties, and in a moment put to
death every one of the crew and passengers, except
the interpreter, who leaped into a canoe, and was saved
by some women, and the clerk, Mr Lewis, who re-
treated, with a few sailors, to the cabin. The survivors
of the c rew, by the employment of their fire-arms, suc-
ceeded in driving the savages from the ship; and, in
the night, four of them quitted her in a boat, leaving
on board Mr Lewis and some otliers, who were severely
wounded. On the foUcjwing day, the natives again
crowded around and on board the J'onquini and while
they were engaged in rifling her, she was blown up,
most probably by tho wounded men left below deck.
The seamen who had endeavored to escape it^ tho

an LAST OF THE EXPLORERS.

boat were soon retaken, and put to death in a most
cruel manner, by the Indians ; the interpreter was pre-
served, and remained in slavery two years, at the end
of which time he was suffered to depart."" It should
also be stated here that a schooner of thirty tons, the
frame for which had been l^rought from New York,
was launched on the 2d of October, named the Dolly,
and used thereafter for river navigation, being too
small for coasting voyages, for which she had been
intended.^''

>',-i!>''

Captain Jofiathan Winship tKtlt0%tAi on the AUxt-

tross to California in 1812 for lUte ymfyrmti ^mn^ up
his fur-trading aivi hunting f>|>r;rit*^Ky»-.- haviriv made
arrangements ♦'o <.Mabark in a ik-w enterprise, X,i>tt
sandal-wood trade. He did not go farther north than
Drake Bay on this trip, and this seems to have been
his last visit to the western coas , thou^i we shall
meet th« vessel again." The only vessel known to

**Oriitnhoio'a Or. and Col., 300; /rvini/x Agtoria, 45-84, 106-16; Gabriel
Fv«»e'ii^re came out on the Tonquin, and in his Narnitive of a VoyagtjfffW
a fill account of the trip. This )x>ok, pp. 180-9, also coutaina the vBtM^
acccHint of the massacre, as repoi-ted by the Indian interpreter. Cafmfi
Smith of the Albatross, according to Franch^re, attributed the disaster largel/
to the action of Captain Ayres of tlio Mercury, who, as already noted, djkI
taken ten or a dozen natives of the Nootka region as hunters, and had failed
to return them to their homes. I shall give c, full description of the voyage
and capture of the Tonquin in connection with the Astor expeditione.

^'Franchere'sNar., 130.

^ I quote from Boston in the Northwest, MS., p. 68 et seq., as follows:
'The captaiis Winship returnoJ to Boston during 1816 and retired from the
•ea . . . Aad iww, in parting with the nautical part of Captain Jonathan Win-
ahip's Ufe, a passing tribute is due to him as a commander The writer was
personally acquainted with him, and gladly records his owi. opinion with the
testimony of other men of the sea who knew him intimately. As an early
pioneer to the North- West coast, and as agent for the company and chief in
command of the Hhii)s of tlic expedition, lie must fn-quently I'-tve }>een called
tii the firmest exertion of authority and command. His human.-ty ix apparent
from his treatment of '..lie natives, while the health, the oonveuienc«, and as
far as it could be admitted, the enjoyment of bin seamen were the conetant
objects of his attention : kind and courteous to all, he was manly and honor-
able in the transactions of the multifarious biieinebs in which he was engaged,
whether with the savages of Nootka Sound, the savage ku>g of the Islands,
or the more civilized subjects of the Flowery Kingdom. As u seaman and
navigator he ranked among the foremost. His brother appears to have been a
counterpart of himself, and an able cooperator. . .Captain Winship was sorely
disappointed at the result of his brother's attempt at the [Columbia] River;
lie hoped to have planteu a Garden of Eden on the shores of the Pacific, and
made that wilderness to blossom like the rose. Repulsed on the western slope

1812 AND THE WAR.

have i:ouched the Northwest Coast in 1812 was the
Beat'er, command(!d by Captain CorneHus Sowles.
She brought from New York another detachment of
Astor's fur company, and entered the Columbia on
the 10th of May. She left the river in August and
proceeded on a trading tour up the coast. The inten-
tion was to return to Astoria, but the vessel proceeded
instead from Sitka to the Sandwich Itjlands and to
China, where she remained during the war between
England and the United States."

The war of 1812-14 caused a complete stagnation
in maritime alTairs on the Northwest Coast. Only two
vessels are known to have reached the Columbia in
1813. It does not appear that any P^nglish vessels
at this time were engaged in the fur-trade; and the
American traders, fearing with mucli reason capture
by British cruisers, hastened to take refuge in neutral
ports on receipt of the news that hostilities had begun.
The Beaver from Astoria, having lauded Mr Hunt,
chief agent of Aster's company, at the Sandwich
Islands, was fortunate enough, as we have seen, to
reach Canton. "I had sent orders to the captain
to return to Astoria; but he was feai'ful of beinsf
cjtptured, and remained safely at Canton till the war
was over, when he came home."" The O'Cain and
Isal/ella are said to have been blockaded at the Sand-
wicli Islands for nearly three years, while the Charon
was so unlucky as to fall into the hands of the foe."*
Anothtn- well known vessel of the fleet, engaged in
the Russian, fur-hunting, and contraband service, the

of the continent, he returued to the cu tern. . .In his native town of Brighton
he laid out and cultivated the most extensive gardens of tho kind then ex-
isting on the continent of America, filled with the choicest plants and shrub-
bery . . . His latter yeara were ixsacefully spciit among beds of flowers. He died
among his roses. How useful and honorable the life — how beautiful its close.'

**Ross Cox, Advmlures on Ifie Columbia River, came out on board of tho
Beaver. See also Gr&'.iihow'a Or. and Cat., iJO.?, 299; Astor's letter, in /</., 440;
Franchere's Nar., 154-01 ; Irvlng's Asloria, 355-8, 465-73.

** Astor's letter in Oreeiihow't Or. and Cal. , 440.

^Boston in the Northwest, MS. , 63. The author innludes tho A Ibairoas with
the others; and it if, '{)os«ible that she was Jetainud at the Islands after her
return from the Cpiumbia in 1S13.

^ 1

,1 '1

t :

mm:>

330

LAST OP THE EXPLORERS.

Mercury, although she kept out of the way of British
men-of-war, was captured by the Spaniards in June
near Santa Barbara, Cahfornia, and was confiscated
as a smuggler,"^ The government at Washington
could send no protection either for American shipping
in the western ocean or for the American trading-post
on the Columbia. England increased the force of her
Pacific squadron, and at last succeeded in capturing
the frigate Essex, Commodore Porter, the only United
States man-of-war in these waters. Meanwhile early
in 1813 Mr Astor despatched the ship Xar^-, laden with
supplies for the Columbia River; but this vessel was
wrecked at the Sandwich Islands, both ship and cargo
being a total loss.**

In June the Albatross, Captain Winship, arrived at
the Islands from the Indies with the news that war
had broken out, and that fear of English cruisers had
forced lier and her three consorts — perhaps the Isa-
bella, O'Cain, and Charon — to sail precipitately, re-
porting also the detention of the Beaver at Canton.
The Albatross had on board some goods for Astoria;
and she was chartered, under the command of Captain
"William Smith, to carry these goods and other sup-
plies with chief agent Hunt to the Columbia. She
arrived at Astoria on the 4th of August, remaining
in the river until the end of the month. Meanwhile
the resident partners and others had determined to
abandon tl.\e post in consequence of the war. Mr
Hunt was oNicred against his will to concur in this
resolve; and as Captain Smith's vessel was under en-
gagements that did not permit her to wait and carry
away the people and their effects as was desired, the
agent returned on her to the Islands in search for
another vessel to efiect the removal.®*

'■'For particulars sse Hist. CaL, ii., thia series.

^"Aator's letter, as before cited.

^^Francherc's Nar.; Oneiihow'sOr. anil Cal.; Irmng'aAHtori<u4ll" " ' -■ 'i.
It. is not necessary to give ininute references here, as the aiuials .i

are to be fully recorded in later chapters of this work. *.'aptau, >inuii's
eichtli voyage round the wnrM is described in Sile^' Re'jiMfi, xviii. 418, a*
fellows: 'Sailed July (i, 130'X in Iho slii^i Albatros, Natliac Winship, muster,

FORT GEORGE.

331

Besides the traders, most of which managed to keep
out of danger, the Columbia post was the only })rize
exposed to capture by British cruisers. One of the
several men-of-war sent to the Pacific was detached
from the squadron for this purpose in the southern
ocean. This was the sloop-of-war Raccoon, of twenty-
six guns, commanded by Captain William Black. Slwi
arrived at Astoria on the last day of NovemlNjr,
but before that the Pacific Fur Company had sold
out the whole establishment to the Northwest Com-
pany, so that all was now British property. Formal
possession was taken, however, for England on De-
cember 12th; the British flag was raised, and the
name was changed from Astoria to Fort George.
After making some surve >-s at the river's mouth, the
Raccoon sailed for the south at the end of December,
her officers much disappointed at the profitless char-
acter of their seizure. They had expected to secure
not only an American fort, but divers American

und returned in tho ship O'Cain. Robert McNeill, master, October 15, 1817.
For about seven years of this voyage he commanded the Alhairos, which vessel
waa employed about four years of the time in transporting sandal wood from
the Sandwich islands to Caaiton, for capts Wm. 11. Davis and Jona. Win-
ship. . .but in consequence of the war, and tho arrival of the English sloops of
war RaccouH and Ch^ruh, tho contract was broken, through the interference
of tho commanders of those vessels ; the remainder of tho time capt. Smith was
cruising in the Pacific ocean in quest of seal islands, and trading on the coast of
California. On this coast. Laving gone ashore in the boat, he was taken prisoner
by tho Spaniards with his boat's crew, and after a detention of two months was
released, and proceeded to the Sandwich Islands, where ho joined the sliip
O'Cain, in which he came home. ' By tho same authority it appears that on his
ninth voyage on the i/o7Vico, which left Boston in 1817, he was wrecked January
28, 1819, iiearKaigan, among the Haidahs, losing all his journaln of earlier voy-
ages, lie returned to Boston in 1820, and subsequently ciiinu to California,
wliere he spent tho rest of his life when not engaged in pleasure voyages on tho
Pacific. Something alx)ut this man's life will bo found in connection with the
History of California. The author of Bonton in the Northwest, MS., 03 etse:].,
gives an account of tlio wtndal-wood contract and the way it was broken. The
AlbalroHs perhaps cairieu the Wiiisliips bark to Boston in 1810, and never
returned to tho Facilic. I quote from this MS. as follows: ' The merchants
'•f lk)Mton sent out the fast sailing schooner Tam(uihinauh to the Pacilic at
tho commencement of tho war, to warn tlio ^Vmerican whip- on tho north-west
coast of their danger. The warning was a tunely one, ain: those at tho Rus-
sian ports, and at the S«uidwich Islands, mostly remained at the neutral ports
where the schooner foimd them. ^lost of their turs and S' «me of their cniws
were taken down to China by the Taniaahmaah, iin<ler tlic rommand of
Captain Por. n: The sliip Jacoi- Jottes was fittetl nt. ni liostou, and sailed
during the wur under the command of C'aptaui Roiierta. She was a heavily
armed iettu* ol' iiMU'que lw)uud to Canton. '

IMI-i

889 LAST OF THE EXPLO'^'''^.°.

trading craft laden with rich furs as prizes.*" From
the Columbia the Raccoon ran down the coast, and
in the middle of February made her appearance in
San Francisco Bay. Captain Black boasted of having
captured an American battery in the north; but in a
subsequent collision with another vessel his sloop had
received some injuries, which with his need of sup-
plies brought him to California. He departed for the
Sandwich Islands on the 19th of April.*^

Meanwhile Mr Hunt at the Hawaiian Islands ob-
tained the brig Pcdlerf^ and taking on board Captain
Northrop with the survivors of the unfortunate Lark,
sailed for Astoria, where he arrive^ at the end of
February 1814, only to learn of the transfer of the
property to an English company. He accoixlingly
took on board a few Americans who had not joined
the Northwest Company and preferred a sea voyage
to the overland trip, sailing early in April for New
York."^ He is said to have reached his destina-
tion after a tedious voyage, impliedly performed for
the whole distance on the Pedler. One event of the
voyage v. as the brig's capture at San Luis Obispo in
August by a Spanish vessel. The charge of smuggling
could not be substantiated, and she was released. The
story told at the investigation was that fehe had come
from the Sandwich Islands with a cargo for Ross, en-

^Franchert's Nar., 196-202 ; Cox^a Adven., i. 266 et saq.; Irving' s Astoria,
486-8.

«MrcA. CaL, MS., Prov. Rec. xii. 226-8; ix. 132-3; Prov. St. Pop.,xix.
308-70; Zavcdishin, Delo o Rofontf Rosk, (i; SonU's A/anala of San Frnnciaeo.
Cox, Adven., i. 285-6, aaya: 'Thia ve^el, on quittint the Columbia, struck
8ov(^ral times on the bar. and was so severely damatitii- in consequence, that
sho w.'is obliged to make for San Francisco, which port she reached in a sink-
ing state, with seven feet of water in her hold. ErnHa^ it imfmstiiblu to pro-
cure the necessary materials there to repair the itmrngs. Captain Black and
his officers iiad determined to abandon the vessel, and proeaed overland to the
(iiilf of Mexico. . .but when the haac Tod arrived they mmmmied, with her
ab.sist'ince, in stopping the leaks. '

*!' Franchfere save she was porchased at the Marquesas : Cox and Irving,
that she was purchased at Oahu ; and Greenhow that she was chartered at the
Sandwich Islanoxi.

'^Coz, Adven., i. 276, states that Hunt afterward becwBc goveraor of
MissonrL

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

tering San Luis because she mistook her captor for
a Russian ship, to which a part of the cargo was to
be dehvered. The vessel had both American and
Russian passport's. The officers had nothing to say
of affairs at Astoria, though one of them admitted
that they had touclied at the Columbia."

Another vessel of the year was the ship Isaac Todd,
commanded by Captain IVazer Smith. She had been
despatched from London with a cargo of supplies for
the Northwest Company, as part of the scheme for
seizing the American establishment; and her arrival
had been expected by representatives of the English
company who came overland to Astoria. The Todd
carried a letter of marque, and started with the
Raccoon and other men-of-war, but parted from them
before entering the Pacific, and, having touched at
Juan Fernandez and the Gallapagos, made her appear-
ance at Monterey in January 1814, and subsequently
met the Itaccooa, perhaps at San Francisco. The story
of Captain Smith in California — it would never dc > to
tell the Spaniards the truth — was that the Todd v/as
an Eno^lish mcrchautnian bound to ^fanila for a carj^o
of tea. She lost several deserters and Icit tliree men
to recover from the scurvy. The former were carried
away by th-; Raccoon; and one of the latter was John
Gilroy, the first permanent foreign resident of Cali-
fornia. She finally reached Fort George on the I7th
of April, greatly to the relief of the company, several
partners and clerks of which were on board, as well as
much needed supplies; and she soon sailed for China.®'

In 1 8 1 5 the Northwest Company sent their schooner
Columbia down to California under the command of
Captain John Jennings. Where this schooner came

8Mrc/i. CaL, MS., Prov. St. Pap., xix. 383; Id., Ben. Mil, xlv. 3-0;
Prov. Rec, ix. 13G; Arch. Arzobispado, MS., ii. 101.

•^'••Arch. CaL, MS., Prov. St. Pap., xix. 368-70; Prov. Pec, xii. 220-1;
Cox'it Adi'en., i. '285-6; Franchcre'^ Nar., 191. Cox gives an amusing occount
of tiie advent of Miss Jane IJames, an Eiiglisli bar-maid, wliom ouu of tljo
company men hatl l)rought aa u, comjHujiinn de voijtuje,. .She wont liack to
China f>n the Todd, and did not therefoiu become a i)ermanunt resilient of the
Nortliwcst Coast.

SM LAST OF THE EXPLORERS.

from does not appear, there being a possibility that
it was the little Dolly, purchased from the Pacific
company with the other property. Jennings had no
trouble in getting all the supplies he needed for his
vessel, but he failed in his chief purpose, that of
establishing a regular trade between Monterey and
Fort George, and of leaving an agent in California.
The Spaniards were suspicious that contraband and
not legitimate trade was the aim. Governor Sola
favored the traflSc, but would not permit it without
instructions from Mexico; and those instructions,
when they came, were unfavorable.** Two Russian
vessels, the Chirikof and Ilmen, were in California
this year, the latter being engaged in fur-hunting as
well as trade; but it does not appear that the Russian
craft, in their constant trips between Sitka, Ross,
and the Spanish ports in these years, came at all
into contact with the Englishmen of the Columbia,
or even touched on the coast between the latitude of
42° and 55°.

Notwithstanding the refusal of Governor Sola in
1815 to permit the establishment of trade between
California and the Northwest Company at Fort
George, it seems that the company's schooner was
expected to return in 1816, and that the missionaries
had promised a cargo of produce in exchange for much
needed goods. The governor indeed permitted them
to do so finally, confessing to the Mexican authorities
that he acted illegally, but pleading urgent necessity.
The Columbia did not come, but in her place the Com-
pany's brig Colonel, commanded by Captain Daniel
with McDougall as supercargo. She arrived at Mon-
terey late in August and obtained Hour, wine, and other

<'^Arch. Cal, MS., Prov. St. Pap., xix. 387-9, 39S-9; Prov. liec, ix.
L35, 1.37; Dept. St. Pap., iv. 156-8; Guerra, Doc. Hist. Cal, MS., rii. 11.
Antonio Rocha, a Portuguese, was left in California on this trip. The
schooner visited Bodt,ga also. According to a statement in Brooks' Japanese
Wrwks, 10, the Forrester, Captain Pickett, was on the Califomian coast
this year ; and the Forrester is also mentioned as under tlie connnand of John
Jennings in 1813. There may be some confusion of name and vessels here.

THE TRAVELLER.

335

{)roducts to the value of about seventy thousand dol-
ars, for the northern hunters. I know nothing about
the movements of the company's vessels in these years
except what is learned from Californian records."''

I have no record of any other vessel that actu-
ally touched at the Columbia or on any part of
the Northwest Coast in 18 IG. Two American craft,
however, coming from the Russian establishments in
Alaska were in trouble in January on the Californian
coast, probably by reason of their smuggling proclivi-
ties. Their adventures arc fully described in another
part of this work, having but a slight bearing on my
present topic. One was the schooner Z^ri/a, Captain
Honry Gyzelaar, which was seized with her crew and
detained for several months. The other was our
old acquaintance, the Albatross, still commanded by
Captain Smith, who pretended to be bound from
New Archangel to the Sandwich Islands. The ship
escaped capture; but Smith with a boat's crew was
taken. The charge of smuggling could not be proved
and the prisoners were released, sailing on the Lydia
in March. The Albatross on reaching the Islands
seems to have sailed for Boston with Captain Win-
ship, never to visit the Pacific again; Captain Smith
went to Boston on the O'Cain the next year.^^ Two
other Boston ships which entered Californian ports
this year, bound ostensibly to or from Sitka, were the
Sultan or Sultana, and the Atala or Atlas, the latter
under Captain Kelley, and the former perhaps under
Captain Reynolds.

The Traveller, a schooner commanded by James
Smith Wilcox, came to Santa Bdrbara in January
1817, and spent a large part of the year on the Cali-
fornian coast, the captain being on most friendly terms

''''Arch. Santa Bdrbara, MS., ix. 197-303; Arch. Arzohispado, MS., iii.
pt. i. 62-5, 71, 87-97, 120-1; Arch. Cat, MS., Prov. lice, ix. 144-50.

^Albatross and Lydia, Comunicacianen, etc., MS. A full account of the
whole aiFair, with numerous references to original papers, is given in Hist. t'al. ,
ii., this series. See note 59 of this chapter for ineation of Smith's captivity in
■a quotation from Nilea' Register.

330

LAST OF THE EXPLORERS.

with the Spanish authorities and people, That this
vessel came down from Sitka is the only reason for
naming her here.**

The Bordelais, a French merchantman under the
command of Lieutenant Camillc do Roquefeuil of tho
navy, engaged in a voyage round the world, with a
view not only to immediate trade but to a prospective
enlargement of national commerce, coming from San
Francisco, arrived at Nootka at tho beginning of Sep-
tember. This was the first visit to Nootka, since
Jewitt's disastrous experience, of which we liave any
details, and it is the last trading voyage to be described
in connection with my present topic — that of maritime
exploration. At Nootka Boquefeuil was well received,
and soon had a visit from the old chieftain Maquinna,
who was saluted with sev(3n guns, and was as ready
for barter as in times of old, showing himself "an im-
portunate and insatiable beggar, as Vancouver describes
him, and not tho generous prince that Meares would
make him,'""' After a stay of three weeks, in wliicli
tho region of the sound was pretty thoroughly ex-
plored, the Frenchman went down to Barclay Sound,
where some furs were obtained before the Bordelais
started for California early in October. I append
some not very clear information derived from the
natives respecting the fur-traders on the coast in late
years. It would seem that the Indians were as much
in the dark on the subject as modern writers have
been."

«» Wilcox, Cartas Variaa, 1817, MS.

'" ' Noak [an inferior chief with whom the Frenchman had much to do]

fave me an account of tho death of Cfinicum [Callicum], who was killed by
lartines, whom he had bitterly reproa-jhed, callmg him a robber, on account
of tho plundering of a hut by his prople. Except thia officer, tho natives
speak well of the Spaniards, and have adopted many words of their lan-
guage.' Voy., 29.

'' ' Swauimdich, . . lived at Tchinouk, behind Cape Flattery, . . assured mo
tliat there were at that place four Americans, who were left by a vessel from
New York. He named three very distinctly, Messrs Clark, Lewis, ajid Keaii.
They had a house of their own, in which they were to pass tho winter: ho told
me that several ships came every year, and mentioned an English vessel called
the Ocean.' Noak told me that at Nootka 'the English formerly had a house,
that the Span iards had a larger one, but that both were abandoned. IIo added
that thirty mmtlis before an En^'lijh vessel liad come into the cove, the captain

M. CAMILLK DE ROQUKFEUIL.

After a trip to the ISIarqucsas, whore he mot
Captain Sowles, formerly of the Beaver, Roquefeiiil
came back to Now Archangel in April 1818, where
ho formed a contract to h* nt sea-otters on joint ac-
count with the Russians:' This enterprise having
failed, the trading voyage was resumed, and tlie
Bordelais coasting southward reached the latitude of
55° about the middle of August. She entered Perez
Strait under the American flag and otherwise dis-
guised, in the hope of seizing Indians to bo held
lor ransom, and thus avenging past wrongs at tlieir
hands; but this plan not being successful, Roquefeuil
steered for Port Estrada and enjjaged in trade along
the northern shore of Queen Charlotte, not with
nmch profit for lack of suitable articles for barter.
Passing down the strait between the island and the
main, he arrived at Nootka on the 5th of Septembta-.
Maquinna gave his visitors a warm welcome, and
though lie had not collected the skins promised the
year before, he showed an unabated willingness to
receive presents. I append in a note some interesting
items about old-time happenings at this port as ob-
tained from the aijed chieftain.''^ The southern ruler

of which had a wooden leg, and that ho stopped only three days : that before
that, and after the departure of the Englisli and Spaniards, only two vessels
had entered the I'ay, one English, the other American ; that they had anchored
at Mawna; that at present, and for a long time since, his countrymen sent tho
furs to Naspat(5 (at the western extremity of tho island), where they exchanged
them for handsomer blankets than ours. '

" ' Ho tlien explained, in a very intelligible manner, that he had concluded
a treaty with the Spaniards, wliich he made us understand by signs, had bei^n
put in writing ; that by this convention he had ceded to them a piece of
ground, on tlie coast of tlie bay, in return for a quantity of iron instrumeuts,
woollens, etc., which they delivered to him at stated periods; that they livecl
together on the most friendly footing, (tho Spaniards occupying ono part of
the cove and the Indians the other); that they had built large houses, and
erected batteries upon the little Islands at the entrance ; that their presence
was very advantageous to him, well as on account of tho useful tlungs which
he received from tliem, as the terror they inspired into his enemies. Ho ex-
pressed great regret at their departure, spoke in high terms of the com-
manders, Cuadra, Alava, and Fidalgo, and gave to all tlio Spaniartls in general,
except to Martinez, praises. . .Macouina spoke also in praise of Vancouver,
Broughtou, and the English captains who frequented Nootka at tho same
time. He mentioned, among others, Meares, wlio, he said, had built a small
house, in a place which ho pointed out to me, in tho western extremity of tho
village. I took this opportunity to obtain, at the fountaiii-liead, information
on a subject M-hich h:i:i become i.iteruatii. '.;, ou account of the quarrel to which
IIlsT. N'.W. Coast, Vol. I. 22

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338

LAST OF THE EXPLOREES.

Wicananish was understood to be still in power at
Clayoquot Sound, but was not visited. After a
week's ftay at Nootka, the Bordelais sailed again for
California, there to obtain with considerable diflSculty
a cargo of produce, which was carried to Sitka in Oc-
tober; after which M. Roquefeuil, leaving the coast
in December, sailed for the Sandwich Islands, China,
and France, reaching home in November 1819, after
a voyage of thirty-seven months around the world."
In Alaskan waters Roquefeuil met two vessels
which apparently had touched at diflterent points
below latitude 55° in 1817-18, though no particulars
about their movements are given. One was the
Boston brig Brutus, Captain Nye, which seems to
have traded on the shores of Queen Charlotte;
and the other was the British brig Columbia, com-
mander not named, which had left England in 1817,
and had perhaps visited the Columbia River. The
same vessel is said to have touched at Monterey in
September, coming from the north." The only foreign
trailer of the year besides the Bordelais mentioned in
the Califomian records is the Clarion, Captain Gyze-
laar, from the Sandwich Islands, not known to have
visited the northern ports, though she probably did
so." There are, however, both in Roquefeuil's narra-
tive and in the Californian records a few vague allu-
sions to American trading craft not named, and which
there are no means of identifying.

it gave rise. The resalt of my inquiry was, that Meares' house had been built
with the permission of Maicouiiia, but that there had not been any act of ces-
sion or treaty between them. These, then, are the buildings erectetl by Meares,
and hia righta to districts and portions of land, rights which England pretends
were transferred to it by Meares, who went from Macao to America, under the
Portuguese flag, without any public character whatever. Such was the
subject of the quarrel, which was on the point of kindling a war between the
three great maritime powers, in 1790, and for which France alone fitted out 43
shim of the line.' Toy.. 96-7.

"A Vouaije ro»n.l the world bettoeen the years 1816-1819. By M. Camille
lie lioque/euil, in tht tkip Lt Bordelais, London, 1S23, 8vo, 112 pp. This work
is printed in EIngiish as part of the New Voyaijes and Travels, ix. The French
original, if any was nubli&bed, I have not seen. M. Roquefeuil gives inter-
estwg descriptions ot the varioni countries and peoples visited.

^*lio4jut/eiiir» Voyage, 81-2, 85, 107.

"Onerro, Doe. IliM, Col., MS., iii 110, 80-90.

THE ONTARIO AND BLOSSOM.

330

The United States sloop-of-war 0/itor/o, commanded
by Captain J. Biddle, visited the Columbia in 1818.
By the treaty ending the war of 1812 all places
taken by either party during the war were to bo
restored. Captain Biddle was sent as commissioner
for the United States to receive possession of Fort
George, which he did, in a manner not definitely de-
scribed in any document that I have seen, on the 9th
of August. Then the Ontario proceeded southward,
touching at Monterey at the beginning of September."
But Biddle's act not being deemed satisfactory in all
respects, the British frigate Blossom, Captain J.
Hickey, sailed from Valparaiso for the Columbia,
carrying also J. B. Prevost as commissioner for the
United States. These gentlemen, together with J.
Keith of the Northwest Company, accomplished
the restoration in due form on the 6th of October, the
establishment remaining, however, as before, in the
hands of the English company.'' The Blossom, like
the Ontario, visited California on her voyage to the
south, her arrival at Monterey at the beginning of
November being recorded in the archives.'*

Maritime exploration of the Northwest Coast as an
historical topic may be conveniently regarded as end-
ing with the voyages of the Ontario and Blossom in
1818. So far as the furnishing of real geographical
information is concerned the series of expeditions
might have been suspended many years earlier; but
the meagre annals of fur-hunting voyages could not
be so appropriately presented elsewhere. The few
visits by sea to be noticed in later y fears connect
themselves naturally with the progress of aflfairs on

'MrcA. CaL, MS., Prov. Rec, ix. 197.

^''Oreenhow's Or. and Cat., 308-10, with references to and quotations from
the president's messages and accompanying documents of April 15, 17, 1S22.
Prevost wrote a report from Monterey dated November 11th.

'MrcA. Cat., MS., Prov. St. Pap.; Ben. Mil., xlix. 28, Guemi, Doc. Hint.
Col., MS., iv. 20-1. 'Vinoal rio Columbia con la comision do verilicar su
entreea & los Americanos, d ouyo on conduce & los comisionados nor los
Estados Unidos, y seguird su viage el 10 6 ol 11,' writes Qovemor Sola to
Captain Guerra on November 8th.

'lit ,1*
in M

I !

«"

•!!, 1

' (

f I

LAST OP TtiE EXPLORERS.

shore. The topic of the Oregon title also begins with
1818, the date of the first treaty between the rival
claimants to this broad territory. Before proceeding
to consider inland developments, however, I shall
devote a chapter to the maritime fm'-trade of past
years.

Herewith is appended a list of such vessels as have come to my knowledge
that are known to have touched on the Northwest Coast from 1810 to 1840.
It lias been made up of such fragmentary records as could be foimd, many of
them neither official nor accurate. The files of Sandwich Island newspapers
were a useful source of information on this subject after 1836. The Cali-
fornia archives also afforded some items not elsewhere appearing ; and it is
probable that others of the vessels named in the Caliibmia annual lists —
for which see another volume of this series — should be added to this, but
there ore no means of knowing which onus. Printed memoirs of the Oregon
missionaries contain some names; the Hudson's Bay Company's archives
others ; while I have a few old log-books or fragments ; and for the rest we
are obliged to depend on the manuscript reminiscences of men who in those
days went down to the sea in ships. I do not include in the list the Rus-
sian vessels plying each year between Sitka, Iloss, and the Spanish ports of
California, often extending their trips to Mexico, South America, Asia, or
the islands ; nor do I mention the whalers that visited the north Pacific in
great numbers, and are recorded as touching in California and the Sandwich
Islands ; though it is likely that some vessels of both these classes touched
from time to time on the coast, between latitude 42° and 55°. I shall have
occasion to present more details respecting many of the vessels and com-
manders here mentioned, in later chapters and voltmics of this work. The
list arranged chronologically is as follows :

[1810-20.] Borneo, George Clark, American ship; wrecked at Kaigan in
January 1810.

Volunteer, James Bennett, Boston ship; carried crew of Borneo back to the
Stndwich Islands.

Brutus, David Nye, Boston brig ; made a trip to Alaska and probably down
the coast.

Eagle, Thomas Meek, Boston ship ; from Northwest Coast to China. All
these items are taken trom a sketch of Captain William Smith's life in the
Boston Dailp Advertiser and Niks' Register, xviii. 418.

[1820.] A Japanese junk, laden with wax, cast away on Point Adams,
according to Mr Brooks.

[1821.] Aral), American brig; trading on the coast. I have her original
log, which lacks, however, both beginning and end. It i^ in this log that I
find the following trading -vessels of this year :

Fredie, Stetson, Boston brig; arrived in August and went to Sandwich
Islands.

Pedler, Meek, New York brig.

Sultan, consort of the Frrd'ie.

TRADING VESSELS.

341

IlamUton, Lascar, and Mentor, all Boston vessels; and two commanded
by captains Post and Martin, perhaps identical witli some of the preceding.

[18'.'3-5.] Rob Roy, Cross, Boston brig, owned by Bryant and Sturgis;
trading on tlio coast, also probably in later years. Mentioned in tho Memo-
randa oi Henry A. Peirce.

[1824 ct seq.] Herald, Hammatt, owned by Bryant and Sturgis.

Triton, Bryant, owned by Bryant and Sturgis.

Sultan, Allen, owned by Bryant and Sturgis.

Convo;/, McNeill, owned by Joiiiah Mai-shall.

[ 1 825-8. ] ilri£'oH, LI. T. Peirce, Boston brig, owned by Bryant and Sturgis ;
engaged in trailo on tho Northwest Coast. Henry A. Peirce, brother of the
captain, was on board, and gives a full account of the trip in bis Memoranda.

[1827.] Cadboro, Simpson, British schooner, from Columbia River; in
California in December.

[1828-30.] Volunteer, Setli Barker, owned by Bryant and Sturgis. ,

Active, Cotting or Cotton, owned by William Baker and Company.

Louisa, Martin, owned by William Baker and Company.

Owyhee, Kelly, owned by Josiah Marshall.

[1828.] William <!• Ann, Hudson's Bay Company's vessel ; wrecked inside
the Columbia bar.

['829-30.] Oiqjhee, Dominis, Boston ship; traded in Columbia River.

Convoy, Thompson ; with tho Owyhee.

[1830.] IxaheUa, Hudson's Bay Company's brig; cast away in Columbia River.

[1831.] A Japanese junk wrecked on Queen Charlotte Island, according to
Mr Brooks.

[1831-2.] Dryad, English brig; in California from the Columbia River
both years.

[1833.] Another Japanese wreck near Cape Flattery.

[1834.] Llama, or Lama, William O'Neill, Hudson's Bay Compaay's
brig ; in California for supplies, from Columbia River.

May Dacre, Lambert, American brig ; in Columbia River for trade and
Balmon.

Europa, Allen, Boston trader on the coast, according to Kelley's Memoir.

[1835.] May Dacre, still in the river; Wyeth owner and agent.

Ganymede, Eales, Hudson's Bay Company's bark ; in Columb'' "liver.

Dryad, Keplin ; left Columbia River for Sandwich Islands.

[I83G.] Joseph Peabody, Moore; arrived at Honolulu from Northwest
Coast and Kaigan, sailing for New York.

Columhui, Darby, Hudson's Bay Company's bark ; at Honolulu from Co-
lumbia River. At Honolulu again under Captain Royal in December, and
sailed for London.

Nirt'id, Royal, Hudson's Bay Company's bark ; arrived at Honolulu from
England, and arrived at Columbia River in August.

Llama, McNeill ; in Columbia River and at Kaigan.

Europa, William Winkworth ; from Honolulu to Northwest Coast and to
Monterey.

Loriot, Nye, Blinu, and liancroft successively ; ^\inericau trader, on special
serv.ce, in Columbia Rivf.r, California, and Sandwich Islands.

i ■

VI:

lli ^

;i:r '

I: "V, I

■•1: "

, sm

342

LAST OF THE P XPLORERS.

Convoy, Bancroft and later Burch, American brig ; from Kaigan to Hono-
lulu and back.

La Orange, Snow, Boston ship; at Honolulu from Kaigan and other ports
on Northwest Coast.

Beaver, Holms, Hudson's Bay CJompany's steamer ; in Columbia River, the
first steamer to visit the coast.

[1837.] Llama, Bancroft, Sangster, Brotchie. and McNeill; from Colum-
bia River to Honolulu and California.
Nereid; Btill in Columbia K'ver.

Gadboro, William Brotchie, Hudson's Bay Company's schooner; made a
trip from Columbia River to California.

Loriot, Bancroft ; from Columbia River to California and Sandwich Islands ;
also a trip to Mazatlan under Captain Handley.

Sumatra, Duncan, English bark; carried missionaries from Honolulu to
Columbia River.

Jlamilloii, S. Barker, American ship; trading trip from Honolulu to the
Northwest Coast.

Diana, William S. Hinkley, American brig; carried missionaries from
Honolulu to Columbia River ; trip to California ; name changed to Kamamaiu.
Sulphur, Edward Belcher, H. B. M. ship ; on an exploring voyage round
the world ; spent a week in Nootka Sound.

Starling, H. Kellett, H. B. M. exploring schooner; in company with the
Sulphur.

[1838.] Llama, Bancroft, later Robinson and Perrier ; hunting and trading
trips to California and Sandwich Islands.

Nereid, Brotchie; at Honolulu from Columbia River, also in California.
Cadboro, Robbins ; in California from Columbia River.
Joseph Peahody; engaged in fur-tsade, according to Kelley's Memoir.
Columbia, Humphries; from England to Columbia River and ratum via
Sandwich idlands.

[1839.] Nereid, Brotchie; trip from the Columbia River to the Islands
and back.

Vancouver, Duncan, Hudson's Bay Company's bark ; from London to Co-
lumbia River and back to Honolulu.

Thomas Perkins, Vamey ; left Sandwich Islands for Northwest Coast ta
trade.

Joseph Peahody, DominLs ; trading? m Alaska coast and perhaps farther
south.

Sulphur, Belcher; in Columbia River, July to September.
Starling, Kellett; with the preceding.

[1840.] Columbia, Humphries; in California, Sandwich Islands, and Co-
lumbia River.

Forager, Thompson, English brig ; left Honolulu for Columbia River and
California.

Lausanne, Spauldmg, American ship; in Coliunbia River, California, and
Sandwich Islands; cettlers and missionaries.

Maryland, Couch, Boston brig; in Columbia River, trading for salmon.

CHAPTER XI.

|:i

THE MARITIME FUR-TRADE.
1778-184«.

The Sea-otteb — Comhentabi£s upon It — The Russian Beoinninos —
The Chinese Market— Captain Cook's Discoveries— Bolts' Enter-
. PRISE — John Ledtard and his Plans — An Eccentric Yankee — Dis-
heartening Failures — Enoush Efforts from India — Hanna aio)
his Followers — In London — Portlock and Dixon — French Inves-
tigation — La PArouse — MARCtt,\ND's Experience — BEoiNNiNtJS at
Boston — Kendrick and Gray — Routine of the Trade — English-
men VERSUS Americans — Perils of the Business — Character of
the Natives — Methods of Barter — Articles Desired — Statistics —
The Trade in California— The English Companies— Amerioaw
Devices — Decline of the Fur-trade.

The home of the sea-otter was in the waters of the
Northwest Coast, Alaska, and the Siberian islands.
The fur of this amphibious animal, the most precious
of all peltries, was the attraction that brought to these
shores all the adventurous navigators whose exploits
have been briefly recorded in the preceding chapters.
A few did not engage directly in the fur-trade; but all
such, with the possible exception of Captain Cook, came
because of the operations of the fur-seekers. Much
has been said bearing on this branch of commerce in
the description of successive voyages; but it seems
proper to devote a chapter to the general topic, and
to give the information mainly in the words of the
participators and writers, the same for the most part
that have been so often cited before in this volume.

Cook describes as follows the first sea-otter seen
by him at Nootka, he having had some doubt before

'!•!.

i!5!.

.' r

344

THE MARITIME FUR-TRADE.

if the skins were really those of that animal : "It was
rather young, weifjhing only twenty-five pounds; of a
shining or glossy black colour; but many of the hairs
being tipt with white, gave it a greyish cast at first
sight. The face, throat, and breast were of a yellow-
ish white, or very light brown colour, which, in many
of the skins, extended the whole length of the belly.
It had six cutting teeth in each jaw ; two of those of
the lower jaw being very minute, and placed without,
at the base of the two middle ones. In these circum-
stances, it seems to disagree with those found by the
Russians; and also in not having the outer toes of
the hind feet skirted with a membrane. There seemed
also a greater variety in the colour of the skins, than is
mentioned by the describers of the Russian sea-otters.
These changes of colour certainly take place at the
different gradations of life. The very young ones
had brown hair, which was coarse, with ver}' little fur
underneath ; but thos3 of the size of the entire animal,
which came into our possession, and just described,
had a considerable quantity of that substance ; and
both in that colour and state the sea-otters seem to
remain, till they have attained their full growth.
After that, they lose the black colour, and assume a
deep brown or sooty colour; but have then a greater
quantity of very fine fur, and scarcely any long hairs.
Others, which we suspected to be still older, were
of a chestnut brown ; and a few skins were seen that
had even acquired a perfectly yellow colour."* "A full

frown prime skin," said Captain William Sturgis of
loston, an old trader, "which has been stretched
before drying, is about five feet long, and twenty-four
to thirty inches wide, covered with very fine fur, about
three-fourths of an inch in length, having a rich jet
black, glossy surface, and exhibiting a silver color
when blown open. Those are esteemed the finest
skins which have some white hairs interspersed and

' Cook's Voyaft*., ii. 295-6. An otter taken by La Pdrouae and apparently
full sized weighed 70 pounds. La Pirotue, Voyage, ii. 170.

THE RUSSIAN TRAFFIC.

343

scattered over the whole surface, and a perfectly white
hea<l. Mr Sturgis said that it would now give him
more pleasure to look at a splendid sea-otter skin than
to examine half the pictures that are stuck up for ex-
hibition, and puffed up by protended connoisseurs."'*

There were other valuable furs in the country
besides that of the sea-otter, and which were profit-
ably exported in connection with the latter; but there
were none which of themselves would in the early
years have brought the world's adventurous traders
on their long and perilous voyages to the coast. The
fur-seal, however, v/as taken in large numbers; and in
later years yielded greater profits, on account of its
greater abundance, than the sea-otter.

On their first trips to the new continent and islands
the Russians discovered the existence of the precious
fur, and after 1741 these people, embarking from
Siberia in their crazy craft, engaged actively in the
hunt. The product was collected in the Kamchatkan
ports, and transported by land, a part to Russia, Ijut
most to Kiakhta on the frontier, where they were ex-
changed for Chinese goods, which were carried over-
land to Europe. Notwithstanding the distances and
consequent expense of transportation, making the price
of a skin at least three times as much at Kiakhta as
at Okhotsk, the traflSc was a profitable one.' 'Furs

' Sturgia' Northwest Fur Trade, 534. ' Thoy are sometimea seen many
leagues from land, sleeping on their bocks, on the surface of the water,
vith their young ones reclining on their breast. . .The cubs are incapable of
swimming till they ore several months old. . .She will not leave her young
ones in tne moment of danger, and therefore shares their fate . . . Tlioy are
unable to remain under water longer than two minutes. . .The male otter is,
)>cyond all comparison, more beautiful than the female . . . Skins of this animal
taken in the Corcan and Japan seas, are superior to those of Russia or tho
Nortli Western Coast of America.' Meareg' Voy., 241-4. 'Nothing can Iw
more beautiful than one of these animals when seen swimming, cH])cci!iHy
when on the lookout for any object. At such times it raises its head quito
above the surface.' JewUt's Xar., 67. See full description, with quotations
from various authors, in Marchand, Voywjr, ii. 29-37.

' The Russian fur-tnule of the extreme north will be fully trcatcfl in a later
volume on the History of Alaska. Vole's Iludsian Discovcrkx, London, 1787, is
the authority by which this trade was made known to the world. Co.\o men-
tions a specimen cargo of furs yielding alxiut S'tCOOO in Kamcliatka. Irving,
Astoria, 33, takes the following view of the overland transit: 'The Russians

;i 1

S46

THE MARITIME FURTRADE.

form the principal and favorite dress of the inhabi-
tants of the Northern provinces of China; and those
of the rarest kind and the highest prices are eagerly
purchased by them. — From five hundred to one thou-
sand dollars, and even a larger sum, are frequently
paid for a single suit of this precious cloathing." In
the southern provinces also everybody who can afford
it has a sea-otter cape at a cost of $6. And after
the new system of importation had been introduced,
"the reputation of the sea- otter skins brought. . .the
Northern Chinese and Pekin merchants to Canton, a
port which they had never before visited, and at the
distance of near one thousand miles from the places of
their residence. — Yet . . . they found it answered to
their entire satisfaction, from being able to obtain the
same species of furs which they had been accustomed
to purchase at Kiascha, at a price so much below the
usual rate of that market. They arrived at Canton
laden with teas, silk and ivory; and took back in
return furs and broadcloths."* Yet the Chinese, with
all their extravagant fondness for furs, by their
peculiar commercial policy involving many burden-
some restrictions, made the fur-trader's road to for-
tune by no means a straight and pleasant one.

What was learned from the works of Coxe and
others respecting the Russian trade with China, seems
to have made no sensation in European commercial
circles until verified and amplified by the reports of

had the advantage over their competitors in the trade. The latter had to
take their ijeltries to Canton, which, however, wna a mere receiving mart. . .
The Russians, on the contrary, carried their furs, by a shorter voyage [?J
directly to the northern parts of the Chinese empire ; thus being able to afford
them in the market without the additional cost of internal transportation. '
Greenhow writes : ' The trade in furs had been conducted, almost wholly,
by the British and the Russians, between whom, however, there had been
no opportunity for competition. The Russians procured their furs chiefly in
the northern parts of their own empire ; and they exported to China, by land,
all such as were not required for their own use. The British market was
supplied entirely from Hudson's Bay and Canada; and a gt-eat portion of
the skins there collected was sent to Russia, whence many of them found
their way to China, though none had ever been shipped directly for the latter
country.' Or. and Cal., IGl. »

'jVcaccd' Account of (he Trade, etc., l.xxxvi.

i :■

A PROPER OUTFIT.

347

an English voyager. Captain Cook'8 special purpose
in his expedition of 177G-80, so far as north- western
America was concerned, was to find a passage to the
Atlantic. Ho did not succeed in opening a channel
by which Canadian and Hudson Bay furs nii^ht bo
sent direct to China by water; but he found what
proved to be a richer store of furs than that on
the Atlantic coasts, and he eventually found a good
market.

The explorer and his men obtained from the na-
tives at Nootka and other points a quantity of sea-otter
skins, of whose real value they had no proper idea.
Most of the furs had been injured by being made into
garments ; they were used for bedclothes on the voy-
age and preserved with but little care; two thirds of
those obtained were spoiled or given away in Kam-
chatka, and it was thought that the full value was not
obtained in China; yet the remnant was sold for about
ten thousand dollars. Little wonder that, as Captain
King says, "the rage with which our seamen wore
possessed to return to Cook's River, and, by another
cargo of skins, to make their fortunes, at one time,
was not far short of mutiny; and I must own, I could
not help indulging myself in a project," which was to
have the work of exploration undertaken in connection
with the fur-trade by the East India Company, in two
vessels of one hundred and one hundred and fifty tons
which could be fitted out at a cost of six thousand
pounds. "Each ship should have five ton of un-
wrought iron, a forge, and an expert smith, with a
journeyman and apprentice, who might be ready to
forge such tools, as it should appear the Indians were
most desirous of. . . It is well known, that the fancy of
these people for articles of ornament, is exceedingly
capricious; and that iron is the only sure commodity
for their market. To this might be added, a few
gross of large pointed case-knives, some bales of
coarse woollen cloth (linen they would not accept
from us) and a barrel or two of copper and glass

:;|:r

»t-

• -— -:

■

!«!

'iif :i

.■1

HhIP' ^9

THE MARITIME FUB-TRADE.

trinkets." This enterprise was to be directed chiefly
to the Alaskan coast/

"The last voyage of that renowned but unfortunate
discoverer, Captain Cook, had n»ade known the vast
quantities of the sea-otter to bo found along that
coast, and the iuiraense prices to be obtained for its
fur in Chinu. It was as if a new j^old coast had been
discovered. Individuals from vari 'us countries dashed

into this lucrative traffic," says Irving; and L
"A new and inexhaustible nime of wealth

on,
was laid

open to future Navigators, by trading for furs of the
most valuable kind, on the North West Coast of Amer-
ica." The information gained by Cook "became gen-
erally diffused before the publication of the journals
[in 1784-5], and it did not fad to attract the attention
of enterprising men in all maritime countries. That
the furs might be sold advantageously at Canton was
certain from a comparison of prices; and it was clear
that 8t'\ greater profits might be secured by a direct
trade between China and the north-west coasts of
America."'

But so far away was this new mine of wealth,
and so little was known of the methods of working
it, and so fullv foreseen were the dangers and risks to
be encountered, that the world's merchants "dashed
into this lucrative traffic" somewhat deliberately. The
earliest attempt in this direction, about which, how-

*Cook'a Voyage, ii. 290, 401; iii. 370, 430-9. The beat sea-otter skins sell
in Kamchatka for 30 roubles each, but at Kiakhta, on the Chinese frontier, at
more than double that price. Then they are sold at a good profit in Peking,
and some of them again at an advance in Japan. ' What a proiligiously ad-
vantageous trade might be carried on between this place and Japan, which is
but about a fortnight's, at most, three weeks' sail from it ! . . .The fur of tlieso
animals, as mentioned in the Russian accounts, is certainly softer and finer
than that of any others we know of ; and, therefore, the discovery of this i)art
of tlie continent of North America, where so valuable an article of commerce

may be mot with, cannot bo a matter of indifference There is not the least

doubt, that a very beneficial fur trade might bo carried on with the inhabitan^A
of this vast coast. But unless a northern passage should be found practicable,
it seems rather too remote from Great Britain to receive any emolument from
it.' Twenty skins belonging to the dead commanders were sold for $800. One
of the seamen sold his for $S00. A few fine ones sold for $120 each.

^Irving'a Astoria, 32 ; Dixon's Voyage, p. ix. ; Greenhow's Or. and Cal., 160-1.

BOLTS AND JOHN LEDYARD.

34d

evel*, vety Httle is known, was that of Willintn Bolts,
who as early as 1781 is said to have "fitted out the
Cobenzell, an armed ship of seven hundred tons, for
the north-west c^^ st of America. She was to have
sailed from Triest* , accompanied by a tender of forty-
five tons, under imperial colours, and was equally fitted
out for trade ' discovery men of eminence in evcrv
department of scierce wore engaged on board; all the
r aritime courts ol Europe were written to in order
to secure a good reception; yet, after all, this expedi-
tion so exceedingly promising in every point of view,
was overturned by a set o^ interested men, then in
power at Vienna."'

John Ledyard was an eccentric American, a native
of Connecticut, and educated at Dartmouth, who in
his search for adventure had served as corporal of
marines during Cook's voyage, an account of which
he published. The prospective excitement and profits
of tlie fur-trade in the new regions visited made a
lasting impression on his mind; and on deseiting
from the British naval service in 1782, beinc^ then
thirty-one years of age, almost without a dollar, he
proceeded to devote himself with all the eiithusia.sm
of his nature to "the greatest commercial enterprise
that has ever been embarked on in the country; and
one of the first moment as it respects tho trade of
America" — that is, the fur-trade on the Northwest
Cos»;St in American vessels. "It was clear, therefore,
in h.3 mind, that they, who should first engage in this
trade, would reap immense profits by their earliest
efforts, and at the same time gain such knowledge and
experience, as would enable them to pursue it for years
with advantages superior to any, that could be C(mi-
manded by the competitors, who might be drawn into
the same channel of commerce." "In New York he

^Dixon's Voyof/e, pp. xx.-i. 'Une intrigue dont on Ignore et la source et len
ihoyens culbutacette entreprise.' Fleurifu, in Marchand, f'oy., p. cxxiii. 'Tho
feeble effort of an imprudent man failed prematurely, owing to onuses ' not ex-
plained. Portlock'a koy., 2.

IHHi

S80

THE MARITIME FUR-TRADE.

was unsuccessful; his scheme was called wild and
visionary, and set down as bearing the marks rather
of a warm imagination, and sanguine temperament,
than of a sober and mature judgment. No merchant
was found willing to hazard his money, or his reputa-
tion, in an adventure so novel in its kind, and so
questionable in its promise . . . His first inquiries in
Philadelphia met with no better favor, till Mr Robert
Morris . . . entered into his views, and made arrange-
ments to furnish the outfits of a voyage according to
the plan he drew up." Then followed a strange series
of obstacles in the matter of obtaining a suitable vessel.
"Thus a year was spent, in a vexatious and fruitless
struggle to overcome diflficulties, which thickened as
he advanced, till his patience, and that of Mr Morris
also, would seem to have been exhausted, for the voy-
age was altogether abandoned."

New London was the scene of Ledyard's next
efforts, and one Captain Deshon was almost per-
suaded to embark in the scheme ; but so glowing was
the picture drawn and so extravagant the promise of
profit that Deshon finally declined to place his trust
m hopes so enthusiastic, afterward regretting his
decision, it is said. "As faJ* as can be ascertained,"
says Mr Sparks, "Ledyard's views of the subject,
both as unfolded in the transactions with Mr Morris
and with Captain Deshon, accorded exactly with those
acted upon by the first adventurers, who were re-
warded with extraordinary success. It was a part of
his plan to purchase lands of the natives, and estab-
lish a factory, or colony, for the purpose of a continued
intercourse and trade." "To some of his friends Led-
yard mentioned his intention of leaving the ship on
the coast, when the cargo should be obtained and ex-
ploring the country overland from Nootka Sound."

Disappointed in his own country, Ledyard went to
Europe. In Spain he was encouraged by an English
commissioner of the emperor of Morocco, but nothing
came of it. Then he went to France in 1784, and

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JEFFERSON BECOMES INTERESTED.

351

■i ' !' .1

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at L'Orient "his plan was received with so much ap-
probation, that within twelve days he completed a
negotiation with a company of merchants, and a ship
was selected for the intended voyage." "I have been
so much the sport of accident," said he, " that I am
exceedingly suspicious. It is true, that in this L'Orient
negotiation, I have guarded every avenue to future
disappointment, yet this head 1 wear is so much a
dupe to my heart, and at other times my heart is so
be .vildered by my head, that in m.atters of business I
have not much confidence in either," and his fore-
bodings were well founded, for it was deemed too late
to sail that year, and, though the adventurer was
liberally supported during the winter by his new
friends, "we hear no more of the L'Orient negotia-
tion, except that it failed," like the others.

Mr Jefferson, United States minister to France,
"received Ledyard with great kindness, and approved
most highly his design," which approval had no im-
mediate effect, but is said to have suggested the idea
of Lewis and Clarke's expedition of later years. Soon
our adventurer formed the acquaintance of the famous
Paul Jones, who "eagerly seized Ledyard's idea, and
an arrangement was closed, by which they agreed to
unite in an expedition, somewhat larger than Ledyard
had before contemplated. Two vessels were to bo
fitted out, and, if possible, commissioned by the king."
The scheme was arranged in all its details, and "so
much was Jones taken with it, that he advanced
money to Ledyard with which to purchase a part of
the cargo," besides "an allowance of money sufficient
for his maintenance;" but Jones was called away from
Paris on other business and his ardor in the new en-
terprise cooled with reflection.

After an unsuccessful attempt to organize a com-
mercial company in Paris, writes Thomas Jefferson,
"I then proposed to him to go by land to Kam-
chatka, cross in some of the Russian vessels to
Nootka Sound, fall dovn into the latitude of the

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THE iiARlTIME PtJR-TRADE.

Missouri, and penetrate to and through that to the
United States. He eagerly seized the idea, and only
asked to be assured of the permission of the Russian
government." The desired permission was obtained
from the empress after some delay. Meanwhile Led-
yard went to London, where a more direct means
of accomplishing his purpose presented itself He
actually embarked on an English ship for the North-
west Coast. His plan was to land at Nootka and
thence "pursue his course, as fortune should guide him,
to Viiginia;" but "the vessel was not out of sight of
land, before it was brought back by an order from the
government, and the voyage was finally broken off."
Then Sir Joseph Banks and other prominent English-
men raised a little money by subscription, and Led-
yard went to Hamburg, and started on a trip by land
to Siberia. He reached St Petersburg, after many
adventures, in the spring of 1787. There he obtained
his passport, and proceeded to Yakutsk, in Siberia.
His usual ill-luck did not desert him, for while win-
tering so near his destination he was suddenly ar-
rested in February 1788, in accordance with imperial
secr^ orders, and carried to Moscow and to the fron-
tiers of Poland, the reasons for his arrest not being
known. The empress claimed to have been actuated
by humanity ; but it is not unlikely that the explorer
was stopped through the machinations of the Russian -
American Fur Company.

Ledyard reached London in May, and was soon
recommended "to an adventure almost as perilous as
the one from which he had returned," namely, the
exploration of the African interior under the auspices
of an English association. "When he returned to
Paris," writes Mr Jefferson, "his bodily strength was
much impaired. His mind, however, remained firm,
and he after this undertook the journey to Egypt.
I received a letter from him, full of sanguine hopes,
dated at Cairo, the fifteenth of November, 1788,
the da}' before he was to set out for the head of the

ENGUSH EFFORTS.

m-.

Nile; on which day, however, he ended his career
and life: and thus failed the first attempt to explore
the western part of our northern continent."^

"The Russians were the first to avail themselves of
Cook's discoveries," says Greenhow — that is, his dis-
covery of the sea-otter to the south of Alaska — l)y
organizing a fur company in 1781, leading to Shelikof's
expedition. Otherwise, and disregarding the unsuc-
cessful efforts of Bolts and Ledyard, the first to en-
gage practically in the new branch of trade were
English merchants residing in India and China. The
chief obstacle encountered by them arose from the
great monopolies, the East India and South Sea com-
panies; and they were obliged to resort to various
more or less irregular expedients, notably that of
sailing under other than English colors. Captain
Hanna made the first trip in 1785 from China, and
was followed by several others whose voyages have
already been described. All, save one or two who
were shipwrecked, seem to have been successful from
a commercial point of view. Meares was the only
one of the number who published an account of his
adventures; and notwithstanding the disastrous ter-
mination of his own enterprise, arising from Spanish
interference, he was very enthusiastic respecting the
future benefits to be derived by Great Britain from
the fur-trade.' Captain Barclay also made a trading

* Sparks' Life qf Ledyard, passim; Jefferson's L{fe of Lewis, in Lewis and
Clarke's Exped., L

'Meares, Account of the Trade between Northwest America arid China,
in.;! 'ides all branches of the Chinese trade, the fur-trade being but a small
part — but on this and on all parts ho is very enthusiastic as to the prospective
benefits to Great Britain. Ho advocates also the whale-fishery and the acqui-
sition of the Sandwich Islands. 'On considering, therefore, the prodigious
population of China, and supposing the fur-trauo to be canied on iindi-r
proper regulations, the inaccuracy of an opinion which has been advanced
with some degree of plausibility that the Chinese market may be overstocked
with . . . furs, must appear evident to the most transient reflection. On the
contrary, it is our decided opinion, that the sea-otter skins which luive been
imported to China since the commencement of the North West American trade,
have not proved sufficient to answer the demands of the single province of
Canton.' id., Ixxxvi.-vii.

Hist. N. W. Coast, \oh I. 2?

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II ii

voyage to the coast in 1786-7, sailing from Ostend
under the flag of the Austrian East India Company.
The first successful attempt in this direction from
England, one failure at least having been noted in
connection with Ledyard's career, was made in 1786,
by Portlock and Dixon. Says the latter: Cook's
discovery, "though obviously a source from whence
immense riches might be expected, and communicated,
no doubt, to numbers in the year 1780, was not imme-
diately attended to. The prosecution of any efi^ectual
plan to carry on this novel undertaking, required not
only patience and perseverance, but a degree of spirit
and enterprize which does not often fall to the lot of
individuals: however, in the Spring of 1785, a set
of Gentlemen procured a Charter from the South Sea
Company, for the sole right of carrying on this traffic
to its utmost extent;" hence the voyage in question.
Besides having to get a license from the South
Sea Company, "whatever furs might be procured in
our traffic on the American Coast, were to be dis-
posed of in China, subject to the immediate control of
the East India Company's Supercargoes, and in con-
sequence of this consignment, both vessels were to be
freighted home on the Company's account." '^''ht,
expedition was a very successful one, and bot.i tiae
merchant-navigators became enthusiastic in their pre-
dictions for the future. To put the fur-trade on a
permanent footing, says Dixon, "I should conceive
the most eligible plan to be, to establish a factory on
the coast, and the North end of Queen Charlotte's
Islands seems peculiarly well adapted for that pur-
pose; the situation is nearly central, between Cook's
Kiver and King George's Sound; and we are well
assured, that the furs to the Southward are of a verv
inferior quality. Two small vessels would not oDb"-
collect all the skins in what harbours are hitherti.
known, but likewise explore . . . ; besides, there are
other valuable articles to bo proc\ircd here, such as
ginseng, copper, oil, spars, etc., and vast quantities of

FRENCH VENTURES.

355

salmon might be cured." And Portlock to the same
effect: "The inestimable value of their furs will ever
make it a desirable trade, and whenever it is estab-
lished upon a proper foundation, and a settlement made,
will become a very valuable and lucrative branch of
commerce. It would be an easy matter for either
Government or our East India Company to make
a settlement of this kind; and the thinness of the
inhabitants will make it a matter of easy practica-
bility; and as the Company are under the necessity
of paying the Chinese in cash for their teas, I look
upon it a settlement on this coast might be effected
at a very inconsiderable expence . . . Another conven-
ience likely to accrue, is from a well-known enter-
prising character having, if he meets with proper
encouragement from the country, intentions of gomg
overland to these parts. . .That such an event may
take place, must be the wish of every lover of his
country; and though the enterprise is fraught with
every danger that idea can suggest, yet what is it
that British valour dares not attempt?"" A subse-
quent expedition was despatched by Etches and Com-
pany of London, in which enterprise that of Meares
was merged before the end of 1739.

In France, where attention had been called to the
subject both by Cook's report and Ledyard's efforts,
the famous La Pe rouse was instructed in his ex-

^''Dixon'a Voyage, ix. x. 236, 321-2; Portloik's Voyaye, 3-4, 294-5. Of the
early voyages Portlock says: 'These enterprises have proved extremely im-
portant to the world, though their profits, considering the capital and the
risques, were not enviously great. These enterprises, however, by enlarging
the limits of dipcovery, made na\'igation more safe in the North Pacitio
Ocean . . . They tauglit the American savages, that strength must always bo
subordinate to discipline : and, having discovered the Aliooa Indians on the
borders of Nootka Sound, who had so far advanced from their savage state as
to refuse to sell to Mr Strange, for any price, the peltry which they had ali'eady
engaged to Mr Hanna, these enterprises have ascertained this exiiilarating
truth to mankind, that civilixition and morals must for ever accompany each
other 1' And Dixon, of the prospects : ' Thus much we o^n venture to amrm, . .
that the fur trade is inexhaustible wherever there are inhabitants, and they,
{experience tells us) are not confined to any particular situation, but are scat-
tered in tribes all along the coast, which (as far as concerns future traders
to examine) extends from 40 to 01 degi-ees.'

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309

THE MARITIME FUR-TRADE.

ploring expedition of 1786-90 round the world to
luHy investigate the prospects of the fur-trade for
French enterprise. Consequently he obtained about
a thousand sea-otter skins, mostly in pieces, which
were sold for ten thousand dollars in China, and
the proceeds divided among the crews of the two
vessels." "I believe," writes the navigator, "that
there is no country in the world where the sea-otter
is more common than in this part of America; and I
should be little surprised that a factory extending
its operations only forty or fifty leagues along tho
sea -shore might coUect each year ten thousand
skins of this animal."" Yet he did not favor any
project of a French fur-trading establishment on the
Northwest Coast, or even the granting an exclu-
sive right to engage in this trade to a French com-
pany. Such were his views as expressed in a memoir
written in December 1786, on the way from California
to China. He had no doubt that sea -otter skins
might be obtained in unlimited quantities; indeed so
plentiful was the supply that i.he Chinese market in
his opinion could not possibl;y maintain prices on a
profitable basis. Moreover, he feared that an estab-
lishment on the coast might cause trouble with the
courts of Madrid or St Petersburg. He gave, how-
ever, an approval of private experimental expeditions
undertaken by French traders.^*

"Xa Pdrouae, Voyage, L 29-30; iv. 165-7; Fleurieu, in Marchand, Voyage,
cxii.-cxvii.

"i/a P&rouse, Voyage, ii. 176.

^^LaPdrouse, M6moiresurlecommercedeapeavxdeloutredemer,iiiId., Voy.,
162-172. ' Quelqu'dtcndu que soit Tempire de la Chine, il mo paratt impossible
que les peaux de loutre s'y mautiennent k tr^s-haut prix, lorsque lea diffdrentes
nations de I'Europe y en apporteront en concurrence. ' ' J'ai beaucoup r6fl6chi
BUT lo projet d'une factorerie au Port des Fran^ais ou dans les environs ; et
j'y trouve de tr6a-grands inconvdniens, h, cause de I'immense dloignement
ou ce comptoir se trouveraitdc I'Europe, et do I'incertittide des rdsultats de ce
conunerce h la Chine, lorsque les Eiipagnols, les Rusaes, lea Anglais et les
Franpaia y apporteront en concurrence ccs peaux, qu'il est si facile de se pro-
curer sur toute la c6tc. On ne pent d'ailleurs douter que notre compagnie des
Indca ne r^clamiit contre le privilege qu'il faudrait accorder aux armatcura
pour qn'ils pussent {aire leur veute K la Chine . . . Ces privileges excluaifs tuent
fe commerce, comme lea grands arbres dtouffent les arbustes qui lea environ-
nent.' 'Aiusi, en rusumant lea diflfdrena articlea de ce mdmoire, mon opinion
eat qu'on ne doit point encore songcr ti I'dtablissement d'une factorerie, qu'il

i'..:

LA PJiROUSE AND MARCHAND.

357

The papers of La Perouse's expedition not having
been pubUshed, " French commerce," writes M. Fleu-
rieu, " had not been able to engage in any enterjjrise
of rivalry with that of other nations in the fur-trade.
It would have been rash indeed to engage without
preliminary examination in speculations which would
require in order to be realized that vessels should
make voyages round the world. Before embarking in
this new career it was essential that our merchants
should have been able to procure data nearly accurate,
which on the one hand might put them in a condi-
tion to form a plan on the conduct to be observed
with the Americans of the north-west coast, and on
the selection of merchandise necessary for barter with
them, and which on the other hand might give them
a glimpse of the profits to be expected from the second
exchange of American furs for Chinese productions."
But Captain Marchand met Portlock in 1788, and
obtained from him such information as to induce a
French house to make the venture in 1790-1.**

Marchand obtained a fair quantity of furs, but on
carrying them to China in 1791 he found that an order
had been issued prohibiting any further introduc-
tion of peltries into the ports; therefore they were
carried home and deposited at Lyons, where they were
destroyed by worms during the siege of that city,
involvmg the owners in a serious loss. Marchand
confirmed the ideas of La Pcrouse as to the abun-
dance of sea-otter skins ; but he also feared that the

ii'est pas mfime temps d'dtablir une compagnie exclusive pour faire co com-
merce ti I'aventure ; qu'on doit encore bien moius lo confier & la compagnio des
Indes, qui ne le ferait pas, on le ferait mal, et en ddgodterait lo gouvememerst ;
mais qu'il convicndrnit d'engager une de nos places do commerce i essayer
trois expeditions, en lui accordant la certitude d'un fret en Chine.' M. Mon-
neron, cliief engineer of the expedition, regards a French fur-trading post as
inexpedient, and is ready to argue the case if the government so desires. He
says also that La Pt^rouse wrote a paper against such an cstabliahment. '11
n'est \yaa difficile de pr^sumer que rdprctcJ do ce climat, le peu do resources de
ce pays, son tloignement prodigieux clc la mctropole, la concurrence des Russes
ct des Espagnola, qui sont placC'S coiiveuablement pour faire commerce, doi vent
eloigner toutc autre puissance europdemie que celles que je viens de uommer,
<le former rmcxin (Stablissement entre Monterey ct I'entrde du Prince- Williams.'
Jd., iv. I'^l.

^*Fleurieu, clxxxiv.-v.

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S58

THE MAEITIME FUR-TRADE.

trade would not be permanently profitable, though
he had no doubt the Chinese prohibition would be
evaded, unless it could be regulated and systematized."
There was another French trader on the coast in 1792,
but nothing definite is known of results.

It was in 1788 that the Americans began their far-
trading operations on the coast by the expedition of
Kendrick and Gray, fully recorded elsewhere in this
volume. In the Coolidge building, opposite the Revere
House, Boston, writes Bulfinch, " was assembled, in
the year 1787, a group, consisting of the master of
the mansion, Dr Bulfinch, his only son Charles, and
Joseph Barrell, their neighbor, an eminent merchant
of Boston. The conversation turned upon the topic of
the day, — the voyages and discoveries of Capt. Cook,
the account of which had lately been published. The
brilliant achievements of Capt. Cook, his admirable
qualities, and his sad fate . . . these formed the current
of the conversation; till at last it changed, and turned
more upon the commercial aspects of the subject. Mr
Barrell was particularly struck with what Cook relates
of the abundance of valuable furs offered by the na-
tives in exchange for beads, knives, and other trifling
commodities valued by them . . . Mr Barrell remarked :
' There is a rich harvest to be reaped there by those
who shall first go in.' The idea thus suggested was
followed out in future conversations at the doctor's
fireside, admitting other congenial spirits to the dis-
cussion, and resulted in the equipping of an expedi-
tion," by Messrs Barrell, Brown, Bulfinch, Darby,
Hatch, and Pintard." It is not unhkely either that

^'•Marchand, Voyage, ii. 368-72, 391-4, 521-2. He learned also that the
year before the average price had been forced by competition down to fif-
teen dollars. Nothing of the prohibition appears in the statements of other
traders of the year. ' Mais lo commerce des Fourrures a des limites {ix<5es par
la Nature et par la Raison : . . II cat ais(5 de concevoir que la nouvelle intro-
duction de Pelleteries par la voie do mer et les Ports du Midi de la Chine, en
appelant lea Anglais, les Am^ricains, les Fran^ais, les Espagnols et les Por-
tugais au partage do ce commerce, en les faisaut entrer en concurrence et en
rivalit^ avec lea Russes, doit I'airo deacendre lea marchandisea qui on sent I'ob-
jet, A des prix qui no pri'iscntcront plus un b(5n(5Gce suiBsant,' etc.

^^Buljinch's Oretjoii and El Dorado, 1-3.

SOLID MEN OF BOSTON.

359

Ledyard's old-time enthusiasm had left an influence
still more or less potent in the minds of Boston's
solid men.

Though figures are lacking, this first venture is said
not to have been profitable, and some of the partners
withdrew from the enterprise ; but the rest persevered,
and others entered the new field with large but vary-
ing success. Perkins, Lamb, Dorr, Boardman, Lyman,
and Sturgis are names connected with firms that are
said to have made fortunes in the fur-trade. J3own to
1788-9 there had been fourteen English vessels en-
gaged in the trade; but from 1790 to 1818 there were
one hundred and eight American vessels and only
twenty-two English, nearly all before 1800, with three
French, and two Portuguese, so far as recorded, though
the list of all classes, particularly of the British craft,
is doubtless incomplete. Indeed very little is known
in detail of English ventures in this direction after the
Nootka controversy of 1789-95; but it appears that
the trade was gradually abandoned by reason of divers
obstacles, notably the opposition of the East India
Company.

Said Captain Sturgis in his lecture on the subject:
" The trade was confined almost exclusively to Boston.
It was attempted, unsuccessfully, from Philadelphia
and New York, and from Providence and Bristol, in
Rhode Island. Even the intelligent and enterprising
merchants of Salem failed of success ... So many of
the vessels engaged in this trade belonged here, the
Indians had the impression that Boston was our
whole country. At the close of the last century,
with the exception of the Russian establishments, the
whole trade was in our hands, and so remained until
the close of the war with Great Britain, in 1815. In
1801, the trade was most extensively, though not
most profitably prosecuted; that year, there were
fifteen vessels on the coast, and in 1802 more than
fifteen thousand sea-otter skins were 'collected, and
carried to Canton. But the competition was so groat,

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480

THE MARITIME FURTRADE.

that few of the voyages were then profitable, and
some were ruinous. Subsequently, the war with Great
Britain interrupted the trade for a time ; but after the
peace in 1815 it was resumed, and flourished for some
years

"17

"In the year 1792, there were twenty-one vessels
under different flags," writes Mr Irving, "plying
along the coast and trading with the natives. The
greater part of them were American, and owned by
Boston merchants. They generally remained on the
coast, and about the adjacent seas, for two years, carry-
ing on as wandering and adventurous a commerce on
the water as did the traders and trappers on land.
Their trade extended along the whole coast from
California to the high northern latitudes. They would
run in near shore, anchor, and wait for the natives to
come off in their canoes with peltries. The trade ex-
hausted at one place, they would up anchor and off to
another. In this way they would consume the sum-
mer, and when autumn came on, would run down to
the Sandwich Islands and winter in some friendly and
plentiful harbor. In the following year they would
resume their summer trade, commencing at California
and proceeding north: and, having in the course of
the two seasons collected a sufficient cargo of peltries,
would make the best of their way to China. Here
they would sell their furs, take in teas, nankeens, and
other merchandise, and return to Boston, after an
absence of two or three years. "^^

^^Sturgia' Northtoest Fur Trade, ^34-6. 'The direct trade between the
American coasts and China remained, from 1796 to 1814, almost entireljf, . . .
in the hands of the citizens of the United States. * Greenhow'a Or. and Cal. , 266.

^"Irviiig'n Astoria, 32-3. 'Desde el aflo de 1787, hasta el presente lian
anclado en aquel puerto [Nootka] veinte y ocho cmbarcaciones de variaa
I'otencias con el fin de comerciar con los Inctios de toda la couta. . .atcndieudo
todos ^stos & la crecida utilidad que les promete el comercio clandcstino ^tie
tiencn sobre iiuestras costas, pues por xm peqnello pedazo de cobre, cuyo
valor no es mas que tres reales en Nueva-Kspafta, logran comprar una piel de
iiutria, que vendida en Canton asciende su precio d cieato y veinte tJesos, 6 &
'■icnto y ochenta, segun la calidad que estiman los Chinos, siendo la mejor la
moa grando y negra, con la condicion que tenga el hocico bianco.' Tobdr,
Jii/orme, 157-8.

! 1

SPANIARDS LOOK INTO IT.

361

An English navigator of 1792 writes: *' The vessels
employed in commercial jjursuits this season on the
north-west coast of America, have I believe found
their adventures to answer their expectations : many-
were contented with the cargo of I'urs they had col-
lected in the course of the sununer; whilst others
who had prolonged their voyage, either passed the
winter at the Sandwich islands, or on the coast, where
they completed small vessels which they brought out
in frame. An English and an American shallop were
at this time on the stocks in the cove, and when fin-
ished were to be employed in the inland navigation, in
collecting the skins of the sea-otter and other furs;
beside these, a French ship was then engaged in the
same pursuit," and the Spaniards were also collect-
ing information on commerce.^" And a Spanish voy-
ager of that year says, Dixon's profits excited the
cupidity of traders, and thus, "although various cir-
cumstances have caused a considerable diminution of
the profits which this traffic yielded at first, twenty-
two vessels engaged in it have been counted in 1792,
eleven English, eight American, two Portuguese, and
one French; and the American Mr Gray has col-
lected by himself alone 3000 skins. Hardly is there
a point on the coast from 37° to 60° which is not
visited by these vessels ; so that, if we lack a detailed
and accurate map from the reports, explorations, and
surveys of these navigators, it is because those who
discover a port or entrance not known before, where
they find inhabitants and an opportunity to procure
skins advantageously, take adva^itage of the occasion
and conceal the news of the discovery with a view of
doing an exclusive trade for a long time.'"''*'

^* Vancouver's Voyage, i. 408. 'Ainai V Europe, VAsie, et VAmMque du
Nord-Ext, par un mouvement simultan^ ont dirig<5 leurs vaisseaux vers Ics
Cdtes du Nord-Ouf.st du Nouveau Monde, et ont multiplid ii I'cnvi, sans
principes comme sans mesure, de spdoulations hasardt-cs.' Marchand, Voyage,
li. 391.

^Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, 112-13. 'Sabem tambien que la nacion
inglesa, ansiosa de extender su comercio por todo ci globe, oy6 con gusto las
noticias del Capitan Cook sobre cl trdfico de pieles en las costas al N. 0. de la

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302

THE MARITIME FURTRADE.

"There are better ships nowadays, but no bettor sea-
men," says one of the old Boston commanders;" and
another, "The vessels usually employed were from one
hundred to two hundred and fifty tons burthen, each.
The time occupied for a voyage by vessels that remained
upon the coast only a single season, was from twenty-
two months to two years, but they generally remained
out two seasons, and were absent from home nearly
three years."^'' "The American vessels, employed on
the N. w. coast," says a writer whose patriotism was
excited in 1822 by rumors of Russian interference, "are
well armed, and amply furnished with the munitions of
war. Separated from the civilized world, and cut oflf,
for a loag time, from all communication with it, they
have been accustomed to rely on their own resources
for protection and defence; and to consider, and treat
as enemies, all who attempted to interrupt them in
the prosecution of their lawful pursuits. To induce
them to relinquish this commerce, 'persuasion' will
be unavailing; 'threats* will be disregarded," and
force will be met by force — unless the odds appear
too great.^

English writers did not always greatly admire the
American methods of carrying on the fur-trade,

America, que lo einprendi6 inraediatamcnte, que cogi6 sus primicias, y que lo
'^ntiniia con actividad, quizd con otras miras de mayor interna ; pero si las
uiancias de aquel trdfico puedcn habcrse minorado, tambien hay razoncs que
jrsuaden & que eata adquisicion se vaya haciendo cada dia maa diticil y
' .ttoaa. Frecuentan aquellos mares muchos buques de.distintaa nacionea:
V^os ae emplean en el comercio de pieles.' ReviUa-Q-iijedo, I-nforme 12 dt
Abtil, 1793, pp. 147-51. For half a century or more after declaring their
independence of Great Britain the people of the United States conducted, by
sea and land, a lucrative commerce with the north-west coast. During thia
time dLscoveriea were made ond possession taken of many places which shrewd
merchants did not regard it advantageoua to their buainess then to make
known. Franchere'g Nar., 17.

^^Boston in the Northwest, MS., 31. 'Such is the spirit of enterprize and
the activity of these mariners, who are inured to danger and fatigue, that an
American has been known to leave a detachment of his crow at the Falkland
lalanda, to double Cape Horn, ascend to the north, leave a second detach-
ment on the rocks before St Francisco, in California, 2500 leagues from the
other, then repass the Cape with some men, collect his detachments on both
coasts, and purchase in Cliina with the prodrce of their fishery, a cargo for
the United States.' Roquefeuil's Voyage, 17.

^'^Sturyii' Nurfhvx-M Fur Trade, 533.

'^^ North American lievieio, xv. 393-4. The writer seems to have been
Captain Sturgiy.

THE AMERICAN METHOD CRITICISED.

363

thoU'h it nowhere appears that those methods dif-
fered materially from those of the British tradei-s,
except in their greater success and more energetic
application. Says A.lexander Mackenzie in 1800: The
Pacific trade "is at present left to American adven-
turers, who without regularity or capital, or the do-
sire of conciliating future confident o, look altogether
to the interest of the moment. They therefore col-
lect all the skins they can procure, and in any nianner
that suits them, and having exchanged them at.
Canton for the produce of China, return to their
own country. Such adventurers, and many of them,
as I have been informed, have been very successful,
would instantly disappear from before a well-regu-
lated trade" — such as England i': urged to establish
by opening overland communication across America.'^
Another writer describes the operations of the Yankees
in a manner by no means so uncomplimentary to the
latter as it was intended to be, as follows: These
"adventurers set out on the voyage with a few
trinkets of little value; in the southern Pacific they
pick up some seal-skins, and perhaps a few butts of
oil; at the Gallipagos they lay in turtle, of which
they preser/e the shells; at Valparaiso they raise a
few dollars in exchange for European articles; at
Nootka and other parts of the north-west coast they
traffic with the natives for furs which, when winter
commences, they carry to the Sandwich Islands to
dry and preserve from vermin ; here they leave their
own people to take care of them, and in the spring
embark in lieu the natives of the islands to assist in
navigating to the north-west coast in search of moro
skins. The remainder of the cargo is then made up
of sandal, . . tortoise-shell, shark-fins, and pearls of an
inferior kind,, .and with these and their dollars they
purchase cargoes of tea, silks, and nankeens, and thus
complete their voyage in the course of twc or three
years

"Zft

"Mackenzie's Voyage, 411.
" Quarterly Review, xvi. 84.

:' i

i 1

li:

till

364

THE MARITIME PDE-TRADE.

In reply to the unfavorable imputations referred to,
Mr Greenhow says: "It would, however, be easy to
show, from custom-house returns and other authentic
evidence, that the greater n amber of the vessels sent
from the United States to the north-west coasts were
fine ships or brigs, laden with valuable cargoes of West
India productions, . . and that the owners were men of
large capital and high reputation in the commercial
world. . .The American traders have also been ac-
cused, by British writers, of practising every species
of fraud and violence in their dealings with the na-
tives of the coasts of that sea; yet the acts cited in
support of these general accusations are only such as
have been, and ever will be, committed by people of
civilized nations, — and by none more frequently than
the British, — when unrestrained by laws, in their
intercourse with ignorant, brutal, and treacherous sav-
ages, always ready to rob and murder upon the slight-
est prospect of gain, or in revenge for the slightest
affront. Seldom did an American ship complete a
voyage through the Pacific without the loss of some
of he'r men, by the treachery or the ferocity of the
natives . . ; and several instances have occurred of
the seizure of such vessels, and the massacre of their
whole crews. "^"

Among the acts of hostility committed by the na-
tives from time to time against the voyagers of differ-
ent nations, as already recorded, may be mentioned
the following: Seven of Heceta's men in 1775, landing
in latitude 47° 20' for wood and water, were killed by
the ambushed Indians for no other appafent motive
than to obtain the nails which held the boat together.
In 1778 the natives farther north made an absurd
attempt to plunder one of Cook's ships and steal her
boat. Hanna in 1785 inaugurated the fur-trade by a
fight with the Nootka people. Barclay had a boat's
crew of five men murdered in 1787. Captain Gray's
men were attacked in 1788 at Murderers Harbor, or

^Greenhow' a Or. and Cal, 267-8.

KiYERS DJSAS'l'EES.

365

TiUamook, and one man was killed, others escaping
with serious wounds after a desperate resistance. In
the same year Meares' boat was assaulted by the sav-
ages within the strait of Fuca, and several men were
wounded. Kendrick's men were attacked at BarrcU
Sound in 1791, and the same commander had several
minor conflicts with the natives, of which not much U
known; and Gray lost his mate and two men in the
north.

The reader is familiar with the plot of the Indians
to seize the Clayoquot in 1792. The Boston was seized,
all her men but two being massacred at Nootka in
1803; and other trading craft were annoyed by hostile
demonstrations about the same time. Eight men of
the Atahualpa were killed in 1805 ; and the crew of the
Tonquin was massacred in 1811.

Thus it appears that the ordinary perils of long
ocean voyages were not the only ones the traders had
to encounter. Indeed I do not remember that on
the Northwest Coast proper, or on the voyage to and
from Boston, England, or China, there is any definite
record of a shipwreck among trading craft in early
times, though there were several on the Alaskan coast.
There is hardly one of the voyages, however, whoso
log would not afford more than one thrilling descrip-
tion of situations where wreck seemed inevitable and
impending death was faced by the bold mariners.
Besides what was suffered from the hostilities of
north-western Indians, several vessels ca'iie to grief
at the hands of Hawaiian Islanders, or dwellers on
other inhospitable coasts and islands of the Pacific.
And the scurvy was an ever present scourge, that de-
stroyed not a few lives in spite of all precautions.
Plenty of molasses, sugar, and tea, as well as warm
clothing, was deemed essential; and a variety of
vegetables and fruits was obtained from the Islands
as a preventive. Spruce -beer was also a standard
remedy and luxury to all who visited the coast, yeast
being brought for the purpose, and the brewing of

366

THE MABITIME FUR-TRADE.

beer being as regular a duty at each anchorage as the
obtaining of wood and water.

There can be no doubt that in some cases the
hostile acts of the natives were provoked by wrongs
committed by unscrupulous traders, though in most in-
stances evidence respecting the exact causes is not ob-
tainable. Englishmen accused Americr.ns of frequent
outrages on the Indians; Gray and E.endrick repre-
sented that Meares and his companions took prop-
erty by force, giving in return what they chose ; and
in turn the Americans were accused by the Indians of
doing the same thing, in one instance killing seven
of their number in order to get possession of their
furs.*' Respecting the causes of these troubles, Cap-
tain Belcher writes: "When offering objects for sale*
they are very sulky if their tender is not responded
to. . .Upon mature consideration of what I have
seen and heard respecting this subject, I think many
of the unprovoked attacks we have heard of have
originated in some transaction of this nature — refusal
to trade being deemed almost a declaration of war.
Facts, however, which have been acknowledged, prove
that wanton malice has visited upon the next tribe
the sins of their offending neighbours."^ There can
be no doubt that the Spaniards treated the natives
more justly and humanely than did either English or
Americans; but it is also true that they had less
provocation for injustice. The Indians were not only
tickle and thievish, but they seem to have been as a ^
rule, if not ferocious and blood-thirsty, at least dis-
posed to attach no value to a foreigner's life, and to
have been kept in check solely by fear of detection.

^Sutil jf Mexieana, Viage, 24. On this subject the Spanish editor says :
' Habiendo baxada el valor respectivo del cobre por la concurrencia de laa
embarcaciones Europeas, ^1 capitan mercante que viene & traficar sin este
coaocimiento calcula sobre cl valor que antes tenia para proporcionar sa
cargamento : Ueg» & negociar, halla que los Indies lian subido el precio de las
pielcs, J que, faaxo el cambio que quieren, le van & resultar crecidas p^rdidas ;
olviila los principios de equidad, cree inaveriguables bus operaoionea, y se vala
de ia fuerza para sus ventajas.'

»BekAer'* I'ogage, L 101.

INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES.

367

The traders for safety had to depend on constant
watchfulness; and they could not trust to apprecia-
tion of kind treatment. Of foreigners as of aborig-
ines it may be truly said that one party had often to
suffer for wrongs inflicted by another ; and on both
sides there were instances of unprovoked outrage.^

"In trafficking with, us," writes Captain Cook,
"some of them would betray a knavish disposition,
and carry off our goods without making any return.
But, in general, it was otherwise ; and we had abun-
dant reason to commend the fairness of their conduct.
However, their eagerness to possess iron and brass,
and indeed any kind of metal, was so great, that few
of them could resist the temptation to steal it, when-
ever an opportunity offered."^" And Meares: "The
natives now favoured us with their daily visits, and
never failed to exert their extraordinary talents in the
a,rt of thiever3^ They would employ such a slight
of hand in getting iron materials of any kind as is
hardly to be conceived. It has often been observed
when the head of a nail either in the ship or boats
stood a little without the wood, that they would
apply their teeth in order to pull it out. Indeed,
if the different losses we sustained, and the manner of
them were to be related, many a reader would have
reason to suspect that this page exalted the purloin-
ing talents of these people at the expence of truth.

"31

" It is noticeable that nowhere in the records of the fur- trade does it appeal
that any troubles arose from in-egular sexual relations between the visitors and
native women. Most voyagera represent the latter as apparently cold-blooded
Aa well as destitute of pei-sonal attractions, while the men were jealous and
vigilant. The French sailors found the women, however, at several points on
the coast more complaisant than cleanly when they could elude the watchful-
ness of their husbands ; and one American captain of 1 825 tells us that native
women were regularly admitted to the ships to sleep with the crew.

'"Cook's Voi/d'/e, ii. 311. ' lis traversaient un bois tres-foun-(?, dans lequcl
11 nous (5tait impossiblo do pdndtrer le jour ; ct, so glissant sur le ventre comme
des couleuvrcs, sans remuer presque une feuillc, ils parvonaient, malcrcS uoa
scntincUes, k ddrolxir quelques-uns de nos cffcts: eafin ils eurcnt I'addrcsse
d'entrcr de nuit dans la tente oh couchaient MM. ., qui dtaient do gu.do ti
I'observatoiro ; ils enlev6rent nn fusil garni d'argent, ainsi quo les habits de
'Ces deux oiBcicrs, qui les avaient places par priicaution sous leur chevet.' La
P&roust, Voyage, ii. 178-9.

*^Meareer Voyage, xiiL

i It

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ii !

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an THE MARITIME FUR-TRADE.

Has well pronounces one tribe " like all others on this
coast without one exception, addicted to theft. ""^ A
peculiarity of their character was that when detected
in a theft, even from a visitor who had treated them
most generously, they were not in the slightest de-
gree abashed; if the detection preceded the comple-
tion of the theft they gracefully admitted their defeat,
but if it was later they could never understand that
the original owner had any claim to an article success-
fully stolen. And the traders generally found it to
be best to adopt the native view of the matter and
trust to precautions only.

" Trade," says Captain Sturgis, "was always carried
on alongside, or on board the ship, usually anchored
near the shore, the Indians coming off in their canoes.
It was seldom safe to admit many of the natives into
the ship at the same time, and a departure from this
prudent course has, in numerous instances, been
followed by the most disastrous and tragical results."
Dixon tells us that at Cloak Bay, Queen Charlotte
Island, "A scene now commenced, which absolutely
beggars all description . . . There were ten canoes about
the ship, which contained about one hundred and
twenty people; many of these brought the most
beautiful beaver cloaks ; others excellent skins, and, in
short, none came empty handed, and the rapidity with
which they sold them, was a circumstance additionally
pleasing; they fairly quarrelled with each other about
which should sell his cloak first; and some actually
threw their furs on board if nobody was at hand to
receive them. Toes were almost the only article we
bartered ... In less than half an hour we purchased
near three hundred beaver skins." Each cloak was
made of three sea-otter skins.^ Meares' trade is de-

'^''HaawelVa Voyage of the Columbia, MS., 21.

^^ Dixon's Voyage, 201, 222. OaQueeti Charlotte Island, he says, 'The chief
usually trades for the whole tribe ; but I have sometimes observed that when
his method of barter has been disapproved of, each separate family has claimed
a right to disi;>ose of their own furs, and the chief always compUed with this
request.' And Haswell, lo;/., MS., 02, says that at Barrell Sound the chief
bartered for all Ms subjects.

ROUTINES OF TRAFFIC.

369

scribed as a ceremonial exchange of presents chiefly.
"On our arrival at the habitation of the chiefs, where
a great number of spectators attended to see the cere-
mony, the sea-otter skins were produced with great
shoutings and gestures of exultation, and then laid at
our feet. The silence of expectation theti succeeded
among them, and their most eager attention was em-
ployed on the returns we should make." One tribe
would not sell a skin until the women permitted it."^*
At one place on the Oregon coast, says Has well, " They
would hand their skins on board without scruple and
take with satisfaction whatever was given in return.
This we very seldom found to be the case in any other
part of the coast. ""^ "In all our commercial trans-
actions with this people," says Meares at Clayoquot,
"we were more or less the dupes of their cunning;
and with such peculiar artifice did they sometimes
conduct themselves, that all the precaution we could
employ was not sufficient to prevent our being over-
reached by them. The women, in particular, would
pla,y us a thousand tricks, and treat the discovcVy
of their finesse with an arch kind of pleasantry that
baffled reproach."^"

Iron, copper, and coarse woollen goods were, one
year and one place with another, standard articles of
barter, while beads and gewgaws had less value than
with savages in most other parts of the world. So
far, however, as any one place at any one time was
concerned, the choice of a cargo to suit the taste of
customers was a mere game of chance, so fickle and
whimsical were the native traders, so peculiar and
varying their ideas of value. ^' Articles given by the

'>*Meares' Voyage, 120, 324.

*^HamjodVa Voyage, MS., 24.

"il/earea' Voyage, 148; Marchand, Voy. ,ii.6. 'Onpeutdireque, sous lo rap-
port de rint6r6t et du tratBc, ils ont ileji fait do graiida pas dans la civili;;a-
tion, et que les HtJbreux moderncs auroJent pcut-fitre peu do choses .'i leur
apprendre.'

" 'The first adventurers employed iron, beads, glass, and Indian gew-
gaws as the medium of barter ; but those who succeeded them added British
woollens to the trade, and whole villages of American natives were seen clad
in blankets . . . After some time the Indians became so fond of woolen articles.
Hist. N. W. Coabt, Vol. I. 21

■lit

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tBatammm

910

THE MARITIME FUR-TRADE.

Winships in 1800 averaged from two to fifty centfi
each for sea-ott^r skins. Captain Sturgis "had seen
prime sea-otter skins obtained for articles that did not
cost fifty cents at home, and had seen given for them
articles that cost here twice as much as the skins would
sell for inChina." " Such as were dressed in furs,"writes
another trader, "instantly stripped themselves, and for
a moderate quantity of large spike nails, we received
sixty fine skins." It Has alreaidy been recorded how
Haswell got two hundred skins for one small chisel
on the shores of Queen Charlotte Island. An old
woman on the same coast contemptuously refused all
of Dixon's offers of axes or anything else for a curious
lip ornament, but when some bright buttons ap-
peared she yielded to the temptation. "Brass pans,
pewter basons, and tin kettles," were the articles most
esteemed at one place, while at another near by only
^ toes' were prized. Yet Dixon found iron the staple
commodity, "everything else depending, in a groat
measure, on fancy and caprice." Says Captain Cook:
''Six of the finest skins purchased by us were got for
a dozen large, green, glass beads." Elsewhere they
rejected all pieces of iron that did not exceed eight
inches in length. Of the articles carried by Marchand,
copper and tin pots and kettles were preferred; also
weapons, iron things generally not being cared for;
but only for articles of clothing, of which there were
none save those kept in stock for the sailors, they
would give their finest fu;s.^

that no trade could be carried on without them. ' The fickleness that they
at times discovered in their traffic, waa occasionally very troublesome. At
one time copper was their favoritf. object; at another, iron was the only
commodity in estimation among them ; beads would also have their turn of
preference. But this hesitation in their choice was generally determined by
a medley of them all.' Meares' Voyages, Ixix. 121.

^^Boston ill the Northwest, MS., 17; Stunjis' Northwest Fur Trade, C37;
Meares' Voyages, xv. Haswell, Voy., MS., 24, Cl-2, who says clothing was
more in demand than iron at Barrel! Sound, adds : ' We purchased a num-
ber of otter skins for knives, axes, adzes, etc. ; but h.vl we had copper, a
piece two or three inches square would have been far more valuable to them;'
Dixon, Voyage, 02, C8, 192, 203, 208, 228-9, 245, says: 'Saws were not cared
for. At our first trading the natives took toes and blue beads, but the toes
are held in the greatest estimation, a middling sized too fetching the best
otter-skin they had got. . .The number of sea-otter skins purchased by us

■^:r

FICKLENESS OF THE NATIVES.

371

ifty cento
had seen
it did not
for them
ins would
rs," writes
js, and for
) received
rded how
lall chisel
. An old
•efused all
r a curious
ittons ap-
Irass pans,
tides most
ar by only
the staple
in a great
ftain Cook:
ere got for
irhere they
Lceed eight
Marchand,
■erred; also
cared for;
there were
ailors, they

leness that they
roubleaome. At
m was the only
i,ve their turn of
y determined by

Fur Trade, 537;
lys clothing was
mrchased a num-
vo had copper, a
aluable to them ;'
es were not cared
sads, but the toes
fetching the best
purchased by u«

The Indians were often so extravagant in their de-
mands, particularly when they had been visited by
many vessels, that no traflBc was possible — that is,
without paying nearly half the value of the furs,
which was not to be thought of Thus at one point
where furs were plentiful, nothing but muskets would
be taken; while at another place the Indians would
exchange their peltries for great-coats only, demand-
ing, moreover, two great-coats for each sea-otter skin.
The Spaniards found that shells from Monterey would
purchase not only furs, but the choicest articles for
which their furs had been bartered. Captain Sturgis,

at Queen Charlotte's Islands, was no less than 1821, many of them very
fine : other furs are found in less variety here than in many other parts of
the coast, the few raccoons, a few pine marten, and some seals being the
only kinds we saw. Toes, at first, were quite a leading article in barter;
but so great a number of traders required a variety of trade, and we were
frequently obliged to produce every article in our possession, before we could
please our numerous friends. Thus in one fortunate month has our success
been much greater than that probably of both vessels during the rest of
the voyage — st) uncertain is the fur trade on this inhospitable coast. ' ' Lcs
vGtements, 'says Marchand, Voy. , ii. 5, ' etoient les seuls efiets pour lesquels il f ut
possibles d'obtenir les belles peaux de Loutre de la premit-re qualite. Les petits
couteaux, les grains de verre colore, les bagues, les boutons de metal, et touH
les colifichets d'Europe etoient & peine agrdes en pur don, on en pot-dc-vin. '
Cook's Voycu/e, ii. 358; iii. 438. Says Portlock, Voyage, 284 : 'I could not pur-
chase a good skin for less than a light-horseman's cap, two yards of inferior
broadcloth, a pair of buckles, two handfuls of small beiads, and two fish-hooks.
The articles wo bartered with were the light-horsemen's caps, striped woollen
blankets, towes 18 or 20 inches long, buckles, buttons, and t)eads. However I
could not procure even a piece of skin with any of the latter articles ; they were
only given by woy of concluding a bargain, as were tin kettles, brass pans, and
pewter basons; but hatchets, aSzes, trowels, they would scarcely take for any-
thing whatever. ' ' De tous les articles de commerce ils ne desiraient ardem-
mcnt que le f er ; ils accept^rent aussi quelques rassadcs ; mais ellcs scrvaient
plutdt k concluro un marchd, qu' k former la base de I'dchangc. Non parvlnmes
dans la suite a !eur faire recevoir des assiettes et dea pots d'dtain ; mais ces
articles n'eurent qu'un succ6s passager, et le fer priivalut sur tout.' La Pcrouse
Voyatje, ii. 1 72. 'A moderately good sea-otter skin will fetch from six to seven
blankets, increasing to thirteen for the best; no bargain being conclusive
without sundry nicknaeks similar to the Chinese cumshaw. These generally
may be estimated at one blanket, which should be worth twelve shillings here.
In money they frequently ask forty dollars ; on thfe coast of California at San
Francisco and Monterey as much as eighty to a hundred. ' Belcher's Narrative,
i. 101. 'Este comercio ha llegado d ser muy Incroso [to the natives] en estos
liltimos tiempos por haber aumentado el precio de las picles A proporcion de
lo que ha crecido su consume y el concurso do compradores. Decia Macuina
que las faabia vendido al Capitan Mearcs d diez por plancha (de cobre) en el
auo de 1788; y en el dia se da una plancha de media arroba por cada piel de
primera calidad. En nuestra corto trato con los Nuchfmases no conseguimos
qae nos diesen tres pieles de regular tamaiio y calidad por dos planchas de
cobre de una arroba ae peso.' Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, 1 12.

:!i;:

■1 ^

J 1

872

THE MARITTJE FUT -TRADE.

as elsewhere related, onne obtained a large quantity
of erinines at about thirty cents each from Europe,^
and with these he had no diflBculty in purchasing the
best skins at the rate of five ermines, or * clicks,' for
each. " It is the usage of the natives," says Mar-
chand, " to terminate no bargain without demanding
a present, which they call stoL On voit que dejh ils
commencent h, s' europianiser" and on the same sub-
ject Sturgis also remarks: "Several smaller articles
were given as presents nominally, but in reality formed
part of the price." "To avoid trouble, which would
certainly follow if he yielded in a single instance, he
had found it necessary to waste hours in a contest
with a woman about articles of no greater value than
a skein of thread." " Most of the skins," writes
Cook, "which we purchased were made up into gar-
ments. Some of them were in good condition, but
others were old and ragged enough, and all of them
very lousy. "^"^ All, including the chieftains, wore
usually ready enough to strip off their fur cloaks and
reduce themselves to a state of nudity.*" In later
years, when the Indians had learned to expect the
traders' regular visits, the furs were less frequently
damaged by cutting and by being worn as garments ;
but in respect of vermin the improvement . was less
marked."

It is not possible from existing sources of infor-
mation to form a statistical statement of the fur-trade
south of Alaska. It was carried on by individual
adventurers or private companies; and only fragmen-
tary reports of prices, profits, or quantities of furs
obtained were incidentally made public in connection
with special voyages. From 1785 to 1787, not in-
cluding the operations of Meares, according to Dixon's

"' Gooh's Voyage, ii. 401.

'"An exception was when Wicananish and his companion.'' on his first in-
terview with Meares could not be persuaded to part with their beantiful
cloaks. Meares' Voi/., 125.

*' 'On peut dire qu'en prenant une cargaison de fourrures on prend une
cargaison de poux.' Marchand, Voy., ii. 52.

THE CHINA MARKET.

373

statement 5800 sea-otter skins were sold in China
for $160,700, an average price of not quite $30 each/-
Mr Swan gives the total shipments of sea-otter skins
from the Northwest Coast in 1799-1802 as 11,000,
9500, 14,000, and 14,000, or a total of 48,500 in four
years." " More than once," said Sturgis, " he had
known a capital of $40,000, employed in a north-west
voyage, yield a return exceeding $150,000. In one
instance an outfit not exceeding $50,000 gave a gross
return of $284,000." "He had personally collected
GOOO in a single voyage, and he once purchased 560
of prime quality in half a day.*^" "In 1801," says a
writer in 1822, "which was perhaps the most flourish-
ing period of the trade, there were 16 ships on the
coast, 15 of which were American and one English.
Upwards of 18,000 sea-otter skins were collected for
the China market in that year by the American vessels
alone."" According to Coxe the price at Kamchatka
in 1772 was from $15 to $40; and at Kiakhta from
$30 to $140. From $30 to $60 were the figures quoted
by La Pdrouse in the year 1786, he believing the latter
price to be "celui qu'il faut demander pour obtenir
moins." Marchand tells us that the average price
was forced down in 1790 to $15; and according to
Sturgis the skins sold for $20 in 1802; the price of
prime skins advancing to $150 in 1846. Mr Hittell
states that the number of sea-otter skins taken on
the coast annually after 1880 is 5500, worth in San
Francisco $440,000, or $80 each. The fur-seal skins
are much more numerous, and in the aggregate more
valuable.**

Statistical and other information respecting Russian
fur-hunting operations, both in Alaska and California,

*Wixon'8 Voyage, 315-21 ; Id., Remarks, 12-13.

'^Swan's Northwest Coast, ^2i.

**Sturgis' Northtoext Fur Trade, 53^1-7.

*^ North American Review, xv. 372.

^^Coxe's Russ. DiHcov., 13-lt; La Pirome, Voyage, iv. 174; Marchand,
Voyage, ii. 369 ; Sturgis' Northwest Fur Trade, 530 ; HitteWs Commerce and
Industries of the Pacific Coast, 331.

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374

THE MARITIME FUR-TRADE.

is comparatively complete, because the business was
carried on by a company with a systematic organiza-
tion; but this matter is fully treated in other volumes
of this work, there being nothing that calls for special
notice in Russian operations on the Northwest Coast
proper. In lb22, however, there were some feeble
premonitions of an intention to extend Russian control
over that coast down at least to the Columbia River,
the northern hunters complaining not so much of the
rivalry of the Americans — who moreover were in
several respects very useful — as of their habit of sell-
ing arms and ammunition to the Indians, and making
them in many cases more formidable foes to the forces
of the Russian American Fur Company.*^

On the Californian fur-trade, for the meagre items
that exist on that subject in addition to what was done
by the Russians, I may also refer the reader to other
volumes. The native hunters employed by the com-
pany and their Yankee partners did not quite anni-
hilate the sea-otter in Californian waters, where that
animal was very abundant, though producing a fur
somewhat inferior to that obtained in the north. The
Californian Indians succeeded in killing a few otters
each year, whose skins were collected by the padres
and others, either to be sold clandestinely to Amer-
ican contrabandistas or sent to China via San Bias,
by the yearly transport ships and Manila galleons.**
Enough were left on the coasts to employ a dozen or
more trappers from New Mexico for a part of their

*'A writer in the North Amer. Review, xv. 394, admits that arms and
ammnnition were furnished to 'independent aboriginal inhabitants,' but not
to natives subject to Russia. The Indians of Ciayoquot 'venian provistos
de fusiles y p6Ivora, porque Wicananish ha adquirido muchaa armas en los
cambios de su peleteria con los Europeos; y d estos el deseo de la ganancia
les ha hecho caer en la imprudcncia de dar fomento & un poder respetable eu
los dominios de aquel Tais.' Sulll y Mex., Viatje, 19-20.

** Sea-otter skins ' to the numberof several thousand collected on the coast of
CaUfomia are sent by the Spanish missionaries to China [each year] by way
of Manilla.' IlasweWn Voy.,MS., 20. 'The Spaniards within these two years
have imported the sea-otter to Giiina : they collect their skins near their settle-
ments of Monterey and Sau Francisco. . .Tlie Padres are the priDcipal con-
ductors of this traffic. In 1787 they imported about 200 skins, and the
beginning of this year near 1500. . .They are sent. . .to Acapulco, and thence
by the annual galleon to Maniila. ' Dixoii'a Voyage, 320.

CAUFORNIA TRAFFIC.

376

time down to 1840 and later; and even native Cali-
fornians engaged mildly and occasionally in the hunt
during the same period. La P^rouse had feared the
effect on the Chinese market of the 10,000 sea-otter
skins that might easily be obtained each year at
Monterey and San Francisco when their value became
known; out beyond discoursing occasionally, in some
grand commercial scheme never carried into effect, on
the nutria as constituting an important element in
Califomian wealth, the Spaniards, and after them the
Mexicans, did nothing in the matter. Spain, as we
have seen, attached no value to the Northwest Coast
by reason of its peltries. Martinez, indeed, on his re-
turn from the north in 1789 proposed a fur- trading
association under government auspices; but the vice-
roy withheld his approval. He believed the profits
under the prospective competition could not be long
remunerative; and the extent of his recommendation
was that Spanish traders be encouraged to secure a
portion of those profits while they should last.

While private English traders practically aban-
doned this field of maritime fur-trade early in the
nineteenth century, yet in later years the English
companies, the Northwest and Hudson's Bay, in con-
nection with their great hunt for fur-bearing animals
in the interior, engaged to a considerable extent in
the barter for sea-otter skins, as it was abandoned
by the regular traders, despatching their vessels on
frequent trips from the Columbia up and down the
coast. So the Russian company continued its efforts
uninterruptedly until succeeded by the American
company still engaged in this industry. In 1846,
says Sturgis, "the whole business of collecting furs
upon our western continent, without the acknowledged
limits of the United States, is now monopoli> J by
two great corporations, the Russian and British Fur
Companies."*'

^'StunjW Northwest Fur Trade, 538.

376

THE MARITIME FUR-TRADE.

The Boston merchants not only carried on the fur-
trade much more extensively than those of other
nations, but they continued their operations long after
others had abandoned the field — longer, indeed, than
the barter for skins alone would have been profitable.
From time to time, however, they combmed new
enterprises with the old, thus largely increasing their
profits. Not only did they buy otter- skins of the
northern natives but of California i padres; and the
goods given in exchange were smuggled with a most

1)rofitable disregard for Spanish and Mexican revenue
aws. Not only did they barter for furs, but pro-
curing native hunters from Alaska they obtained from
California large numbers of skins, half of which had
to be given to the Russian company; and some of
them made fortunes by hunting fur-seals on the Far-
allones and other islands. Then tlioy did a profitable
business in furnishing the Russian establishments
with needed articles from Boston, China, the Sand-
wich Islands, and California; and it is even stated
that after 1815 they carried io the Columbia River
all tlu stores required by the western British estab-
MsliLients, carrying away also to Canton all the furs
obtained by the English company."^ However this
may have been, with the expedients named and
others, ini^luding the sandal- wood trade at the Islands,
the Americans were able to continue the fur-trade
much longer than would otherwise have been possi-
ble. Says Sturgis: "The difficulties and uncertainty
in procuring furs became so serious, that in 1829
the business north of California was abandoned . . . At
the present time, (1846,) the whole amount collected
annually within the same limits dees not exceed two
hundred, and those of very ordinary quality. The
north-west trade as far as we are concerned has
ceased to be of importance in a commercial view."
And Greenhow, writing at the same date: "The fur-
trade has been, hitherto, very profitable to those en-

'^SlurgU' Northwest Fur Trade, 536.

THE CONTINENTAL FURTRADE.

gaged in it; but it is now, from a variety of causes,
declining every where."'^^

A topic closely allied to that of this chapter, the
annals of the great transcontinental fur-hunt by com-
panies of different nations, will be recorded in all de-
sirable detail in a later part of this volume.

''^Greenhow'H Or. and Cal., 412-13; Sturgii' NorthweM Fur Trade, r>3.'M).
Since 1801 *tho trade has declined, the sea-otter having liecomo scarce. . .
There are at the present time absent from tiio United States fourteen vesst^ls
engaged in this trade, combined witli that to tiie Sandwich islands. .Tlicse
vessels are from 200 to 400 tons burthen, and carry from 25 to 30 men eacli,
and they are usually about tlireo years in completing a voyage. . .The value at
Canton of the furs, sandal wood, . .carried thitlier tlie liist season, by American
vessels engaged in the trade, was little short of half a million of dolUrs. . .
We believe uiis trade will be thought too valuable to be quietly relinquished' '
to Russia. North Amer. Review, xv. 372-3.

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CHAPTER XII.

NEW FRANCE AND THE FUR-TBADE.
1524-1763.

Ohanox of Owmasmp, in 1769-63, or Nobth Ahkbioa— DisoovsitT— •
Fbancb m South Amxbioa Ain> Flokisa — Thb Fishbbhin add

FUB-TBABEBB OT NEVnrOXTKDLAKD AND THE St LaWRBNCE— HiSTOBT
OF THE FUB-TBACE— PeLTBIXS A VlTAI. ELEMENT IN COLONIZATION —

The Cabtixb Nephews and the St Malo Meboeunts— La Rooqs —
The Fobty Thieves— PontobavA — Chauvin — Db Chastes— Chah-
PLAiN — De Monts— The Pobt Botal Company— The Jesuits in
New Fbance — Tabousao Becomes the Centbi: of the Fub-tbade —
New England and New Yobk Fub-tbadb — Comte db Soissons —
The Company of St Malo and Ro\7en— Champlain's Misbule — The
Fbanoiscans Celebbat?. Mass in New Fsanob — The Caens— New
Fbance undeb Richelieu — The Hundbed Associates— Sib William
Alsxandeb and the Bbothebs Kibk — The Hurons and the Ibo-
quois — Troubles in Acadia — Disooveby and Occupation of the
Mississipfi Valley by Db Soto, Mabquette, Joubt, La Salle,
Hennepin, and Ibxbvillb — The Obeat Fub Monopolies of New
France— French and Indian War- Final Conflict— Treaties-
Boundaries.

Thus far in this history we have directed our atten-
tion more especially to affairs relative to the seaboard
of the great north-west, merely glancing at o.:; .ora-
tions by land in various quarters. Let us now turn
and review, still very briefly, the early affairs of
French and English in Canada, their gradual move-
ments westward, and finally the occupation as a game
E reserve of the immense area to the north and west
y the subjects of Great Britain.

All England rang rejoicings, all save the little vil-
lage where dwelt Wolfe's widowed mother. Scotland

(878)

THE GREAT LANDHOLDER.

too was glad; for on the plains of Abraham the bay •
onets of her wild highlanders had unlocked oppor
tunity for multitudes of her shrewd sons. Nor were
Anglo-American colonies displeased; for with the re-
duction of a foreign power perched since birth upon
their border, was removed a standing menace, which
had made them hesitate to declare independence of
their too severely protecting mother, as seventeen
years later they did not fail to do. It was in Sep-
tember 1759 that the citadel of Quebec surrendered;
and one year after Canada, with all her possessions
east of the Mississippi, passed to the British crown.

Hitherto France had been the great landholder upon
this continent. Nearly all that is now British America
was hers; nearly all that is now the United States
she claimed and held. Of all this continental triangle,
from Darien to Labrador and Alaska, there only re-
mained to other European powers the comparatively
insignificant areas of Central America and Mexico, a
few little patches on the Atlantic seaboard, a narrow
border round Hudson Bay, and the far-off Russian
American corner, together with what we call the
Northwest Coast — all the rest belonged to France;
and of this, by the peace of Paris in 1763, and subse-
quently following the conquest of Canada, Franco
hastened to divest herself, that portion west of the
Mississippi going secretly to Spain, and all the re-
mainder being swept into the maw of Great Britain.

If not the earliest to obtain footing in America,,
Francis I. was not far behind his rivals of Spain and
England; for while Cortds was seating himself on
Montezuma s tlirooe and Henry VIII. was hesitating
whether to dispute Pope Alexander's partition, Gio-
vanni YentVAdVLO, a Florentine in the French service,
croL=ised to Carolina, and thence coasted northward
to New^oLiUdlanJ, where oven twenty yi^ars previous
the fishermen of Normandy and Brittany had plied
their craft.

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380

NEW FRANCE AND THE I ^-TRADE.

Ten years later — that is to say in 1534, still three
quarters of a century before John Smith entered Ches-
apeake Bay, or Carver landed on Plymouth Rock — -
Jacques Cartier sailed from France under the au-
spices of Philippe de Brion-Chabot and found the St
Lawrence, which the following yer.r be iscended to
Montreal. Erected into a viccjo/s^Vo, xier Jean
Franfois de la Roque, Sieur de Kojer^ui, La Nou-
velle France* was again visited by Curtior, with cer-
tain exclusive rights, in 1541; in the year following
came Roberval, but only to find himself the woful
follower of preceding woes. Then rested colonization
in this region for half a century; perturbed French-
men filling the interval with buccaneering and prot-
estantizing.

For while like a grim shadow the sixteenth- century
superstitions of Spain hung quiescent over the greater
part of Europe, France was alive with heresv. Hnd
from the burning of men and burying alive of ■ oi eu
for opin'on's sake, the Huguenots, with a Fp; It kliig
of restless orthodox adventurers, in 1555 un le^ Ml'e-
gagnon, and again in 1562 under Jean Rib'i.ult, tu ned
and sought homes in the New World.

Villegagnon landed his colony on an island in the
harbor of Rio de Janeiro, and with an arrogance char-
acteristic of the adventurers of that ^.ay took pos-
session of all South America for the king of France,
caUin^^ it La France Antarctique. After quarrelling
fiercely with certain of his Calvinistic asso-^' '/ces about
the lej^ality of mixing water with the ^ ap. of the
eucharist, and making the sacramental hwiu* ' com-
meal instead of wheaten flour, he returnee) \vith all
his foUowers to Europe, tVu- missing an opportunity
which, but for the !i.;>ortaril theological issues that
must be immediatr;ly settKu, Might indeed have given
the contiinent to F.'ancc.

' Cartier mistook the native word kanata, which signifies a collection of
huts, for the name of the country, which in consequence became known later
aa Canada, tiiough for a century or two called New France.

>:■ f

OFF NEWFOUNDLAND.

381

^-f

Florida was the landing-place of Ribault; and when
Calvin's French disciples revelled in this fruitful
wilderness, there was not a European besides them
north of that Cibola whose seven cities with their
unspeakable wealth, the natives assured them, were but
twenty days distant, and that by water. Next in 1 564,
Rend de Laudonni^re brought to this shore a company
of French Calvinists, not of the stern stuff of which
successful colonists are made, but rather pirates, des-
tined to be massacred, nine hundred of them some
say, by the Luther-hating Spaniards under Pedro de
Menendez, Ribault himself falling with the rest. In
retaliation Dominique de Gourgues in 1568, while
Menendez was in Spain, surprised and slaughtered
the Spaniards, four hundred in number; after which
he abandoned to the natives for demolition the fort
which had been built. Thus died Huguenot effort in
Florida. It was not for France tu plant protestantism
in America.

The next we hear of New France is in 1578, when,
off Newfoundland, besides one hundred Spanish, fifty
Portuguese, and fifty English vessels, there are one
hundred and fifty French fishing craft and some twenty-
five Biscayan wlialers. Soon these fishe**men find their
way up the St Lawrence and ply a more lucrative trade,
exchanging trinkets for beaver and bear skins.

And here, it may be said, begins the history of the
fur-trade in America, which for two and a half cen-
turies is indeed the history of Canada. Not that the
skins of wild beasts had not before this been bought
and sold, but now for the first time do we see the
traffic in peltries assuming under royal protection ^
primary influence on colonization. In early times, and
mdeed in some localities until a comparatively recent
date, Canada has presented this anomaly, that while
properly classed among agricultural colonies, the cul-
tivation of the soil has been of less importance than
fishing and fur-trading.

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482

ITKW PRANCE AND THE FUR-TRADE.

The history of the fur-trade is the history of explo-
ration, with its full quota of adventurers and heroes.
To the courageous endurance of fur-hunters is due
the earlier opening to the civilized world of distant
and inhospitable regions, and the extension of geo-

graphical knowledge and settlement. Thus in some
egree was lifted the veil that hid the Ultima Thule
from the Latin world. As early as the sixth century
Rome made tributary to her comfort the wild beasts
of the north ; and this trade would have been consid--
erable but for difficulties of conveyance and profits of
middle-men, which made the article too expensive for
common use. By the eleventh century, however, in-
tercourse being freer, prices were less exorbitant, and
furs became fashionable throughout Europe, particu-
larly among the nobility, who reserved for themselves
the choicest kinds. At one time skins were almost
the only article of export of certain northern coun-
tries. They were sometimes employed as a medium
of exchange and taxation. In this commodity Kussia
received tribute from Siberia, whose wealth m furred
animals had alone made her an object worth the con-
quest. England obtained supplies from Russia and
northern Asia through Hanseatic and Italian traders,
and notwithstanding the expense of this route the
custom of wearing furs must have become prevalent,
since Edward III. in 1337 thought fit to prohibit
their use to those whose income was less than one
hundred pounds a year. During the sixteenth cen-
tury the English opened direct trade with Russia, and
a British company was allowed to establish ports on
the White Sea, and a dep6t at Moscow for its com-
merce with Persia and the Caspian region; but this
promising trade was necessarily abandoned when Eliz-
abeth issued a decree forbidding the use of foreign
furs.

The opening of trade with northern America
proved most opportune for tlie European market. It
was like finding a vast mine of gold; indeed in the

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS.

T'"'

New World furs were to the French what gold was
to the Spaniard, and the obtaining of them fre-
quently in exchange for petty articles of little cost or
value was often easier than the working of the richest
gold mine.

Here upon the St Lawrence at this time furs were
plentiful and easily secured ; it is said that even the
bison then inhabited these parts. Walrus-tusks like-
wise became an article of traffic, which, with the other
attractions, drew annually from St Malo fleets of ves-
sels. Wrangling with each other, and outraging the
natives, the French fur-traders spread along the sea-
board, coasted the islands of the gulf, and ascended
the streams, plying their vocation by methods which
led to subsequent disorder.

Upon the strength of their uncle's services, two
nephews of Cartier, Noel and Ch4ton, whose success-
ful traffic had excited the jealousy of their competitors
to that extent that they seized and spitefully burned
several of their vessels, in 1588 asked and obtained
from Henri III. letters patent giving them the same
exclusive rights along the St Lawrence and its trib-
utaries which were once accorded Cartier himself.
But so great was the storm raised by the merchants
of St Malo, by reason of this favoritism, that the
grant was soon revoked.

The triumph of the St Malo merchants, however,
was of short duration, for in 1598 the domination
of Acadia, as Nova Scotia with indefinite limits was
then called, Canada, and the region contiguous of
almost limitless extent,'^ was given to the Marquis de
la Roche, a Catholic nobleman of Brittany. Among

■ ■ ' !

l-iiJ

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'The pretensions of the several European powers in asserting their claims
to American territory, often of unknown and almost boundleBS exte.it, fre-
quently border the ludicrous. Thus Lescarbot, the geographer, describing
the limits of La Roche's government ir. 1011, writes: 'Amsi notre nouvelle
France a pour limites du c6t(5 d'ouest les ten'cs jiisqu' h. la mer dite Pacifique,
au dec^ du tropique du Cancer; au midi les lies de la mer Atlantique du
■c6t<S de Cuba et Tile Espagnole; au levant la mer du Nord qui baigne la
nouvelle France; et au septentrion cetto terre qui est dite ioconnue vers la
>aer Glacde jusqu'au Pole arctique.' See also La Hontan'a Voy.

! I

384

NEW FRANCE AND THE FUR-TRADE.

II !

other exclusive rights obtained by La Roche in the
colonization of New France was that of trading in
furs, and the noisy Bretons of St Malo were obliged
again to stand aside. Famine and pestilence swept
away La Roche's best efforts, but private adventurers
crept inland and continued a peddling traffic with the
natives.

For example, among the colonists of La Roche
were forty convicts, whom on reaching Sable Island
he landed, while he went farther to choose a site for
a city. But the ship being driven away by a storm,
the outcasts were left, some to kill each other, and
the remainder to wander for five years, when twelve
of their number, all that were left, were rescued and
carried back to France. Arrayed in valuable furs,
their long beards hanging upon their breasts, they
uncovered their shaggy heads before the king, who
permitted them to embark in trade on their own ac-
count, the skins brought back affording them sufficient
capital. The men of St Malo were again lords in the
ascendant.

With the opening of the seventeenth century
French colonization in America becomes permanent.
To speculation and self-aggrandizement as incentives
is now added religious zeal. Luther and Rome arc
still at war in France, and Henri IV. is in a dilemma.
As in France, Protestants may enjoy in America
freedom of opinion and worship, but Catholics alone
may make proselytes among the natives.

In 1599 Pontgrav^, a merchant of St Malo, and
Captain Chauvin,' who had secured the royal privi-

'F. X. Garneau, UHintoire du Canada, torn. t. lib. viii. cap. 1, asserts
that Chauvin's was the first regular patent granted ; this I am at a loss to
comprehend, as I find on good authority those which I have already named.
There may be distinctions between regular and irregular patents which I do
not understand, and which I cannot determine, not having before me all the
patents granted at that time. The fact is, no one dared to cross the ocean
in those days and colonize and trade without exclusive advantages; there
was no necessity or object in doing so; and I can but think M. Gamcau mis-
taken, though his Ilintory of Canada is exceedingly valuable, by far the best
extant, and such as would be an honor to any country.

■5- ■ I

DE :iIOXTS.

3So

\eg;cH formerly conceded to La Roche, cross the sea,
and building some huts at Tadousac, there Ic^ave
sixteen men to gather furs; but some the merciless
winter kills, while others are driven to take refuge
with the natives.

Chauvin dies, and his mantle falls on Aymar de
Chastes, governor of Dieppe, whom Pontgrave now
persuades to form a trading society, with the leading
merchants of Rouen and several men of rank as chief
partners. The command of an expedition is given to
a naval officer, Samuel de Champlain, who in 1603,
with three barks of twelve or fifteen tons each,
sails for the St Lawrence, which he in company
with Pontgrave ascends as far as the Sault St Louis,
and then returns to France. Meanwhile, De Chastes
dying, Pierre du Guat, Sieur de Monts, succeeds to
his privileges as viceroy of Acadia. De Monts is a
Calvinist, though he by no means objects to the
presence of the Catholic clergy in his expedition.
His sovereignty lies between the fortieth and fiftieth
parallels, the territory beyond those limits being re-
garded as worthless.* To the exclusive control of
government and the soil, a monopoly of the fur-trade
and all other commerce was added.

It was a discordant company that sailed with De
Monts from H^vre de Grace in 1604 to coloni;;e
Acadia. There were gentlemen and vagabonds, arti-
sans and idlers, honest men and villains; gamblers
fought over their dice, and ministers of Christ fell to
fisticuffs as closing arguments in theological disputes.^

Arrived in Acadian waters, De Monts found fi^ e

* Tl e Due de Sully held in light esteem even these lands. In his memoirs

he writes: 'This colony which was this year sent to Canada was among the

number of things that did not meet my approbation. There was no kind of

' riches to bo expected from those parts of the new world which lie beyond the

fortieth degree of latitude.'

^Champhiin was greatly amused at some of these demonstrations. In his
Voj/aiji'K lie la Noure/k France Occide.iitalt he siiys: 'J'ai vu le niinistro et
notre curC s'entrebattre h, coups de poing sur le ditt'L'rend dc la religion. Jo no
spais pas (jui <5toit le plus vaillant, ou qui donnoit le ineilleur coup, mais je
spais tr^s bien (jue le niinistre Be plaignoit qui!qucfois au siciir ilc Monts
d'avoir (ttA battu, et \'uidoit en cette fa9on les points de la coutroversie.'
Hut. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. 2a

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8M NEW FRANCE AND THE FUR-TRADE.

vessels quietly collecting furs, which, following the
terms of his commission, he seized and appropriated
to his own use, though the unfortunate traders prob-
ably had never heard of such a man as De Monts,
certainly not of the exclusive privileges lately ac-
corded him. At Port Royal, now Annapolis, was
erected a fort consisting of wooden buildings enclosing
a quadrangular court, with cannon-mounted bastions
and palisades. L'Ordre de Bon-Temps was created,
and a winter of good cheer and festivity was passed,
which augured ill for a colony with so much work
before it. The association originated by Pontgravd
was continued and enlarged by De Monts; but the
merchants of St Malo and Dieppe never ceased in
their efforts to overthrow the monopoly, and finally
succeeded. This, with the seizure by a party of
Dutchmen of a year's accumulation of peltries at the
dep6t of this society, completed its ruin after three
years of basy industry. A hundred thousand livres
the Port Poyal Company had spent in this adventure,
in return for which six thousand were given them,
which were collected by taxation from the fur-traders
who supplanted them.

And novv' in IGll appear the Jesuits in New
France, and under the protection of Marquise de
Guercheville force Poutrincourt to admit them into
the abandoned fort of De Monts at Port Royal,
whence they go out in their cap and robe, close-
fitting and black, gliding through the forest and sit-
ting round distant camp-fires, restless in their holy
zeal, until from the St Lawrence to California the
blessed cross is carried. Now suddenly hordes of
scalping savages become saints, no less eager than
their teachers to kill all who. do not profess Christ.
Fostered by fanatics at home, the Society of Jesus
establish missions in New France, and after some con-
flict with the colon; /^ buy out the temporal power,
and become proprietors of a large part of what now

I-

flts-thadixg PARTNEnsmra.

387

constitutes the United States and British America.
Down upon AeaJia like a bird of evil purpose next
comes Samuel Argall, with his English crew, and in
1613, notwithstanding France and England were then
at peace, takes possession of the country, destroys
Port Royal, and then retires.

Meanwhile De Monts again obtains a monopoly of
the fur-trade for one year, and in 1607 sends two
ships to the St Lawrence, one under Pontgravd to
trade for furs, and the other under Champlain for
purposes of colonization. The Basques who are there
peltry- hunting are put down, and Tadousac, at the
mouth of the Saguenay, becomes the centre of the
fur -trade. Thence the Montaguais, of Algonquin
affinity, in their light birchen canoes ascend the
streams in every direction for furs, and roam the
stunted forests as far as Hudson Bay.

Where Quebec stood later Champlain builds a fort,
and then sets out to find a new route to India, finding
Lake Champlain instead, while the Iroquois open
their long and terrible role of revenge.

Elsewhere the peltry interest assumes importance.
George Wajnnouth trades with the natives of Maine
in 1605; and in 1610 and subsequently, while the
Dutch merchants open a lucrative traffic on the banks
of the Hudson, John Smith forms a partnership with
four wealthy LoncI n merchants for fur-trading and
colonizing purposes in New England.

De Monts, failing to obtain a renewal of his mo-
nopoly, continues operations without it, and the St
Lawrence again swarms with competitive traders.
Proceeding to Paris, Champlain makes Comte de
Soissons the king's lieutenant-general in New France,
and Soissons then makes Champlain his lieutenant in
return. Monopoly in furs is again in order. A society
for colonization and traffic, with exclusive privileges,
but yet in which every merchant who will may par-
ticipate, is formed, and the merchants of La Rochelle,

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388

NEW PRANCE AND THE FUR-TRADE.

Ill

St Malo, and Rouen are invited to join. The mer-
chants of La Rochelle decHne, and carry on a contra-
band trade in defiance of the law, whi'e the othcn?
form the company of St Malo and Rouen, and build
a factory and fort at Montreal. In IGll Cham plain
proceeds to Montreal, while a hungry crew hunt in his
wake. Montreal becomes the rendezvous, where every
summer fleets of canoes come from distant lakes and
streams, where Huron and Frenchmen meet, and furs
and fire-water are exchanged, and no little scalping is
done, in which latter refinement the chivalrous Cham-
plain joins for sport.

That Soissons' speedy death should place Henri
of Bourbon, Prince of Conde, at the head of French
American affairs, did not prevent Champlain from
carrying it royally in New France, The souls of
savages now chiefly concerned him ; their bodies were
of trifling moment. In his Indian policy he was gov-
erned neither by justice, humanity, nor interest. In
the wars of the Montaguais and Hurons with the
Iroquois he took a base and foolish part, applying the
arts of his civilization to the cruelties and treacheries
of savagism. Instead of cultivating the friendship of
all, and dealing fairly with all, holdmg meanwhile the
balance of power in his own hands, he made allies
of those nearest him, and then rashly threw himself
against the most powerful people of the east. Life at
the settlements became a vagabond existence; the
winters were passed by the traders in a state of tor-
pidity, and the summers in drinking and trafficking.

In 1613 Champlain penetrated northward into the
land of the Ottawas, and two years later he visited
the Nipissings, and thence crossed to Lake Huron,
afterward discovering and naming Lake Ontario. To
the great perplexity of the natives, who wondered
why men should systematically turn the good things
of their God to bitterness, mendicant Franciscans,
they of strict observance called Recollets, appeared
in their coarse gray garb with peaked hood smd

P!'

CARDINAL RICHELIEU.

389

Itnotted cord, and planting their altar near Chain-
jtlain'ii fortified dwellings at Quebec in IGlo ciile!)rated
their fii.st mass in New France, although half a cen-
tury later the Franciscans were an excluded order.

Yet more bitter disorder followed the suppression
in 1G21 of the company'' of St Malo and Rouen,
The two Huguenots, William and Emery de Caen,
on whom the monopoly was now ccnicrrcd by the
Viceroy Montmorency, were so beset by the enraged
traders, that they were obliged temporarily to admit
them as partners.

Notwithstanding all the previous magnificent at-
tempts, Canadian settlement in 1G27 consisted of little
more than scattering; collections of tradimj-huts, with
Montreal, Tadousac, Quebec, Trois Rivieres and the
rapids of St Louis as centres.* And yet the traffic
was increased from fifteen thousand t'o twenty-two
thousand beaver as the annual shipment; for this
state of things, for obtaining the skins of wild beasts,
was indeed better than a state of agricultural inter-
ference.

Then came forward the great Richelieu, and took
NewFrance under his wing. Hnting the Huguenots, ho
stripped the Caens of their p' " Iges, placed himself at
the head of a hundred associates, under the name of La
Compagnie des Cent Associds de la Nouvelle France,
with a capital of three hundred thousand livres, and
obtained from the crown a monopoly of all commerce
for fifteen years, and a perpetual monopoly of the fur-
trade. In return the company agreed to carry to New
France during the year 1G28 not less than two hun-
dred artisans; and within the next fifteen years four
thousand men and women were to be conveyed thither,

*'A cette (^poque,' Charlevoix remarks, 'lo Canada consiatait dans lo fort
de QuLbec, cuvironncJ do(iaelqiica iiiuchantcs riiaisona, ct du quelqiios baraquos,
deux oil trois cabiuiea dans Tile do Moiitn?al, autant iiciit-otre ii Ta<lous«ac ct
en quelqiies autrea endroits sur le Saiiit-Laureni, pour lo commerce dcs jicl-
letcriesetde la poche; ciifin, un conimcucemciit d'lmbitation ii truia llivioics. '
See KoltVs IIM. Discov., 82-3; Itayual, Jlitt. Phil., viii. UG-lOl.

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NEW FRANCE AND THE FUR-TRADE.

and there supported at the expense of the company
for three years. None but ]'\'euchmon and CathoUes
should be permitted a residence in the country. Had
these brilhant opportunities been embraced and the
promises kept, we might see, through this feudal pro-
prietorship of a commercial and colonization company,
the whole vast domain of northern America become
permanently French in thought, languau'c, and insti-
tutions as now it is English.

About this time war broke in France, and

England helped the Huguenots, oir William Alex- ■
ander had attempted to colonize Acadia, and now,
with the assistance of the brothers Kirk and other
Calvinist rebels and refugees, he essayed no less a
thing than to wrest from France her American pos-
sessions.

Appearing in the St Lawrence while famine reigned
at Quebec, the English sacked the fort at Capo
Fournientd, attacked and sank the vessels of the
Hundred Associates, and sailed for home. The fol-
lowing year the cross of St George was planted by
Louis Kirk at Quebec. In the treaty which followed,
Canada was restored to the French, but only to fall
again into the hands of the English one hundred and
thirty years later.

The treaty was of little moment unless enforced.
Hence to Emery de Caen in 1G32 was given a com-
mission to clear New France of the English, for which
service he was to enjoy a monopoly of the fur-trade
for one year, after which exclusive privilege was to
revert to the Hundred Associates.

Champlain meanwhile became saintly in his fanati-
cism, and turned the trading-post at Quebec into a
Jesuit mission. Brandy and debauchery were ban-
ished, and civilized and savage vied with each other in
prayers and repentance. Jesuit missions were estab-
lished among the Hurons. In 1G35 Champlain died
and was buried bv the Blackfriars.

:i^

THE MISSISSIPPI V^ILLEY.

1^ <:

The war of extermination between ^.lie Hurons an;l
the Iro(jUois which now raged under jNIontinagny,
originated chiefly from the presumptive hopes of
trartic and revenge raised in the breasts of the Hurons
bv the Hundred Associates, followint' the envenomed
policy of Champhiin. The fruit of their evil exam])lo
they were now made to eat. After spending more
than a million livres in these disastrous struggles,
the Hundred A sociates were glad to relinquish their
rights to the pt^^ple for an annual seigniorial rent of
one million beaver. By 1G50 the downfall of the
Hurons was complete.

In 1G48 fifty -one envoys were sent from New
England to Quebec, and from Canada to Boston,
having in view a treaty of perpetual amity between
the two colonies, which were to remain neutral in all
disputes of the mother countries. The negotiations
failed.

The Iroquois, after their dispersion of the Hurons,
fell upon the French. Trade in skins meanwhile was
much reduced, and so remained until the ratification
of a treaty in 1G62. The Compagnie des Cent As-
socit^s had dwindled to forty-five members, when in
1GG3 the governor-general. Baron d'Avaugour, ad-
vised Louis XIV. to dissolv^e it and himself to resume
territorial jurisdiction, which was done, and Canada
became a royal province of France.

Serious contentions followed the treaty of St Ger-
main, by which France was made mistress of Acadia.
For fifty years jealousy was rife, and wars succeeded
each other. In 1G54 Cromwell seized Port Royal,
and granted the province to La Tour, Temple, and
Crown, as an English dependency; but by the treaty
of Breda in 1GG7 Acadia was again restored to France.

For the first time since Fernando de Soto in 1541
vauntingly led his bedizened train from Florida to
the Mississippi, and the following year with clipped
courage made his bed beneath its waters, the valley

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NEW FRANCE AND THE FUR-TRADE.

of the Great River now takes a prominent jdaco in
history. No section of equal extent and importance
in all the two Americas has changed permanent pro-
prietorship so often as this. Spain, in silken vesture
and burnished armor, with blood-hounds for hunting
natives, and chains with which to bind them, first
found this mighty stream; France with breviary and
crucifix, in humble attitude and garb, first peacefully
explored and planted settlements upon its banks;
England first conquered it from a European power
and held its eastern bank, while Spain claimed the
western, and subsequently conquered from England
the Florida portion of the eastern; and last of all,
thus far, the United States was the first by honorable
treaty to obtain possession.

Several missionary and trading expedi^.ons had
been made into the region beyond lakes Michigan and
Superior, and information of the Father of Waters
given, when in 1073 M. Joliet and Pere Marquette
crossed the narrow portage between Fox River and
the Wisconsin, and 'embarking in two light canoes
glided down to the Mississippi and descended the river
to the thirty-third parallel, near the spot touched by
Soto. Their provisions exhausted, and their mission,
they returned, Marquette to his missionary labors
among the Indians, and Joliet to Quebec.

To Robert de la Salle it remained to descend the
Great River to its mouth and determine whether it
discharged into the gulf of Mexico or into the Pacific
Ocean. La Salle was a fur- trader, having a factory
at Lachine, near Montreal, whence he made frequent
visits to lakes (}nturio arid Erie. To the governor and
others he suggested tiiat the Pncific might perhaps be
better reached by ascending than by descending the
^Mississippi. lu 1680, having received royal privileges,
he sf^nt Pero Hennej.un down the Illinois to the Mis-
sissippi, with instructions to ascend the latter stream
as far as he was able, which proved to be to the Sault
St Antoine, while two years later La Salle himself

ENGLISH JEALOUSY.

8Qi

descondcd the Mississippi to its mouth and tool^ pos-
session of the country, calling it Louisiane, lictuin-
iug to Quebec, La Salle embarked for France, wlioro
his report caused great excitement. To the bold dis-
coverer was given the colonization of Louisiane, which
term then embraced the whole of that vast tract
drained by the Mississippi, and which now became a
province of New France.

Sailing from France for the Mississippi in July
1G84, with four shi^js and two hundred and eighty
emigrants, La Salle missed the mouth of the river,
lost one vessel, and finally in a sad plight struck the
coast of Texas, where a colony was planted, thus
adding that country to his discovery. While seeking
his lost river, La Salle wandered into the basin of
the Colorado, where he was traitorously shot by one
of his company, leaving it with Lemoine d'Ibervillo
to lay in IGO'J the foundation of the future colony. In
due time, by posts and settlements up the St Law-
rence, round the great lakes, and down the fertile
valley of the Mississippi, the two extremities of
French American domain became united.''

I i

Now, more than ever, the jealous}^ of tlie English
colonists was aroused. Their actual occupancy in
North America was confined to a narrow space on
the Atlantic seaboard, while the French and Sj)anish
claimed all rtie rest. Indeed, France had loft but
little footing even for Spain, the ]\Icxican and Cen-
tral American isthmuses, together with the lands
tlrained by the Rio del Norte and the Rio Colorado,
and on the Pacific the two Californias of undefined
limits, being but a bagatelle compared with the vast
regions of the middle and north.^

' 'The lilies of Frince cut on forest trees, ami crosses erected on blulTs of
the Mississippi, at length marked a chain of posts from the Mexican gulf to
Jliidsou's liay.' Uurifn Exudu-^ of thi' Wvxte.ii NalionH, i. .S8(i. ' T(jut lo NorJ
dii Missouri nous < sfc totiilenieut incomiu.' L<' Pa/i' dn I'nilz, Jli.'if. Lu'iisidiic,
i. 327. To the expedition of LaSuUe aie added tlio subsequent adventures of
Hennepin, in Am. Aiiii'i. ib'oc, Trniin., i. Ol-'JI.

" ' La Lotiisiiino situeodans la p.irtio Septentrionale do rAm«^ri(pio, est l)orn(''a
au Midi par lo (iolfo du Mexicj^ue, au Levant par la Caroline, Colonic Anylaise, &

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NEW FRANCE AND THE FUR-TRADE.

When in 1682 Lefebvre de la Barre assumed the
governor-g-eneralship r. ' ^nada in place of the Count
de Frontenac, hostilities had broken out between the
Iroquois and the Illinois. It was said that the
people of New Netherlands, now New York, wishing
to monopolize the fur-trade of that region, Avere con-
stantly exciting the Iroquois against the French, and
to the latter it now seemed necessary that they should
uosist the Illinois.

Taking the field against the Iroqinois, Le Barro
failed to accomplish any important purpose; and his
successor, the IMarquis de Denonvillo, succeeded but
little better in attempting to exclude the Iroquois
and English traders from the St Lawrence. After a
period of unwonted tranquillity, in August 1689 four-
teen hundred Iroquois suddenly appeared at Lachine
and massacred the inhabitants.

Following the dissolution of the Hundred Asso-
ciates, in 1664 was formed for New France another
withering monopoly, known as the West India Com-
pany. Although exclusive trade was vested in the
association for forty years, and the Atlantic seaboard
of Africa was given them as well as America; and
although Louis XIV., in addition to all the privileges
formerly granted the Hundred Associates, placed a
premium of forty livres on every ton of exported or
imported merchandise, the company finally fell in
pieces by the very weight of royal favors, for com-
modities so rose in price that purchasers could not be
found, and the importation of goods ceased. In 1666
Colbert withdrew from the monopolists the peltry
traffic, and at the same time relieved them from the

partie du Caiiad.o, au Couchant par le nouveau Mexique, au Nord en partic par
le Canada: le restc n"a point de bornes,& 8'<5xtend jusqu'anx Torres incunnuca
voisines de la liaye de Hudson.' Le Pctija du Pratz, Hist. Lonmane, i. 138.
•At the close of the year 1 7o7, Franco possessed twenty times as much American
territory aa England ; and five times as much as England nnd Spain together.'
liUljHilh's U. S., 270. 'Putting aside tlie untenable claims wliicli France
assertctl in the patents granted to De Monta, she actually possessed settle-
ments in all |iarts of Nortii America, as far as Mexico on the south and Call-
furuia on tlic Wcst.' Durife L'xodus, ii, U.

DIVERS MONOPOLIES.

305

restriction of their trade to France. Still the insti-
tution could not thrive; and with a hundred vessels
employed, and witli a debt of three and a half millions
of livres, in 1674, the company became extinct. These
wise rulers had yet to learn of laisser faire, to learn
that trade thrives best when let alone.

The peltry monopoly in Canada now took an inde-
pendent departure, and was hereafter less involved
with other royal privileges, although to Oudiette, into
whose hands from the West India Company it fell,
were also farmed the duties on tobacco, which were
then ten per cent. This continued until 1700, when
the people again begged relief.

Roddes was the next fur-king; and after him
Piccaud, who paid seventy thousand francs per annum
for the monopoly, and formed an association called
the Company of Canada, with shares at fifty livres, of
which any Canadian might take any number. With
this association the Hudson's Bay Company, whoso
history w^ shall trace in the next chapter, was con-
cerned. The Canada Company falling into dissolution,
Aubert, Nerot, and Guyot agreed to pay its debts —
1,812,000 francs — for its privileges. With the ex-
piration of their term the monopoly of Aubert and
Company fell in 1717 to the Western Company, as
the Mississippi Bubble Scheme of John Law was at
one time known.

This was the grand epoch of the fur-trade in
Canada under the old adventurous and lawless regime.
Beaver-skins were the life of New France. It was all
in vain that the government sought to control this
traffic; and what is strangest of all to us is that after
a century of failures rulers could not see that it was
not possible. No more than the United States with
all her armies would have been able to guard the gold
baidced in the Sierra Drainage, could Franco guard
the wild beasts of the Canadian forests, or prevent
her people from matching and skinning them.

Aii one a.-.oiig the many preventive measures

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■■'■ I

3M NEW FRANCE AND THE rUR-TR.\DE.

adopted by the king, an annual fair was ordered held
at Montreal. It was at the opening of this commer-
cial by- play that the arm-chaired governor- general,
whom we read so much about in all the books, took
his seat on the common, and midst much solemn
smoking harangued the savages ranged round him
upon the benefits accruing to mankind by reason of
the peltry-packs which they had brought from distant
forests to trade.

The scenes enacted here, where the highest mer-
chants erected booths, and huckstering savages stalked
the street, and half the town were drunk or nearly so,
were conducive neither to commercial prosperity nor
to good morals. Infatuated with the trade, scores of
young men every summer returned with the savages
to their distant homes, and became almost savage them-
selves, paddling their canoes and ranging the woods,
whence the clan of voyageurs and courcurs dcs bois
greatly multiplied, and became a striking feature of
the century. For this forest traffic licenses were
issued, but many preferred to take their chances
without them.

An illustration of the futility and absurdity of
grvernment protection and trade monopoly here pre-
sents itself. While Oudiette and his associates held
sway, the supply increased so largely as to ruin them
The hunters might sell to the merchants; but the
merchants might sell only to Oudiette, and Oudiette
must take all the furs offered him at a fixed price.
The consequence was that wlien from over supply
the market became glutted, and France refused to
take them at half tbeir cost, Oudiette was obliged
to succumb; and the only v/ay out of the difhculty, his
successors found, was to burn three fourths of the stock
on hand. And this was done more than once.

Round the trading-posts planted by La Salle along
the Mississippi, and the missions established by the
Jesuits south and west of Lake Michigan, little set-

■■■f

THE MISSISSIPPI COMPANY. 897

tlements sprang up, until in 1711, when England
declared war against France, throughout the great
valley were scattered fur-traders of every class, whoso
intercourse on the north M'as with Quebec, and on the
south with the Isle Dauphin, in ISIobilc Bay.

In 1712 Antoine Crozat obtained from the French
court the appointment of governor of Louisiana, with
a monopoly for mining and trading in that region for
sixteen years. Crozat attempted to open commercial
relations Avith Mexico, and in 17 13 despatched a
vessel to Vera Cruz, but the viceroy ordered its im-
mediate departure. Moreover, the Virginians greatly
troubled him by interfering with his peltry trade
among the Natchez and other native nations of the
Mississippi. Crozat was already a millionaire, and very
grasping. By charging exorbitant prices for his goods,
and paying the minimum rate for furs, he soon drove
hunters out of the country, when he threw up his
patent in disgust. It finally fell with others into the
meshes of the famous Mississippi Bubble scheme.

New adventurers entered the field in 1717 under
the name of the Western or Mississippi Company,
before mentioned, which was connected with the
Bank of France, and whose charter was to run for
twenty-five years. To this were added the dormant
rights of the Santo Domingo Association, formed
in 1698, the Senegal and Guinea Companies, the
Chinese Company of 1700, the Old West India
Company, the Canada Company, and Aubert and
Company.

The capital of the Mississippi Company was origi-
nally one hundred millions of livres, based on a pop-
ular belief in the resources of that country. It was a
colonization scheme invented by the Scotchman John
Law to free the French government from debt. To
absorb new issues the name was changed to that of
the West India C^ompany, now revived for that pur-
pose. The resources of the Mississippi, by means of
certain financial legerdemain, were pledged, and im-

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398 NEW FRANCE AND THE FUR-TRADE.

mediately to be applied to the payment of this indebt-
edness of two thousand millions of livres. The future
for ten centuries was discounted. For a time the in-
terest was promptly paid, and the shares rapidly ad-
vanced. Then madness seized the people. The stock
ros one hundred per cent., one thousand per cent.,
two thousand and fifty percent.! Then a crash, and
the ruined ten thousand fell a-cursing their late idol,
wishing to hang him.

In 1723 the defunct West India Company was
succeeded by the Company of the Indies, with the
duke of Orldans as governor. His jurisdiction ex-
tended over all the colonies of France, whether in
America or elsewhere. From the wreck of the Law
scheme a trading monopoly in the Louisiana and
Illinois territories was saved, which continued until
1731, in which year the exclusive rights passed under
immediate regal sway, and so continued throughout
the remainder of French domination.

With the building of Fort Oswego •>. keen competi-
tion set in between the French and British fur-
traders, the latter being disposed to pay the natives
higher prices than the French had been accustomed to
pay. The evil effects arising therefrom were in some
degree obviated by the king, who by taking charge
of the forts at Kingston, Niagara, and Toronto, and
cutting off hitherto misapplied bounties to dealers,
was enabled to compete with the British, and pay
the natives higher prices.'

Until 1713, when by the treaty of Utrecht trade*
in the Hudson Bay and other territories must be re-
linquished, almost the entire peltry traffic of North

"At this time the average price of beaver-skina in money, at Montreal
was 2 livrea 13 sous, or about '2s. 3d. sterling, per pound. HmUh'B hit.
Canada, i. Iviii. It is not possible precisely to fix the value of furs expcrtCL'
from Canada under French rdrjimt. D'Auteuil places the annual returns in
1077 at 550,000 francs, and in 1715 at 2,000,000 francs. From the cust<im8
registers Governor Murray found the returns of 1754 valued at 1,547,885
livi'es, and those of 1765 at 1,265,650 livres. F. X. Gameau, Canada, tom. i.
lib. viii. cap. 1, estimates the value of peltry exported from New France,
immediately before and after the coni^uest, at 3,500,000 Uvres.

FRENCH AND ENGLISH W.\R.

America, as we can but observe, was in the hands of
the French. Every effort was made by the governor.^
of New York to lessen French influence in the west,
but without much success. The Enghsh possessed
some advantages; European goods were lower at
Boston and New York than at Quebec and Montreal,
and there was considerable contraband trade between
the colonists, even the monopolists themselves intro-
ducing into Canada cloth from Albany; but in the
main during these earlier competitive times the French
found favor with the savages, while the English were
more suspiciously regarded.

Seeing that the advantages of contraband traffic
were employed against their fur interests by the
Canadian traders, in 1720-7 laws prohibiting the
exchange of European goods for Canadian peltry were
passed by the New York assembly, which was a heavy
blow to the French traders. In retaliation Louis
XIV. forbade by edict all commercial intercourse with
the British colonies. Thereafter the blighting mo-
nopolies met with little opposition in New France.
Those who dealt in peltries bought privileges from
them, usually in lLj form of factory licenses, granted
as a rule for three years. Those who held these tem-
porary privileges of course made as much of them as
possible while opportunity lasted, and the poor savage
was usually the sufferer."

The English possessions in America were granted
to settlers in strips fronting on the Atlantic and ex-
tending through on fixed parallels to the Pacific.
Thus to the London Company were given by James I.
all lands lying between the thirty-fourth and thirty-
eighth lines of latitude; to the Plymouth Company
the forty-first to the forty-fifth parallels, the belt be-
tween being common; to the Council of Plymouth

'" Mr Bell, the English editor of Gameau's Flistoire du Canada, states that
'in 1754 at a weatera post, on one occasion beaver-skins were bought f(jr four
grains of pepper eacli ; and that as much aa 800 francs were realized by selling
a pound of vennilion, probably dealt out in pinches.'

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400

NEW FRANCE AND THE FUR-TRADE.

the fortieth to the forty- eighth parallel, and so on.
Now, as the two nationalities quarrelled on tlieir
respective frontiers, the French would point trium-
phantly to the discoveries of Joliet and La Salle,
while the English declared their lands had no west-
ern bound.

Banding for mutual protection, the American colo-
nies resorted to arms as England declared war ajjainst
France. Each seeking allies among the natives, the
French and Indian war was inaugurated, which should
forever settle this question of colonial supremacy.
The immediate cause of this war was the intrusion of
French fur-gatherers south of Lake Erie, to prevent
which the Ohio Company was formed by a number of
Virginians for the purpose of taking possession of the
disputed territory. The French, however, were too
quick for them. Bienville with three hundred men
occupied the valley of the Ohio in the« summer of
1749; but it was not until after 1753, when twelve
hundred men were sent down the Alleghany by Du
Quesne to colonize the country, and Washington was
sent to remonstrate with General St Pierre, com-
mander of the French forces in the west, that hos-
tilities broke out. Then followed the expedition and
defeat of the English under Braddock in 1755. In
retaliation, with wanton cruelty, the English drove
the French from Acadia. Meanwhile Johnson won
a victory over the French at Lake George. In 175G
Washington repelled the enemy in the valley of the
Shenandoah, while Montcalm successfully led the
French across Lake Ontario, and the following year
made a brilliant compaign into the Lake George
country. In 1758 the English acquired Cape Breton
and Prince Edward Island, but failed before Ticon-
deroga. Fort Frontenac was taken by Bradstreet, and
Du Quesne was burned. Twelve million pounds were
voted by the British parliament to carry on the war,
and Amherst was placed in command of the British
and colonial forces, which by midsummer 1759 num-

[■]'

PURCHASE OP LOUISIANA.

401

bered fifty thousand men, while the French army
scarcely exceeded seven thousand. It was therefore
no great feat to crush them; and nothing else would
satisfy Pitt. To this end three campaigns were
planned: Amherst, with the main division, was to
march against Ticonderoga and Crown Point; Pir-
deaux was to take Niagara and Montreal, while Wolfe
was to capture Quebec. Each accomplished his pur-
pose. On the ocean the war lingered for three years
after Montreal had fallen, but the British were finally
victorious, and by the treaty of Paris, made the
10th of February 1763, half of the area of North
America changed hands. To Spain, with whom Eng-
land had also been at war, France surrendered that
portion of Louisiana lying west of the Mississippi,
while Spain ceded to England all her domain east of
that river. And thus it was made plain that decaying
media3val institutions should not stand before the en-
lightened and liberal progress of the New World.
' By the treaty of Paris, made the 3d of November
1783, by which the independence of the United
States was recognized, Florida was ceded by Great
Britain back to Spain, and all English territory south
of the great lakes and east of the Mississippi fell into
the hands of the American confederation.

The territory west of the Mississippi, called Lou-
isiana, was held by Spain until 1800, when Napoleon
caused a secret cession of that domain to be made
to France, and prepared to place an army at New
Orleans, which should there maintain his authority;
but the United States remonstrating, and affairs at
home thickening. Napoleon finally authorized the sale
of Louisiana. Mr Livingston and James Monroe were
appointed by the President to negotiate the purchase.
Terms were agreed upon by tl-e 30th of April 1803,
and for $11,250,000 together with the promise to
pay certain claims of American citizens due from
France, not to exceed $3,750,000— $15,000,000 in
all — Louisiana was added to the United States.

Hist. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. 26

^;t IM-.^

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408

NEW FRANCE AND THE rUR-TRADE.

In determining the boundaries of this purchase,
Spain and Great Britain were concerned no less than
the United States and France. The Mississippi River
from the thirty-first parallel to its source was the
eastern bound, and the gulf of Mexico to the north
of the Sfibine River the southern without question.
The thirtj'^-first parallel from the Mississippi to the
Appalachicola, and down that stream to the gulf, was
claimed by the United States, France, and England
as the south-east boundary. To this, however, Spain
dissented, asserting Iberville and lakes Maurepas and
Pontchartrain to be the true line between Louisi-
ana and w^est Florida. But she was finally overruled.
On the south-west the line ran along the Sabine
River to the thirty -first parallel ; thence due north to
Red River, and along that stream to the one hun-
dredth degree of longitude west from Greenwich;
thence north to the Arkansas, and up that river to
the mountains, following them to the forty-second
parallel of latitude. Thus far the western limits were
fixed after much disagreement; and when the United
States would continue the boundary line along the
forty-second parallel to the Pacific Ocean, Spain made
but slight objection, and finally in the treaty of 1819
gave her consent.

The northern limits of what should be United States
territory affected only that country and Great Britain,
and the line of partition was finally made the forty-
ninth parallel from the Lake of the Woods to the Pacific.
Thus by the most momentous event of Jefferson's
administration the possession of the great valley of
the Mississippi fell to the United States. Out of the
southern portion of the newly acquired domain was
formed the territory of Orleans, while the remainder
continued to be called the territory of Louisiana."

"'Between the years 1803 and 1819 there was some ground for contro-
versy, but Bince the latter date none whatever, except as to the northern
line.' Riilpath's (J. S., 379, note; m American State Papers see topics Treaty
qf Paris, 1763 ; JJeJinite Treaty between Great Britain and the U. S., 17S3;
Text of the Loui'<iana Cemion, 1S03; Boundary Convfntioiw between the U. S,
<nul Great Britain, 1818 and 1840; Treaty of Washington, 1819.

■WIP

i:'l

CESSIONS AND TREATIES.

401

By the treaty of Washington of the 22cl of Feb-
ruary 1819, east and west Florida were ceded by
Spain to the United States; in consideration for
which the latter power relinquished all claim to
Texas, and promised to pay her own citizens a sum
not to exceed five millions of dollars damaged done
them by Spanish vessels. The Sabine River at the
same time was made the eastern boundary of Mexico.

For many years in several particulars that portion
of the partition line between Canada and the United
States extending from the Atlantic to Lake Huron
had been in dispute. At the treaty of Ghent, in
1814, it was decided to refer the matter to tiiree com-
missioners, but it was not until the Webster- Ash-
burton treaty of the 9th of August 1842 that the
question was finally settled, that portion of the treaty
of October 1818 fixing the forty-ninth parallel from
the Lake of the Woods westward as the dividing line
being confirmed."

'*It appears, in their ignorance of western geography, statesmen of that
daj supposed the forty-ninth parallel crossed the Mississippi somewhere, and
it was to tliis point only, Bouchetto affirms, that partition should have been
carried. 'But it was afterwards found,' he says, liiil.Dom., i. 8-9, 'that such
a line would never strike the river, as its highest waters did not extend be-
yond lat. 47° 3G' north, whilst the jioint of tlie Lake of the Woods, whence
the lino was to depart, stood in lat. 49" 20' north, and therefore 104 geograplii-
cal miles fartlier north than the source of the Mississippi. The fourtli articlo
of the treaty of London in 1794 provided for the amicable adjustment of
this anomaly, but its intentions were never carried into effect; and the sub-
ject came under the consideration of Lord Holland and the late Lord Auck-
land, on one side, and Mr Monroe and Mr Pickering on the other, during the
negotiations of 1806. The British negotiators contended that the nearest
line from the I^ake of the Wootls to the Mississippi was the boundary, ac-
cording to the true intent of tlie treaty of 1783 ; the Americans insisted that
the line was to run due west, and, since it could never intersect the Missis-
sippi, that it must run due west across the whole continent.' As I shall have
occasion to discuss this matter at length in another place, I will let it rest
for the present.

til

U v;

CHAPTER XIII.

FOftEST LIFE AND FURHUNTINO.

Northern and Wej ■t:rn Fxtr Territory — Physical Featcbb^— Fai itats

OF FUR-BEARINQ AXIMALS — VOYAOE0RS— CoDREURS Di S BoU- -AnOLO-

American Trapper — His Characteristics Compared vh' i Those of
THE French Canadian — Boating — Brigades — Running Rapids —
Travel — Dbess — Food — Caching.

Picture in your mind a sweep of country three
thousand by two thousand miles in extent, stretching
from ocean to ocean across the continent's broadest
part, from Labrador to Alaska, and on the Pacific
from the Arctic Ocean to the river Umpqua; picture
this expanse bright with lakes and linking streams,
basined by intersecting ridges between which are
spread open plains and feathei lOi ' warm valleys
and frozen hills, fertile v t-' , marshes, dry scraggy
undulations, and tbirf- ^rts in qiv'ok succession;

picture it a primeval ^ iness thick, inhabited by
'.vild beasts and thinly pc ;)lecl y wild men, but w^th
civilization's latest invention rought to their border
and kept for their present curse and final extin'^tion
in small palisaded squares fifty or three hundred aiiles
apart by white men who ever and forever urged the
wild man against the wild beast for the benefit of the
mighty and the cunning — imagine such a scene, and
you have before you the domain and doings f the
Honorable Hudson's Bay Company as it was fifty
years ago.

For cler.rer conception, place yourself upon the
continental apex near the great National Park and
between the springs of the Columbia, the Colorado,

(Mi)

I '!

THE CONTINENTAL APEX.

405

the Atliabasca, tho Saskatchowan, and the Missouri
rivors. Tho waters of tlie lirst flow westward, tlioso
of the second southward, of the third nortliward, of
tho fourth north-eastward, and of tho fifth south-east-
ward. From where you stand, tlie continent slopes
in every direction. Britisli America slopes northward
from the United States border to the Frozen Ocean ;
the United States slopes southward from the British
American border to tho Californian and Mexican
gulfs; from the groat Rocky Mountain water- shed
tho continent slopes eastward to tho Atlantic and
westward to the Pacific.

By four main mountain systems and a latitudinal
divide of low table-land are formed tho four hydro-
graphical basins of North America, whence into tho
northern, western, and eastern oceans and tho southern
gulfs is discharged one third of all the fresh water
that stands or Hows. Those four ranijes, which cut
the continent into longitudinal strips, are all [)arallol
to the ocean shore line, to which they lie nearest.
Between the Appalachian system of tho east and the
Rocky Mountains of tho west is tho central plain of
tho continent, which sweeps from the gulf of Moxico
through the valley of the Mississippi round by the
St Lawrence to Nelson River. Beyond the -AOth
parallel divide, wnich, as from the east it approaches
the R( "}.y Mountains, is at once a physical as well as

f)olitica'. partition lino, and on to tho Frozen Ocean
ios £t broken level of transfixed billows seemingly
limitless, and in its cold winter dress as silent as a
petrified sea. Westward of the Stony Mountains, and
until the Cascade and Snowy ranges are reached, is a
sandy basin, desert toward the south but at tho north
fertile. Last of all, crossing the Cascade -Nevada ridge
we come upon tho warm garden-valleys of tho Pacific,
the Willamette of Oregon, and the Sacramento and
San Joaquin of California, protected on their west by
the Coast Range. Of lesser altitude than either the
Snowy or tho Rocky ranges, the Coast Mountains for

.' •

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4uo

FOREST LIFE AND FUR-HUNTING.

the most part rise from the very verge of the ocean;
and though broken in placcb, and sometimes separated
from the sea by a low level surface twenty-five or lift}/
miles in width, they form a continuous chain from the
Californian Gulf to Bering Strait. At San Fran-
cisco Bay they open to the Californian valley drain-
age, on the Oregon coast to that of the Columbia;
on reaching the 48th parallel the range breaks in an
archipelago, twelve hundred islands here guarding the
shore for seven hundred miles, and then strikes the
mainland again at mounts Fairweather and Elias.
South of California all the ranges of western North
America combine in a series of more or less elevated
mountains and plateaux. The Chepewyan Mountains,
by which name the northern extremity of the Rocky
Mountains is known, form the water- shed between the
Mackenzie and the Yukon. On the east side of the
main continental ridge are lesser parallel ridges which
subside into plain as the rivers are reached; on the
western side mountain and plain are more distinctly
marked. In Oregon there are the Blue Mountains;
as a divide between Oregon and California we have
the Siskiyou Mountains, where the Coast, Cascade,
and Nevada ranges meet, with snow-capped Mount
Shasta as their sentinel; in Alaslca there is the
Ajaskan chain, extending f; om the Alaskan peninsula
beyond the Yukon Biver. The interior of British
Columbia is a mountainous plateau.

British y^merica was the fur-hunter's paradise. Cold
enough to require of nature thick coverings for her
animal creations; fertile enough to furnish food for
those animals; rugged enough in soil and climate to
require of native man constant displays of energy;
sterile and forbidding enougb. to keep out settlers so
long as better land might be had nearer civilization,
t offered precisely the field, of all the world, a fur
irporation might choose for a century or two of
exclusive dominion.

Starting from the rugged shores of Labrador, we

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

I8r

leave without regret its bleak interior table-land, cov-
ered with stunted poplar, spruce, bircli, willow, and
aspen, and strewn with casibon-moss-covered bowlders,
and pass round through Canada, with its irregular
plateaux, its wet wooded terraces and alluvial plains
covered with hard-wood forests, when we enter Rupert
Land and Canada's north-west territories.

Prominent here is frozen stillness, if it be winter,
or if summer general wetness, with substrata of ice.
Inland seas, lakes, and watercourses stand conspicu-
ous. Not to mention the bays, sounds, and channels
which communicate by straits directly with the ocean,
here is a chain of lakes beginning with Superior, the
largest body of fresh water on the globe, and stretch-
ing due north-west; Winnipeg, with Wlnnipegoos and
Manitoba beside it, Deer, Wollaston, Athabasca, Great
Slave, Great Bear, and scores of lesser sheets. By
reason of these aqueous concatenations, this linking
of lakes and rivers, one can travel from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, from the gulf of Mexico to the Arctic
Ocean, almost wholly by water.

Thr>jughout much of this domain the climate is
dreary, the country treeless, and game scarce. The
winters are extremely cold, the sunnners short, with
plentiful rainfalls along the eastern border, whose
wealth is in its fisheries rather than in its furs. The
richest of all that region, agriculturally, is ihe fertile
belt extending from lied River to the Saskatcliewan
and the Rocky Mountains, at the threshold of wliicli
on the cast lies the Laurentian wilderness. North of
(50° vegetation almost wholly ceascii; and yc^t God's
creatures are nowhere more jjoisteror.s in their frolics
than here. •

Notwithstanding so much general moisture, there
are wide tracts sterile from (hyncss. Between the
Qu'A})pelle and the Saskatchewan, west of the lOOth
meridian, is a long lonely waste of treeless j)lain, rolHng
midst tliicket-fringed hills, while north of the chain
of lakes spreads an inunensity of aritl surface feebly

Pli^ I kj

^■f.ii

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::!:i

40S

FOREST LIFE AND FUR-HXJNTINa.

supporting a stunted vegetation, often declining into
deseit absolute. West of this we find desert, prairie,
and forest; Peace River flows through much rugged
country, between high banks rehevcd in places by
woodai terraces, but once upon the higher level the
indentations disappear, leaving the eye to meet copses
and prairies in endless perspective.

Although spring is tardy after the long cold winter,
yet flowei-s are quick enough to bloom and grass to
grow wlien once the snow melts, and summer with its
ripening sun and pure elastic air seems suddenly to
drop upon the land, and finally to overspread the sur-
face with a waiTU transparent haze, as if in tenderness
to veil the land from such unaccustomed joy.

In autumn nature assumes her most gorgeous
drapery. Even the shivering shrubs that nestle in
some hollow or nervously cling to the base of hills
show color when the frost strikes them, while the
luxuriant forests revel in rainbow hues. A fortnight
later, and the gold and amber-leaved beech, the red
and 3-ellow leaved maple, and the copper-leaved oak,
are stripped of their gaudy drapery and stand naked
upon an endless sheet of snow. Then breathes upon
them the moist breath of nature, and lo! every twig
is jewelled, encased in ice which glitters in the sun
like a forest of glass.

Pass over the mountains into British Columbia,
and on the rough, hilly plateau are found water, and
woixl, and plain, though there is no lack of wild,
rolling mountains, bare and by no means prepossess-
ing. Rivere here j)low their deep furrows through
the uneven surface, and leap down the sides of the
plateau. There are, first the Fraser, then Thompson
Kiver, and Stuart, Babine, Quesnelle, Okanagan, antl
Chilcotin lakes and rivers. Almost all the tributaries
of the great rivers here have a freak of becoming in-
flated by a sense of their importance, and so widening
in places into lakes. The rivers and lakes of the
western slope are less in number and extent than

^^IBiF

SURFACE AND CLIMATE.

40ft

those of the eastern. With the Mackeniiie, Peace
River, the Athabasca, Saskatchewan, St Lawrence,
Mississippi, Missouri, Yellowstone, Platte, Arkansas,
and Rio del Norte, we have the Colorado, the Sacra-
mento, the Columbia, and the Yukon.

The upper regions are rainy, and the lower lands,
where fertile, are densely wooded in the deepest
green. There is, however, in the interior much undu-
lating lightly wooded land, as well as open prairie of
greater or less adaptation to pastoral and agricultural
purposes. As a rule the valleys are fertile, and the
liill-sides are wooded, while the plateaux are barren.
A largo level tract between Thompson and Eraser
rivers is wooded. There are places in these high-
lands of awful, unspeakable grandeur; towering cliffs,
yawning chasms; places where granite walls tower a
thousand feet and more above foaming water-falls,
which dash down cliffs and thunder through ravines,
drowning the wild beasts' roar, and flinging rainbows
through the descending spray upon the sky. Into
the clear liquid blue, for example, of Stuart Lake,
where the salmon after his wonderful journey from
the Pacific rests as a stranger, forest-clad promon-
tories stretch themselves, while from its western and
northern shores tall mountains rise. Near the highest
land that separates the Arctic from the Pacific is
Macleod Lake, whence to the Coast Range extends
an uneven plateau, south of which are seas of gi-ass
with shores of forest.

Excepting north-western Alaska, the Pacific slope is
warmer, and toward the south drier than cori'espond-
ing latitudes on the Atlantic; and yet in places it is
cold enough. The coast of British Columbia is broken
into islands and inlets which afford multitudes of ex-
cellent harbors. A'^ancouvcr Island is rock}^ moun-
tainous, and wooded. Climate here is modified by
the ocean. The site of Victoi'ia is one of the most
j)icturesquo in the world. The whole Northwest
Coast near the sea is warm and wet, rain falling abun-

? i

410

FORI^ST LIl-E AND FUR-HUNTINa.

' Im

clantly during all the months of the year. The southern
shore of Alaska presents a remarkable contrast in this
respect to northern Labrador and southern Greenland,
being for so high a latitude exceedingly mild, owing to
the warm currents sent northward from the Japan Sea.
East of the Cascade Range the climate is more like
that of California, being dry in summer and rainy
during winter. In the interior it is warmer in summer
and colder in winter than on the coast.

Descending southward through the transparent
waters of Admiralty Inlet and Puget Sound, whose
gravelly shores are feathered by dense forests ex-
tending far back in opaque wilderness, we come to
the Columbia, flowing from afar silently, majestically,
though here and there falling in cataracts or rushing
boisterously through narrow mountain gorges, the
fertile fields of Oregon often drenched in moisture,
then to the drier valleys of California; and finally
turning to the eastward we encounter the arid sands
of Arizona. East of the Cascade -Nevada range we
find the same meteorological gradations. Between
the Blue Mountains and the Cascade Range in the
northern part there is much level country wh*ose
woodless surface of yellow sand and clay when cov-
ered with bunch-grass and shrubs was deemed worth-
less, but since converted into fields of waving grain.
Proceeding southward, the Great Basin is entered,
and the sandy sagebrush country of Nevada and
Utah. East of the Blue Mountains are bare rocky
chains interlaced w^ith deep gorges, through which
flows and foams the melted snow from the surround-
ing summits. Though there are on the Pacific slope
hundreds of lakes so pellucid as to bring apparently
within arm's length pebbles ten or twenty feet distant,,
yet there are some unattractive sheets, thick and
murky with saline substances, and having no visible
outlet, the greatest of which is Great Salt Lake of
Utah.

Eastern Washington is elevated and irregular, the

"«^ lll^jL.:-

HABITATS OF ANIMALS.

western part only being densely wooded. Idaho and
Montana consist of rolling table-lands, with many de-
pressed valleys. Intersecting ranges of mountains
I'ear their summits in places into the region of per-
petual snow. The climate of the lower lands is mild.
Forests of pine, fir, and cedar are interspersetl with
grassy plains. The Wahsatch Mountains divide Utah,
the western part with Nevada belonging to the Great
Basin with no outlet for their waters, while the
eastern part is drained by the Colorado. All this
region is arid, with sluggish streams, brackish lakes,
and sandy plains, interspersed with small short ridges
of mountains.

The term prairie is applied to a variety of open
level surfaces. There are the alluvial prairies of
the Mississippi Valley, the sandy prairies of the
Qu'Appelle and Assiniboine, with their saline ponds
half hidden by willow and aspen. Likewise parts of
the hnv fertile belt of the Red River we might call
prairie. The word plains is also applied to innu-
merable localities; but what emigrants to Oregon and
California understood as the Plains was the ccuniry
they were obliged to cross with so much tedious labor
which stretches westward from the Missouri along the
Platte, and far to the north and to the south of it.

Animals of various kinds, and fish and fowl, were
originally distributed in prodigal profusion through-
out this region, though, as we have seen, there were
sterile places in which game was scarce.

Almost everywhere beaver were plentiful; the
sharp-toothed otter, on which no other beast but
man preys, likewise had a wide range, having been
seen in Mexico and Central America; and on all the
plains east of the Rocky Mountains were builaloos:
and indeed the buffalo once found its way westward
as far as the plains of the upper Columbia, but its
residence there was of short duration. Moose flour-
ished about the Athabasca and Peace River country.

IV: VU,

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412,

FOREST LIFE AXD FUR-HUNTING,

In Arctic quarters were reindeer, herds of ten thou-
sand being sometimes driven from thickets to the
shore of the ocean; also musk-oxen, white foxes, and
polar bears; brown, grizzly, and cinnamon bears were
their neighbors on the south and dominated the forests
as far as Mexico. So numerous here during summer
were geese, swans, ducks, pelicans, bustard, cranes, and
cormorants as to cloud the sky, and so noisy as to
fling round the listener a curtain of sound. The
ermine was a northern animal, while the habitat of
the American sable or marten was a little south, say
between latitude 65° and 37°; yet its presence on the
Arctic shores has been attested. Mention may be
made of the walrus on Arctic shores, and seals, sea-
unicorns, and black and white whales. Geese and ducks
were everywhere from the Mexican gulf to the Arctic
Ocean, and swans were plentiful in places. Wolves
were numerous at the north, and coyotes south. In
the northern forests were also the raccoon, badger,
and musk-rat; the gray fox fancied the prairie.

Between the northern and southern extremes the
elk ranged; likewise the black-tailed deer. The red
deer or white-tailed deer enjoyed a wider range, cov-
ering in fact almost the entire continent. The ante-
lope belonged specially to the great plains. The
mountain sheep and goats found their homes among
the rocky crags of the continental range. Lewis and
Clarke saw mountain sheep at the Cascades. The
grizzly bear, the largest of American carnivora, lived
in the mountains, though descending every autumn
to the plains for grapes and berries. The California
lion is little more than a hufje cat, but with senses
exceedingly acute ; the panther is his smaller brother.
The wolverene spread over the whole of northern
North America, extending as far south as latitude 39°,
or perhaps farther. The great interior valley between
Hudson J3av and the tjulf of Mexico was the habitat
of the American badger; south-west of this limit was
the Mexican badger. The special domain of the sea-

^^mm

\-'

DRESSING SKIKS.

413

otter was the Northwest Coast, whose shores and
inlands it covered from Alaska to Lower California.
Fish of all sorts abounded in the lakes and rivers,
the piscatorial feature of the Pacific slope being its
salmon. Over the plains northward and westward
from the gulf of Mexico innumerable bands of cattle
and horses ran wild. Most marketable furs are pro-
cured north of the fortieth parallel.^

It was the policy of the fur companies not to ex-
haust any part of the country; hence when it is
found that animals are on the decrease, the district is
abandoned for a time. There were places where
beaver were trapped but one season in five. The
beaver was usually taken by means of a smooth-jawed
steel-trap, fastened to a stake driven in the pond near
the dam. Most fur-bearing animals were captured by
a steel-trap, poisoning and shooting being objection-
able on account of injury to the skin. There was the
clumsy dead-fall contrivance, among others, which
the steel spring trap superseded.

When stripped, the skin was stretched until dry,
after which it was folded, with the fur inward. Ten
or twenty made a bundle, which when tightly pressed
and corded was ready for transportation. The eighty-
four or ninety-pound packs of the British American
companies were uniform in size and shape, and were
pressed by wedges or screws into the smallest compass
and bound with thongs, the smaller and finer skins,
such as the marten, musk-rat, and otter, of which
there are often four or five hundred in a bale, being
put in&ide and inclosed by the coarser kinds, deer,
wolf, buffalo, and bear.

Hunters commonly used the brains of the animal
for dressing the skin. After the flesh and grain were

^Parliament Papers, lied Hirer Settlement, 142; Dobba' Hudson's Bay, 25j
39, 43 ; Ketvhouse's Trapper's Gtiiile, 215 ; Jiichardson's Polar Jieyions, 274-84 ;
Ballantyue's l/udxon Bay, 60, CO ; tsvenes in the Rocly Mountains, 288 ; WilLes'
Nar., in U. S. Ex. Exped., v. 144; Farnhnm's Trnxls, 4.1G; Morijnn's Ain,
/?ca;r)-, 218-47; Hearne's Journey, 2-2f\; BunieU's Hecollcdiovx,'^\>^.,\. 118-20;
Victor's nirrrrf West, C4-[); Lririxnnl ('I -r/ys Journey, 'Ml ; aud man}' other
works belonging to hunting iind natural history.

H fl

414

FOREST LIFE .\ND FUR-HUNTING.

removed from the pelt it was soaked in a decoction
of brains and water, and rubbed with the hands as
it dried.

Between 1812 and 1841 the southern fur districts of
the Pacific States, that is to say the California coun-
try lying between Oregon and Mexico, aside from in-
dividual trappers and private trading companies, was
occupied by the Russians. Likewise at the extreme
north-west, from Simpson River to Bering Strait,
the Russians held sway; while from 1821 to 1841,
between these two distant points the intermediate
region as well as the interior back of Alaska was
dominated solely by the Hudson's Bay Company.

The company then numbered among its servants
many French Canadians, as well as Scotch, English,
and Irish, though at first Orkney men were chiefly
employed as boatmen, hunters, and laborers. I will
now endeavor to give the reader more complete
knowledge of the origin and character of that singular
class, the Canadian boatmen and fur-hunters, and then
proceed to institute some comparisons between them
and the Anglo-American wood-ranger.

Out of the desire of Montreal merchants for the
distant savage's stock of peltries arose a class sni
generis. There is no being like the Canadian voya-
geur — or, if he be on land, the coureur des hois —
except himself He cannot be called a cross between
French and Indian, though that would be the nearest
approach to race measurement that we could make.
His Gallic original he certainly retains, volatile enough
at first, but when sublimated by sylvan freedom from
restraint he is a new creation. It was his nature,
different from that of other men, that made him thus;
for of none but a Frenchman, not matter what were
the engendering circumstances, could a voyageur be
made, any more than another metal beside potassium
thrown upon water would float and burn.

mm-

COUREURS DES BOIS.

Originally the wild animals of America were hunted
only for food and clothing sufficient to supply tlio
moderate requirements of so thinly peopled a region.
But with the advent of the all-devouring white men
eastern forests were soon made tenantless, and the
trader was obliged gradually to press west and north.

In a surprisingly short time the French Canadian
would become half savage, and so attached to his wild
life and associates that civilization with its stifling con-
ventionalities and oppressive comforts became forever
after distasteful. To the fur-trade the coureurs des
bois were as the miners in gold -producing districts.
It was they who risked the danger and performed the
labor, while the prudent politic trader reaped the har-
vest. The coureurs des bois were forest pedlers rather
than hunters; they seldom engaged in trapping, but
confined themselves principally to trafficking with the
natives; they were a go-between, assisting both the
hunter and the merchant. To the early French trader
they were a forest factotum, but with British domi-
nation their calling declined, and they became simply
voyageurs, or boatmen. They were the first in Canada
to link savagism to civilization, and in the conscience-
less race that followed they were dragged to death
with the sylvan society they loved.

Like the orthodox miner, they were always penni-
less. Success had little to do with permanent pros-
perity. Obtaining from the merchant credit for such
articles as they required, knives, hatchets, guns, am-
munition, tobacco, calico, blankets, beads, and other
trinkets, they set out from the trading-post singly or
in companies of two, three, or four, in canoes usually
of birch bark, which they could easily carry round the
many rapids they encountered, or even for some dis-
tance across the country. Sometimes they joined their
stock and labors in an adventure of six »r twelve
months, and penetrating the more distant parts they
either followed the natives in their hunting excursions,
or meeting them on their return relieved them of their

\ I

i 'i

i't 1

410

FOREST LIFE AND FUR-HUNTINO.

precious burdens in exchange for such trifles as capti-
vated the red man's childish eye.

Returning with rich cargoes, not unfrequently at-
tended by a concourse of savage huntsmen with their
wives and children, they were greeted with smiles
among general rejoicings. Settling their account with
the merchant, thus insuring fresh credit, thoy gave
themselves up to pleasure, and quickly squandered all
their gains. A few short days and nights sufficed to
place their finances exactly where they were a year or
ten years before — that is, at zero; and it is a question
in which they most delighted, the free licentiousness
of the forest or the drunkenness and debauchery of
civilization.

Because the Frenchman was so unlike the Indian,
so much more unlike him than was the Englishman,
in the closer relationships he was less unendurable
to the American aboriginal than any other foreigner.
Like the Spaniard, the Indian was pompous, proud,
superstitious, treacherous, and cruel; like the English-
man, he was cold, dignified, egotistical, crafty, and co-
ercive. Now the Frenchman may have a purpose, but
he never forgets that he is a Frenchman. Without
the slightest hesitation he braves danger and embraces
fatigue; without being one whit less courageous than
the Spaniard or Englishman, possibly he may not be
so enduring. In this respect he is not unlike the
Indian ; without a murmur he accepts suffering as his
fate, bearing up under it with the utmost good-humor;
but the apex of patience passed and he at once suc-
cumbs. There is no wailing over his fate; overcome
by labor and misfortune, or lost or starved in the
forest, he lays himself down to death with the same
nonchalance with which he bore life's heavy burdens.

But it was his French suavity of manner, his mer-
curial light-heartedness and soft winsome ways that
captivated the stern, staid North American, and made

the savage love to have him near him.

The English-

THE FREXCHMAN.

'Dw

man was a being ti) be respected and feared, the
Frenchman to be embraced and loved j hence, when
from Montreal, soon after Cartier had found that
place, the sons of sweet Franco, with hearts as light
and buoyant as their little boats, paddled their way
far up streams new to European eyes, and with the
fearless playfulness of kittens spread their brilliant
trinkets before eyes glittering with admiration, and
coaxed and cajoled these dismal denizens of the forest,
quickly falling into their ways, quickly perceiving all
their weaknesses, quickly throwing off whatever re-
maining shreds of civilization might yet be hanging to
themselves, and becoming as filthy and as free as the
lordliest savage there, eating, drinking, and smoking
with the men, laughing, chatting, n id marrying with
the women, filling the air with fra;Lfrant good cheer
and merriment wherever they went — no wonder
these hard-featured, hard-hearted, beastly, and bloody
grown-up babes of the wood welcomed such compan-
ionship, and rejoiced in the coming of a French trader
as in the arrival of a prismal ray from a new orb.

And so, coming and going between town and en-
campment, boating streams and lakes, and tramping
forests and prairies, working, playing, buying, selling,
laughing, singing, praying, swearing, but always either
sweating for gain or revelling in a speedy riddance of
their hard earnings, they easily adapted to change
of circumstance and dress, change of heart, head, and
nature.

They easily affected the weaknesses of their forest
friends; adopted long hair, which if light and curled
delighted dusky maids; arrayed themselves in gim-
cracks, decorating their broad bonnets with eagle
feathers, and their leathern hunting-coats with bear
or horse-hair fringes; and if sufficiently renegade
and vagrant they did not disdain to render tlicir
features more expressive by vermilion, grease, and
ochre, to receive their boiled buffalo meat and lighted
pipe from the hand of an affectionate and admiring

Hmt. N. W. Coast, Vol. I.

t I

■■m

FOREST LIFE AND FUR-HtJNTINO.

native nymph, or even to assist in the national scalp-
takings.

Tlieir beautiful language greatly deteriorated when
brought into such familiar contact with the harsh
guttural of the American aboriginal. In disposition
and daily intercourse with each other they were
affectionate and obliging, addressing each other as
'cousin' and 'brother,' with constant interchange of
kind offices. Except when under engagement, at
which times they worked fast and faithfully, they
were as lazy as they were improvident. To their em-
ployers they were respectful and submissive. In all
his long and perilous joumeyings, Mackenzie mentions
but one act of wilful disobedience, and that was a
refusal to descend a fearful rapid in a crazy canoe, to
which any free agent in his senses would have objected.
And although a willing, competent, and faithful man,
for this single act he was stigmatized by his com-
mander and his comrades as poltroon and coward
throughout the remainder of the journey.

No less prominent in the character of the French
Canadian than his companionableness in aboriginal
quarters is his contentedness in lowly estates. He
seems to take to Scotch service as naturallyas to savage
domesticity. Although he loves to talk, and dance,
and sing, he does not disdain work, particularly if ad-
ministered spasmodically and in not too large doses.

This willingness always to remain the Scot/chman's
beast of burden may be traced likewise from his origin
and American environment. His mother country
and his ancestors were a mixture of feudalism and de-
mocracy, of popery and protestantism. The people
were nothing, the government everything. Priests
and princes divided between them the fruits of the
peasant's labor. So in the early settlement of the
St Lawrence feudal seigneurs brought their droits
d'aubaine and droits de moulinage, which made a
stockade the necessary beginning of every town.
There the old system was continued; seigneurs were

HALF-BREEDS.

410

bom of seigneurs, and serfs of serfs. Government was
not for the bourgeoisie; and the more haughtily the
Britisher carried himself, the more obedient became
the poor voyageur. The independent hfo which ho
lost with loss of country, the aboHtion of the license
system and general change of customs, I will not say
were not severely felt. It was a sad blow to the
French Canadian when from his unrestrained condi-
tion he was obliged to descend and take service with
his country's enemies; but being forced to it he yielded
gracefully.

Religion, I must say, laid its fetters lightly upon
the Gallic adventurer in the New World; for unlike
the Spanish zealot or the English ])uritan, the mer-
curial mind of the Frenchman, who at home was
something of a free -thinker, became emancipated
from traditional thraldom almost immediately upon
landing among the strange scenes of the western
wilderness; so that while on the St Lawrence, Jesuit,
Franciscan, and Calvinist fought for the promul-
gation of their own peculiar faith, the tough cou-
rours des bois, delighting in adventure, cared little for
either.

As the blood of the Frenchman mixed more and
more with that of the native American the occupation
of voyageur fell into the hands of half-breeds, in whom
was united to some small extent the intelligence of
civilization with the instinctive cunninor of savajjism.
From the former they mherit a social disposition,
from the latter gregarious habits. Their home in
winter is a fixed log-house, in summer a movable
wigwam. Their lazy efforts at agriculture are usually
crowned with ill success; though where the blood is
properly brewed with suitable sun and soil they have
produced fine farms.'

*See Silliman's Jotimal, January 1834, 311-29; Raynal, Hist. Phil., viii.
97-9; S'vipson^ft Life, 59-63; besides general history and travels; Robinson's
Oreat Fur Laud, 40-55; Will:es' Nnr., in U. S. Ex. Ex/ml., iv. 407, 418-19;
AtlnUic Monthly, ^smwaxy 1870; Do?nen<'ch'K Beneiis, i. '244-5; Irvl'uj's Bonne-
ville's Adc, 27-8, 32; Aiulcrnon'n Northu-tut Coast, MS., 23-5.

i («

FOREST LIFE AND FUR-HUXTIXG.

Although the Anglo-American wood -rangers be-
came demoralized enough in their intimacy witli the
natives, and although they were perhaps coarser, more
binital and bloody in their state of semi-savagisni than
the French, the trapper upon the United States fron-
tier never became so a part of the Indian with whom
lie associated as did the Canadian; and for the very
good reason that he could not.

Between the English colonists and the American
aboriginals there was ever a deadly antagonism, which
did not prevail in Canadian hunting-grounds, where
the fur-trade was regarded as of greater importance
than agricultural occupation. A fierce hatred of the
intruding race, as the progressive people of the United
States rapidly crowded their way westward, was re-
turned by the intruders with merciless contempt and
injustice.

Upon the broad shoulders of the usually tall, spare,
tough frame of the trapper whose birthplace may be
Kentucky, Missouri, New York, or Connecticut, a
big -boned frame, interknit with sinews of steel, it is
not uncommon to see a head holding at once the
sagacity of the savage and the instinct of the wild
beast, together with the stronger cunning of civiliza-
tion, the whole faced by features of almost child-
like openness and simplicity. Yet stir the inner pool
with any injury, and straightway that so lately guile-
less countenance will Ijlaze with hellish hate, while the
muscles move convulsively and hot blood courses
through swollen veins, and the eyes shoot forth forked
revenge. Being himself the righter of his wrongs,
he means to do the work of justice thoroughly. He
never forgets a kindness or an injury; and unless
maddened by drink or injustice, he is as harmless as
a sleeping serpent. As surely as the unlettered abo-
riginal race fades before predominant civilization, so
surely sinks the civilized man who ventures alone
upon the sea of savagisf i

If possible, the reck*'. ..£ extravagance of the fur-

THE PUR-HUNTER AND THE MINER.

421

hunter was more insane than that of the miner. Think
of a life of danger and privation in the distant wilder-
ness for (<ae, three, or five years, witli at least equal
chance of never returning; think of the toil attending
the slow accumulation of furs and of brinjrino' them to
market, then at last of arriving at a rendezvous, fort,
or town; think of the whole catch being every dollar
the poor fool is worth, except what he may carry on
ids back; think of the results of all this risk and labor
being squandered in three days, in two days; or of the
hunter after a single night's revelry going back to
the forest as poor as when he first went there, again
to gather and to squander. I say the fur-hunter is,
if possible, more insane in his dissipations than the
gold-hunter: for the former takes greater risks, and
is sure of never securing a fortune, which the latter
never forgets is within his range of possibilities.

Since the discovery of gold in fur-hunting districts
the two pursuits have often been united. In British
Columbia many mined during summer and trapped
in winter. Nor were partners and proprietors free
from this propensity to prodigality. Nowhere was
ever seen more lavish hospitality during the earlier
years of this century than in the homes of the Fro-
bishers, the McGillivrays, and the McTavishes of
Montreal, who vied with each other in luxurious osten-
tation and conviviality. When the fur king travelled,
he was, like the repres'.ntative Californian of 1850,
a marked man. More particularly the jeweller knt;vy
him.

Once having fallen within the subtle influence of
forest fascinations, few ever were content to return
to the stilling atmosphere of straitlaccd convention-
alisms. Of all the thousands who left loving hearts
and wended their way to the wilderness, not one in
ten was ever heard of by his friends again. Some

Eerished from hunger or fatigue; some were; stung
y venomous reptiles, or were torn in pieces by wild
beasts; some fell from cliffs and others were awallowcd

FOREST LIFE AND FUR-HUNTINO.

by treacherous waters; fever seized some and icy
■winter others; and finally there were those who were
tortured to death by savages, and those who were
shot irom behind by their comrades for the pack which
they carried, while some few died in their blankets in
peace. And yet, while the bones of the ninety a'od
nine lie bleaching in the wilderness, the one returning
with horse or boat packed high with rich peltries
alone is remembered. I am told by an old fur-trader,
wh<i has given me many facts of interest, riiat while
stationed at various post* he was obliged to L:-' g into
the field attnual recruits, : - k ' .ne new man

for every tir© mmk, out the ^' . 4X\6. tliict in

a term of t h > w years, du;. n two h:ndrod

might have be<$n employed, not more than forty w /uld
be known to be alive. The enticements of fur-Jiunting
were much the i*ame as those of gold-gathering. Both
were alluring in their risks no less than in their re-
wards. While holding their victim firmly witliin thfir
grasp, both encouraged him with the perpetual hope
of some day returning to home and friends, ev o Kim-
self not knowing that he would not if he could.

It is the fate of progressive humanity always V> be
wanting something; nor do I see that it matters much
whether it be empire, fame, or beaver-skins that urge
men forward. As we are constituted, something with-
in must prompt action, else were we already dead,
though fortune flit us for years t/) come. Here in
the wilderness we see comforts abandoned and life sys-
tematically risked for so poor a trifle that many would
not reach out their hand to obtain it. Witliout a mur-
mur we see hardships met before which hrave men
might quail without dishonor ; met and held i/j cheer-
ful embrace until violent death or premature old age
cuts short their career. As matters of course, long,
difiicult,and dangerous journeys are undertaken month
after month and year after year, in which patience and
endurance are equally tried. Long excursions are
sometimes made to far-off trading-grounds, involving

BOATMEN AND WOOD-R^VNGERS.

433

restless travel day and night in order to return before
snows enclose them to their destruction, and this only
to be caught for the winter in the wilderness without
shelter, and dependent for food wholly on the j^reca-
rious supply of wood or stream. Their daily hie
consisted of thrilling adventures and hair-breadth
escapes, perils and sufferings unheard of, yet which
when passed they deemed scarcely worth the men-
tioning.

There was a class on the United States frontier
called free trappers, who were their own masters in
everything, hunting only on their own account, cither
singly or in companies of two or four. They were
much courted by traders, who by retaining them near
at hand not only added to their strength and safety,
but to their profits, as with their liquor and sup[)lies
it was seldom difficult to secure all the furs a hunter
could gather, and keep him in debt beside.

In fur-hunting parlance the word voyage was ap-
plied to all terraqueous journeys, and voyagetws were
simply boatmen, that is to say, French Canadian boat-
men, though their duties wer(3 various, and as such
they retained their pcculiaritii;s until their calling
was extinguished by the spread of civilization. The
coureiirs des hois, or rangers of the woods, or bush-
rangers as they are sometimes called, were those
originally brought into yet closer contact with the
nastives, eating, sleeping, and hunting with them, and
so degenerating into savagism, only the more quickly
to disappear with their savage friends, while the boat-
men, as individual traffic became less profitable, took
service with the fur companies, and by pusliing farther
and farther into the wilderness, retained their indi-
viduality until their occupation was gone. The wood-
runner of Canada was about on a par with the trapper
of the United States, one who hunted either for
himself or for an expedition or company, while the
bctatman proper almost necessarily took servi^^e either

FOREST LIFE AND FUR-HUNTIXG.

93'

for a longer or shorter period, especially in later years,
with a fur-hunting company.

The French Canadians have been called the finest
boatmen in the world. This statement, perhaps, is
true if confined to white men. But there are many
tribes of Indians and islanders more expert with
their canoes — as for example the Vlaskans and the
Kanakas — than any European, however savagized by
forest life.

The orthodox fur-hunting canoe was birch bark,
sewed with spruce-root fibre, and the seams made
tight with resin. They were from thirty to forty feet
long, five or six wide, light and graceful, gaudily
painted, and capable of carrying three passengers,
with a crew of eight ; and though readily floating four
tons of freight, might be easily borne on the shoul-
ders of two men. But the birch canoe was not the
one usually employed in the Oregon waters. Here
prevailed the bateau, thirty-two feet long and six
and a half feet amidships, made of quarter-inch pine
boards, both ends sharp, without keel, and propelled
either with oars or paddles. Larger and smaller boats
than these were made ; also canoes consisting of a single
log dug out. A boat was made at Oka.nagan specially
for the trade and modelled after a whale-boat, only
larger. They were clinker-built, with all the timbers
flat, and so light as to be easily carried. In their
construction pine gum was used instead of pitch.

Discharged from an engagement, the voyageurs
were very much like sailors ashore. Some few carried
their earnings to their wives, but most of them lav-
ished their gains upon their sweethearts, bought for
themselves new finery, and ate, drank, and played
until nothing was left.

To make up a company of voyageurs for an cxp«»iii*
tion was like enrolling a crew of sailors for v oyagt*.
They were usually engaged for a certain -niie, and
received part of their pay in advance, as they w^re
proverbially penniless, and needed an outfit, beskiuft

INL.\ND NAVIGATION.

425

;

having old scores to pay. Then there must be a gen-
eral carouse with their friends before parting, at which
they drink, fight, frolic, and dance until it is time for
them to take their place in the boat.

It is a wild unfettered life, a buoyant, joyous, rev-
elling, rollicking life, full of beauty, with ever fresh
and recurring fascination. See them as they sit at
night eating, smoking, and chatting round the ruddy
camp-fire, with weary limbs and soiled clothes, after
a day of many portages, or perhaps after a wreck in a
rapid, or a beating storm, their dark luxuriant hair
falling in tangled masses round their bronzed faces,
and their uncouth figures casting weird shadows on
the background foliage. See them as they i-isc from
their hard though welcome bed, at the first faint
streak of dawn on a frosty morning, to the guide's
harsh leathern -voiced call of "Level Ibve!" joking
good -humor gradually arising out of the wheezes,
sneezes, grunts, and grumbles of their somnolence.
See them now, merry and musical as larks, throwing
themselves with their luggage into the boats, and
shoving from the bank out upon the placid, polished
water, striking up their morning song to the soft, low
rhythmic dip of their paddles, which rise and fall in
unison as if moved by one hand. The deepening
Hush upon the sky, as from some huge beacon-fire,
hidden beyond the distant hills, marks the approach
of all-awakening day; or if through the trees the sun
is first seen flooding the landscape with a crackling
lijjfht and setting ablaze the ice-covered foliafje, it
were enough to turn cold petrifaction into responsive
being.

Landing about nine o'clock, breakfast is hastily
cooked and eaten; then comes the long, strong, heavy
pull of the day if it be up the stream, or the frequent
death-dodging descent of rapids if it be downward;
a fivc-rninute pipe of tobacco every two hours, drams
at atated intervals, usually three or four a day if

496

FOREST LIFE AND FUIMIUNTING.

liquor be plentiful, and luncheon in the boat at noon;
and thus the usual routine wears time away.

One other picture, and only one, may fittingly be
hung beside that of hyperborean morning, and that
is summer's golden sunset. Paint Jehovah, joy, and
life with a handful of clay! Faintly, ah! how faintly
to yearning consciousness nature's surpassing radiance
is felt ; but no tongue of man may name it. Never-
theless these poor ignorant French boatmen felt it,
were thoroughly in sympathy Avith it, wore indeed a
part of it; and from their lips broke spontaneous song,
half prayer, half praise, which brought them nearer
heaven than might have done ',ny cathedral choir.
The play of beauty which the sun flings back in its
diurnal departure is best reflected where the planet
has been least mutilated by man. Nothing can be
more impressive than nature's silent voice felt in the
fragrant air, breathed over the placid lake by the
gently waving forest, all glowing in glimmering twi-
light.

But it was when reaching? the end of a long and
perilous journey that the voyageur merged into his
gayest mood. It was then the elaborate toilet was
made : men and boats decorated, with ribbons, tassels,
and gaudy feathers streaming from gaiters and cap; it
was then, in their most brilliant bunting, the chanson d
Vaviron was struck and the plaintive paddling melody,
vrhich the distant listener might almost fancy to be
the very voice of mountain, wood, and stream united,
swelled on nearer approach into a iiymn of deep manly
exultation, imd with flourish of psiddle keeping time
to song and chorus they swept rotmd bend or point,
and landed with a wiioop and wild ualloo which caused
the timid deer or eagle poised on cloud-tipped moun-
tain to pause and listen, or which mignt almost bring
to life the tree-top buried nmmmy of their red-faced
friend. It was a most brilliant and inspiriting scene
to stand upon the bank and witness th*^ arrival of a
brigade of light canoes, dashing up with arrow swift-

THE FUR BRIGADE.

ness to the very edge of the little wharf before the
fort, then, like a Mexican with his mustang, coming
to a sudden stop, accomplished as if by miracle by
backing water sinmltancously, each with his utmost
strength, then rolling their paddles all together on
the gunwale, shake from their bright vermilion blades
a shower of spray, from which the rowers lightly
emerge as from a cloud.

At any of the forts along the route great was the
joy upon the arrival of the annual express which
brouijht letters from friends and intelligence from th^
outside world. The cry once raised, it rapidly passed
from mouth to mouth : "The express I" "The express I"
and before the boats had touched the bank a motley
crowd had gathered there; and if such a sight has
been frequent and exhilarating at all the posts during
the past century what shall we say of the numerous
fleets that enlivened the solitudes during the palmy
days of the Northwest Company? Between Montreal
and Fort William not less than ten brigades of twenty
canoes each used to pass and repass every summer,
carrying supplies to the country above ^ and bringing
down fuTfc, all their traffic then passing over this route.

Upon a stranger the effect of these passing brigades
was most thrilling; how then must it have been with
him who through tedious summers and long dreary
winters was for years buried in these western wilds?
buried until coming back to city bustle was like re-
turning to life, and who now found himself surrounded
by forty or sixty of these fantastically painted and
bright-paddled boats rushing through the water at
reindeer speed under a cloud of flying spray toward
their last landing, while in the breast of every tug-
ging oarsman there were twenty caged hozannas which,
rising faintly first, were poured in song upon the breeze
from five hundred trcnmlous tongues, until finally,
breaking all control, they would burst forth in one loud,
long peal of triumphant joy.

Sometimes a fur brigade was a fleet of boats, some-

428

FOREST LIFE ANT) FUR-HUNTINO.

times a train of horses, and sometimes a train of dog-
sledges. It was not uncommon in the mountains of
British Columbia to see two hundred horses, laden
each with two packages of furs, winding with the
narrow trail round cliffs and through passes on their
way from the bleak uplands to canoe navigation on
some river.

Probably there is nothing more extiting in a fur-
hunter's life, or in any life, unless it bo where one is
brought face to face with the probability of death in
the form of an attacking foe, man or beast, than the
running of rapidsj which in the watercourses of hyper-
borean America are a feature.

Rapids were run under two conditions, uninten-
tionally and intentionally. The explorer descending an
unknown stream might find himself suddenly in the
toils of waters. An ominous roar would first notify him
of danger from which retreat was impossible, the only
course being in directing the boat down the torrent. At
such times thought and action must be simultaneous ;
for the boatman, knowing nothing of the current or
what the next instant would bring forth, had only his
eye to guide him, and should his frail craft strike upon
a rock it was dashed in pieces. It is difficult to con-
ceive of a place where coolness and quickness were
more requisite, for besides the tumult in which he
found himself engaged, he knew not the moment when
he might come upon a perpendicular fall or other un-
known passage to inevitable destruction.

Such cases, however, were not common. There wag
excitement enough in shooting a rapid where knowl-
edge was united with skill and the venture was made
deliberately.

Rapids were run with full or half- loaded boats;
sometimes part of the men would step out to lighten
the boat; or cargo and men, all save the boatmen,
might be discharged, leaving the canoe empty.

As the rapid is approached the bowman and steers-

• nUNXIXG OF RAPIDS.

429

man rise erect and quickly exchange their oars for
short paddles; then propping their knees against the
gunwale, as much to steady the boat as themselves,
they hold their paddles in the water edgewise with
the canoe, while the middle-men put forth all their
strength upon their oars that it may be the better
guided.

Thus into the seething flood the frail bark down-
ward plunges. Now it rushes, as if to inevitable
destruction, tovrard a rock; but one strong simul-
taneous stroke of bowman and steersman, who always
act in concert, sheers it fore and aft to one side,
while onward- it goes midst the hisses of fierce cur-
rents, rising, falling, beating and beaten against,
wdiirled here by an eddy, thrown violently there
against a bowlder which makes its ribs crack, escap-
ing one danger only to find itself instantly upon an-
other, until finally with long-drawn breath it reaches
the quiet waters below, if indeed it be not wrecked
in the perilous passage.

It is interesting to mark the carriage respectively
of voyageur and Indian in such emergencies : one mer-
rily chants his boat song, the other is stern as silent
death. Yet as the Frenchman in many respects so
readily became Indian, so the Indian in some few
things beside drinking, smoking, swearing, and the
like, became French. In due time the savage boat-
man so far forgot his taciturnity as to take up the
custom of singing, which enabled him to paddle more
steadily and keep better time. It is etiquette now
among the natives of British Columbia for the steers-
man to load with the song, the crew joining only in
the chorus.

Between the canoemen there was quite a distinc-
tion. The foreman and steersman were those on
whose skill and nerve the safety of life and cargo
depended; hence their pay was often twice or thrice
as much as the middle -men, who merely propelled
the boat.

430

FOREST LIFE AND FUR-HUNTINO.

To make these merry boatmen, who in the face of
fatigue, hunger, or danger would strike into a Cana-
dian barcarolle as they lustily plied their paddles,
material was necessary different from that brought
from the Orkney Islands, which was well enough in
its way, to be sure, staid steady Scotchmen, but slow,
clumsy, without skill and without enthusiasm, and far
from tlieir border land of naturalness.

While boats, horses, and sometimes carts were em-
ployed in summer travel in many parts of British
North America, only snow-shoes or sledges drawn by
dogs could be used in winter, the streams being frozen
over. A dog's sled, to which three or four intelligent
brutes are hitched tandem, is usually about nine feet
long by sixteen inches in width. It consists of two
thin boards, of oak or birch, turned up in front and
lashed together with deer -thongs, sometimes with
sides, but often without. Sleds of double width are
made, before which dogs, usually six in number, are
harnessed two abreast. Four dogs will draw from
two to four hundred pounds twenty-five or thirty-five
miles a day.

Thus journeying as day departs and the crimson
light fro:n the western horizon flushes the cold white
solitude, the traveller looks about him for a resting-
place. Water and wood are usually the first con-
siderations in selecting a site; sometimes feed for
animals and protection from savages claim attention.
Quick work is made of it when each of the party has
his special duty and knows how to perform it. An
Indian woman will have her lord's tent ready while
yet his animals are scarcely unladen. Camping in the
forest in winter, while one is felling trees for the fire
another spreads branches for beds; others prepare
food, brought in by the hunters, attend to cargoes and
boats, or wagons and animals, as the case may be. A
fur-trader's tent or lodge on the United States frontier
consisted of eight, ten, or twelve poles, the lower ends of
which ^'ere pointed and placed in the ground so as to

DRESS AND FOOD.

4S1

describe a circle eight or ton foot in diainctor, the hhnit
tops being drawn together and fastened by thon<;s.
This frame was then covered by dressed buffalo-sknis
sewed together, but left open in one place for entrance.
Nothing was more cheering than a l)lazin'jc logcamp-liro
in the wilderness at night, and nothing more ])ietu-
rcsque than a band of hunters in their long hair and
fanciful costume flitting before the ruddy glow which
threw weird figures upon the surrounding I'oliage, or
reposing at full length after supper, smoking, lau^ihing,
chatting, and story-telling.

Of the French and Scotch fur-hunter the ordinary
dress was a striped or colored cotton shirt, open in
front, leathern, woollen, or corduroy trousers, and a
blue cloth or blanket capote, that is, an outside gar-
ment made from cloth or a blanket, having a hood, and
serving the double purpose of cloak and hat. This
was strapped closely to the body by a scarlet worsted
vest. Capotes were sometimes made of leather, lined
with flannel and edged with fur, which made them
very warm. The corduroy pantaloons were frequently
tied at the knee with bead gaiters. When the capoto
was not employed, head-dresses were as varied as they
were fantastic. Some wore coarse cloth caps; over
their long black glistening hair some wound a colored
handkerchief into a turban ; black beaver hats among
the more foppish, and bonnets with gold and silver
tinsel hat-cords were now and then seen, almost hid-
den, however, under feathers and tassels. Ornamental
moccasins covered the feet; round their swarthy necks
brilliant cotton handkerchiefs were tied sailor fashion,
and from their scarlet belt were suspended knife and
tobacco pouch. Leggings were frequently worn; and
when the cold was intense, two or three suits would
be put on at once. The voyageurs loved to decorate
any part of their dress with plumes and bunches of
divers colored ribbons with the ends gayly floating in
the breeze.

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WEBSTER. N.Y. USSO

(716) 872-4503

432

FOREST LIFE AND FUR-HUNTING.

Somewhat similar was the dress of the United
States trapper, though greatly modified. The blanket
coat, often without the hood, the moccasins, and the
deerskin pantaloons were there, though in place of
ribbons, feathers, and tassels leather frmges answered
every purpose. As an outside garment a shirtof leather
or flannel was worn belted round the waist. Kit
Carson dyed with bright vermilion the long fringes
<jtf his soft pliable deerskin hunting shirt and trousers,
not disdaining to ornament the latter with porcu-
pine quills of various colors. A rich fur cap covered
his head and embroidered moccasins his feet. On his
left shoulder he carried his gun, while under his right
arm hung his bullet-pouch and powder-horn. At
his belt were fastened sheath-knife, tomahawk, and
whetstone.

For food the fur-hunter took what he could get.
As a rule his chief dependence was his rifle. His diet
was principally meat, fresh or dried. Sometimes for
months or even years he saw neither bread, salt, nor
any vegetable. Meat alone, fish, flesh, or fowl, was all
his larder contained, and well contented was he always
to have it full, even of his sole sustenance. To a cap-
tive among the Indians hving only on meat, bread
becomes distasteful.

But usually each fort had its little garden-patch, and
in some instances even grain was raised. The rations
a voyageur received, however, were very difierent in
the several parts of the fur-hunting region. Thus in
New Caledonia there might be given him for his
day's food a dried salmon or eight rabbits; at Atha-
basca it would be eight pounds of moose meat; on
the Saskatchewan ten pounds of bufialo meat; at
English River three white fish, while in the far north
his fare would be half ^sh, half reindeer. Rations,
however, were by no means regular; when food was
plentiful, all fared sumptuously; when scarce, each
contented himself with his portion, whatever that

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PEMICAN.

might be. Every edible substance that came to
hand was utilized. Roots were sometimes dug and
berries dried. Greese and ducks were taken at Fort
York in great quantities in summer and salted for
winter use.

Complaints were frequent at the fur companies'
posts by the servants as to the quantity f^md quality
of their food. Wilkes testifies that the men's ra-
tions at Fort Vancouver were not what they should
be. When a little forethought and application were
sure to bring abundance there seems no excuse for a
lack of plain healthy food. Men receiving seventeen
pounds per annum, though board was included, could
not sometimes with their wajxes thrown in obtain food
and clothes enough to make them comfortable: and
the fur-hunters' ideas of comfort were by no means
extravagant. Much, however, was the fault of the
men themselves; for land was allotted them, and time
allowed in which to plant and gather; or if that were
too much to expect, wives were furnished them of
whom it was the fashion to make drudges.

In'preserved food the great staple is pemican — that
is, dried meat pounded. The flesh commonly used is
that of the buffalo, deer, elk, or antelope, and for long
keeping, as in Arctic voyages, it may be prepared
with fat, spices, and raisins. For it, as for many of
their forest conveniences and comforts, the fur-hunters
are indebted to the Indians.

Pemican is prepared by cutting the lean flesh into
thin slices, and partially cooking or curing them in the
sun, by exposure to frost, or by placing them on a
wooden grate over a slow tire. When dried they are
pounded between two stones or with other implements.
Often the sun-dried flesh-flakes are baled. But this
is simply dried meat; it must be broken into small
pieces before it is pemican. When thus pulverized
it is put into a bag made of the animal's hide, with
the hair outside; after being well mixed in about
equal proportions with the melted fat of the animal,

IIWT. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. 28

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434

FOREST LIFE AND FUR-HUNTING.

the bag is sewed up, when it cools and hardens, and
is ready for storage or transportation. In this state
it will keep for years, but should it be massed in large
quantities it is inclined to ferment in warm weather,
in which case it must be opened and aired.

It is usually eaten uncooked, and without salt or
other seasoning; when flour is at hand, some may ad-
vantageously be added, and the whole boiled in water,
in which state in Hudson Bay countries it is known
as robbiboo. Berries are sometimes added, when it
is called sweet pemican. It is a healthy, nutritious
food, and though not palatable at first, habit and
hunger soon reconcile the palate to its use. Pemican
is specially adapted to long journeys, being nutriment
in a greatly condensed form; a hundred-pound bag,
measuring three feet by ten inches, will comfortably
sustain four men a month. It is made in all the great
buffalo ranges, the chief dep6ts for its manufacture in
British America being the Red River and Saskatche-
wan districts.

Of incalculable benefit, not only to the poor Indian
but to his white extinguisher, has been the flesh of
the buffalo, whether in the form of fresh or dried
meat or pemican; indeed, without it long journeys
in certain directions and at certain seasons could not
be made. Dried buffalo meat, which is regarded as
plainer food than pemican, so crusty as to break to
pieces in one's fingers, with cold water has been the
principal fare of uncomplaining thousands for years.

In wilderness travel it often becomes necessary to
abandon articles which for some reason cannot be car-
ried, or to store them for use on returning. A boat may
be broken, animals or men may succumb under fatigue,
or provisions may be required in a certain place at a
future time. Contingencies thus arise in which it be-
comes necessary to secure property from molestation
by savages or wild beasts.

This IS done by hiding it either in the branches of

CACHING.

ot*

trees, or in hollow logs, but usually underground ; and
goods thus hidden are said to be cached, from cacJier,
to conceal.

The greatest skill and care are requisite to perform
this feat, so that the prying eyes of man or nose of
beast shall not discover the things hidden. The situ-
ation chosen should be as dry as possible; then form
a circle two feet in diameter, remove the surface
carefully and sink a hole perpendicularly eighteen or
twenty inches, after which widen it as you go down,
so as finally to have a subterranean pitcher-shaped
cavity six or eight feet deep, large at the bottom and
small at the top. The earth thus removed must be
carefully taken away and thrown into a stream, or
otherwise made to disappear. For a floor are laid
sticks, on which dried grass or skins arc spread, thus
gi.ing moisture an opportunity to settle at the bot-
tom, without destruction to the property. Sticks are
likewise placed against the sides to serve as protection
against the damp earth. The goods are then stowed
away, and over all a skin is laid ; the top of the hole
is filled with earth, which is covered with the original
sod or surface so as to present as natural and undis-
turbed an appearance as possible.

All tracks are carefully obliterated, and if in the
ibrest, the place is strewed with leaves and branches
as in its original state.

Note is taken of the direction ^nd distance from
any prominent object, so that upon description a
person not present at the caching can find the place.
Of course holes of larger or smaller dimensions are
made according to necessity.

In very cold latitudes meat is hidden and preserved
in a river by cutting a hole in the ice and suspending
it from a stick in a bag, and then pouring water over
the aperture until the surface is smooth ice again.
This method of concealment may have been taught
explorers by the natives, who practised it long before
white men set foot upon these shores, or even by their

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lOBBST LITE AND FUR-UUNTINO.

own dogs, whose instinct directs them to cache their
surplus food.'

*Thoee who desire fnller descriptions will find them in Fmlayaon't Hint.
Vaneourer /aland, MS., 9S; Complon'a Northwest CVxut, MS., 28; Rocky Moun^
tain Journal, 1805-6, MS., 1-39; ZHinn'a Or., 86,234; Towntend'a A'ar., 252;
Cox's Adv., 117; BaUantynt's Hudson Bay, 249; Victor's Riixr qf the West,
49-66, 67, 80, 82-3, 86, 87-8, 110-11, 142, 146; Wislixenus, Aus/lug, 6-9, 87-65,
92; Robinson's Great Pur Land, 27-40 et seq.; Harper's Mag., xii. 340-0;
Tod's New Caledonia, MS., 3 ; snd the several lort jounuds and correspondence
of traders and factors.

CHAPTER XIV.

I* k i

THB PUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.
1607-1843.

Bablt Enolish Disoovkrt— Henbt Hcdson— Orosseliez and RABiaSON,
Assisted by Prince Rupert, form the Hudson's Bay Company— The
Charter — Territorial Limits of the Company — The French In-
vade Rupert Land — The Planting of Forts round Hudson Bay —
Boundaries— The Treaty op Utrecht — Character and Policy of
THE Corporation — ^Territorial Divisions — Material of the Hud-
son's Bay Company — Inner Workings of the System — Stock —
Furs — Currency — Trade — Intercourse between Posts— Profits —
Parliamentary Sanction of the Crown Grant.

Great Britain was not the nation all this while to
look upon a lucrative traffic anywhere without having
a finger in it. Least of all in America, where spoil
was the just reward of the strongest, and v/hose ulti-
mate partition should mark the relative importance
of European powers, was glowing opportunity to be
neglected. Yet of the three great names forever
linked to the discovery of the far north-east two were
foreigners and the other a penniless sailor. Beside
the flag of England upon the coast of Labrador in
1496 Cabot planted the banner of the Venetian re-
public. The son Sebastian, unable to collect his pay
from Henry VII., whose previous parsimony had lost
him Columbus, took service under Ferdinand of Spain.
Little was done during the following eighty years.

Alphonse de Xaintoigne, who had accompanied
Roberval to Canada, followed Cabot's course, and John
Davis reached the entrance to Baffin Bay. Elizabeth
became somewhat excited over the spurious gold

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438

THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

brought back by Frobisher, and in 1 577-8 gave him
new fleets; but with the opening of the seventeenth
century English cupidity awoke, and while the colo-
nists were planting settlements under King James'
patents, the more northern regions were not neglected.

On behalf of a company of London merchants
Henry Hudson in 1607 sailed to the east coast of
Greenland in an attempt to discover a north-west
passage. The year following a similar attempt re-
sulted in failure. The enthusiasm of the London
merchants cooling, Hudson turned his steps toward
Holland, where a small yacht, called the Ilalf Moon,
was furnished him by the Dutch East India Com-
pany, in which in 1609 he sailed northward, but
baffled by icebergs he turned his prow west, touched
at Newfoundland, whence coasting southward he en-
tered New York harbor, and ascended the river which
bears his name.

After this success for the Dutch, almost before
Holland had independent national existence, the
London merchants were ready for another venture.
Sailing in the Discovery in 1610 Hudson followed
Frobisher's track, and passing through Hudson Strait
entered an inland sea virgin to European keels. This
was indeed a long sought highway to India. But as
he continued his course the astonished shores of
Hudson Bay held him in wintry embrace, and when
spring approached the patience of the crew was gone.
Breaking into mutiny, they seized their commander
and his son, and with seven faithful sailors cast them
off in an open shallop among the icebergs. This was
the last that was hear4 of them.

Exploration, English and French, by sea and land,
slowly followed. Captain James wintered at Hudson
or James Bay in 1632, and in 1656 Jean Bourbon
sailed to the farther end of the bay in a vessel of
thirty tons, trafficking with the natives. Little was
thought of this far north inland icy sea, with its low

OROSSELIEZ AND RUPERT LAND.

439

marshy shores; at this time it was scarcely deemed
worth fighting for. Though fur-bearing animals were
plentiful, there was no lack of them in less inhos-
pitable climes. Hence, when in 1G2G Louis XIII.
gave the Compagnie do la Nouvellc France a charter
of the district, little attention was paid to it.

Some time after, however, a Frenchman named
Grosseliez* visiting that region became deeply im-
pressed by its neglected wealth, and proposed to
his government to utilize it, but without success.
Title and ownership being questions of little moment,
Grosseliez addressed himself to the court of England,
whce in Prince Rupert he found a patron. A vessel
called the Nonsuchlcetch, Captain Zacliary Gillam,
was equipped, in which Grosseliez, with a roneo'ado
companion named Rabisson, sailed in 1GG8 for Hud-
son Bay, wintered on the east main near Rupert
River, and built there the first fort, calling it Fort
Charles.' Returning with the prestige of success, a
charter was obtained from Charles II. in favor of the
Governor and Company of Adventurers of England
trading into Hudson Bay, dated May 2, 1G70, with
Prince Rupert as first governor, assuring the dukes,
earls, lords, knights, and gentlemen composing it, and
their successors, of the sole trade to Hudson strait
and bay, with permanent proprietorship over all tho
countries, coasts, and confines of lands, seas, lakes,
and rivers not actually possessed by the subjects of
any other. Christian prince, with all the animals, fish,
and minerals therein contained, to be reckoned as one
of the British plantations or colonies in America,
under the name of Rupert Land. Over this territory
and the natives thereof the company was to exercise
forever supreme civil and criminal jurisdiction, with

• Kdowii also as Dcsgrozeliera, tho Huguenot. M. Gameau designates hiai
as a French refugee, and evidently is not favorably impressed with him, us
he complains bitterly of his treachery, as he calls it. See also Northwest
Comiiany'a 2iarralire of Occurrences, 10. Forster, Ilust. Foi/., 37(>-7, calls hiiu
De Orosscliers, or De Groselie, an enterprising burgher of Canada.

"The Fort Rupert of Huilson Bay stood 'near the mouth of the River
Nemiscau, in the bottom of the bay,' antl was built m 107.7.

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THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

power to pass laws, grant lands, and make war and
peace with any nations not christian. For exactly
two hundred years, or until 1870, when the territory
■was brought under the dominion of Canada, the com-
pany thus enjoyed, under the crown, all the rights
and powers of commercial sovereignty; in which gift
there was but one flaw, which was that the land given
did not belong to the giver.

It will be noticed that the territorial limits of
the company are here vaguely defined; and many
fierce disputes with the French nation and bloody
affrays with rival fur companies arose in consequence.
But before bounds could be of much importance, the
principles of ownership must be several times fought
out.

As the company planted posts at the entrance of
streams round the shores of the bay, the jealousy
of the French was newly aroused. By way of the
Saguenay River in 1671 an expedition was sent from
Quebec by Governor d'Avougour under St Simon
and La Couture. Of the region of desolation which
they found they took formal possession in the name
of the king of France, burying upon the shore a brass
plate graven with the royal armorials in token of
ownership.

Fearful of the power he had invoked in England,
Grosseliez returned to his old allegiance, craved par-
don of France, was forgiven, and his services were ac-
cepted, though too late to be of any benefit. In 1681
an association was formed in Canada, called the North-
ern Company, for the purpose of establishing trade at
Hudson Bay. With two vessels Grosseliez was sent
thither to drive out the English, whom he had pre-
viously introduced to those parts, and to demolish
their factories, which now numbered three, there being,
beside Fort Rupert, one at the Monsonis River and
one at the St Anne River.- Instead of fighting the
Enghsh, however, the French proceeded to the mouth
of the River St Th^r^se, and there built a fortress

FRENCH AND ENGUSH FIGHTINGS.

441

which they called Fort Bourbon. Roturiiin}^ to
Quebec, Grosselicz quarrelled with hia company and
proceeded to France for redress, wliich he Tailed to
obtain. In a rage ho sold Fort Bourbon, with its storo
of furs valued at four hundred thousand francs, through
the British ambassador at Paris, to the English, who
raised the establishment into a four-bastioned fort,
with a water-ditch ten feet in width, manned it well,
and stored it with munitions of war. The French
court complained of this runaway proceeding to the
English king, who promised that the fortress should bo
returned; but the king was unable to keep his word.
The Northern Company was finally merged into the
Company of Canada, which latter society, it will be
remembered, had been formed by M. Piccaud,to whom
the Oudiette peltry monopoly had been transferred
by M. Roddes.

For some time prior to the close of the century the
Anglo-Americans had been pursuing an aggressive
policy in New France; but the French now deter-
mined to wrest Hudson Bay and Newfoundland from
British domination; in pursuance of which plan M. do
Troyes, D'lberville, Ste Hel^ne, and Maricourt, with
a body of Canadian regulars, proceeded overland in
1685 to dispossess the English on Hudson Bay.

First invested was the four-bastioned fort of Mon-
sonis, mounting tourteen guns, which was carried by
assault. Fort Rupert was next dismantled, and a
British vessel at anchor in the bay captured, the
Hudson's Bay Company's governor being one of the
prisoners taken. St Anne, mounting forty-three can-
non, then capitulated. It was the largest and most
important factory at that time on the bay, having in
its store peltries valued at fifty thousand crowns.

Returning to Quebec in the autumn of 1687 with
the captured vessel laden with furs, D'lberville, on
whom the command now fell, renewed hostilities the
following year, and again cleared Hudson Bay of the
British. Rallying, the English were repulsed before

■A

442

THE PURTRADE ITNDER BRITISH AUSWCES.

St Anno in 1689, but capturing the fortress the fol-
lowing year, it was wrested from them by the French,
only again to fall into British liandp two years later.
In 1694 Fort Bourbon was reduced by D'Ibcrville,
whose brother, M. de ChAteauguay, was killed in tho
attack.'

Meanwhile the Hudson's Bay Company, nothing
daunted, continued to plant forts and rca»^ *'»• ir annutu
harvest of rich peltries; and notwithstandnig losses
of over one hundred thousand p^ .ads during these
affrays, they wero able to pay shareholders a dividend
of fifty per cent.

Yet the French were at their heels. After direct-
ing attention eastward for a time, during which oc-
curred tho reduction of Pemaquid in 1697, and a
successful attack on St John with a squadron of five
ships brought for him from France for the final re-
duction of Hudson Bay domination by M. de S^rigny,
D'lberville sailed to Fort Nelson, where he arrived
with one vessel, the Pelican, having parted company
with the others on the way. There he found three
British ships, the Hampshire, the Dehring, and the
Hudson's Bay: after destroying them all he took the
fort, the reduction of which placed him in possession
of the whole territory.*

Europe, having spent its strength in most interest-
ing ana necessary human slaughters, proposed for a
time general pacification, and a quadruple treaty was
signed at Ryswick, by the terms of which the French

"The French were in possession of Fort Bourbon, which we call now
York Fort, from the year 1697 to 1714.' Dobba' HudtorCs Hay, 18. During
this time M. Jeremie waa at first lieutenant and afterward governor there.

* French trappers cried down English goods, while on all occasions the
English depreciated French articles. Whde the French held Michilmacki.
nac the natives of Lake Winnipeg told Carver that if they could always be
sure of a supply of goods at that place they would not carry their furs to the
factories on Hudson Bay. At the same time they displayed some cloth of an
inferior quality, which they said they had purchased from the English, and
in which they were badly cheated. Raynal, Hist. Phil., viii. 39; Kohl's Hist.
Discov., ii. 82; RuaseWs Hist. Am., ii. 265; Carver's Travels, iii. Notwith-
Btandinff which, on the whole, English goods were suporic-r to the French.
The Indians became quick judges of the quality of goods, and few English
manufactured articles then, as now, were surpassed by any in the world.

TREATIES OF UTnEClIT, RYSWICK, AND PARIS. 143

wore to restore all they had taken from the Eiij:f]i,sii in
America. At the same time Iliulson Bay was I'ccojr-
nizcd as bolonginff to France. Five years of fiiia.si
peaco followecl. New excuses, however, were found
lor new butcheries. In 1704 '>verlan(l expeditions
"'•cm r'anada iiorthward jij^ain set in; Albany and
other for* were besieged with greater or less success,
and t rracr follies reenacted. Barlow was governor
al Albany at the time, and played the hero with con-
siderable success. Notified by an Indian of the ap-
proacu of the French, Barlow ke[)t the strictest oruard.
At night the enciny "ame and demanded admission.
Barlow, who was looking out for tlu ni, replied that
the governor was asleep, but if they woultl wait a
moment he would get the key and open the gate to
them. The French, thrown off their guard, crowded
round the entrance. Instead of opening the gate, how-
ever, Barlow opened two loop-holes and discharged
upon the expectant besiegers the contents of two six-
pounders, which killed more than half of them, in-
cluding their commander, a renegade Irishman. The
remainder then went their way. It was only with
the treaty of Utrecht, following the war of succes-
sion, that peace to the far-off disvaal borders of Hud-
son Bay was fully assured. In the treaty signed at
Utrecht the 30th of March 1713, French domination
in America was much abridged, while English terri-
tory was largely extended, France ceding to England
Newfoundland, the province of Acadia, or Nova
Scotia, and the Hudson Bay territ^ ry. It had been
admitted by the treaty of Ryswick, signed in Sep-
tember 1G97, that all the Hudson Bay territories
belonged to France; by the treaty of Utrecht it was
admitted that three fourths of the lands hitherto
claimed by the company belonged to France; it was
only by the treaty of Paris, in 17G3, that title to
all those territories was confirmed to Great Britain.

The treaty of Utrecht attempted to define the
limits of the lands then ceded in the north, but with

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THE FDE-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

ill success. Broadly speaking, the surfaces drained by
streams emptying into Hudson strait and bay were
given to England, while those drained by streams
flowing in opposite directions belonged to France.
This line, beginning at some point on the north-
eastern coast of Labrador, is easily enough carried
south-westerly round the sources of Rupert, Abbit-
tibbe, Moose, and Albany rivers; but when the re-
gion of Lake Winnipeg is reached, difficulties are
met; for if all the waters hence flowing into Hudson
Bay were encircled, the Red River and Saskatchewan
districts would be included, which obviously was never
intended either by the charter or the treaty." The
truth is, at that time the geography of this western
region was wholly unknown. When the company as-
certained the connecting links of this water-chain
they claimed as their southern bound the highlands
diverging south-westerly from Lake Superior and
winding round between the sources of Red River
and the Mississippi, which would bring them within
United States territory two degrees or more. British
geographers, immediately after the conquest, drew
the boundary line between Canada and the Hudson's
Bay Company's territory within three or four hun-
dred miles of the bay on the south-western side.'
During the second hundred years of its existence, how-
over, the monster monopoly, playing ruse contrc ruse
in its century -games for domination, exceeded in terri-
torial limits the wildest anticipations of its mamigers;
spreading northward and westward until its area was
nearly one third larger than all Europe; and while

* 'Reaching the banka of Nelson's River, the ridge ceases to divide jtreama
at their heads, and is traversed by the outlet of Lake Winnipeg, which re-
<:eive8 from the southward the watera of the Red River, "vnd discharges itself
through Play Green Lake and Nelson River, into Hudbon's Bav. West of
tills river, the highlands resnmo their former characteristic, and rise at the
buarcesof Bumtwood, Churchill, aud Beaver rivers. ' BoucheUe'a Brit. Dam.,
i. 29-30.

*Regard'ag the northern and western bounds, as no lines had been de-
fined, the company laid claim to the northern and western oceans. See plans
referred to in the Report from the Select Committee on the Hudson's Bay
Company.

A CLOSE CORPORATION.

445

spanning the continent at its broadest part, and
touching at once the three great oceans, it ruled
supreme a hundred native nations held as slaves of
it« policy and laws.

But not without much management and many se-
vere struggles was this mighty end achieved. During
the first century of its existence the company did not
penetrate with its operations more than four hundred
miles inland. Its policy was that of a close corpora-
tion in an epoch of the closest commercial secrecy.
Not knowing the extent of its resourcesi or domain,
it was determined no one else should know them.
Discovery and settlement were discouraged. "For
the discovery of a new passage into the South Sea"
was one of the purposes for which they asked a char-
ter, and yet, until forced to it by the pressure of prog-
ress, all their powers were exerted to prevent the
opening of an interoceanic passage along their bor-
ders.' Not only did they systematically keep their
servants and agents in ignorance respecting such parts
of the business as did not come under their immediate
observation, but they made frequent changes in tlicir
appointments, blinding them as to their movements,
enjoining upon them the strictest secrecy, and for-
bidding the cultivation of the soil further than a

! ',/

'They 'conceal all the advantages to be made in that country, and give
ont that the climate, and country, and passage thither are much worse and
more dangerous than they really are, and therefore oblige their captains not
to make any charts or journals that may discover those seas or coasts. Tliey
have been so base to their country as not only to neglect it themselves, but
to prevent and discourage any attempt to find out so beneficial a passage. '
Dohha' Htidnon Bay, 2, 57. Ellis, Robson, Dragge, and Umfreville bring
similar accusations. These charges are denied by Ueame, who points to the
attempts of Bean, Christopher, Johnston, and Duncan to find a north-west
passage, and concluded that the 'air of mystery, and affectation of secrecy,
perhaps, which foi-merly attended some of the Company's proceedings in the
Bay, might give rise to those conjectures.* Jlearne'a Journey, xxi. 'Their
total disregard of every object for which they obtained, and have now held,
a royal charter for nearly one hundred and fifty years, entitles them to any-
thing but praise.' London Quarterly Review, October 1810, 144. Umfreville,
Hudtion Ray. 71. ohargpc the Ensl'sh odvcntrircrs with sleopin" .at *';^ 'jdgc
of the sea. In 17^0 they ha<l a few interior posts where a languid trade was
carried on. They paid their men scarcely one quarter as much as did the
Northwest Company, and were served accordingly. Winterbotham, lli»t. U. S. ,
iv. 10, with twenty others, repeats the same charge.

Ljjji

1 i

! 1

4i0

THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

garden patch for the immediate or temporary supply
of vegetables. Even the springs that moved the vast
machinery were pressed behind closed doors, and or-
ders of weightiest import were breathed in whispers.
When, finally, in 1769-72 Samuel Heame was ordered
by the company to journey northward and ascertain
what manner of thmgs were there, his journal was
kept concealed for twenty years thereafter.

While the French counted their establishments by
scores, during the first half century of the company s
existence there were planted in Rupert Land, that
is to say the country round Hudson Bay, scarcely
over a half dozen posts; but during the latter part of
the same century their establishments increased.* The
sloop Beaver sailed from Albany River to Moose River
to found a factory there the 7th of September 1729;
thence westward and back from the shore the com-
pany extended their occupation, paying no more at-
tention to chartered limits than did the rival traders
who erected forts in regions surrounding.'

In all its relations to the country, then and subse-
quently, the company has stood in the position of a
trading colony, being in direct antagonism to agri-
cultural and mining interests; although mining colo-
nies bring scarcely a denser population than trading
colonies.^"

Various efforts were made to break the monopoly,
which was to these misty hyperborean regions what
the East India Company was to the soft-aired Orient.
Arthur Dobbs and Umfreville, among others, pub-

* Until the Northwest Company wakened them to life by daring opposi-
tion there was no great display of intelligence or enterprise on the part of the
adventurers trading into Hudson Bay. Oass^ Journal, 4.

'Seldom were tna rights of fur companies, that is to say if any of them
ever had any rights, to domain granted respected by rival companies. Enter-
ing a territory at a distance from any fort, the natives there found were always
glad to save themselves a difficult and often dangerous journey through the
domain of enemies by disposing of their peltries at home. Carvers Travda, 112.

'" Tradini; colonics, says Hcorcn, 'consist at first of nothing more than
factories and staples for tlie convenience of trade ; bat force or traud soon en-
larges them, and the colonists become conquerors, without, howe" , losing
dj^t of the original object of their settlement.' Hist. Reaearchea, \

EARLY TEnRITOKXA.L DIVISIONS.

447

•ll

I';;.

■rs

12.

lished books, one in 1744 and the other in 1790,
opposing the continuance of the charter on the ground
of forfeiture and injustice.'^ All great monopolies are
unjust and injurious; men combine and monopolize
for no other purpose than to exclude others having
equal rights. Probably, however, these commercial
adventurers did as well for England in that region as
any others would have done. By the treaty of Utrecht
the position of the company was materially improved,
as they had no longer the French to trouble them.

The western part of Rupert Land, that is to say,
the country immediately west of Hudson Bay, was
once denominated New South Wales. Between this
and the Stony Mountains were the Mackenzie River,
Athabasca, and Saskatcliewan districts; while between
the great dividing ridge and the Pacific Ocean British
or Anglo-American territory was first called, begin-
ning at Mount St Elias, New Norfolk, New Cornwall,
New Hanover, New Caledonia, and New Georgia. On
some maps New Hanover comprised the coast north
of Fraser River, and New Georgia the coast south of
that point, while New Caledonia covered the great
interior. ^^ Others called it all Oregon west of the
Rocky Mountains, between latitudes 54° 40' and 42°."

To facilitate business their territory was divided by
the Hudson's Bay Company at various times in various
ways. When the whole western English America
was finally overspread by them, affairs were conducted
under four departments, the northern, the southern,
the Montreal, and the Columbia, the first belting the

" Umfreville, who was in the Hudson's Bay Company's service from 1771
to 1782, and who was thoroughly familar with their system, dcnounocs many of
their practices, and draws comparisons between them and the Canada com-
panies not specially favorable to the former. Tlie truth is, the Prince Rujwrt
Association behaved very much as any men in their places would have done.
They were a corporation composed of persona of high and low degi'ce, under-
going privations for gain, and it was scarcely to be expected that tliey should
be periect in every respect.

^'Vancouver calked tho coast between 45° and 50° New Georgia; between
60° and 54° New Hanover. Since about 1812 wo hear of New Caledonia.

^^Boucheite's Brit. Dom.fi. 33,54; mtipiin Twias' Or. Queel.,aadDuHn'a Or.

i- '

:'i1

448

THE PUR-TRADE XJNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

Frozen Ocean, the second extending from Rupert
River to the Rocky Mountains, the third lying round
Montreal and thence north-eastward, and the fourth
comprising the British Columbia and Oregon countries.
The Columbia department was afterward divided and
called the Oregon and Western, the term Columbia
being used thereafter as a district. All the depart-
ments were subdivided into thirty-four districts, con-
taining at one time one hundred and fifty-four posts."

^* House of Commons Report on Hudson's Bay Company, 365-7. In this
report, printed in 1857, the Northwest Coast ia accredited with two depart-
ments, eight districts, and thirty posts, as follows :

Port.

Locality.

Department. District.

Nnmbcr of
Indiaos fre-
qoentiDf; it.

.Columbia 200

.Columbia. 800

.Columbia. 100

.Columbia 100

Caweeman Wa.'^bington Ter. .Oregon. . .Columbia 100

Port Vancouver Washington Ter. .Oregon.

Umpqua Oregon Per Oregon.

Capo Disappointment. .Washington Ter. .Oregon. ,
Chinook Point Washington Ter. .Oregon.

Champocg Oregon Ter Oregon

Nisqually Oregon Ter Oregon.

Cowlitz Oregon Ter Oregon.

Fort Colvillo Washington Ter. .Oregon.

Pend d'Orcille River. . .Indian Tor Oregon.

Flatheads Washington Ter. .Oregon.

Kootenois Washington Ter. .Oregon. .

Okanagan Washington Ter. .Oregon. .

Walla Walla Oregon Ter Oregon. .

Fort Hall Oregon Ter Oregon. .

Fort Bois(5 Oregon Ter Oregon. .

Port Victoria Vancouver Is. . . .Western.

Port Rupert Vancouver Is. . . .Western.

Nanaimo Vancouver Is. . . .Western

Port Langley Indian Ter Western

.Columbia 150

..Columbia 600

..Columbia...... . '250

..ColvUle 800

..ColvUle 400

. .ColviUe 500

..ColvUle 500

.ColvUle 300

.Snake Country. . . 300
. Snake Countiy... 200
. fnake Country ... 200

ttvor Is 5,000

. it^coaver Is 4,000

Vancouver Is. . . . 3,000

.FiMer Riv^r 4,000

Fort Simpson Indian Ter Western {N;^W.^g'^t^.. 10.000

Kamloops Indian Ter Western \ „,.„„„„„ pi„~ o nnn

FortHo^ Indian Ter Western | ^'^"'"P^" ^^«"^- ^.OOO

Stuart I^ke Indian Ter Western. .New CaIedonia.\

M'Leod Lake Indian Ter Western.

Fraser Lake Indian Ter Western. .

Alexandria Indian Ter Western.

Fort George Indian Ter. Western. ,

Babines Indian Ter Western . .

Connolly Lake Indian Ter Western. .

. New Caledonia. |
. New Caledonia. I
.Now Caledonia. Vl2,000
. New Caledonia. I
. New Caledonia. |
.New Caledonia./

Though official, this is by no means a complete list of the forts on the
Pacific, but it may include all in active operation at that time. At Honolulu
was a post, and some time previouslv there had been one at San Francisco.
In New Caledonia north and east of Kamloops were Forts WiUiam, Carry,
and Abcrcrombio, not mentioned in the list, not to mention Wrangell or
Stikeen. Mr Stuart, one of the first to cross the mountains with a view to
occupation, in his Autograph Notes given by Mr Anderson in his7/M<. North-
west Coast, MS., 234-rt, applies the term Western Caledonia to 'the whoU

■I'

OFFICERS AND SERVANTS.

449

In the several fur companies there were various
grades of office and service. In the Hudson's Bay
Company, if we except the London governor and
directors, there were nine; in the Northwest Com-
pany, seven. Of the former there were, first, a local
governor, residing in America, having his head-quar-
ters first at Prince of Wales Fort, afterward at York
Factory, and later at Fort Garry, witli jurisdiction
over all the establishments of the company; second,
chief factors, who might have charge of a department
or of a factory, supplying the lessor forts of a district ;
third, chief traders, usually in charge of some single
but important post; fourth, chief clerks, who arc sent
with a crew of voyageurs on frequent expeditions or
placed in charge of minor posts; fifth, apprenticod
clerks, a kind of forest midshipmen, raw lads fresh
from home or school, full of fun, spiced with mischief,
who write, keep store, and attend their seniors; sixth,
postmasters, usually laborers promoted for good be-
havior to the rank of gentlemen, and often placed in
charge of a small station or outpost; seventh, inter-
preters, generally laborers with a smattering of the
native dialects of their vicinity; eighth, voyageurs, or
boatmen; ninth, laborers, employed in various ways,
as in chopping, carrying, mending, trapping, fishing,

of that tract westward of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, extending from
the Columbia River until it intersects that ideal line that is supjwsed to
divide the Pacific from the Frozen O&san.' ' But surely you are not serious,'
exclaimed Mr Anderson once in reply. 'Western Caledonia, properly speak-
ing, is the tract of country occupied by the Tacully or Carrier tnbo, and tho
district of New Caledoria, our commercial division of the country.' Again,
the territory west of the Rocky Mountains has been denominated tho western
department. 'The whole trading territory,' writes Mr Finlayaon in his
Vancouver [aland and Northicest Const, MS., 88-9, 'was divided into four de-
partments, namely, Montreal, the southern, tho northern, and the western.
There were four chief factors for each. These departments were constituted
districts, each commanded by chief traders and clerks. There were sixteen
chief factors and thirty-two chief traders in all. All districts west of tho
Rocky Mountains made up the western department, which was under tlio
direction of one man, who again was subject to the governor of all the de-
partments.' Evidently the terms district and department are here loosely
used. Some called the territory traded in by each fort a district. Thus Mr
Finlayson remarks, ' Nisqually extended from tho Chehalis River to Whidbey
Island; Langleyfrom Whidbey Island to M'i"".ink Sound; McLoughlin from
the latter to Skeena River ; Simpson from tho Skceua to tliu Russian boundary
of Alaska. These were the trading allotments. '
lIiBi. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. '29

t fill ;

.; 1

■I'i.

460

THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

rough carpentering, blacksmithing, or boat-building.
The laborer could not rise higher than postmaster, while
the apprenticed clerk might become chief factor, or even
governor. Five years of intelligent, faithful service
entitled the apprentice to a clerkship, and after from
ten to twenty years' further service he became chief
trader, who was a half shareholder, and in a few
years thereafter chief factor or shareholder. Speak-
ing generally, the chief factor directed the affairs of
the company, and the chief trader, acting under the
chief factor, managed traffic with the natives.

The systems of the Northwest, Pacific, and other
large companies were essentially the same, except the
highest office, which instead of being that of gov-
ernor was vested in a board of partners, or proprietors.
The commander of a fort or district was often called
governor, while the term partner took the place of
both chief factor and chief trader. Likewise some
of the inferior places, such as apprenticed clerk, post-
master, and interpreter, were not formally recognized.
The compensation of the higher officers was partly
salary cind partly commissions. Clerks and all lesser
servants received only their wages, without any par-
ticipation in the profits. Wages greatly varied with
time and place. Laborers received from ten to thirty
pounds a year, seventeen pounds being the usual
rate. Apprenticed clerks began usually with twenty
pounds; apprenticeship ended, their salary was raised
to one hundred or one hundred and fifty pounds and
board. The returns of a chief trader were from four
hundred to eight hundred pounds, while the chief
factor usually realized from eight hundred to fifteen
hundred pounds per annum. Umfreville complains of
the petty tyranny often exercised by the governor
of a fort. Such a governor was appointed for three or
five years at a salary of one hundred and fifty pounds,
with a percentage on the amount of business done.
In his day, 1790, servants were treated scarcely as
men, receiving but six pounds a year, and this pit-

■m

INTERNAL REGULATIONS.

451

tance was often withheld on account of bad behavior.
A tailor in those days was paid eight pounds per an-
num. Apprenticed clerks then began on ten pounds,
and were advanced at long intervals to fifteen, twenty-
five, and forty pounds per annum. It was in the en-
listment and treatment of servants that the pe-^ect
absolutism of the S3'^stem was manifest. During Jl
the long journey from apprenticeship to chief-trader-
ship the employes were called the company's servants ;
common laborers might seldom aspire to that honor.

Of the servants of the Northwest and Hudson's
Bay companies full three fourths were Scotch high-
landers and Orkney men. There were a few Irish-
men, and fewer English. Voyageurs and laborers
were composed largely of French Canadians and half-
breeds. Iji 1835 there were but two chief factors
west of the Rocky Mountains, John McLoughlin and
Duncan Finlayson, above whom in the organization
stood alone the local governor in Canada and the gov-
ernor and board of directors in London.

Chief factors were ex officio members of the council,
seven of whom with the governor formed, a quorum.
Norway House was their place of meeting during the
first half of the present century, and their delibera-
tions were strictly private. In 1 857 there was one seat
of council for the northern departments at Norway
House, and another for the southern at Moose Fac-
tory. The chief factors failing in their attendance,
chief traders were admitted to council to make up a
quorum.

At all the principal stations of all the great com-
panies a local council sat every year to appoint mas-
ters of posts and apportion the various duties; but
none of less rank than bourgeois, partner, or share-
holder were admitted except by special invitation.
Then trembled all outside the doors. It was the
policy of the company to change the places of their
servants frequently, thus breaking up any irregular
prisctices which they might easily have fallen into in

i- ; ■'!

: i.

i.i

THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

their isolation, and during these solemn deliberations
the unpopular or shiftless were sure to have given
them some distant or disagreeable business. The
council had power to reprimand, mulct by penalties,
or suspend any subordinate. Offenders were some-
times tried before a fort governor, chief traders or
clerks appearing on either side as counsel.

A deed poll executed by the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany the Gth of June 1834, following that of the
26tli of March 1821, more particularly prescribed the
duties of chief factors and chief traders, and regulated
the inner workings of the material composing tho
organization. All traffic for personal profit was strictly
prohibited. Umfreville says in his da}'^, 1780-90, any
one taking service must before embarking send his
box to the Hudson Bay House, there to be examined,
lest it should contain articles used in private trade;
and should the subordinate happen to have a fevv-
more shirts or socks than were deemed necessary, tho
surplus was taken from him. So on his discharge, not
only his effects but his person was carefully examined,
lest he should purloin a scrap of fur.

A factor or trader after wintering three years in
the country might retire with his full share of profits
for one year, and half profits for four years. Three
factors and two traders might have leave of absence
for one year. Wintering five years in the field en-
titled the factor or trader to half profits for six years.
Three factors, or two factors and two traders, might
annually retire in rotation. The legal representative
of a deceased ofiicer was entitled to the same profits
as would have accrued to such person if living.

Obedience was the main duty of the subordinate;
after that intelligence and energy were profitable.
Enlistment was for three or five years, during which
term every hour of the day and night belonged to the
company. All must stand ready to do soldier's duty
at any moment, and the servant was always to defend

it'

BOUND SERVANTS.

453

yom-

the company's officers and property with his life. For
the traffic west of the Rocky Mountains a class of
servants were articled in Canada who were to be
returned to the place of enlistment on the expiration
of a term which was equivalent, after deduction for
going and returning, to two and a half years' actual
service in a three years' engagement.

With provisions, the company kindly furnished its
servants with wives who, with their children, in re-
turn for what they ate must perform certain light
labor in the field or garden, if such existed, or else-
where, as prescribed. Should a servant desire a year's
absence before the expiration of his term, he must
give a yeiir's notice, and afterward make good his
lost time at his original wa<;es. While undergfoinsr
soldier's duty he was entitled to a new uniform every
two years. Should he desire to remain in the country
after the expiration of his term of engagement, he
might do so provided his past behavior had been good
and the company offered no objection; in which case
fifty acres of land were set apart, for the use of
which he must render annually twenty-eight days'
service for seven years, the company reserving the
right to expatriate him at any moment before or
afterward. For disobedience, desertion, or neglect
of duty, forfeiture of wages was the usual penalty.
With such a pittance of pay the servant was almost
always in debt for advances; this, together with family
attachments which by no means increased his capital,
and the arbitrary conditions of his enlistment, left him
little better than the chattel of the company.

Laborers in peace, soldiers in times of danger, they
were subject to their masters without protection or
appeal. Not that they were badly treated : they were
dimply bound.

There was never any hope of independence for
them or for their children; there was no such thing
as establishing themselves in business in that region
after their term of servitude should have expired.

ri1ri

THE PUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

No feudal system ever bound more absolutely serf to
baron."

It was an admirable system, in its way, that of the
Hudson's Bay Company during its later years, and
admirably executed: very different from that of the
chivalrous and mettlesome Northwest Company, as wo
shall presently see, but calm, correct, dignified, me-
thodical, and, though composed chiefly of Scotchmen,
like its great rival, more English than the Canada
Company in its adherence to traditional business forms
and ethics. So complete was its machinery that every
transaction, no matter how insignificant, passed in

"The term 'governor in the Hudson's Bay Company senrtce was meicy
an honorary title conferred by virtue of being the senior chief factor. Then
there was a board of governors that met at the Hudson's Bay Company's house
at Lachine, to whom all these American posts reported ; and then there was
a board of governors in London that ranked there, and to whom the entire
business was submitted.' Ei'aiin, in Olympia Club Conver Motions, MS., 20. The
governor and council had no legislative power ; they could regulate their own
affairs only, but they took good care that there should be no atTairs but theirs
in the territory. All factors considered themselves under their commissions aa
magistrates. Sir George Simpson, in House of Commons Itept. H. B. Co., 61-7.
£. KUicc, id. , 3*29, states that the governors and council watched ciiref ully
the morals of the young men in their charge, who were carefully selecte<l
from good families at home. If by morals he means not appropriating the
company's time, furs, or liquors, then were these governors patterns of moral
instruction. If by chicanery or debasement the company's interests could
be best served, as in taking to themselves native women or selling to the
natives rum, then the governors did not hesitate boldly to proclaim im-
morality to the young men as the best morality. Both Sir James Douglas,
Private Papers, MS. , Ist series, 80-2, and Tolmie, Ilist. Puget Souml, MS. , 50-7,
give interesting details respecting the Hudson's Bay Company's material and
management. Says Mr Finlayson, Vancouver Island and Northwest Cotvtt,
MS., 35-7, 90: ' The system of the H. B. Co., after the coalition, was to hire
young men as clerks. They got £20 for the first year, £25 for the second,
£30 for the third, £40 for the fourth, £50 for the fifth. If they behaved
satisfactorily then £75 per annum was given for a term of three years. This
again was increased to £100 per year. The clerk was after this supposed to
be a head or finished clerk, capable of taking charge of a post, to bo head
accountant, etc. And on merit he was made a chief trader or a chief factor.
The profits of the company were composed of 100 shares, after all payments
had been made ; 85 shares of this 100 were appropriated to the traders on the
coast, the balance was appropriated to a pension fund for the disabled. A chief
factor got two eighty-fifths of the profits, and a chief trader got one eighty-
fifth. The accounts were closed on the 1st of June every year. We got a
retired interest for six years and one year's furlough, or my representative
would get it, The whole of the profits were divided into tenths ; four-tenths
went to pay the partners here, and six-tentlis to pay the partners in England,
the London stockholders. These four-tenths were divided into 100 shares.
Generally speaking two clerks were kept at each post of trading ; this was in
case of sickness or for defensive purposes.' See also Evans, Hist. Or., MS.,
163-7; Rat/nal, Hist. Phil., xii. 504; Umfrevilk's Hudson's Bay, 113-23.

the
and
tho

HUDSON'8 BAY COMPANY'S STOCK. M

regular course from grade to grade, from its origin in
the wilderness to its result in a shareholder's pocket.

The original stock of the Hudson's Bay Company
was £10,500. Notwithstanding losses by tho French
amounting to £118,014 in 1G84 and in jGSS, tlicro
were dividends of fifty per cent., and in 1089 a divi-
dend of twenty-five per cent. In I GOO the stoclc was
trebled, and a dividend of twenty-five per cent, de-
clared on the new stock. From 1G92 to 1G97 there
was further loss by the French of £97,500, but in
1720 they had so far recovered as, with a call of ton
per cent., to again treble their capital stock, making it
now £94,500. After this for many years their divi-
dends averaged nine per cent.; and during a period of
one Imndred and ten years, that is to say from 1G90
to 1800, there was a profit on the original stock sub-
scribed of between sixty and seventy per cent, per
annum. Then it was voted to add three times as much
by subscription; each subscriber actually paying £100
to receive stock valued at £300, making the nominal
stock £378,000, the money paid on the last watering of
£283,500 being £3150. In 1821, crippled in it.^ wars
with the Northwest Company, £100 on each sharo
was called, making the stock £200,000. Between
1800 and 1821 profits were small, sometimes four per
cent., sometimes nothing. The Northwest Company
estimated theirs at the same figures, so that the stock
of the combined companies was £400,000. A sinking
fund of ten per cent, on £200,000 had been set aside
by the Hudson's Bay Company to oppose the North-
west Company in their operations west of the Rocky
Mountains.

But this was only the beginning of great things.
After a breathing spell of quiet monopoly for a quarter
century we find in 1847 dividends on stock valued at
£400,000 ranging ^r >m ten to twenty per cent., whilo
the market value oi the shares was from two hundred
to two hundred and twenty-five per cent, premium.

h\i\.

466

THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

Another inflation, as laid before the select comraitteo
of the House of Commons in 185G, raises the stock
to £1,205,067 19s. 4d. Two thirds of those who were
then proprietors had paid for their stock from two
hundred and twenty to two hundred and forty per cent.

The colonization scheme in 18G3 of tuo Interna-
tional Financial Society Limited, wliich announced
itself ready to receive subscriptions for the issue at
par of capital stock in the Hudson's Bay Company,
afforded an opportunity to raise the stock of the cor-
poration to £2,000,000, to float which £1,930,000 of it
was offered in twenty-pound shares, value being based
on 1,400,000 square miles or 890,000,000 acres of
land belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, which
modest pretension brings a return in ten years of
£81,000, being more than four per cent, on the
£2,000,000.

In 1789 there were in the employ of the company,
if we include seventy-five seamen who navigated the
two ships and one sloop annually each way, which
then constituted the ocean service, three hundred and
fifteen men." In 1840 there were five hundred and
thirteen articled men and fifty-five officers, which with
a net-work of trading routes between posts extending
from the Atlantic to the Pacific gave them not only
extraordinary influence with the natives, and the trade
monopoly of the north-west, but the actual domina-
tion of those regions, religious, political, and social.
In 1850 the affairs of one hundred and fifty- two
establishments were managed by a governor, sixteen
chief factors, and twenty-nine chief traders, assisted
by five surgeons, eighty-seven clerks, sixty-seven post-
masters, five hundred voyageurs, and twelve hundred
permanent servants, besides sailors on sea-going vessels
and persons temporarily employed — about three thou-
sand men in all. At the time of the final expiration

'* With characteristic ireedom of expression, Raynal, Hist. Phil., xii. 5P4,
reduced the number in 1812 to 14G : 'Mais on n'y comptait en 1812 qu'environ
cent qiiaiaiite-six persouncs, toutes attach(5ea au bervice dc cette compagnie,'

FURS AND rKLTUY.

of its rights there wore two hundred and tliirty-nino
proprietors, representing' a capital of £-400,000, affairs
being administered by directors in London elected by
a general a.ssend)ly. In 1839 a regular court of jus-
tice for the territory was established at lied River;
and later on Vancouver Island a special court adniin-
istered justice. Parliamentary sti|iul;itions rofpiired
the arrest of murderers, who with the testimony were
to be sent to Canada. All mim»r ofiences oflicors might
punish, and practically there was no appeal."

The terms fur and peltry are often employed synon-
ymously, although, strictly speaking, iiirs are the
dressed and peltries tlio undressed skins. Narrowed
yet further in definition, peltry includes only skins cov-
ered with 3hort hair, such as buffalo, dotjr, and elk, but
the original technical signification is now well riiffh
lost in the popular one. Color, thickness, fineness, and
lenjxth of hair all exercise an influence in determininj;
values. Supply also affects price; for example, one

" Tho West minster Review, July 1807. gives a concise histoiy of tlio llud-
Bon's Bay Company, under tlio title The Laxt Great Monopoly. On pages 405-70,
Gret'nhow'n Or. and Cal., aro given: 1. Extracts from tlio royul cliurter to tlio
Hudson's Bay Company. 2. An act for extending the jurisdiction of courts
in Canada. 3. An act for regulating the fur-trade. 4 anil ">. Crown grants
of exclusive trade to tho Hudson's Bay Company after its amalgamation with
tho Northwest Company. For copy of royal charter of 1070 and crown grant
of 18.37 see Iloitse of C'ommom I'ept. Ilmaon'ii JJa;/ Co., 408-10, and Martin'*
JIudaoii's Bay, lol-iio. A largo part of Fitzgerald's Exumination of the CItarlvr
nnil Proceedings of the Ilud/iou'a Bay Co. is devoted to arguments against the
corporation. Likewise in Home of Commowt Uept. lliuhon's Ban ^'^-i 380-7,
in the testimony of Mr MacDonell, may be found opinions regarding claims
of the Hudson's Bay Company and their rights under charter, showing that
the charter 'cannot confer upon tho Hudson^ Bay Company those powers and
privileges which they assume to exercise under it.' On paMs 417-19, id., is
a copy of a letter from Mr Polly, governor of the Hudsc n's Bay Company, to
Lord Glenelg, applying for a renewal of tho grant. See also Evans' Hist. Or.,
MS., 101-3; UmfrevUlc'ii lluihon')! Bay, 1-0; Martin's Hudson's Bay, ^H-l;
Dohhs' Hudson's Buy, 1-122; Mayne' s British Col., 110-17; Richardson's Polar
Rations, 112-13; A Few Wurdi on the Hudson's Bail Company, 3; Horetzb/'s
Canadaon the Pacific, 81-2; Pnrkn-'s Ex. Tour, 187-8; Gray's Hist. Dr., 33,
43-5, 89-90; British North Am., 255-0; IVilkes' ^W., iv. 9; Ross' Red River
Settlement, 2-7; Waddinyton's Eraser River, 29-35; Victor's River of the West,
27; Hines' LI/e,3Si; frvlny's Astoria, 5\l ; Dunn's Or., vii. xy.; Cox's Adv.,
ix.-xx.; Farnham's 7'ravcls, 454; Tache's Sketch, 02. According to a state-
ment of the Northwest Company, Narr live of Occurrences, 3, just prior to
the beginning of the Red River settlement in 1811 Hudson ]iay stock 'had
fallen from 250 per cent, to between 50 and CO in consequence of misfortune
or mismanagement of their affairs. '

458

THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

of the most difficult animals to trap is the silver fox,
and the skin is correspondingly high, being woith
from fifty to seventy-five dollars. I have seen it stated
that thirty guineas are often paid for the skin of the
black fox, the price of which diminishes with the pres-
ence of white hairs. The ermine is a costly fur; and
after it the sable, sea-otter, beaver, and seal. These
last mentioned were all caught in steel or wooden
traps, while deei' and bufialoes were shot or snared by
the natives."

Notwithstanding the immense business transacted,
the constant buying of furs, and tho selling of various
commodities from different parts of the world, in the
dealings of the fur companies with their servants as
well as with the aborigines, no gold, silver, notes ; or
other circulating medium known ac money was em-
ployed."

"'American ermine and sable were less esteemed than .ome others. Rus-
sian sable was regarded the best, and next to it that of thu European n^arten,
while the American, which is obtained from the dark brown and olivis coloi-ed
marten, ranks third. The ermine of the eastern continent is re]>resente<l
by the inferior fur of the American stoat. Otter have been nearly extBrmi-
nated, except in British North America; such is the case with the bfaver, the
pontic of the Romans. Seals have also suffered much from tho merciless
raids of all-devouring man. The present total yield is only about 100,000,
about two thirds of which come from Alaska, where ^he Unitevl 8tatR»
government has very properly placed restrictions upon the catch. Tha
monopoly of the fishe-y there is held by the Alaska Commercial. Com.ijany,
which han twenty trading-posts on the continent and islands.

" Usually a beaver kin was made the standard, and all other vp.lues,
European merchandise, as well as other skins, were measured by it. Thus at
Albany Fort, Moose River, and East Main in 1733 with tlie skin of one fuli-
grown beaver a native could buy half a pound of beads, or one pound of Brazil
tobacco, orhaU a pound of thread. A gallon of brandy cost four beavcr-Hkins;
broadcloth, two beaver-skins a yp.rd ; blankets, six beaver-skins each ; hand-
kerchiefs, one and a half beaver-skins each ; powder, one and a half pounds,
and of shot five pounds for a beaver-skin ; and so on through a long list, the
quantity of goods given for a beaver-skin greatly varying according to remote-
ness and competition. Also at the time and place last mentioned, tb" le mar-
tens were counted as one beaver ; likewise one fox, one moose, two deer, one
wolf, ten pounds of feathers, one black bear, were coch equivalent to one
beaver. At this time beavcr-skms were selling in Loudon at five or six shil
lings a ponnd ; marten, eight shillings each ; otter, six sbil'ings ; bear, sixteen
shillings; fox, from six to ten shillings; elk, seven shillings; deer, two shil-
lings ; wolf, fifteen shillings ; and wolverene, eight shillmgs each. A hundre«J
years later at Fort Macphorson we find a blanket worth ten bcaver-skins ; a
gun, twenty; a worsted belt, two; eighteen bullets, one beaver-skin. The
Ain coat twenty -two shillings, .and the twenty beaver-skins were then worth
in London £32 10s. A gill of por.'der costuig on>- and a half pence, or a scalp-
ing knife costing fourponcc, or a dozen brass biutons, were exchanged for ono

iiffp

THE ANNUAL VESSELS.

459

The trading license of 1838 extended the absolute
power of the Hudson's Bay Company over the whole
of the region west of the Rocky Mountains covered
by these volumes, and known as the Northwest Coast.
Within this domain were twenty-one of the company's
establishments, twelve of which were in the Oregon
Territory as prescribed by treaty of June 15, 184G,
at which time the company employed one thousand
men on the Pacific slope alone.

To supply the coast with goods and carry away
furs, fish, and other returns, one or two well laden ships
arrived annually from England at Fort Vancouver
or later at Victoria.^ The cargoes when placed in
store were at once divided into three classes, and
prices established. The first class comprised knives,
tobacco, and other articles intended for gratuities to
natives, for it had been ascertained that a present

beaver-skin worth £1 128. 6d. An axe now sold for three skins, a file for two,
and a pair of pantaloons costing four dollars for nine skins worth seventy dollars.
Blankets were sometimes employed as a standard of value, as also was tobacco.
Russell, Hist. Am., ii. 263, speaking of the Hudson's Bay Company's trado in
1788, says that ' Ten beaver skins are nsually given for a common musket;
two for a pound of powder; one for fonr pounds of shot; ono for a liatchct;
one for six knives ; two for a pound of glass-beads ; six for a cloth coat ; livo
for a petticoat, and one for a pound of snuff. Com'^s, looking-glasses, brandy,
and all other articles are in proportion ; and as beaver is the common measure of
exchange, by another regulation, as unjust as the former, two otter skins and
three martins, are required instead of one beaver; whereas each of these, when
fine, aro more than equal to a beaver. ' According to J. Rae, in his evidence
before the House of Commous committee, liept. Hudson's Ba>/ Co. 1S57, 3.3-4,
'A blanket was four beavers, but if you got the value of it in musk-rats j'ou
would not have above a shilling or two profit, which would not cover the
expense. Ten rata go for a beaver. Ten rats, a few 3'eara ago, would sell in
the London market for about 3s; they are higher now.' ' Tho tariff is fomicd
in a peculiar way,' id., 27, 'and necessarily so. Tho sums given for furs do
not coincide with the value of the furs traded for with them, because tlio
musk-rat or tho less valuable furs aro paid for at a higher rate. Were tho
Company to pay for the finer furs at the same rate, the Indians would hunt
up the finer furs and destroy them off, as haa been done all along tho frontier,
and wo should then require to reduce tho price for the musk-rat and the infe-
rior furs, and tho Indians would not hunt them at all.'

'" Mrs Harvey in her Life of Doctor 2fcLotirjhliii, MS., 3, says that after
the spring of 1826, tlio first year of her father's residence m the country, a
ship from London came into the Columbia every year. Mr Finlayson, Van-
couver Island and Northwcnt Coast, MS., 37, states that in 1837 tlirco barks
performed tho service lietween England and the Columbia, ono outward-bound,
one homeward-bound, and one in reserve in the Columbia. The homeward-
bound vessel usually left on the Istof November, and tho outward-bound left
London at the beginning of summer.

;J ? i i

i ' II

■
r

■f

460

THE FUR-TRADE UIvDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

would often buy more than the same article with a
fixed price. At all events, no matter what the dealings
might be, the savage desired a present, desired to feel,
if but for a moment, that he had obtained something for
nothing; hence the matter of gifts was an important
one. The second class consisted of blankets, cloth,
arms and ammunition, .'md other articles employed ex-
clusively in barter. The third class was called Indian
goods, and consisted of small articles, beads, paints,
shirts, and handkerchiefs, used chiefly to purchase
fish and game, or to obtain some slight service from
the natives. The dedication of the several articles to
the prescribed purpose was by no means strictly ad-
hered to, particularly at the less important posts ; but
such was the general plan of the traffic.

The price placed upon goods at Fort Vancouver was
never changed, except on the arrival of a ship from
Boston; nor did the rate at which furs were received
vary. In the absence of opposition no necessity ex-
isted for chaffering. Through an aperture like that
of a post-office delivery, the Indian having furs for
sale passed them to a clerk within, who in like manner
returned their value in the merchandise desired. When
settlers began to arrive, those of them who desired to
purchase goods must do so through the superintendent
or commander, who gave him an order for the articles
required.

At the interior posts there was less dignified for-
mality, and more freedom of manner. First of all, the
Indian would have rum if he could get it. If this
was furnished, a debauch was always preliminary to
business. Frequently the shrewd savage before this
indulgence would set aside a portion of his furs for a
gun, another for blankets, or ammunition, or tobacco,
or knives, or cloth, or whatever might be his absolute
needs, reckoned when sober, and spend the remainder
with a clear conscience for the comfort and fascination
of intoxication. The natives understood thoroughly
the nature and value to them of competitive traffic.

-rrrr

METHOD OF TRAFFIC.

Of course the company did all in its power to prevent
the coming of United States traders, and their system
of advances materially aided them, as it made their
own the catch of the trapper while yet the wild beasts
ran at large.

Should an officer or servant of the company desiro
a skin for his own use, he was obliged to pay for it ten
per cent above the -London price; and in no case was
he allowed to purchase here for a friend at home.
Though as a rule the natives did the hunting, yet
servants were sometimes permitted to trap on Satur-
day or Sunday, in which case they must take their
catch to the office and receive what an Indian would

Trade, though in general uniform in its i; cthod,
was not without minor local differences. The remote
districts north of the 60th parallel were the best liolds.
Competition there was less, game could be better pro-
tected, and fur-bearing animals be increased rather
than exterminated.^'" Hunting was done princiijully
in winter, the fur being then better; moreover, in
summer the animal rears its young. From the various
forts and outposts the Hudson Bay people brought
every spring by means of boats the furs collected
during winter to the three principal depots, namely,
Fort Vancouver on the Columbia, York Factory on
Hudson Bay, and Moose Factory on James Bay,
whence they were shipped in the company's vessels
to London; hence on all the lakes and streams that
interlace the broad domain held by this association,
brigades of boats were passing and repassing, and as
compared to the frozen silence of winter all was life

" 'White men only were used as trappers in connection with the southeni
express. Tiie retired servants of the Company received the same price for
their furs as any others and a servant or employee was allowed to hunt at any
time.' Flnloyson's Vancouver Island and Northxvest Coast, MS., 99. See also
WUkea^ Niir. U. S. Ex. Exped., iv. 320; Sir John Richardson, in House Com-
mons Kept. Hudson's Hay Co., 159.

'■■"I do not believe,' says E. EUice in the House of Commons Kept. Hud-
ton's Hay Co., 327, 'that any part of the fur trade carried on by the Company
in their southern posts, in the immediate vicinity of the American frontier, is
in the least profitable. '

i'
;

t :■•

;: i

' I

I '

462

THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

1 !

iii:;i

and animation. Later, Fort Garry on Red River
becume the centre of operations east of the dividing
ridge.

From most of the principal forts trapping and
trading expeditions were sent out every autumn, which
returned with their catch the following spring or sum-
mer. These parties consisted of from five to thirty
natives with their families, or were composed wholly
or in part of half-breeds or wliite men, sometimes
under the guidance of a servant or officer of the com-
pany, but as often alone, and that after having pro-
cured their outfit on credit. Two of these parties,
much larger than those from minor posts, being from
fifty to seventy-five men each, set out from Fort Van-
couver every year, one proceeding southward as far as
San Francisco Bay, the other eastward to the region
round the headwaters of the Columbia, and the Col-
orado.^

In conveying goods up the Columbia, and in bring-
ing furs down that stream, barges, each of five or six
tons burden, were sometimes employed. The boats
were manned by six Canadians or Iroquois, and steered
by a paddle. Both boats and goods were carried over
the portages. For two leaves of tobacco each, twenty-
five natives would readily transfer the boats, large as
they were, from one landing to the other. '^^

The upper and interior posts were supplied from
Fort Vancouver, whence were two annual departures,
one coastwise, for which service the company em-
ployed first the steamer Beaver and afterward a larger

''^ ' There was a chief factor for New Caledonia, with head-quarters at Fort
Jutnes ; there was one also for the coast district. He was usually employed
in cruising between the stations in the steamer Beaver. Tho southern expe-
ditions were accompanied by a chief factor, as a mle ; Mr. Ogden used to go
with them very often.' Fliilaysoii'n Vancouver Island and Northwest Coast,
MS., 00. Famham, Travels, 453-4, copied almost literally from Wilkes' Nar.
U. S. Ex. Exped., iv. 350, says they left Fort Vancouver in October and re-
turned in May or June ; that they were permitted to take their wives and
cliildren, and that they usually trapped on shares. Where there are so many
ways of doing business, naturally there is some difference in the remarks of
observers.

'*Finlay8on, Vancouver Island and Northwest Coast, MS., 80, says that the
company built these Imrges, four of them, in London.

r--r

THE OVERLAND EXPRESS.

463

steamer, the Lahouchere, together with five well armed
sailing vessels of from one hundred to three hundred
tons each, and one for Fort James, on Stuart Lake,
by way of Okanagan, Colville, and Thompson River.
The great event of the year was the arrival of tho
overland express, called the Montreal or York Fac-
tory Brigade. There were several regular brigades
departing and arriving at Fort Vancouver, such as
the Southern brigade, the New Caledonia brigade, etc.
The annual overland express, carrying letters and
despatches, left Fort Vancouver for York Factory
and Norway House, where the great council met every
summer, about the middle of March, in charge of a
confidential officer.^ From the southern and coast
stations accounts had been received and balances struck
at Fort Vancouver. The brigade called at Walla
Walla, Okanagan, and Colville on its way up the river,
thus saving those ports the trouble of sending their
accounts to Fort Vancouver. Colville, being the last
important station before reaching the mountains, be-
came a sort of rendezvous for accountants. Thither
the minor surrounding forts sent their annual state-
ments, and there the commander of the overland ex-
press could strike his final balances.'^^ Several hundred
miles above Fort Colville, at the head of canoe navi-
gation, was a place called Boat Encampment. There
the boats were taken from the water, and, with super-
fluous provisions and baggage, cached. Crossing the
mountains on snow-shoes, the party took boats again
at Jasper House, on the Athabasca River, leaving
them at Fort Assiniboine to cross the dividing ridge
to Fort Edmonson, on the Saskatchewan, whence boats
finally carried them to York Factory, on Hudson Bay.
After a short staj- the party returned by the same

■■•^ James Douglas conducted this service for several years ; A. C. Anderson
performed the journey in 1842.

'^* Colville was where tho whole accounts were made up; they were finally
closed there for York. The southern expeditions and northern expeditions
used to meet at Colville with the accounts. Finlayson'n Vancouver Idand
<ind Xorthweat Coast, MS., 37-8.

f 1

*'l !

^ i 'i

: '' '

'464

THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

route, reaching Fort Vancouver usually toward the
latter part of October.'^

The New Caledonia brigade plied between forts Van-
couver and Alexandria, Leaving Fort Vancouver in
April, supplies were carried up the river in boats to
Fort Colville, and thence transported to Fort Alex-
andria in ninety- pound bales on horses, one horse
carrying but two bales, while a Canadian voyageur
woulr* sometimes carry three. A large number of
horses were kept at Alexandria for the purpose
of bringing in furs from the surrounding posts, trans-
porting them to Colville or Okanagan, whence they
returned with supplies, which were in like manner dis-
tributed to the several posts.^ Dog-sledges were
sometimes employed ju this service in winter.

The method of account keeping at the Vancouver
dep6t will further illustrate the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's system. From London each year the com-
pany's ship brought the jutfit for the third year
thereafter, thus keeping regularly on hand, as a guard
against accidents, two years' supply.

All shipments from London to the Pacific coast
were charged to Fort Vancouver, where full accounts
were kept both with the London house and with all
the subordinate posts. At Fort Vancouver the outfit
year began the Ist of June. Then was credited to

"Anderson, Hist. Northwfst Coast, MS., 8-91, givea the beat account of
the overland express. See also Tolmie'a Hist. Puget Sound, MS., 10-14;
Finlayson's Vancouver Island and Northwest Coast, MS., 37; Harvei/'n L'tJ'i'.
of McLoughlin, MS., 4. Mr Finlayson states that a brigade for the east some-
times left Fort Vancouver in the autumn, which met the western-bound ex-
press at Boat Encampment. The connections of boats and horses, and all
routine connected with the going and returning brigade, he asserts 'were
made with the regularity of a machine.' Tolmie says the yearly accounts of
goods received, furs purchased, as well as all other receipts and expenditures
at all posts west of the Rocky Mountains, were sent to Fort Vancouver, where
the general account was made up and despatched by the spring expedition.
Theoretically this was the case. If the accountant in charge, to save the
upper posts the trouble of sending their accounts down the Columbia some
hundreds of miles, made up his final statement at Colville, it amounted to
the same as if he had done so at Fort Vancouver.

'' 'This was previous to 1849, when the country was looked upon as British
territory. The furs were deposited at Okanagan ; boats tlien came from Fort
Vancouver to receive the furs, and the horse brigades returned to Alexandria. '
/ilnlaifson'n Vatuoittvr /"laml ami Xortliwent Const, MS., G7-8.

fir

I, ;

BY THE CANDLE.

465

each post or district goods on hand the 31st of May,
together with returns in furs or other articles, which
were estimated enough below London prices to cover
expenses of shipment and sale. This closed the busi-
ness of the outfit year. At the same time were charged
the goods on hand from the previous year, together
with fresh stock sent, after adding to it thirty-three
and a third per cent to cover transportation expensf s ;
also were entered against the posts clerks' and ser-
vants' wages. The profit or loss would then appear.
The details of goods sent from liead-quarters were
entered in transfer books A ; the details of returns, as
well as of accounts between posts, in transfer books B.

Of the cost of fort-building no separate account was
kept, as this labor was performed by the company's
hired servants. An account was kept at the Van-
couver depot called General Charges, in which were
entered presents made and provisions consumed by
visitors, and their value, together with all goods dis-
posed of and not otherwise put down. Every blanket
and every bead scattered throughout this wilderness
must be accounted for to the hard-headed methodical
managers in London, and woe to the underling dere-
lict in any of these duties.

The trans- Atlantic shipments of the Hudson's Bay
Company were all directed to London, the chief
market of the w^orld, and the furs were there sold,
at semi-annual sales held in March and September, at
auction by the candle, the bidding for each lot con-
tinuing till a lighted candle had burned to a certain
mark, causing a pin placed at that point to drop.
Foreign purchases were chiefly for the Leipsic fair,
whence they were distributed to various parts of
Europe and Asia.*^

"In the year 1733 12,000 beaver, 2000 marten, and 1000 cat were the prin-
cipal items. In 1740 26,000 beaver sold at from Os. to 6s. per pound, 16,000
marten at 78. lOd. a skin, 560 otter at 6s. 3d. each, 300 foxes at 8s. 4d., 600
wolverenes at 8s., .330 black bear at 173. Od., 730 wolves at 13s., and other
email lots. Twenty-six thousand beaver of the several kinds and qualities
were disposed of at the sale of Novembei- 1743 ; also 14,000 marten, 590 otter,
1580 wolf, nnd others. The Northwest Company's business for 1708 counted
Hist. N. W. Coabi, Vul. I. ao

¥,

•I

lliiir

466

THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

The great companies dealt in other articles besides
furs. During the latter part of the eighteenth century
sloops were annually sent from Prince of Wales Fort
northward to trade with the Eskimos for oil and
whale fins. Feathers, tallow, and horns were like-
wise articles of merchandise. Quantities of dried and
salted fish were put up and shipped, both from eastern
and western posts.

Enormous profits were realized. But time was
required to turn capital; expenses were likewise
heavy, labor severe, and risks by no means small.
Usually the trapper required credit, and his ability to
pay depended on his success, which risk the company
was obliged to take. Indians were readily trusted
by the companies, the original cost of the articles
credited being so small in proportion to expected re-
turns that the sellers could well afford to make the
venture.

A dollar's worth of English or Dutch trinkets used
on the Northwest Coast in the purchase of furs,

106,000 beaver, 2100 bear, 5500 fox, 4600 otter, 17,000 musquash, 32 marten,
1800 mink, COO lynx, 600 wolverene, 16d0 fisher, 100 raccoon, 3800 wolf, 700
elk, 1950 deer, and 500 buffalo. These same figures Raynal, Hist. Phil., xiii.
557, gives as the total yield of Canada for the year 1800. Tod, Hist. New
Caledonia, MS. , 03, quotes tariff in his locality in 1830 as follows : A gun cost
20 skins ; a coat, 6 skins ; a foot of twist tobacco, a gallon kettle, or a small
axe, each one skin ; a large axe, two skins ; two gilla powder, one skin ; one
pound of shot, one skit. The worth of skius mcasoring these values was from
18 to 20 shillings. Tlie Oregon country prior to 1844 yielded about §140,000
worth of furs annually, paid for in goods which cost some ^20,000, to which
must be added the services of five hundred men, and shipping and other ex-
penses. Between the prices paid by different companies there was often a
wide difference; thus in 1845 we tind quoted. House Commorn* Rept. Hud-
eon'M Day Co. 1837, 283, the following comparitive tariff: While for otter the
American Fur Company paid $3.50 each, the Hudson's Bay Company paid
but 6s. ; fisher, marten, mink, and IjTix were respectively $2, $1.75, 40
cents, and $2 at the posts of the former company, while the latter sold
them at 23., 23., lOd., and 2s. Silver fox were §15 by one and 10s. by the
other; beaver, $3.25, as against 6s., and so on. Following the printed list
of the Fenchurch - street sale of March 1848, we have 121,000 marten,
24,000 mink, 3102 bear, 19,000 fox, 5780 otter, 30,100 lynx, and 4580 fisher.
In August of that year were sold 21,349 beaver, 808 otter, 345 sea-otter and
seals, 2884 deer, 2090 raccoon, 228 wolverene, 1494 wolf, 632 cat, 1015 lynx,
1551 swan, 18,553 musquash, 14,103 mink, 29,785 marten, 744 fisher, 1344
fox, and 2i997 bear. Between the I3th of June and the 21st of November
1833, furs to the value of £1700 were procured at Fort Vancouver. 'Twenty
thousand beaver were shipped from Vancouver by September, the greatest
number yet made from the Columbia. ' Tolmie's Journal, MS. , 88.

TRADING GOODS.

467

which were sold in China, the proceeds being invested
in teas, silks, rice, or other Asiatic goods shipped to
London or New York, would sometimes bring a re-
turn of twenty dollars. Often three or four hundred
dollars' worth of goods would be sent from the dis-
tributing dep6t to the trapper's camp, where they
would be exchanged for three or four thousand dollars'
worth of furs.

Bright-colored calico and black broadcloth; blank-
ets end hats; arms, axes, knives, and kettles; paints,
mirrors, beads, bells, and brass ornaments would be
exchanged at the rate of one dollar for two or twenty,
according to distance from market or other cause.
The tobacco sold by the Hudson's Bay Company came
mostly from Brazil. It was twisted into a rope one
inch in diameter, and coiled; it was sold by the inch.

The returns from the various forts were obviously

^ot uniform. In ordinary times and localities, from

one thousand to five thousand pounds were annually

realized from each establishment.^" A few Indian

f .;

!:-

'"MrMayne, Brit. Col., 183-4, estimates the profits at Fort Rupert, on
Vancouver Island, in 1859 as follows : For wages, commanding officer, a clerk
being then in charge, £100, or had it been a chief trader, £500 or £000; fore-
man, £40, and seven laborers at £20 each; provisions, £200; sundries, £100,
or say £600 expenses ; cost of fort, the labor of the seven men one month, or
£140. Fourteen thousand six hundred and forty- two skins were purchased
at a total cost of £060 4s., worth in England £5405, chief among which
were 250 bear -skins, worth from £1 to £3, and costing one blanket each;
2000 marten, six for a blanket, worth from 10s. to £2 ; 5000 mink, 30 for a
blanket, worth from 2s. to 7s. 6d. ; one blanket each was jwiid for 250 land-
otter, worth from 7s. Od. to £1 10s., and 12 blankets each were given for 50
sea-otter, worth from £5 to £25. Two beavers were given for a blanket, and
a leaf of tobacco for a rabbit-skin ; of the former there were 600 bought, and
of the latter 5000. Lynx, fox, raccoon, wolf, etc., comprised the remainder.
Leaving out the cost of the fort, and adding coat of goods to expenses, wo
Lave on the debit side £1260 against £5405, showing a profit for this year
of £4145. But this post has often netted the company £6000, and it by no
means ranks among the most important. R. G. Smitli, secretary of the com-
pany, reports ten years profits, from 1847 to 1856, whicli is no extraordinary
showing, though they arc put down at from ten to twenty per cent, a year ;
yet whenever the declared dividend was more than ten per cent, the surplus
was added to the stock. Notwithstanding which, to the price of this stock
there was no permanent increase, as at both the beginning and end of the
term it stood at £200 a share, having in the mean time experienced slight
fluctuations. Umfreville, Ihtdson'.'^ Day, 79-91, gives the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's reports of trading goods expenses and returns for the ten years 1739-48
inclusive. From the sale of furs was realized £273,542 18s. 8d., out of which
were paid for goods £52,463 Os. , and for salaries, shipping, and other expenses,

!•!'

4m THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

tribes became weathy, according to their estimate of
wealth, by their trade in furs, but their prosperity was
always oi short duration and of no real benefit.

At some of the stations were used sticks, called
casters, with which to count. For example, the In-
dian deposits his bundle of furs in the trading-room,
where they are assorted and valued. Perhaps the
package amounts to sixty casters, of between one and
two shillings each; with the sixty bits of wood given
him the hunter pays for such articles as he selects
from the company's store. Besides his spring visit
the hunter usually comes to the fort in October to
obtain necessaries for the winter hunt, which are fur-
nished him on credit, whether Indian or white man,
if he has not wherewith to pay.

The Northwest Company once established a cur-
rency called the Northwest currency, which, as might
have been expected, soon depreciated and in time wentj,
out of use. At the Red River settlement the Hudson's
Bay Company adopted a currency which was used in
conjunction with silver. Beaver, so long the staple,
with the invention of the silk hat received its death-
blow. In 1837 the price fell so low that values had
to be readjusted."

£209,896 38. 4d., leaving a clear profit for each proprietor of only £63 128. lid.
per annum. Morgan, in hia American Beaver, 245, states that in 1743, 150,000
beaver-skins were received at Rochelle and London, most of which came from
Rupert Land and Canada. He gives the sales of beaver iu T cadon for the
years 1854, 1855, and 1856 as 609,240, 62,352, and 56,033 respectively. Says
Dr Tolmie, in his Journal, MS. , written at Fort Vancouver : 'From the 1 *vh
November 1834 to the 9th January 18ii5 180 beavers were traded here, besides
land-otters and martens, in all amounting to £259 198. 6d.; beaver charged at
248. per pound. The following items go to the debit side of the account : Goods
expended in procuring furs, £66 ISs. 7d. ; servants' wages for seven and a half
weeks, £76 138. 7d. ; expense of food for twelve men, £3 188. 9d. ; expense of
men, £1 198. 4d. Balance in favor of the Company, £110 9s. 2d.'

" Between the years 1839 and 1846 there was quite a difference in the price
of furs, it being much lower at the later date. In 1839 the price of a beaver-
skin in London was 27s. Gd.; in 1846, 3s. 5d. In 1830 55,486 skins sold for
£76,312; in 1846 45,389 skins sold for £7856. For trade matters in general
see farther U. S. Cfov. Doc, 25th Cong., 3d Sess., House Jiejit. JS^o. 101, 17-22;
Bobmson'a Great Fur Land, 329 ; Hayes^ Col. Agric, 26-8; Hunt's Mer. Mag.,
iu. 186-204; Foster's Hist. Voy., 380-3; North American Review, xv. 372-3,
393-4; Newhouse's Trapper's Guide, 9-12; Work's Journal, MS., 205-6;
Anderson's N. Coast, MS., 86-7; Prospectus Canada Railway Co.

TTT

['■■

COALITION OF COMPANIES,

469

iiaie of

,ty was

called
he In-
;-room,
ps the
lie and
1 given
selects
\g visit
)ber to
ire fur-
ze man,

a cur-
i might
ae wcntk
udson's
used in
I staple,
3 death-
ues had

33 12s. lid.
43, 150,000

came from
don for the
vely. Says
ini the l*vh
ere, besides

charged at
ant: Goods
1 and a half

expense of

in the price
>f a beaver-
dns sold for
I in general
101,n--2f2;
Mer. Mag.,
XV. 372-3,
IS., 205-6;

King Charles' grant to his cousin Rupert in 1670
failed to receive parliamentary sanction, and was
thereby pronounced unconstitutional. To prevent
constantly increasing encroachments, the company in
1G90 petitioned parliament to confirm the charter,
which, upon certain conditions which were never
carried out, was granted for a term of seven years,
and no longer.

Fearful lest parliament would not renew it, or un-
willing to call public attention to their affairs, or, yet
more probably, indifferent as to the legal status of
affairs so long as they were left unmolested, at the
expiration of the seven years' term the company made
no effort for a second or renewed confirmation of their
charter. From this time until the cession of Canada
to Great Britain in 17G3 the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany continued in possession of their territories un-
disturbed; but British subjects then took the field
formerly occupied by foreigners trading under French
charters, and shortly after, in 1783, the leading mer-
chants of Canada associated under the name of the
Northwest Company, and entering upon vigorous op-
position spread themselves over the interior as far as
the Arctic and Pacific oceans, and even planted their
forts upon the very shores of Hudson Bay.

When the coalition of the rival companies was
effected in 1821 by their united influence, a license of
exclusive trade in such Indian territory as was not
included in the original charter was granted them by
government for a term of twenty-one years. In 1842
the license was renewed for a further term of twenty-
one years, and again for seven years, but with reserva-
tions by the crown of the right to revoke it at any
time.'^ Tacitly, however, the British government

'^ 'The extent of territory thus granted umlf^r the licence of 1842, ia about
2,600,000 square miles, that claimed under tl. Charter very little less, cojn-
prising together the whole of British America, with the exception of the
Canadas.' A Feio Words on the IIudnoii's Bmj Company, 3; Fitzgirald's Van-
couver I4and, 21-104; BritM N. Am., 24.5-C; Dohhn' Hudson's Day, 57, GO,
158. The Westminster Review, July 1807, gives a concise history of the Hud-
son's Bay Company under the title of The Laxt Great Monopoly. Wilkes' Nar.,
iv. 400etseq. ; Martlii's Hudson's Day, 58-9.

iiil

r
'} ■

■

■t
1
[\

;

1 i: '

470

THE FUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

has always recognized the corporate rights of this
association, for in the treaty of 1794, which permits
the freest intercourse between the citizens of the
United States and the people of Canada, exception is
made to the Hudson's J3ay territories.

And now having grown old gracefully, having
reaped the reward of its cunning and laid io rest
thousands of its f xithful servants, the question arose
how to die, not awkwardly and without loss. With
Sir Edmund Head, formerly governor-general of
Canada, as governor, the company felt prepared to
negotiate with Canada for a transfer to the Dominion
of all its territorial rights save a small tract round
each fort. This arrangement was effected the 19th
of November 1869, the consideration of the company
being three hundred thousand pounds. The United
States also respected certain claims in the Columbia
River country for infringements of its rights by settlers,
the matter being arranged by a commission in .1870,
which awarded the company six hundred thousand
dollars.

Hi3 Majesty's Royal Chakteb to thh GtOvbenor and Company oir

Hudson's Bay.

Charles the II., by the grace of God king of England, Scotland, France,
and Ireland, defender of the faith, etc., to all to whom these presents shall
come, greeting : Whereas our dear entirely beloved cousin, Prince Rupert,
Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria and Cuinberland, etc., George,
Duke "^f Albemarle, William, Earl of Craven, Henry, Lord Arlington,
Anthony, Lord Ashley, Sir John Robinson, and Sir Robert Vyner, knights
and baronets, Sir Peter Colleton, baronet, Sir Edward ilungerford. Knight
of the Bath, Sir Paul Neele, Sir John Griffith, Sir Philip CarteVet, and Sir
James Hayes, knights, John Kirke, Francis Millington, William Prettyman,
John Fenn, esquires, and John Portman, citizen aud goldsmith of Lou< m,
have, at their own great cost and charges, undertaken an expedition fot
Hudson's Bay, in the north-west parts of America, for the discovery of a new
passage into the South Sea, and for the finding of some trade for furs,
minerals, and other considerable comr^.idities, and by such, their undertaking,
have already made such discoveri'-ii as do encourage them to proceed farther
in pursuance of their said design, by means whereof there may probably aris»
great advantage to us and our kingdoms.

HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY CHARTER.

491

And wkerenti. The said iiiulcrtukcra, for their further encouragement in
the said design, have humbly beaought ns to incorporate them, and grant
unto them, and their successora, tlio wliole trade and commerce of all those
seoa, straits, and bays, rivers, lakes, creeks, and sounds, in whatsoever
latitude tbey shall bo, that lie within the entrance of the straits commonly
called Hudson's Straits, together with all the lands, countries, and territories,
upon the coasts and confines of the seas, straits, bays, lakes, rivers, creeks,
and sounds aforesaid, which are not now actually posscssc ' liy any of our
subjects, or by the subjects of any other Christian prince or ;

Now know ye. That wo, being desirous to promote all cud. 'hat may

tend to the public good of our people, and to encourage the saiii 'i: lertuking,
have, of our especial grace, certain know' ,dge, and mere i !, given,

granted, ratified, and confirmed, and by these presents for us, our heirs, and
successors, do give, grant, ratify, and contirm, unto our said cousin Prince
Rupert, Gecrge, Duke of Albemarle, ^Villiam, Earl of Craven, Henry, Lord
Arlington, Anthony, Lord Ashley, Sir John Robinsou, Sir Robert Vyner,
Sir Peter Colleton, Sir Edward Hungerford, Sir Paul Neele, Sir John Griffith,
Sir Phihp Cnrteret, and Sir James Hayes, John Kirke, Francis Milliugton,
William Prettyman, John Fenn, and John Portman, that they, and such
others as shall bo admitted into the said society us is hereafter expressed,
shall bo one body coi-porate and politic, iu deed and in name, 1 y the name of
the governor and company of adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's
Bay, and them by the name of the governor and company of adventurers of
England, trading into Hudson's Bay, one body corporate and politic, in deed
and in name, really and fully forever, for us, our heirs, and successors, wo do
make, ordain, constitute, establish, confinn, and declare, by these presents,
and that by the same name of governor and company of adventurers of
England, trading into Hudson's Bay, they shall have perpetual succession,
and that they and their successors, by the name of governor and company
of adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's Bay, be, and at all times
hereafter shall be, personable and capable in law to have, purchase, receive,
possess, enjoy, and retain, lands, rents, privileges, liberties, jurisdiction, fran-
chises, an.' hereditaments, of what kind, nature, or quality soever they be,
to them and their successors ; and also to give, grant, alien, assign, and dispose
lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and to do, execute all and singular other
things by the some name that to them shall or may appertain to do. And
that they, and their successors, by the name of the governor and company of
adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's Bay, may pleaa, and bo im-
pleaded, answer, and be answered, defend, and be defended, in whatsoever
courts and places, before whatsoever judges and justices, and otlier persons
and officers, in all or singular actions, pleas, suits, quarrels, and demands,
whatsoever, of whatsoever kind, nature, or sort, in such manner and form as
any other our liege people of this our realm of England, being persons able
and capable in law, may, or can have, purchase, receive, ^.^osess, enjoy, retain,
give, grant, demise, alien, assign, dispose, plead, defend, and to be defended,
do, permit, and execute. And that the said governor and company of ad-
venturers of England, trading into Hudson's Bay, anil their successors, may
have a common ueal to serve lor all the causes and businesses of them and

Iff

472

OBE FUJI-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

tlieir Kioceasors, and that it shall and may be lawful to the said governor and
company, and their aucceasors, the aome seal, from time to time, at their will
and pleiiaure, to break, change, nnd to make anew, or alter, aa to them shall
seem expedient.

Awl farthermore, Wo will, and by these presents for us, ouf heiiv, and
Buccessors, we do ordain that there shall be from honceforth one of the
same company to be elected and appointed in such form as hereafter in these
presents is expreaaed, which shall be called the governor of the aaid company.

And that the said governor and company sbuU and xnay elect seven of
their number in such form as hereafter in these presents is expressed, which
hha.l be called the conmiittee of the said company; which committee of
seren, or any three of them, together with the governor or deputy governor
of bhe aaid company for the time being, shall have the direction of the voyages
of and for the said company, and the provision of the shipping and mer-
chandises thereunto belonging, and also the sale of all merchandises, goods,
and other things, returned in all or any the voyages or ships of or fc; LL'*
said company, and the managing and handling of all other business afiSurs
and things belonging to the said company. And we will ordain and grant
by these presents for us, our heirs, and successors, unto the said governor
and co'inpany, and their successors, that they the said governor and company
and their successors shall from henceforth forever be ruled, ordered, and
governed accoiding to such manner and form as is hereafter in these
presents expressed, and not otherwise ; and that they shall have, hold, re-
tain, and enjoy the grants, liberties, privileges, jurisdictions, and immunities,
only hereafter in these pres'^nts granted and expressed, and no other. And
for the better execution of our will and grant in thit behalf, we liave assigne<L
nominated, constituted, and appointed by these presents for us, our heu.>
and successors, r d we do assign, nominate, constitute, and make our saM
cousin, Princii Rt'.port, to be the first and present governor of the aaf' fx>v\-
pany, and to continue in the said office from the date of these preseutt vaitil
the 10th of November then next following, if he, the said Prin-je Rupeit,
shall so long live, and so until a new governor be chosen by the said compauy
in form herecifter cxprossed. And also we have assigned, nominated, and ap-
pointed, and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, we do assign,
nominate, and constitute, the said Sir John Robinson, Sir Robert Vyner, Sir
Peter Ck)lleton, Sir James Hayes, John Kirko "' /ucis MUlington, and John
Portman to be the seven first and present cou^uittees of the said company,
from the date of these presents until the said 10th of Novembo:' then also
nert following, and so until new committees shall bo chosen in form here-
after expressed.

And farther. We wiU and grant by those presents for us, our heirs and
■nccesBors, unto the said governor and their successors, that it shall .<vud may
be lawful to and for the said go>'ernor and company for the time being, or the
greater part of them present at any public assembly commonly called the
court general, to be holden for the said company, the governor of the said
company being always one, from time to time to elect, nominate, aud Ap-
point one of the said company to be deputy to the said governor; which
deputy shall take a corporal oath before the governor and three more of the

DIVEBS PROVISIONS.

473

committee of the wid company for the time being, well, truly, and faithfully
to execute his said office of deputy to the governor of the said company, and
after his oath so taken shall and may from time to time in the absence of the
said governor exercise and exectite the oihce of governor of the said company
in such sort as the said governor ought to do.

And farther, We will and grant by these presents, for us, our heirs, and
successors, unto the said governor and company of adventurers of England
trading into Hudson's Bay, and their successors, that they, or the greater
part of them, whereof the governor for the time being, or his deputy, to be one,
from time to time and at all times hereafter, shall and may have authority
and power, yearly and every year between the first and last day of November,
to assemble and meet together in some convenient place, to be appointed
from time to time by the governor, or in his absence by the deputy of the said
governor, and the said company for the time being and the greater part of
them which then shall happen to be present, whereof the governor of the said
company, or his deputy, for the time being, to be one, to elect and nominate
one of the said company which shall be governor of the said company for one
whole year, then next following, which person being so elected and nominated
to be governor of the said company, as is aforesaid, before he be admitted to
the execution of said office shall take a corporal oath before the last governor,
being his predecessor or his deputy, and any three or more of the committee
of the aaid company for the time being, that he shall from time to time well
and truly execute the office of governor of the said company in all things
concerning the same ; and that immediately after the same oath so taken he
shall and may execute and use the said office of governor of the said company
for one whole year from thence next following.

And in like nort. Wo will and grant that as well every one of the above
named to be of the said company or fellowship as all others hereafter to be
admitted or free of the said ccmpaay, shall take a corporal oath before the
governor of the said company or his deputy for the time being, to such effect
as by the said governor and company, or the greater part of them, in any
public court to be held for the said company, shall be m reasonable and legal
manner set down and devised, before they shall be allowed or adi.iitted to
trade or traffic an a freeman of the said company. And farther, We will and
grant by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, unto the said
governor and company, and their successors, that the wd governor or deputy
governor ard the rest of the said company and their successors for the time
beuig, or the greater port of them, whereof the governor or deputy governor,
from time to time, to be one, shall and may from time to time and at all times
hc-rvftfter have jwwer and authority yearly and every year between the first
and \oat day of November, to aascmble and meet together in some convenient
place from time to time to be appointed by the said governor, or in his absence
by his deputy. And that they, being so assembled, it shall and may be lawful
to and for the said governor and lis deputy, and the company for the time
being, or the greater part of thont, which then sliall liappen to be present,
whereof the governor of the said cor ipany, or his deputy for the time being, to
be one, to elect and nominate seven of the said company, which shall be a
committee of the said company as aforesaid, before they be admitted to the

! !

474

THE PUR-1 ADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

execution of their office, shall take a corporal oath before the governor or hia
deputy and any three or move of the said committee of the said company,
being the last predecessors, that they and every of them shall well and faith-
fully perform their said office of committees in all things concerning the same,
and that immediately after the said oath so taken, they shall and may execute
and use their said office of committees of the said company for one whole
year from thence next folloT«'inj.

And moreover, Our T/ill id i r .w :i, and by these presents for us, our
heirs and successors, we da : a>i' , the said governor and company, and
their successors, that wheh and »° rften as it shall happen, the governor or
deputy governor of the said company for the time being, at any time within
one year after that he shall be nominated, elected, and sworn to the office of
the governor of the said company as is aforesaid, to die or to be removed from
said office, which governor or deputy governor not demeaning himself well in
his said office, we will to be removable at the pleasure of the rest of the said
company, or the greater part of them, which shall be present at their public
assemblies, commonly called their general courts holden for the said company;
that then it shall and so often may be lawful to and for the residue of the
said company, for the time being, or the greater part of them within a con-
venient time after the death or removing of any such governor or deputy
governor, to assem^ile themselves in such c mvenienr place as they shall think
fit, for the election of the governor or deputy governor of said company ; and
that the said company, or the greater part o; tiiciii, being then and there
present, shall and may then and there, bt.f0' -- tLou- <cparture from the said
place, elect and nominate one other of th: utiu < mpany to be governor or
deputy governor for the said company in vh; j. i .,a or stead of him that so
died or was removed; which pjrson b^ ng o /o: ted and nominated to the
office of governor or deputy governor of tLi; . 'id c^mi'Tiiy shall have and
exercise the said office for and dur' jg the reb:-!" if f- <^d year, taking first
a corporal oath, as is aforesaid, tor the due execut)o^ thereof; and this to be
done from time to time so often as the case shall so require.

And also. Our will and pleasure is, and by these presents for us, our heirs,
and successors, we do grant unto the said governor and company, that when
and as often as it shall happen, any person or persons of the committee of the
said company for the time being, at any time within one year next after that
they or any of them shall be nominated, elected, and sworn to the office of
committee of the said company as is ■:' "-i-'said, to die or to be removed from
thr said office, which committee net ■ i» • oauing themselves well in their said
office, we will to be removable at the pi^w^ rr of the said governor and com-
pany, or the greater part of them, whev ■ ' ^he govcmor of the said company
for the time being, or his deputy, to be on.^ ; that then and so often it shall and
may be la^vf n' f. a ':d for the said governor and the rest of the company for
thet'^-.t iring, or t'at: i^reater part of them, whereof the governor for the time
bein;^, or his de/; tj , lo be one, within convenient time after the death or
remc ing of any of tue said committees, to assemble themselves in such con-
venient place as is or shall be usual and accustomed for the election of the
governor of the e.aid company, or where else the governor of the said company
for tlie time being or his deputy shall appoint. And that the said governor

ABSOLUTE LORDS AND PROPRIETORS.

475

and company, or the greater part of thtm, whereof the governor for the time
being, or his deputy, to be one, being then and there present, shall and may
then and there, before their departure from the said place, elect and nominate
one or more of the said company in the place or stead of him or them that
so died, or was or were so removed. Which person or persons so nominated
and elected to the office of committee of the said company, shall have and
exercise the said office for and during the residue of the said year, taking first
a corporal oath, as is aforesaid, for the due execution thereof, and this to bo
done from time to time so often as the case shall require.

And to the end the said governor and company of adventurers of England
trading into Hudson's Bay may be encouraged to undertake and effectually to
prosecute the said design of our more especial grace, certain knowledge, and
mere motion, we have given, granted, and confirmed, and by these presents
for us, our heirs and successors, do give, grant, and confirm unto the said
governor and company and their successors, the sole trade and commerce of
all those seas, straits, bays, rivers, lakes, creek», and sounds, in whatsoever
latitude they shall be, that lie within the entrance of the straits commonly
called Hudson's Straits, together with all the lands and territories upon tho
countries, coasts, and confines of the sea«, bays, lakes, rivers, creeks, and
sounds aforesaid, that are not already actually possessed by tho subjects of
any other Christian prince or state, with the fishing of all sorts of fish, whales,
sturgeons, and all other royal fishes, in the seas, bays, inlets, and rivers within
the premises, and the fish therein taken, together with the royalty of the sea
upon the coasts within the limits aforesaid, and all mines royal as well dis-
covered as not discovered, of gold, silver, gems, and precious stones, to bo
found or discovered within the territories, limits, and places aforesaid, and
that the land be from henceforth reckoned and reputed as one of our planta-
tions or colonies in America called Rupert's Land.

And further, We do by these presents for us, our heirs and successors,
make, create, and constitute the said governor and company for the time
being, and their successors, the true and absolute lords iind proprietors of tlie
same territories, limits, and places aforesaid ; and of all other the premises,
inaving always the faith, allegiance, and sovereign dominion to us, our heirs
and successors, for the same to have, hold, possess, and enjoy the said terri-
tories, limits, and places, and all and singular other the premises hereby
granted as aforesaid, with their and every of their rights, members, juris-
dictions, prerogatives, royalties, and appurtenances wliatsoever, to them the
said governor and company and their successors forever, to be holden of us,
our heirs, and successors, as of our manor of East Greenwich, in the county
of Kent, in free and common socage, and not in cavUe or by knight's service ;
yielding and paying yearly to us, our heirs and successors, for tlie same,
two elks and two black beavers, whensoever and as often as we, our heirs
and successors, shall happen to enter into the said countries, territories, and
regions hereby granted.

And farther. Our will and pleasure is, and by these presents, for us, our
heirs and successors, we do grant unto the said governor and company, and
to their successors, that it shall and may bo lawful to and for the said gov-
ernor and company and their successors from time to time, to assemble them-

47a

THE PUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

selveR for or about any the matters, causes, afiairs, or businesses of the said
trade, in any place or places for the same convenient, within our dominions
or elsewhere, uud to hold court for the said company and the affairs thereof;
and that also it shall and may be lawful to and for them, or the greater part
of them, being so assembled, and that shall then and there be present in any
such place or places, whereof the governor or his deputy for the time being
to be one, to make, ordain, and constitute such and so many reasonable laws,
constitutions, orders, and ordinances as to them, or the greater part of them,
being then and there present, shall seem necessary and convenient for the
good government of the said company and of all governors of colonies, forts,
and plantations, factors, masters, mariners, and other officers employed or to
be employed in any the territoTies .snd lands aforesaid, and in any of their
voyages ; and for the better advancement and continuance of said trade or
traffic and plantations, and the same laws, constitutions, orders, and ordi-
nances so made, to be put in use and execute accordingly, and at their pleasure
to revoke and alter the same or any of them as the occasion shall require.
And that the said governor and companyr co often as they shall make, ordain,
or establish any such laws, constitutions, orders, and ordinances, in such form
as aforesaid, siiall and may lawfully impose, ordain, limit, and provide such
penalties and puuishmentc "pou all ofTenders contrary to such law«, oonstitu
tions, orders, and ordinances, or any of them, as to the said governor and com'
pany for the time being, or the greater part of them, then and there being
present, the said governor or his deputy being always one, shall seem neces
sary or convenient for the observation of the same laws, constitutions, orders
and ordinances ; and the same lines and amerciaments shall and may by their
officers and servants, from time to time to be appointed for that purpose, levy
tiike, and have, to the useof the said governor and company and their successors,
without the officers and ministers of us, our heirs and successors, and vrithout
any account thereof to us, our heirs and successors, to be made. All and
singular which laws, constitutions, orders, and ordinances so as aforesaid to
be mode, we will to be duly observed and kept under the pains and penalties
therein io be contained ; so always as the said laws, constitutions, orders and
ordinances, fmes and amerciaments, be reasonable, and not contrary or re-
pugnant, but as near as may be agreeable to the laws, statutes, or customs of
this our realm.

And Jarlhennore, of our ample and abundant grace, certain knowled|;e
and mere motion, we have granted, and by these presents for us, our heirs
and successors, do grant unto the said governor and company and their inc-
cessors, that they and their successors, and their factors, servants, and agents,
for them and on their behalf, and not otherwise, shall forever hereafter have,
use, and enjoy not only the whole, entire, and only liberty of trade and traffic,
and the whole, entire, and only liberty, use, and privilege of trading and
traffic to and from tlie tcnitories, limits, and places aforesaid; but also the
whole and entire trade and traffic to and from all havens, bays, creeks, rivers,
lakes, and seas, into which they shall find entrance or passage by water or
loud out of the territories, limits, and places aforesaid ; and to and with all
the natives and peor>^6, inhabitants or which shall inhabit within the terri-
tories, limits, and places aforesaid ; and to and with all other nations inhob'

EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGES.

477

•. I

} ■

iting may the coaats adjacent to the said territories, limits, and places aforesaid,
which are not already possesBed as aforesaid, or whereof the sole liberty or
privilege of trade and traflBc is not granted to any other of our subjects.

And of our farther royal favor, and of our more especial grace, certain
knowledge, and mere motion have granted, and by these presents for us, our
heirs and successors, do grant to the said governor and company and to
their successors, that neither the said territories, limits, and places hereby
granted as aforesaid, nor any part thereof, nor the islands, havens, ports,
cities, towns, and places thereof, or therein contained, shall be visited,
frequented, or haunted by any of the subjects of us, our heirs or successoi's,
contrary to the true meaning of these presents, and by virtue of our preroga-
tives royal, which we will not have in that behalf argued or brought into
question; we straightly charge, command, and prohibit for us, our heirs
and successors, all the sttbj'>cts of us, our heirs and successors, of what degree
or quality soever tliey be, that none of them directly do visit, haunt, frequent,
or trade, traffic, or adventure, by way of merchandise, into or from any the
said territories, limits, or places hereby grarted, or any or either of them
other than the said governor and company, and such particular persons as
now be or hereafter shall be of that company, their agents, factors, and
assigns, unless it be by the license and agreement of the said governor and
company in writing first had and obtained under their common seal, to be
granted upon pain that every such person or persons that shall trade and
traffic into or from any of the countries, territories, or limits aforesaid, other
than the said governor and company and their successors, shall incur our in-
dignation, and the forfeiture and the loss of the said goods, merchandises,
and other things whatsoever, which so shall be brought into this realm of
England or any the dominions of the same, contrary to our said prohibition
or the purport or true meaning of these presents, or which the said governor
and company shall find, take, and seize, in other places out of our dominions,
where the said company, their agents, factors, or assigns shall trade, traffic,
or inhabit by virtue of these our letters patent, as also the ship and ships,
with the furniture thereof, wherein such goods, merchandises, and other
things shall be brought or found, the one half of all the said forfeiture to bo
to us, our heirs and successors, and the other half thereof by these presents
clearly and wholly for us, our heirs and successors, give and grant unto the
said governor and company and their successors. And farther, all and every
the said offenders, for their said contempt, to suffer such punishment as to
us, our heirs and suecetson, shall seem meet or convenient, and not to be in
any wise delivered until they and every of them shall bewane bound unto
th« said governor for the time being in the sum of one thousand pounds at the
least, at no time then after to trade and traffic into any of the said places,
seas, bays, straits, ports, havens, or territories aforesaid, contrary to our ex-
press commandment in that behalf set down and published.

And farther, of our more especial grace wo have condescended and granted,
and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, do grant unto the said
governor and company, and their successors, that we, our heirs and successors,
will not grant liberty, license, or power to any person or persons whatsoever,
contrary to the tenor of these our letters patent, to trade, traffic, or inhabit

I 1

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'flNfflr

478

THE FUR -TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

unto or upon any of the territories, limits, or places afore specified, contrary
to the meaning of these presents, without the consent of the said governor
and company or the most part of them.

And, of our more abundant grace and favor to the said governor and com-
pany, we do hereby declare our will and pleasure to be, that if it shall so
happen that any of the persons free or to be free of the said company of ad-
venturers of Edgland trading into Hudson's Bay, who shall, before the going
forth of any ship or ships appointed for a voyage or otherwise, promise or
agree, by writing under his or their hands, to adventure any sum or sums of
money towards the furnishing any provision or maintenance of any voyage or
voyages, set forth or to be set forth, or intended or meant to be set forth, by
the said governor and company, or the more part of them, present at any
public assembly commonly called the general court, shall not within the spa>ce
of twenty days next after warning given to him or them by the said governor
and company, or their known officer or minister, bring in and deliver to the
treasurer or treasurers appointed for the company, such simis of money as
shall have been expressed and set down in writing, by the said person or
X>er8ons subscribed with the name of said adventurer or adventurers, that
then and at all times after it shall and may be lawful to and for the said
governor and company, or the more part of them present, whereof the said
governor or his deputy to be one, at any of their general courts or general
assemblies, to remove and disfranchise him or them, and every such person
or persons, at their wills and pleasures ; and he or they so removed and dis-
franchised, not to be permitted to trade into the countries, territories, or
limits aforesaid, or any part thereof; nor to have any adventure or stock
going or remaining with or among the said company, without special license
of the said governor and company, or the more part of them present at any
general court, first had and obtained in that behalf, anything before in these
presents to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.

And our will and pleasure is, and hereby we do also ordain, that it shall
and may be lawful to and for the said governor and company, or the greater
part of them, whereof the governor for the time being, or his deputy, to be one,
to admit into and be of the said company, all such servants or factors of or
for the said company, and all such others as to them or the most part of them
present at any court held for the said company, the governor or his deputy
being one, shall be thought fit and agreeable with the orders and ordinances
made and to be made for the government of the said company.

And farther. Our will and pleasure is, and by these presents for us, our
heirs and successors, we do grant unto the said governor and company, and
to their successors, that it shall and may be lawful in all elections and by-laws
to be made by the general court of the adventurers of the said company, tliat
every person shall have a number of votes according to his stock, that is to
say, for every hundred pounds by him subscribed or brought into the present
stock, one vote, and that any of those that have subscribed less than one
hundred pounds may join tlieir respective sums to make one hundred pounds,
and to have one vote jointly for the same, and not otherwise.

A nd further, of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion,
we do for us, our heirs and successors, grant to and with the said governor

nnFT

JURISDICTION AND POWERS.

479

and company of adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay, that all
lands, territories, plantations, forts, fortifications, factories, or colonies, where
the said companies, factories, or trade are or shall be, within any tlic ports or
places afore limited, shall be immediately and from henceforth under tho
power and command of the said governor and company, their successors and
assigns ; saving the faith and allegiance due and to be performed to us, our
heirs and successors, as aforesaid ; and that tho said g-^vemor and company
shall have liberty, full power, and authority to appoint and establish gov-
ernors and all other officers to govern them ; and that the governor and his
council of tho several and respective places where the said company shall
have plantations, forts, factories, colonics, or places of trade within any the
countries, lands, or territories hereby granted, may have power to judge all
persons belonging to the said governor and company, or the i uhall live under
them in all causes, whether civil or criming, according to Ihe laws of this
kingdom, and to execute justice accordingly.

Aiid, in case any crime or misdemeanor shall be committed in any of the
said company's plantations, forts, factories, or places of trade within the
limits aforesaid, where judicature cannot be executed for want of a governor
and council there, then in such case it shall and may be lawful for the chief
factor of that place and his council to transmit the party, together with the
oflFence, to such other plantations, factory, or fort, where there shall be a
governor and council, where justice may be executed, or into the kingdom of
England, as shall bo thought most convenient, there to inflict such punish-
ment as the nature of the oflence will deserve.

And moreover, Our will and pleasure is, and by these presents for us, our
heirs and successors, we do give and grant unto the said governor and com-
pany and their successors free liberty and license in case they conceive it
necessary to send either ships of war, men, or ammunition, into any their
plantations, forts, factories, or places of trade aforesaid, for the security and
defence of the same, and to choose commanders and officers over them, and to
give thtra power and authority by commissions under their common seal, or
otherwise, to continue or make peace or war with any prince or people what-
soever, that are not Christians, in any places where the said company shall
have any plantations, forts, or factories, or adjacent thereunto, as shall be
most for the advantage and benefit of said governor and company, and of their
trade; and also to right and recompense themselves upon the goods, estate, or
people of those parts, by whom the said governor and company shall sustiiin
any injury, loss, or damage, or upon any other people whatsoever, that shall
any way, contrary to the intent of these presents, interrupt, wrong, or injure
them in their said trade, within the said places, territories, or limits granted
by this charter. And that it shall and may be lawful to and for tlie said
governor and company and their successors, from time to time and at all times
henceforth, to erect and build such castles, foitilications, forts, garrisons,
colonies or plantations, towns or villages, in any parts or places M'ithin the
limits and bounds granted before in these presents, unto the said governor
and company, and their successors, from time to time ; and at all times from
henceforth to erect and build such castles, fortifications, forts, garrisons,
-colonies or plantations, towns or villages, in any parts or places witliin the

1 :

ii.

!'■;

480

THE PUR-TRADE UNDER BRITISH AUSPICES.

limits and bounds granted before in these presents nnto the said governor and
company, as they in their discretion shall think fit and requisite ; and j^or the
supply of such as shall be needful and convenient, to keep and be in the same,
to send out of this kingdom, to the said castles, forts, fortifications, garrisons,
colonies, plantations, towns, or villages, all kinds of tlothing, provision of
victuals, ammunition, and implements necessary for such purpose, paying
the duties and custom for the same, as also to transport and carry over such
number of men being willing thereunto or not prohibited, as they shall think
tit, and also to govern them in such legal and reasonable manner as the said
governor and company shall think best, and to intiict punishment for mis-
demeanors, or impose such fines upon them for breach of their orders, as in
these presents are formerly expressed.

And farther. Our will and pleasrure is, and by these presents, for us, our
heirs and successors, we do gra&t unto the said governor and compuiy and
their successors, full power and lawful authority to seize upon the persons of
all such English or any other subjects which shall sail into Hudson's Bay, or
inhabit in any of the countries, islands, or territories hereby granted to the
■aid governor and company, without their leave and license in that behalf
first had and obtained, or that shall contemn or disobey their orders, and
send them to England ; and that all and every person or persons, being our
subjects, any ways employed by the said governor and company, within any
the parts, places, or limits aforesaid, shall be liable unto and sufiier such pun-
ishments for any offences by them committed in the parts aforesaid as the
president and council for the said governor and company there shall think fit
and the merit of the ofi'ence shall require as aforesaid ; and in case any person
or persons being convicted and sentenced by the president and council of the
said governor and company, in the countries, lands, or limits aforesaid, their
factors or agents there, for any ofiPence by them done, shall appeal from the
same ; and then and in such case, it shall and may be lawful to and for the
said president and council, factors or t^ents, to seize upon him or them,
and to carry him or them home prisoners into England, to the said governor
ao'.i company, there to receive such condign punishment as hia caoae shall
require, and the law of this nation allow of ; and for the better discovery of
abuses and injuries to be dene unto the said governor and company, or their
successors, by any servant, by them to be employed in the said voyages and
plantations, it snail and may be lawful to and for the said governor and cum-
pany, and their respective presidents, chief agent, or governor in the parts
af(»«8aid, to examine upon oath all factors, masters, pursers, supercargoes,
commanders of castles, forts, fortifications, plantations, or colonies, or other
persons, touching or conueming any matter or thing, in which by law or
usage an oath may be administered, so as the said oath and the matter therein
contained be not repugnant but agreeable to the laws of this realm.

And; We do hereby straightly charge and command all and singular, our
admirals, vice-admirals, justices, mayors, sheriflb, constables, boilifls, and all
and singular other our officers, ministe.-s, liege men, and subjects whatsoever
to be aiding, Tavoring, helping, and assisting to the said governor and company,
and to their successors, and to their deputies, officers, factors, servants, as-
signees, i ministers, and cNnsry of them, in executing and enjoying the

GOVERNMENT PROTECTION.

481

premises, as well on land as at sea from time to time, when any of you shall
thereunto be required ; any statute, act, ordinance, proviso, proclamation, or
restraint heretofore made, set forth, ordained, or provided, or any other matter,
cause, or thing whatsoever to the con'^rary in any wise notwithstanding. In
witness whereof, we have cansed these our letters to be made patents ; witness
onrself at Westminster, the second day of May, in the two and twentieth
year of our reign.

By Writ of Privy Seal,

Signed,

PiaOTT.

f
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RUT. H.'W. OOIR, Toi.. I. 31

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CHAPTER XV.

T-OETS AND FORT LIFE.

Afflioation or thb Txbm— Thb Ebectiom of a Fobt a Spboial Favob,
AN© OccxASiON of REJoiciNa — A Dep6t oe Factoet— AKCHITKmmi

AND CoNSTEUCnON — EXAMPLES OF SeVEBAL FoRTS— YoEK FaCTTOET —
FOET GaEET— FOET WiLLIAM — FOET EDMONTON— FOBT FeANKUN —

FoET Vancouvee— FoET Walla Walla— Foet Rttpeet — Wtkth's
Establishment on Wapato Island— Foet Hall — Fobt Yukon — Fobt

VlCTOEIA — QbOTTND PlAN OF FOET SiMPSON— RENDEZVOUS — LlFK AT
THE FOBTS.

The term Fort was applied indiscriminately to all
fur-trading establishments having any pretensions
to permanency, whether a bastioned fortress of stone
or wood, or a square stockade, palisade, or picketed
enclosure, consisting of sharpened poles or slabs, a
block house of squared logs with apertures, or a house
of round unhewn logs without loop-holes, a factory
where stores were kept for general distribution and
furs were prepared for shipping, and which were pre-
sided over .7ith no small show of dignity and state
by titled officers, or the little cabin thrown up in the
heart of a far distant wilderness by the aid of sharp-
ened steel, as if by magic before the eyes of wondering
savages, and stocked only with the articles necessary
for temporary traffic — these were the fort, fortress,
factory, poft., house, establishment, or head-quarters
of those who domineered these savage realms.

To the natives the building of a fort among them was
made to appear a special favor. In thus bringing to
their door the white man's goods and friendship tire-
some journeys were saved, and more time left them

(483)

all

THE SELECTION OF A SITE. HI

to hunt for the furs which were to procure thorn
greater comforts. The standing threat, and the one
most generally feared, was that if they did not behave
well the trader would leave them. So little ground
was required for fort purposes, and so quiet the de-
meanor of the fur-dealer, that no jealousy was excited,
or fear of usurpation. In the eyes of tho northern
savages the Englishmen were gods bringing them
good gifts as from the skies. Once having abandoned
their aboriginal weapons, and learned the use of iron,
foreign implements became necessities. »

Hence it was made an occasion of rejoicing among
the natives when fire-arms, whiskey, and religion were
thus brought to their very door, and the fort-builders
took especial pains to interest the natives in their
doings, and make them feel a pride in the fort, which
they were assured was erected solely for their benefit.

To York Factory prior to 1740 the natives came one
thousand miles to trade. The Knistcneaux trading
at Fort Churchill found the distance so great that
they gladly welcomed the Northwest Company, who
established nearer and more intimate commercial and
social relations with them. By despatching on their
journey early in the spring active young men and
women, a '' Uowing them only a day or two at the
fort for diaukenness, they were enabled to return
before the streams were frozen. Comforting drink,
however, was brought away for home convivialities,
which was sacred to the purpose, and on no account
to be touched while en route. ^

In selecting a site for a fort, water and wood were
first considered, then hunting or fishing.'' Often some
of the chiefs were appointed to maintaiii order, to
curb the unruly of their tribe, and to protect the in-

' These people complained no less of the quality of the goods furnished
them than of their long journey, which subjected them to three months of
summer sun. And even then they could not carry one third of their beaver
to market. Carver's Travels, 112.

' Very little foreign or manufactured food was supplied the fort-dwellers.
They must for the most part obtain their own provisions or starve j heao«
to be near a supply was very essential. •

484

FORTS AND FORT IJFE.

terests of the fort-builders by every means in their
power. This was a high distinction and seldom
abused.

The dep6t was the head-quarters or point of distri-
bution of a department. Thus York Factory was the
dep6t of the Northern Department, Moose Factory
of the Southern, Lachine of the Montreal Depart-
ment, and Fort Vancouver, later Fort Victoria, of
the Columbia Department. When the Oregon country
as far north as thf "trait of Fuca was declared a part
of the United St and the company's head-quarters
on the Pacific r^. od to Victoria, that became the
dep6t. In its government, in its attitude toward the
aborigines, each fort was an imperium in imperio.

Among the more imposing establishments wa»
Prince of Wales Fort, which stood upon a commanding
elevation on the left bank of Churchill River, near the
mouth. In 1744 it was the company's chief factory.
Its high irregular walls, twenty-seven feet in thick-
ness, were of hewn stone and lime, and it mounted
forty guns. All this was precautionary against a
white enemy rather than a red one. Richard Norton
was governor there in 1737, and after him Ferdinand
Jacobs; then in 1769 ruled Moses Norton, a half-
breed son of Richard, educated in England; in 1775
Samuel Heame was placed in command. The gov-
ernor appeared in cocked hat, tights, and regimentals ;
the dress of their Indian wives was half Queen Anne
and half Spanish, a head-kerchief, mantilla, long open
skirt, and short embroidered petticoat. This fort was
demolished by the French in 1799, but was rebuilt
soon afterward.'

' 'About the fort,' according to a letter given in Cox's Adv., ii. 397-8, in
1820, ' are now to be seen decayed carriages without guns, rust-eaten guns
without carriages, groups of unappropriated balls of various calibre, broken
down walls, and dilapidated stores. See Dohbs' Hudson's Buy, 8, 18, and
Ifearne's Journey, 1, wliere a fine engraving is given. Ballantjme, wiiting in
1841, says, Hudson's Bay, 30, 'The only two in the country that are real, ftjniJ
Jide forts, are Fort Garry and the Stone Fort in the colony of Red River, which
are surrounded by stone walls with bastions at the comers. The others 'are
merely defended by wooden pickets or stockades ; and a few, where the Indians
are quiet and harmless, are entirely destitute of defence of any kind.'

PLAN AND CONSTRUCTION.

485

York Factory, once Fort Bourbon, on the marshy
left bank of Hayes River, five miles above its mouth,
which subsequently became the general entrep6t for
all Rupert Land, was on Hudson Bay, and consisted
of two-story wooden buildings, roofed with lead, placed
in the form of a square, and surrounded by a stockade
twenty feet high. In the buildings composing the
square the stores were kept and the officers lived;
between the square and the palisade were servants'
quarters and workshops. This was the chief post for
the vessels of the company, and there the chief
factors formerly met in annual council.*

The principal building of a distributing dep6t was
tlie general store where the outfit for the department
was kept. At York Factory a two years' supply was
stored, while at Fort Vancouver, being so far from
home, lest there should be accident or delay, a two
years' supply was always intended to be on hand. At
York Factory, and in most of the principal forts, was
a room called the bachelors' hall, devoted specially to
the company's clerks, but where strangers were always
welcome to smoke or spread their blankets. The
larger stations had hospitals for the use of natives
aS well as servants of the company. Settlers on the
frontier often called the solid log-house that protected
them from the savages their fort.

With a few exceptions the fur-posts of the Pacific
were much alike. If permanent, they were palisaded
in size and form about one hundred yards square.
The pickets consisted of poles or logs ten or fifteen
inches in diameter sunk into the ground and rising
fifteen or twenty feet above it. Split slabs were some-
times used instead of round poles. At two corners
diagonally opposite, and raised above the tops of the
pickets, two wooden bastions were so placed as to com-
mand a view of the country. In each of these bastions
were mounted from two to six guns, four, six, or twelve
pounders, each with its aperture like the port -hole

* Franklin's Nar., i. 37-8; BaUantyne's Hudsm'n Buy, 23, 137-9.

486

FORTS AND FORT LIFK

of a ship. The ground floor beneath served as a
magazine. Within the pickets were erected houses
according to necessity, stcre and dwelling being most
conspicuous.

I will elucidate further by describing briefly a few
individual establishments in various localities.

Later, Fort Garry, on the Assiniboine, was built^
and became the Hudson's Bay Company's head-quar-
ters in British America. There high stone walls,
with round towers pierced for cannon at the corners,
enclosed a square wherein were substantial wooden
buildings, among which were storehouses, dwelhngs,
the governor's residence, and the jail. Stone Foi-t,
some distance below on Red River, enclosed about
four acres, with numerous buildings.^'

When Pontiac attempfco'^ to surprise Detroit, the

f)lace consisted of a stockade of round piles, with a
ining of palisades, and bastions mounting a few small
cannon. Here in 1767 were about one hundred houses,
and the garrison in time of peace consisted of some
two hundred men. Michilimackinac, when Pontiac's
warriors drove their ball over the stockade as an
excuse to rush in after it and so seize the fort, was
similarly constructed and defended.*

Fort William, on Lake Superior, the famous em-
porium and interior head-quarters of the Northwest
Company, might almost be called a palisaded village.
A stockade fifteen feet high, with a tower overlook-
ing, surrounded a spacious square in which was a
great variety of buildings. First, standing five feet
from the ground, in the middle of the square, was the
coimcil-house and caravansary, a large wooden build-
ing, called fclegant in those days, containing a dining-
hall sixty by thirty feet, on the wall of which were
hung the jwrtraits of partners and other paintings,
with the apartments of the principal agents and stew-

^ Corawallis, New El Dorado, 62, quotes literally f ram Ballautvne, Iludson'a
Bay, 101; s^e also nindt' Nar., i. 124-32; MiHon and Cheadle^x North Wett
Paasage, 36 et seq. ; Palliser'a Paper/t, and Further Papers, paasim.

*aarm>r'* Travels, 19; Parkman's Pontiac, i. 322.

FORT WILLIAM.

ard at one end, and basement for kitchen and servants,
rooms. Across the entire front was a piazza, sur-
mounted by a balcony. Two buildings, of equal base
but less in height, stood one on either side of the com-
pany's great house, containing bedrooms divided by
a corridor running their entire length, one building
being for the use of the wintering partners and the
other for apprenticed clerks. In other parts of the
square, all conveniently arranged, and with due defer-
enco to place and dignity, were lodging-houses for the
men, warehouses, a counting-house, doctor's office,
powder magazine, and jail. Besides these, on one
side of the enclosure was a range of buildings, serving
as stores and workshops, where dry goods, grocer' ')s,
and liquors were sold at retail, where men were
equipped and boats mended. Outside the fort was a
ship-yard, kitchen garden, corn and potato fields, and
pastures and pens for cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry.'

Fort Edmonton, the chief establishment of the
Saskatchewan district, and the residence of the chief
factor, was in form hexagonal, with pickets, battle-
mented gateways, and bastions. There were the usual
buildings, including carpenter shop, blacksmith's forgo,
and windmill. Here were made and repaired boats,
carts, sleighs, harness, and other articles and appli-
ances for the aTiUual voyage to York Factory, and
for traffic between posts. There was likewise herc3
a large and successful farm, where wheat, barley, and
vegetables were raised in abundance.^

Fort Franklin, on the shore of Great Bear Lake,
was a rough pine log-hut, containing a single apart-
ment eighteen by twenty feet. It was roofed with
st'.oks and moss, and the interstices between the logs
were fdled with mud.'

No fortress of stone or brick was ever erected by a
fur company on the Pacific coast, but some of those

yFranehere'a Kar., 33»-40; Cox'a Col. mver, ii. 290-1.
'Grant's Ocean to Ocean, 170-2; Martin's Htulsun'a Bay, 18; MUton and
Ghmd/e'tt North West Pcusaqe, 184.
"UoofHT's Tiuiki, 30^0.

4S8

FORTS AND FORT LIFE.

of wood here built were exceedingly substantial. The
first, tV .>f Astoria, was not one of the best. Clear-
ing tht ense forest from the spot selected, the logs
were hewn and erected into two parallel rows of
houses, covered and roofed with cedar bark, and con-
sisting of stores, shops, and dwellings, one hundred
and twenty feet long, and ninety feet apart. Across
the front and rear were placed picketed slabs, and the
doors of the houses all opened into the enclosure thus
made.

Fort Vancouver, the metropolitan establishment
of the Hudson's Bay Company on the Pacific be-
tween the years 1825 when it was begun, and 1847
when the head-quarters of the company were removed
to Victoria, stood on the north side of the Columbia
River, six miles above the eastern mouth of the Wil-
lamette. It was at first located on the fir-skirted
brow of a gently sloping prairie, about one mile from
the river, but this distance proving an obstacle to
transport and communication, it was moved a few
years afterward to within one quarter of a mile of the
stream.

The plan presented the usual parallelogram, though
much larger than common, of about seven hundred
and fifty feet in length and five hundred in breadth,
enclosed by an upright picket wall of large and closely
fitted beams, over twenty feet in height, secured by
buttresses on the inside.^"

The interior was divided into two courts with
about forty buildings, all of wood except the powder
magazine, which was constructed of brick and stone.
In the centre, facing the main entrance, stood the
governor's residence, with the dining-room, smoking-
room, and public sitting-room, or bachelors' hall, the
latter serving also for a museum of Indian relics and
other curiosities. Single men, clerks, and others made

•" In Wilkes' Nar. of the U. S. Ex. Exped. it is stated that no baationa,
galleries, or loop-holes existed, but Dunn civcs the fort four bastions, each
with two twelve-pounders, while Evans and Victor mention two and one bas-
tions respectively.

FORT VANCOUVER,

1S9

the bachelors' hall their place of resort. Strangers
were sent there; it was the rendezvous for pastime
and gossip. To these rooms artisans and servants
were not admitted. The residence was the only two-
story house in the fort, and before its door frowned
two old mounted eighteen-pounders. The quarters of
the chief factor were provided in like manner with
two swivel -guns. A prominent position was also
occupied by the Roman Catholic chapel, to which
the majority of the occupants resorted, while the
smaller congregation of Episcopalians made use of
the dining-room for religious gatherings. The other
buildings consisted of dwellings for officers and men,
school, warehouses, retail stores, and artisans' shops
of all descriptions. The interior of the dwellings ex-
hibited as a rule an unpainted pine-board panel, with
bunks for bedsteads, and a few other simple pieces of
furniture.

A short distance from the fort, on the bank of the
river, lay a village of about sixty neat and well built
houses, for the married mechanics and servants,
built in rows so as to form streets. There were also
the hospital, boat house and salmon house, and near
by were barns, threshing mills, granaries, and dairy
buildings.

The plain round the fort, and along the river to
Calapooya Creek for about nine square miles, was
occupied by a well managed farm, fenced into grain-
fields, pastures, and gardens, the latter quite renowned
for their large variety and fine specimens of plants.
Fully fifteen hundred acres were under cultivation,
while the live-stock numbered, at the time of Wilkes'
visit, about three thousand head of cattle, twenty-
five hundred sheep, and three hundred brood mares.
On the dairy farm were upward of one liundrcd cows,
and a still greater number supplied the dairy on
Wapato Island, the produce being chiefly absorbed
by the Russian colonies in the north. About six
miles up the Columbia lay a grist-mill and a sawmill

f. i;

ijtil

(;1

! ' 1

,'i

(too

FORTS AND FORT LIFE.

driven by water power, from wliich the Sandwich
Islands received considerable supplies."

A post of somewhat different construction from the
rest on the Pacific coast, and built with a particular
view to strength, was Fort Walla Walla, originally
called Fort Nez Perc^, which owed its establishment
to the attack of Indians at this place on Ogden's party
of fur-traders in about 1818. The attack was re-
pelled, but the necessity of a post for retreat became
apparent in case of future hostilities. Timber was
accordingly brought to the spot over a great dis-
tance, and a picket enclosure two hundred feet square
erected on the east bank of the Columbia River, on
a promontory about three quarters of a mile north of
the Walla Walla. The wall was formed of sawed
timber twenty feet long, two feet and a half wide,
and six inches thick, presenting a smooth face sur-
mounted by a balustrade four feet in height, with
ramparts and loop-holes, and provided all round the
inside with a gallery five feet in width. At each
angle was a reservoir with a capacity of two hundred
gallons of water, for protection against incendiarism.
Within the wall were stores, and dwellings for ser-
vants, and in the centre another enclosure twelve
feet in height, with port-holes and slip-doors, a fort
within a fort. Besides the outer gate, moved by a
pulley, the entrance was guarded by double doors,
and for further security the natives were not ad-
mitted within the picket, but carried on their trade
through a small opening in the wall, which was pro-
tected by an iron door. The war material consisted
of four pieces of ordnance of from one to three pounds,
ten pwivel-guns, and a supply of muskets, pikes, and
hand-grenades.

" Wilkes' Nar. of the U. S. Ex. Exped., iv. 349-60; v. 128-9; Dunn's
Or. Ter., 141-8; Evans' Hist. Or. , MS. , 185-6; Victor' a River of the Wei>t,25;
Parker's L'rplor. Tour, 148, 168-70, 184-C; Townsend's Nar., 170; Tolmie'a
Joriniiil, MS., Finlayson's Vancouoer Island and Northwest Coast, MS., 31.
Parriah, Iiid. Anecdotes, MS., says there were eight or tea extra rooms ; that
at ono timo there were Imlf a dozen missionary families at the fort, and eacli
had a room to iteelf. There was also a ladies parlor.

[•-'rfsf'

PORT VICTORIA.

401

was
dis-

Despite the precautions taken fire obtained the
unstery, and at the rebuilding adobe took the place
of timber.

The later Fort Walla Walla was a military estab-
lishment, erected in 1857, one mile and a half west of
the town of Walla Walla."

Fort Rupert, on the north-east coast of Vancouver
Island, was quite an affair. For a stockade pine trees
were sunk into the ground and tied together on the
inside with beams. Round the interior ran a gall'^;^ ,
and at two opposite corners were flanking bastions
mounting four nine-pounders. Within were the usual
shops and buildings, while smaller stockades protected
the garden and out-houses."

Nathaniel Wyeth's log-house, placed upon Wapato,
now Sauvd Island, in 1834-5, was dignified by the
name of Fort William. Fort Hall, which he had built
on his way out, though hastily erected and with few
tools, was a singularly good stockade. The build-
ings and stockade of some establishments were con-
structed of drift-wood, with usually two bastions, and
round the inside a gallery. Fort Yukon, the most
remote post of the Hudson's Bay Company, and be-
yond the Alaskan line, seemed to the traveller to
contrast favorably with the less pretentious and more
filthy Russian estabhsliments. Smooth floors, open
fireplaces, glazed windows, and plastered walls, be-
longing to commodious dwellings of officers and men,
with ice and meat wells, fur room, and fur press, were
not often encountered in those parts."

Fort Victoria enclosed one hundred yards square in
cedar pickets twenty feet high. At the north-east and
south-west corners were octagonal bastions mounted
with six six-pounders. It was founded in June 1843
as a trading-post and depot for whalers, but after the
treaty of 1846, by which the United States obtained

^^Boss' Fur Hunters, i. 172-84, 214-17; WUkes' Nar.of the U.S.Ex. ExpcJ.,
Iv. 417-18; Kane's Wnmlerings, 271-2; Owens' Directory, 125-6.
"Barrett- LeniiarU's Tniv., 67-8.
^'Whymper's Alaska, 2o3.

■'■i.Li-,

492

PORTS AND FORT LIFE.

possession of the Oregon Territory, the head-quarters
of the Hudson's Bay Company on the Pacific coast
were transferred from Fort Vancouver to this post.
By this time it had more than three hundred acres
under cultivation and possessed a large dairy farm,
from which the Kussian colonies in Alaska received
supplies. The site was chosen by Governor Douglas

-H.

■^!v;;;^^^>^j^^^;^;^:v.

rir

.^^^vsv^^^v^^^^^^v.^k^^^^^^^^^s^^^^^

H ..

7-rf l T

F E D -

^\^^^^^^^^^^\^\i^^^^^\^y^y^>y?y^^ - ^^

F '-

®.

.<.<^V\\vAc~V\^vV^^\^\\\\\\\\\^V^^^^

Obottnd Plan of Fort Sisipson, Bbitish Colombia, 1850-66;
APTKR A Sketch bv P. N. Compton, Victoria, 1878.

A, Front Entmnce. G, Trade Hhop.

B,B, BartiotiR, 4 R11118. 11, Wuroliniiue.

C, Buck Kntrance. I, Men's Ilouaes.

D, Commnnding Offlcor's Quortcn. K, BlnckBniith >Shop.

E, Mu88 Uooni. L, Carpenter Rhop,
F,F, Officers' Quarters. M, Kitchen.

•,«,•,•, Oallery along the Inside of the picket wall, reached by staircases, affording
separate entrance to upper story of bastions.

on the east shore of Victoria Harbor, one mile from
its entrance, and the men and material were obtained
from the lately abandoned forts MoLoughlin and
Simpson. The original name was Fort Camosun, an
Indian term for the inlet, which was changed in 1845
to Fort Albert, by order from England, and in the

RENDEZVOUS.

following year to Fort Victoria. It consisted of cedar
pickets eighteen feet above ground, enclosing a space
one hundred and fifty feet square. At the angles were
two block-houses on bastions, and within the enclosuie
the usual wooden buildings.

As the several posts upon the Pacific slope wiU bo
fully mentioned in the order of their estabhshment I
pass on without further comment here.^"

There was a custom prevalent among the fur com-
panies of the United States of appointing a rendez-
vous at places central and convenient where traders
every year might meet the trappers of the respective
districts without the trouble of building forts and
keeping up expensive establishments through the year.
Rendezvous were appointed for different places and
seasons, according to the variations of traffic. The
most noted summer rendezvous was in what is now
the north-east comer of Utah, on Green River, some-
times on Ham Branch, where Bonneville, Kit Carson,
and others famous in fur-hunting annals met Nez
Perces, Bannocks, Shoshones, French Canadians, and
half-breeds, and traded and caroused. What a com-
T>' Ingling of heaven, earth, and bedlam was there ! On
the soft, sun-tinctured, mountain air rang in hellish
harmony the united sound of whooping savages, baying
wolf-dogs, howling half-breeds, cracking rifles and car-
bines, with the sax^rS and Jichtre of Frenchmen, and
the deeper and yet more awful blasphemy of English-
speaking border men. These dying down at intervals,
there was the milder but not more exalted refrain of
hiccoughing traders and licentious love-makers. The
rendezvous to the United States trappers and traders
was what Fort William was to the Northwest Com-
pany, only in the former instance obstreperous mirth
was not placed in circumscription and confine as under
rigid corporation rule. All were free to eat, drink, and

V ''1

! I

^^FirUayson'a Vancouver Island, MS., 21-6, 32; SeemarCs Voy. Herald, i.
101-6; Kane's Wanderings, 208-9; Vavasour's Report, in Martin's Hudson's
£ay,M.

FORTS ADTD FOKT LIFE.

kill ad libitum, each guu*disg his own head. Free
trappers and Indians there brought their furs and
exchanged them for such articles as they required;
hired trappers brought in their catch and received
their year's pay. Employers and employed, agents
and rovers there met, and as it was usually during
the months of July and August, when the fur of the
beaver was of least value; and as many of them since
the last meeting had not beheld the face or heard the
voice of a white man, and as they had endured many
hardships and had gone long without the assistance
of exhilarating drink, they met determined by way of
compensation to unite with business as much pleasure
as possible. Nor were they wanting in any of the three
great gratifiers of sensual man's three great passions,
intoxicating drink, woman, and tobacco. The first and
the last the traders took care to provide, selling the
vilest quality at exorbitant prices, four dollars a pint
for well watered strychnine whiskey being a common
price, and tobacco five dollars a pound; for the other,
there was no lack of forest beauties, who came without
bidding, and who were not backward in becoming the
wives of the lordly, long-haired trappers, forever or {or
a day. Thus there was no end of traflScking, gambling,
horse-racing, dancing, courting, and fighting.

And this to nine tenths of them was their whole
earthly compensation, for but few of them ever re-
turned to home or friends. If not bound by debt
to some trader or company, the free trapper was
bound by iron chains to his own infinitely worse than
brutal passions. What a beautiful example our civili-
zation, with its proud progression, its high auu holy
religion, its arts and soaring intellect, here set before
these men of nature 1

There were favorite wintering-grounds in the bend
of the Yellowstone, and on other affluents of the Mis-
souri, the spot usually selected being one where the
climate was comparatively mild, and where grass and
game abounded.

RULES AND ROUTINE.

495

Fort life, although in the heart of a wilderness and
surrounded by savages and wild beasts, was usually a
tame aflfair. There was a vast difference, however, in
different posts in this regard. The discipline and
pomp at Fort Vancouver, with its frequent visitors,
its comfortable beds, and well loaded tables, was in
marked contrast to the primitive simplicity displayed
at the little log cabin at Shushwaps with its solitary
occupant. Unhappy the clerk condemned for the
winter to distant exile 1 But change was frequent,
so that one was not kept wholly away from compan-
ionable friends long at a time.

The larger establishments were models of con-
venience and good order. Bells were rung at dawn
for the workmen to begin their labors, at eight or
nine for breakfast, at one for dinner, and at six for
supper, when work closed. The officers and laborers
had separate tables, the latter at some establishments
drawing rations from the steward, as in the army.
Business was the sole object of all, and all were busy.
Sometimes a distant post-keeper would be caught with
nothing to do for the winter, which made time hang
heavily enough.

An important arrival, such as a squadron of richly
laden canoes from a distance with chiefs, warriors,
wives, and slaves, called for corresponding state on the
part of the governor of the fort; otherwise the august
savage would deem himself slighted. On such occa-
sions audience would sometimes be held under an
awning spread outside the fort or on mats laid under
the trees, when, after silent conference and grave
smoking, speeches were made and presents exchanged,
after which trade was opened, and an encounter of
savage and civilized wit followed.

For ordinary business each fort had its trading-
room or store where goods were kept and dispensed.
Usually but few Indians were admitted within the
walls of the fort at a time. The factory gates were
always to bo kept shut, and it was the business of one

i '■

406

FORTS AND FORT LIFE.

person to scrutinize every one who entered or went
out, as well as to guard against surprise or illicit
traffic. When duties were not pressing, holidays were
frequent. Besides Sundays, Wednesdays and Satur-
days were sometimes set apart as days of leisure, but
this was not often the case. Sunday was commonly
respected at all the forts, no work but that of neces-
sity being done on that day. Religious services were
held at the chief stations, the Church of England
ritual predominating; or if Catholics were present, as
there were many among the French Canadians, their
faith was respected; and if a priest was present, mass
would be celebrated. It was customary among the
western forts to give as a half-holiday Saturday after-
noons, when shooting and games were indulged in.

In camp, fort, or rendezvous, story -telling was greatly
in vogue. Sailors never yet spun such yams. Every-
thing tended to promote these wonderful revelations.
The long intervals which elapsed between meetings,
the dangers by which they were surrounded, and
which they wore continually escaping, the impossi-
bility of practically testing the veracity of the nar-
rator, the craving of the company for accounts of the
marvellous, all stimulated to exaggeration; and by a
natural reflex law nothing so stimulated the trapper
to reckless deeds as his recital of real or imaginary
exploits, and the accompanying eulogy of his com-
panions. For praise or fame the trapper would dare
anything.

In his graphic pictures of border life and adven-
ture, Irving seems to accept the wildest freaks of fancy
and to retail them as sober reality. And not only
this, but their unwritten tales he garnishes to the full
power of his imagination. In his hands their soap
and water become brilliant bubbles, which the authors
themselves would scarcely recognize as their own.
Many of the stories told in Astoria and Bonneville's
Adventures I have seen in narrations printed before
Irving's works were written. Often the same exciting

AMUSEMENTS.

497

ti.le is related as original, with liimBelf as the hero, by
two or three different persons at as many different
times. This was a common trick of the day.

One would relate of himself a daring adventure,
which two listeners going each his way would make
his own at the next camp-fire. And thus a small
stock was made to accomplish grand results.

A standard tale is that of a lone hunter who, re-
turning with his game, is chased by three mounted
pursuers. Rapidly they gain on him, although he
casts aside every burden but his weapons. Escape is
impossible. Desperation seizes him. Finally draw-
ing from his belt a long glittering knife, he plunges it
into his horse's neck. The noble steed drops dead,
while the hunter, making a breastwork of the caret ss,
drops with his rifle one of his pursuers, and with lis
pistol another. The third takes warning and vanish js.
Catchinff the two riderless horses and securinf; tlicui,
the triumphant hunter reaches cau)p in safety with
his trophies. Amusements were not frequent; and yet
it would be extremely difficult to deprive a Freneb •
man or an Englishman of them wholly. There were
state and church days to be kept, besides incidontul
periods of merrymaking, such as marriage in high
life, a distinguished arrival or departure, and the like.
Strange to say, feasting where there was often little
to eat, and dancing where there were no ladies, were
the chief pastimes. The most substantial joy obtain-
able was a night of drunkenness, so deep as to leave
next day the nerves shaking and the head throbbing
by way of remembrance. All this was expected
on Christmas and New Year. Then the best was
brought out, and eaten and drank, and dancing was
kept up by the men until a late hour. On every
important occasion, such as the arrival or departure
of a governor, or an expedition, or even for lesser
causes, a feast was expected.

Intercourse between master and servant, or officer
and subordinate, was characterized by the strictest

Hist. N. W. Coast, Voi,. I. "

408

FORTS AND FORT LIFE.

formality and often sternness. Partners sometimes
struck a clerk, but not (jften; occasionally a clerk
would chastise a boatma^r a partner or proprietor
might beat a common sei v ant to his heart s content
without thereby demeaning himself in the eyeti of his
associates. Like the English or Scotch laborer, the
Canadian habitant must always remain an inferior.
Fort rule was despotic. Every man there was either
master or servant absolute. Something below a clerk,
but yet not wholly servant, was called, if he found
favor, a ' decent young man.' A bourgeois was some-
times postmaster and sometim* s of lesser consequence.^*

"My authorities for this chapter, in Addition to those already cited,
are: Dobba' Hvdson'a Bay, 8, 26, 39, 43, 47, C3, 56, 66-8, 193-202; Umfre-
ville's Iludson'a Bay, 6, 6o, 81-4, 203; Martin'a IJudawi'a Bay, fil-3j Mac-
kemie'a Voy., xxv. cxxi. ; fleame'a Joamey, chap. x. ; Hooper'a Tmhi, 272,
396-7; Wilkea' Nar., iv. 333; Sillirwin'a Joumai, April 1834; Oreenhow'a
Or. and lol., 160-2, 411-13; A Few Worda on the Uud/ion'a Bay Company,
20; Viclor'a River of the Wtst, 2r>-8; Ilinea' Life, 189-90, 384-6; Irvim/a
AsCoria, 611-14, and Borineville'a Adv., 84-6; Ahhott'a Kit Carson, 18, 49;
Tmonnend'a Nar., 71-6, 112; Parki-r'a Tour, 79-80, 187; Parkman'a Old
Rfqime, 5, note, 121-2, 303-10, .323-5; Cox' a Adv., ii. 65, 271-81; Carver's
Travela, 112; Mayiie'a Brit. Col., 116, 124, 184-5,297-300; Ballanlyne's Hud-
son's Bay, 249, 261, 280; Butler's Wild North Land, 61, 164, 192, 199, 206,
282, 331 ; British North America, 246, 256-7 ; Hines' Ex. Or., chaps, vii. xx.;
Dunn's Or. , chaps, vii. xv. ; Franchere's Nar. , 320-5 ; Kingston's ^now Shoes,
77, 225; Horetzy's Cnnw' ■ on the Pacific, 8; Dunraven'a Great Divide, 25;
Simpson's life, %9 L)<td<j ins of the Oreat West; Petera' Kit Carson, 1Q;

Jlobbs' W ^ !/' laydeii s iur Beunng Animals; Hinds' Ex., ii. 89; Lewis
and (" s, 188; Macjia'a Brit. Col, 49; MacDonald's Brit. Col.,

chap. y Panderings "^S; Milton and Cheadle's North West Paaaage,

54-5; ,.-.(>»'« Vancouver ind and North West Coast, MS,, 93-4, 98;

Tache >ies,\i:'? Swan's >^oL Scraps, 2^; Oray'a Or.,Qhe,p. xv.; Robin-

son's On. : r La' 88-105.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE.
1605-1805.

Shore of New Enoland— Hollanders on the Hudson— The New Neth-
erlands Company — The Swedish West India Company on the Del-
aware — Henry Fleet on the Potomac — Comparisons between the
FiTR Business of Canada and the United States— Percolations
through the Alleohanies — The Fur-trade of Natchez— The Ohio
Company — Laclede, Maxan, and Company— Auouste and Pierrk
Chouteau — Inroads from Michilimackinac — St Louis in 1803 —
Trappers on the Missouri — The Missouri Fur Company— Astor's
Projects — ^The American Fur Company — The Pacific Fur Company —
The Southwest Company — The Columbia Fur Com i-any — The North
American Fur Company — The Rocky Moui.iain Fur Company —
Sublette, Bridger, Fitzpatrick, and P'.erre Chouteau the Younh-
£R— James Pursley and the Opening of the Santa Vt Trade—
B. Pratte and Company — Bent and St Vrain — Gaunt, Dripps,
Blackwell, and Fontenelle — Kit Carson, Pilcher, Bonneville,
Walker, and Wyeth— The Rendeza'ous — The Colorado Basin and
Caufobnla — The China Trade— The Oaufornla Fur-trade— Jede-
dlah Smith — Pattis.

To Maine and up the Kennebec, where in 1605
George Weymouth was driving fine bargains, and
where John Smith during three months of the year
1614 made fifteen hundred pounds profit, we must
look for the beginning of the iur-trade in what is now
called the United States. For the next hundred
years the history of the fur-trado is the history of dis-
covery within this territory. While there were here
no all-absorbing and permanent companies such as
were found in the north, there were not lacking the
usual early monopolies. For a long time thereafter

) i

500

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE.

every one dabbled in furs, and by 1G23 from the shores
of New England to the metropolis of old England fifty
ships a year carried timber, fish, and furs.

Meanwhile the Half Moon in 1609 had not been
many days at Amsterdam, returned from her strange
stumbling into the Hudson, before certain shrewd
old Hollanders prevailed upon a. portion of the crew
to conduct another vessel to this beautiful River of
the Mountains, where furs so costly might be had
for trinkets so trifling. The venture was eminently
successful. Other equally wise and good Amsterdam
Dutchmen sent vessels thither, so 'hat in 1614 the
placid water was well sprinkled with little high-pooped
round-prowed vessels, surrounded by canoes filled with
eager fur-sellers. From this time Manhattan Island
became the chief depot on the Atlantic where furs
were collected for shipment to Europe. Although
adventure was slower in ascending the streams of New
England for peltries than in accepting the broader
and more fascinating invitation of the St Lawrence,
yet following attempted colonization at Newfound-
land, which turned upon its cod-fishery, competition
finally drove traffic farther and farther into the in-
terior.

The Dutch embraced within the limits of their fur-
trading territory not only the Hudson liiver region,
but the coast of New Jersey and southward to Dela-
ware Bay. Adriaen Block, Hendrick Christaensen,
and Cornelis Jacobsen May were the great captains
of that trafiac. Block, having ii 1613-14 lost by fire
his ship Tiger, built on Manhattan Island the yacht
Onrust, and sailing eastward through Long Island
Sound, discovered the Connecticut Biver, and thence
proceeded to Cape Cod. Christaensen built a fort
near Albany. May gave his name to a cape in
southern New Jersey. Finally, for three years from
the 1st of January 1615, a monopoly of trade was
given to the New Netherlands Company.

Probably more than at any other time or place

DUTCH COMPANIES.

501

within the territory of the United States, trade, under
the monopoly of the New Netherlands Company,
whose scouts penetrated far to the westward of Al-
bany, assumed the character of commercial occupation
rather than colonization. The Holland Company no
more coveted settlement than the Hudson's Bay or
the Northwest Company. Their object was to obtain
as many furs within the allotted three years as pos-
sible. Christaensen, one of the monopolists, was killed,
but not until after he had found the Delaware River,
which offered the most flattering prospects for traffic
in seal-skins, and secured the success of the company.

At the expiration of the term, the New Nether-
lands Company begged in vain for a renew^al of its
charter. Although not above commercial colonization,
Holland had greater ideas respecting her rich new
domain. Commerce must assume state robes and
take on nationality. For a few years trade in New
Netherlands was free to all. Then in 1G21 came
the West India Company with a patent for exclusive
trade for twenty-two years, durmg which time its
power wa^s as absolute throughout all Dutch America
as ever was that of the Hundred Associates in New
France. It could garrison forts, make treaties, ap-
point governors, and dispense justice. Fifty armed
vessels awaited its requirements. Five chambers of
directors sent nineteen delegates to a central board
which regulated affairs. Unfortunately for permanent
traffic, it had been stipulated that this powerful corpo-
ration should colonize as well as trade, so that game
and Indians gradually disappeared.^

The Puritans at Plymouth were too busily engaged
in other matters to give much attention to fur-trading.
They had souls to save, stomuclis to fill, and a nation
to make; nevertheless they did not altogether disdain
the comfortable covering of beasts. In the Boston
state-house the cod has been elevated as a symbol of

place

' From 40,000 guilders in Hi'2C) the tratiic of the Dutch West India. Com-
pany increased in a few years to tlirce or four times that sum.

502

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE.

!|i^':i

Massachusetts' prosperity. Yet the beaver in truth
did for the early settlers better service, though little
honor has been officially done this industrious animal.
After no small display of ill-tempered piety the Puri-
tans gave some attention to fishing and fur-hunting.

And now with his Swedish West India Company
comes Gustavus Adolphus, having cast a covetous
eye on the American traflBc of his Holland neigh-
bors, and sends to the Delaware under the guidance
of Minuit, a renegade director of the New Amster-
dam Company, his fur -gatherers, who in 1638 built
Fort Christina near the present site of Wilmington.
Though warned in loud terms against intrusion, the
Swedes, after strongly fortifying themselves, load ships
with furs and send them home. So New Sweden
prospers and the Dutch fur-trade is gradually less-
ened.

The Virginian colonists meanwhile devoted them-
selves chiefly to the cultivation of tobacco; this, and a
burning desire to exterminate the natives who in 1622
had broken out in retaliating massacres, dissipated all
thoughts of trading for furs. Likewise Lord Balti-
more and Cecil Calvert, in their colonization of Mary-
land, were far more intent on permanent settlement
than temporary traffic. Yet throughout all this re-
gion individual fur-traders and small companies were
abroad. In 1634 Calvert ascended the Potomac and
found there Henry Fleet, who had for some time past
been engaged in profitable peltry-trading, and who
dealt in corn as well as in beaver. William Claj'-
borne built a trading-post on Kent Island, and even
set up a claim to independent proprietorship. Reli-
gion and politics occupied the people of Massachu-
setts Bay. Penn played, smoked, and chatted with
the Indians, buying their lands, and sometimes traf-
ficking with them; yet commerce was not uppermost
in his mind. Only in New Netherlands was the spirit
of colonization subordinated to that of traffic with tlie
natives.

QUICK COLONIZATION.

503

r'un-

3igh-

Between the coast settlers and the neighboring
Indians inland arose a series of wars known as the
Pequot, King Philip's, the French and Indian war, and
others, which kept the country in a ferment unfavor-
able to traffic; and as emigration pushed westward,
European and Indian intercourse was but a repetition
of outrages and retaliations. Interwoven in the his-
tory of all the middle and so-called western states of
the Union, their subjugation and settlement, is more
or less traffic with the natives for furs; but nowhere
did this trade assume proportions which render its
special narration here a matter of interest or profit.

Left to the savages for some tv/enty years longer
by the assassination of La Salle in 1687, the Mis-
sissippi Valley was finally placed in communication
with New France, and a considerable peltry-trade
followed. With the rise of George Law, the advent
of the Western Company, the pouring-in of popula-
tion, white and black, numbering several thousands,
and the expenditure in three years by the India Com-
pany in Louisiana of twenty-five millions of francs,
only tended to hasten the removal of the fur-hunting
frontier westward, so that in 1719 we find fur-hunting
establishments opening trade on the Red, Arkansas,
Platte, and Missouri rivers.

Unlike hyperborean North America, no King
Charles ever sold the United States to a commercial
company. From the first this territory was conse-
crated to a higher destiny than the breeding of wild
beasts for their skins. The land was for quick col-
onization; animals, aborigines, forests, everything
primeval, must stand aside for that artful beldame
civilization. Hence it was that the fur-trade never
made so much of a showing south as north of the
forty-ninth parallel."

'^In 1835, while British America sent 4829 bear-skiuu to England, the
United Stites sent 10,184. But to 231C beaver sent bj- the latter, tlie fonner
shipped 8ri,0.'?.1. Colonitits were obliged to kill lieurs out of self-protection;
as a coHiiiieriiiil speculation trajipiiig lieavci was safer and more prolitablu

604

THE UNITED STATES FUE-TRADE.

Dating from the beginning, whether we consider
the colonists of Virginia and New England or the
adventurers to Hudson Bay, we are forced to acknowl-
edge that the earlier efforts of the English and
Scotch fur-hunters in America compare unfavorably
with those of their French rivals. A century or so
must elapse before the slow and calculating Anglo-
Saxon could securely clutch so large a portion of the
planet or achieve what the more mercurial Gaul by
his suaviter in modo might accomplish in a few years.

Though the powerful Iroquois regarded the English
with favor, and introduced them to the traffic of the
Algonquin tribes inhabiting the shores of the great
lakes, yet when McGregory in 1687 appeared on
Lake Huron with a cargo of articles for traffic, his
goods were seized and he was imprisoned; and few
cared to venture a like experiment. Not until a fort
on Lake Ontario was built by order of the New
York governor, Burnet, in 1725, and the Pennsyi-
vanians crossed the Alleghanies and opened trade
with the natives of Ohio, and others found their way
to the wigwams of the Cherokees, did the fur-traffic
of the English colonists assume much importance;
and even then their results were small as compared
with those of the great Scotch and English combina-
tions. Nevertheless there was some fur-traffic within
the borders of United States territory during the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The most flourishing trading establishment on the
Mississippi River in 1721 was that of Natchez. The
fur-trade was then the most important business enter-
prise in that region, but as elsewhere Indian troubles
and rapid settlement soon ruined it, or rather drove

it westward.

Following the revolt of the Natchez in

than iightiug bears ; hence the difference. This same year British America
sent England 71,068 marten, 25,297 mink, 1, 147, 72o musquash, 17,989 otter,
iuid .S22,186 seal, while the United States sent 47,253, 82,950, 2.3,232, 143,
anil 2081 respectively. At this tinio, however, the United States consumed
more fui-s ana sent more to China tlian British America used or sent directly
to Asia.

■r. .1'"!''

BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI.

505

1729, in which two hundred Frenchmen were killed,
the Western or India Company surrendered its privi-
leges and became extinct. Bienville's two failures in
1736 and 1740 to punish the Natchez, and tlie French
and Choctaw victories over the English in 1750,
tended in no wise to mend matters.

Then at the same time, that is in 1749, came the
conflict between French and English frontiersmen in
the Ohio Valley, where the Virginians appeared under
the name of the Ohio Company and disputed the en-
croachments of the French fur-gatherers. Christopher
Gist, sent from Virginia on an exploring tour down
the Ohio by the Ohio Company, returned through
Kentucky in 1751. The campaigns of Washington
and Braddock followed, all which tended to blot out
the possibility of a systematic or permanent fur-trade
before its beginning.

Lacl&de, Maxan, and Company were among the
first at New Orleans to associate for the prosecution
of a purely fur-hunting business. Their commission,
issuing from the director -general of Louisiana, was
dated 1762.

The names of Auguste and Pierre Chouteau will
evei' stand conspicuous in the history of this epoch.
In a tour of the Mississippi, made during the winter
of 1763-4, with a considerable party they established
a trading-post upon the spot where now stands the
city of St Louis. The fur business at this point during
the following half-century averaged about three hun-
dred thousand dollars per annum.

It was not until several years after the English had
obtained possession of Canada that the Montreal fur-
trade found regular channels. But about 17G7 indi-
vidual merchants and small companies were again in
the field, with Michilimackinac as their western ren-
dezvous. Of late, under the French monopoly and
license systems, the sale of intoxicating liquors had
been discontinued; but now, under new and yet more

^ m

i'''i !l

506

THE UNITED STATES FUK-TRADE.

I i.'

:.|

I i

., i.

i'"'

iii

jealous rivalry, this baneful practice was revived, and
drunkenness and debauchery grew rank in native
villages, while bloody encounters in distant depths
of silent wilderness too often stained the commerce of
rival traders.

The great interior mart of the Northwest Com-
pany was Fort William, as before their day Michili-
mackinac had been that of the merchants, who there
met the wood -rangers with their cargoes from the
westward. Later the Mackinaw Company established
themselves at the old emporium of Michilimackinac,
and there held lordly rule, the country to the south
and west claiming their special attention, while the
Northwest Company, with still more sovereign sway,
from Fort William pushed enterprise to the remotest
regions north and west.

The young republic of the United States, in the
flush of her late achievement, did not look with favor
on an association of British, such as the Mackinaw
Company, tampering with her savages and trading
within her borders. In 1795, by treaty with Great
Britain, colonial restrictions were removed, and direct
trade opened between the United States and Canada,
but in 1796 the government established posts along
the frontier ior the protection of her fur-hunters.

There were yet others of race kindred to those who
managed the great fur associations of the north ready
to stake capital, energy, and life on flattering venture.
Up to this time, if we except the early efibrts on the
Atlantic seaboard, there had been no regularly organ-
ized fui'- trade in the United States, like that in Canada.
Beyond the frontier were scattered white trappers,
who with the natives sold such furs as they could
gather to the nearest country store-keeper; but the
genius of Yankee enterprise had not yet penetrated
the forest. There had been much to do at home since
the London and Plymouth colonists had assumed
nationality — fighting, and after that praying, constitu-
tion-making, and farming. It was permanent settle-

EARLY ST LOUIS.

fior

ment and progress the new confederation wanted
instead of sudden wealth; hence they remained at
home, where land was yet plentiful and cheap, built
school-houses and meeting-houses, and worked early
and late. Further than this, they had been poor, and
unable to embark in speculative enterprise requiring
great capital; and their credit was none of the best
abroad. But with a portion of his earnings thi;
coming American appeared, ready to gamble a little.

Upon the acquisition of Louisiana in 1803 St
Louis became to the fur-trade of the United States
what Michilimackinac, the Grand Portage, and Fort
William during their several respective epochs were
to that of Canada, the frontier emporium, entrepot,
or post of supply, whither goods were shipped from
seaports, and whence expeditions were fitted for the
interior.^

Like any gold or fur hunting metropolis, St Louis
at this time was the centre of rude bustle and busi-
ness activity. With the original Creole population,
the descendants of the French colonists, and stray re-
minders of Spanish domination, were mixed keen,
trafficking New Englanders; brawny backwoodsmen
of the western frontier; tall, big-boned specimens of
the unwashed and untaught corn-bread-and-bacon-fed
of Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and ISIissouri; with
voyageurs from Canada; half-breeds from the prairies;
following their several bents, trading, gambling, fight-
ing, loafing, strutting, swaggering, drinking, swearing,
working and playing, laughing and sighing, like other
filthy, foul-mouthed, ignorant, and blasphemous assem-
blages of God's motley mortals.

These men differed from those of the fur-hunting
centres where the French and Scotch element pre-
vailed, though like them they possessed a population
with habits, dress, and jargon peculiarly its own. The

• During the last decade of the eighteenth century the annual fur receipts
at St Louis exceeded §200,000 in value, and consisted of about 40,000 pounds
of beaver, 8000 otter, TjOOO bear, 150,000 deer, and a few hundred buffalo-robes.

60S

THE UNITED STATES FURTRADE.

fur-trade here being less lucrative and more divided
than in Canada after the Montreal amalgamation,
there was little of that audacious dash about it found
at the north. It was not only motley but mongrel in
its character, lacking almost entirely those feudal ele-
ments which, however opposed to settlement, gave to
fur-hunting fraternities at once better servants and
better masters.

The fact is, fur-trading was not long the chief occu-
pation in St Louis, and since 1820 it was everj year
becoming less prominent. The Mississippi boatmen,
those lavish, loud-joking, royal American pedlers,
were then beginning to practise their pistolings, knife
exercises, and card -waxing for the forty years of
commercial throat-cutting, highway blackguardism,
and unique boat- racing and boiler- bursting which
were to follow, and were fast throwing into shade
the soiled finery of the still gay and happy voyageur.
Bustling shopkeepers, speculators, and sober mechan-
ics so jostled the awkward blanketed native and the
leathern-frocked frontiersman that they longed for air
and elbow-room, and hastened back to their forests and
prairies, making visits less frequent, until they ceased
altogether. Even the architecture of the place showed
the transition it was undergoing, the open shops and
pretentious buildings of brick and stone overshadow-
ing the low dingy dwellings of the Latin race.

After St Louis, the chief point of departure for
fur-hunting expeditions was Independence, Missouri,
while St Joseph became yet more famous in the over-
land emigration days of Oregon occupation and Cali-
fornia gold.

In fur-trading times, say 1834, Independence con-
sisted of about fifty low-roofed log and adobe houses,
thrown up helter-skelter without much regard to
streets. The town stood on a height, in a rocky, well
timbered country, and about three miles from the
landing. Dotting the river bank, or scattered over
the plain beyond where emigrant trains often made

INDEPENDENCE IN 1834.

their rendezvous, were the grouped tents of those
about to take the western pkinge. Though somewhat
sombre by day, the scene was gay enough at night,
when the canvas glowing from the hght within iHu-
minated the black air like the radiance of hope behind
bronzed and careworn features, making brilliant the
foreshadowing of luckless adventure ; or if moonlight,
then it was the silvered hope of inexperience. If we
now approach the place, we shall find that what when
softened by distance was but a buzzing strain now
assumes more distinct parts, with here a quiet yarn,
and there a psalm, and yonder bacchanalian notes
interlarded with coarse jests. Look within, and we
shall see stores of pork, ham, eggs, corn-bread, butter,
tea, coffee, milk, potatoes — soon after starting to be
supplanted by deer, prairie-hens, plover, turkeys,
buffalo, geese, ducks, and squirrels. The occupants
are busy finishing supper, or preparing beds, or mend-
ing, or packing, meanwhile keeping up loud laughing
conversation. Yet often is seen here beside the trap-
per or ox-driver the scientist, the preacher, the
gambler, at night sleeping perhaps under the same
blanket and dreaming of the law of chance. Young
men and boys are plentiful and of all grades of intelli-
gence, from him just above the pig he feeds on to that
pale, intellectual youth yonder, fresh from mother's
blessing and sister's embrace, and whose ears are now
drinking in swift damnation as it falls in tender tones
from the smooth lips of cunning cutthroat and thief,
whose black glistening eyes charm him like those of
a serpent.*

All along the Missouri in 1804 Lewis and Clarke
found Frenchmen and Spaniards living with the
natives, having in many respects descended to their
level, either for pleasure or profit. There were also
then in that vicinity scattored servants of the North-

*Silliman's Journal, April 1834; Parkman's Or. and Cat. Trail, 9-11;
Franchere's Nar., 364; Toic)iseml\-< Kar., 22; Atlantic MontlJy, June 1867;
li-viiKj'a Astoria, 1.33, Alonettt''i Valley Mhs., ii. 1 et seq.

111'!

n.i <'!

SIO

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE.

west Company : Mr McCracken was one, carrying the
furs of the Mandans to the company's factory on the
Assiniboine River, one hundred and fifty miles distant.
Likewise the Hudson Bay people were there. Hence
we see besieging in cunning concert these poor un-
lettered wild men for the skins of their wild beasts,
Fenchmen, British, and Spaniards, the loyal Canadian,
and the independence men of the Atlantic seaboard —
a noble occupation, truly, for the professedly wise,
honorable, and high-minded of a superior race and
inteUigence, squabbUng for spoils before these simple-
minded aivages, emulous only in cheating them of their
valuable commodities with tinsel trifles and poisonous
drink.

Up to 1814 the British fur- traders of Canada were
permitted by the United States to trade with the
nations of the Missouri. Particularly the Northwest
Company, who had within two years formed an asso-
ciation with the fur-traders of New York, and had
opened a British agency at that place, as well as one
at New Orleans, and another under the direction of
Jacob Mires at St Louis, were rapidly securing the
good-will of the natives of the west to the disad-
vantage of others.'

Among the earUer individuals and firms engaged in
the fur-trade at St Louis were Spaniards and French-
men, each of whom supported his retinue of followers
and assistants. Indeed these were first, and at times
alone in the business, that is to say, while the country
was under the domination of their respective govern-
ments. But after our most worshipful uncle had
stepped across the Mississippi with measuring line,
some of the late resident subjects of European
sovereigns, charmed alike by the profits of their busi-

* ' Aa tho Missouri forms only one of four large branches of the commerce of
this united, or as it is still called, the Northwest Company, they will have
it in their power, not only to break down all single adventurers on the Mis-
souri, but in the course of a few years to efifect the some thing with a company
of merchants of the United States, who might enter into a competition with
them in this single branch of their trade. ' Lewis^ Observations, m Lewis and
Clarke's Travels, ii. app. 446.

THE MISSOURI FUR COMPANY.

«|t

ness and the new beneficent rule, remained and con-
tinued their traffic, sometimes forming associations
with such Anglo -Americans as now came in for the
lion's share of the trade; for gradually the moneyed
men of Boston and New York began to turn their
attention to peltries as a business, and drawing from
the northern companies some of their experienced
servants, had entered into competition with the old
traders. Some fortunes were thus made which led
to bolder endeavor.

Thus originated the Missouri Fur Company of St
Louis. Manuel Lisa, a wealthy and enterprising Span-
iard, ^'O less energetic and bold than gentlemanly and
honorable, experienced in the trade while yet the
country was Spanish, with eleven others, men of his
stamp, among whi lu were some from the eastern states
without experienri', and with little but their money
to recommend them, formed a copartnership under
the name last mentioned, with a capital of forty thou-
sand dollars. It was the expectation of the partners
thus associating to monopolize the St Louis fur-trade.
Their special domain was only along the Missouri and
Nebraska to their several sources, or any westward
United States territory within their reach. Their
forts were chiefly among the Sioux, the Ricaras, the
Mandans, and the Blackfoot, though they often en-
countered the Shoshones of the Rocky Mountains.
They employed about two hundred and fifty men, of
French, English, Spanish, United States, Canadian,
and aboriginal half-breeds.

After establishing trading-posts at all important
points on the streams flowing from the north-west-
ward into the Missouri, the Missouri Company pene-
trated the Rocky Mountains; and one of the partners,
Mr Henry, in 1808 crossed the dividing ridge and next
year built a fort on a branch of the Lewis River.
Owing to the hostility of the natives and the diffi-
culty of obtaining provisions, Mr Henry was obliged
to abandon this post in 1810. The Missouri Com-

I t

012

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE.

pany was dissolved in 1812, was continued bv a por-
tion of the former partners, and reorganized in 1821,
after which it lived but a few yeara.*

Meanwhile John Jacob Astor of Nev/ York had
been dealing in furs, and had accumulated what was
then deemed a little fortune by buying peltries in
Canada and the United States, and shipping them
to London and Canton. Feeling himself sufficiently
powerful, with the money and influence he ^.oii.
manded in New York and St T-ouis, to enter the
field against the Mackinaw Company, which foraged
within the territory of the United States, he in 1809
obtained a charter from the New York legislature for
the American Fur Company, which he incorporated
with a capital of a million of dollars.'^

But Mr Astor was not so strong as he had sup-
posed. The St Louis merchants preferred managing
their own affairs, where so much more depended on
experience and skill than on theory and capital, and
on the same principle the Mackinaw Company, with
their posts already established and their business
under perfect control, found no difficulty in defeating
Astor's effort at every turn.

Pregnant with purposes of wealth and power,
Astor's mind now labored with a great conception.
Why not have in the United States a Hudson's
Bay Company, a Northwest Company, or a Mackinaw
Company ? Why not have the whole combined, with a
cordon or two, linking the Atlantic and the Pacific;
and whom would it so please to constitute such a com-
pany as Mr Astor? On the almost unoccupied western
slope he need not confine himself within parallels of
latitude, but swell in whatsoever direction the absence
of pressure permitted.

^ Allen, in De Bow's Indust. Res. , iii. 516-17; Oreenliow'a Or. and Cat. , 201-2 ;
Twiss' Or. Question, 16 ; Irving's Astoria, 133-4 ; Coyner's Lost Trappers, 234.

' Schoolcraft, Per. Mem. , 485, at&rina that the American CJompany was
founded in 1815, into which error he falls, probably, from the fact that tha
organization was incorporated by the legislature of New York the year fol-
lowing.

THE PACIFIC FUR COMPANY.

Sit

To this end in 1810 ho iiiHtitutod the Pacific Fur
Company, with its emporium, Astoria, at the nioutJ;
of the Cfolumbia River. With liberal use of money,
and the assistance of the disaffected of tlie Canadian
companies, Mr Astor hoped to estabUsh a line of posts
across the Rocky Mcnmtains, within United St *os
territory, and so become the great fur monopolist of
that section, and as great a man as any Frobisher,
McGilhvray, or Fraser.

This scheme he attempted. Nor was this enough.
Unable to drive out the Mackinaw Company, in 1811
he bought them off and merged that interest with his
American Company into a new association, which ho
called, in imitation of the Montreal merchants, the
Southwest Company. By the war of 1812 between
Grtat Britain and the United States this organization
wa,s broken up. After the war British fnr-tradcrs
were prohibited by congress from carrying on their
business within the territory of tho United States,
so that Mr Astor found himself with no more ad-
vantages than others; yet he continued the American
Company.

At last in 1816 congress boldly declared that
neither British traders nor British capital would bo
tolerated in United States territory.' To no British
subject would be given license to trade, and for the
proper conduct of their subordinates the American
traders would be held responsible.'*

No sooner was this piece of legislative strategy
accomplished than Astor, ever on the alert, went
immediately to Montreal, and bought almost at his
own price for his American Company all British
posts within the limits of the United States. To
supply the places of such officers and servants of the
British companies as refused to enlist under him, he

* 'This law seemed to bear particularly on this section of country south of
Lake Superior, and is generally understood to have been passed to throw tlie
old Northwest Company, and other British traders, trading on their own ac-
count, out of this hitherto very lucrative branch of trade. ' Schoolcraft's Per,
Mem., 110.

UlsT. N. W. Coast. Vol. 1. 33

■.•(

614

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE.

i 4

'Wf'

sent to Vermont and elsewhere and engaged young
men, in whose names he took out licenses to trade.

By the union of the Hudson's Bay and Northwest
companies in 1821 many of the servants of both asso-
ciations were thrown out of employment, some of
whom directed their attention toward the United
States. Of these was formed the Columbia Fur Com-
pany, which extended its operations eastward to the
Missouri, Yellowstone, and Mississippi, and which in
1826 transferred its interests to the North American
Fur Company, a new organization of the American
Company made in 1823 by Astor in connection with
W. H. Ashley.

This same year of 1826 Messrs Smith, Jackson, and
Sublette formed at St Louis the Rocky Mountain
Fur Company, having bought Ashley's establishments
and interests. They carried on a successful trade with
the Columbia countries, explored the whole region
from St Louis to Santa ¥6, and on to San Francisco,
thence along the ocean to the Columbia, aiiJ .'ack
into the Blackfoot and Sioux territories, mr.kiLg the
iir.il expedition with wagons to the Rocky Mountains
in 1829. It was a grand sweep of continent that
they encircled, more than they could by any means
occupy.

In 1830 the company was transferred to a new part-
nership, composed of Milton Sublette, James Eridger,
Fitzpatrick, and others, with whom W. Sublette main-
tained business relations and exerted a certain control.
Jedediah Smith, on the other hand, turned his atten-
tion to the Santa Fd trade, and was killed on the
Cimarron River in the following year. Immediately
after the transfer the firm increased their force to
nearly four hundred men, with a view to carry out
the vast plans of their predecessors, and in this they
appear to have fairly succeeded. In order to avoid
injurious rivalry with the North American Company,
ther agreed to confine themselves to certain districts
ir 'he Missouri region. This agreement existed for

tmmsms/LiS':.,fmM t .axsz

THE SANTA FE ROUTE.

515

two years, after which they reunited under the nianaoje-
ment of Pierre Chouteau junior, who had succeeded
to the business of Auguste and Pierre Chouteau, and
had in 1834 purchased the western interests of Astor.
In 1839 this vast concern merged into the lirni of
P. Chouteau junior, which controlled nearly all the
United States fur business east of the Rocky Moun-
tains, as well as the Santa F6 trade."

The opening of the Santa Fe route is connected
with the name (jf James Pursley, who leaving St
Louis in 1802 on a hunting expedition found his way
to New Mexico. A regular trade sprang up soon
after, and within three decades it ajfforded an outlet
for half a million dollars' worth of United States
effects. The return was chiefly in coin, but a part
consisted of furs, which were brought to the frontier or
into Santa Fe from surrounding districts, including
Arizona and the Arkansas waters. Trapping within
the Mexican territory was permitted only to settlers
under license, but these were often bought by Ameri-
cans, who carried on the business with more enterprise
and skill, and resorted besides to smuggling. Taos as
well as Santa Fe became the rendezvous of trappers
from Arkansas and the Colorado region.^''

Among the minor fur-traders who had appeared in
the field were B. Pratte and Company, under which
firm the individual traders of St Louis united in
1825, but only for a few years; Bent and Company,
who afterward under the firm of Bertt and St Vrain
became the chief competitors of P. Cliouteau junior;
Captain Gantt, who trapped l,etwecn New Pari; and
Laramie Plains about 1831; Bridger, called the
Blanket Chief, who raised a monument to his name
in Fort Bridger; Dripps, Blackwell, and Fontenello

"JHnes' Ex. Or., 40S'iO; Om//'^ Or. , .'}8 ; IX 'iow's I nduM. Re.'<.,'m. &lli-l7;
Ebbetts' Trapper'K Lije, MS., 2; Waldo'^ Criuijiies, MS., 2; Vktor'a Rimr
of the WeM, 34-39; Matthieirs Re/ugee, MS., »-5; Evana' Hut. Or., MS.,
342-3; Pelfra' Kit Carwn, llG-31.

'"About 18'27 a large capture of otter-skin.s was marie under circutnatancea
which reunited in tlie loss of several lives. Esiudem. in Pino, N. Hex., 70;
Jiarreiro, Ojeada, 18-10; Greg(j\s Corn. P liriea, i. 17-1», 307.

516

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE.

r: '

who committed suicide in 1837, were all well known
names among the Rocky Mountain trappers.

Other leaders of note were Robert Campbell, Frapp,
Gervais, and Van Dusen. But the ideal trapper and
mountaineer is perhaps best represented by Kit
Carson, renowned not only as €>. trapper and Indian-
lighter, but for his services to the government in New
Mexico and California, particularly as guide to Frd-
mont, the Pathfinder, and to other transcontinental
leaders. Another like >.:,-. 'vas Jo Meek, who after-
ward fimiinwl in the leg-.^.i^:ure of Oregon, and was
honored ly Hwit country in 1847 with a commission
to the if^wwmtfOt af, Wa^hiDgton. James P. Beck-
wourth ag»in stained, in *he midst of his trapping
career, to distinctions of a different order, to the
chieftainship of the Crow nati'Hri, whose admiration
had been won by his mulatto hue, liis keen mind, and
his undoubted bravery. He settled afterward in Cal-
ifornia."

Bill Williams, on the other har*d, distinguished
himself as an explorer of fft* ^Jolorado basin, and left
there a record of his servicer Ati the river which bears
his name. Of the special trading expeditions directed
to the Pacific slope wax that of Major Pilcher, which
in 1827 penetrated to the Colorado, trapped thence
northward as far as Fort Colville, and after an ab-
sence of two years returned to the United States by
way of the Athabasca, after suffering severely from
famine and hostile Indians. A more notable venture
was made in 1 832 by Captain Bonneville, who lod a
force of one hundred and ten men into Utah, Nevada,
and Oregon, «bnding also a division under Walker to
California Full accounts of the expeditions into the
territories of the Northwest will be given hereafter.
Want of experience made him commit many errors,
which, added to the strong rivalry encountered from

" The deeds of these thi'ee mcu have been regarded a.s so extraordinary and

' ,c volumca, as lionner's Ufe of Brrk-
Hiver qf the West, the last fouaded

intereating aa to deserve special biographic volumes, as lionner's Life of' Berk
woiirlh, Peters' Kit Carbon, and Victors ' - —

on Meek's adventure^,.

THE ANNU^VL RENDEZVOUS.

517

the thoroughly estabhshed Hudson's Bay Company
and the well organized American companies, could
not fail to entail discourajjinjj results. Reco<jnizin<j
the futility of the struggle, he retired in 1834 to the
east side of the Rocky Mountains and established a
post on Powder River, where he courted fortune for
a while longer. Equally unsuccessful were the at-
tempts made at the same time under Captain Wyeth
to establish , n opposition to the old companies. After
losing three fourths of his large forces, he was obliged
to sell his fort on Snake River to the Hudson's Bay
Company and to seek other fields for his enterprise.'*
These expeditions, although failures financially,
Avero of great value in spreading a knowledge of the
country and calling the attention of the old states to
the value of its resources. Ignorance of the western
region, and want of time and patience in acquiring a
knowledge of the trapping business, were as powerful
obstructions to success as the livalry of the older com-
panies with their large means. The reliance on raw
recruits was to a certain extent compulsory, for the
experienced trappers were too jealous of intruders to
readily tender them their services. Yet disengaged
trappers were numerous enough in the mountains,
kept there by a reckless extravagance which deprived
them of the means to seek other fields, or by the
charm of the rough and independent mountain life,
which had, besides, unfitted them for settled pursuits.
They were always to be found in force at the annual
rendezvous appointed by the larger companies. This
was usually near the South Pass of the Rocky
Mountains, as the most central point of reunion for
parties from both .'■lopes of the continent, and some-
times on Wind River, but usually at the junction of

" 7'o»iWJ'enfr» iVar. , passim; Irvimf.-t BonncviUe's Adrcn., paflsim ; Victor''!
River of the West, passim; Silliman'ti Jaiinml, .lauuary ISIJl; Iliins' loi/.,
ni-12; /(/., Or., 10-11; AiiilerKmr-^ fli.'it. Norlhire.il CotVit, MS., 121-2; Amer-
ican Sttvle Pajxrn,};].; lhinl'.i Mvr. .Va-j., iii. l!i7-'2('»4; Twisa'Or.Q ■<, '274-5;
Gray's Or. ,'M; Fiicr.i' Kit Cmvon, r)'2; rcrhim' An. l^'e«/, 807; t'l, ":r'» Ex.
Tour, 187; l{oUt'r'.H Amomj the Inf liana, r>-19.

i■K!P^ .-.vtife^^a

518

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE.

ill m

u . \

Horse Creek with Green River. The gathering was
as motley in character as it was numerous, rising at
times into the thousands, and embracing every class
and race. The Indian was represented in all stages,
from the degraded, root- eating, naked Bannock,
with humble yet cunning mien, to the chivalrous
Nez Perce in gaudy trappings, dashing to and fro on
caparisoned steed amidst wild yells and apparently
insane gesticulations. The half-breed was there, the
connecting link between Indian and white man, de-
spised by the one for his blood, admired by the other
for his superior intelligence and appearance. His
purer confrere, the Mexican, flitted about in broad-
brimmed hat and pantaloneras, and with imposing
manner that hardly conformed to the position of
drudge usually assigned him at the camp and fort.
Superior to these was the half-effeminate, half-hardy
voyageur of French extraction, whose worth required
the discipline of servitude to become developed, and
who, together with the ordinary hired trapper, formetl
the rank and file of the trading parties. The most
prominent man, however, was the free trapper, inde-
pendent of all save his horse and rifle, delighting
alike in braving the elements and in thwarting the
redskin, whom he surpassed both as warrior, hunter,
and horseman, yet whose appearance and habits he
often took a pride in affecting.

The life of these men, happy as it has been painted,
seems to have been a perpetual warfare with one foe or
another, yet, perhaps for that very reason, all the more
attractive. Between the years 18--^.> and 1830 two
fifths of the fur-huuters were killed by Im&ns, famine,
cold, wild beasts, and accidents, and Ci^taiu Wyeth
is said to have brought back less than a fourth of the
two hundred men whom ho t«v»k westward. Their
relaxations were few. Thoy \vv>uld squ^t by the
camp-fire at night and roin in a rvMiiid of yarns,
wherein mishaps, t\>il, and dan-j ' ^v to cveat*)

amusement, for squeamish s\ . _ bunie.hed,

"j^'t^^.i^. *^' ■-' : \,

■m^^

^.^;„iv':,^^''''^v-^^

RECREATIONS. HI

and admiration accorded purely to successful exploits.
These gatherings were usually reserved for the winter,
which was spent in some spot endowed with abundant
grass, wood, and game. A favorite wi uteri iig-greund
was in the bend of the Yellowstone Kiver, which en-
joyed a milder climate than any accessible district to
the south. With a life so devoid of recognized oujoy-
ments, it may be readily understood that the novelty
of a rendezvous must prove exceedingly attractive to
the hunters. It was their Olyvupia, with Dionysius
enthroned; it was the fair of the wilderness, with
tents instead of booths; it was the tournament of the
prairies, with naked Indians and rude frontiersmen
in lieu of knights and ladies. Noise and confusion
reign, d, drunkenness and rioting, yelling and swearing,
baying of dogs and tramping of horses, whizzing of ar-
rows and cracking of rifles. Employes and employers,
traders and hangers-on, found it botli a pleasure and
a necessity to attend; to which thr Indian brought his
squaw and pappoose, the hunter his half-breed family.
Accounts had to be settled, and furred capital ex-
changed for gaudy fabrics and subtile luxuries. Extrav-
agant and depraved habits were pandered to ; also vain
emulation. With whiskey at three dollars a pint,
and gunpowder at six, with tobacco at five dollars a
pound, and fancy articles at fancy prices, it is not sur-
prising that capital was soon exhausted and even
prospective earnings absorbed, while one more link
was welded in the chain of bondage.

The respite from toil was not long, for the fur
companies vied with one another to first gain the ren-
dezvou;?, with a view to secure the best chances for
sale, and tc^ contract for the trappers' services or fur
yield, and also to he the first to secure the richest
fur district. If the -xpedition was to be diiectcd to
.the country of the Elackfoot, a larger fierce than
ordinary was required to intimidate the blood-tiiirstv
savages; clsewh<en3 a small party sufficed, for instaiu- ■
on southern and Snake expeditions, the former embrac-

".^"l^'HsijJ}''

S' )

520

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE.

ing the Colorado basin and California, and the latter
Idaho. Once in the field, the companies strained every
eflfort to discover the value of hunting-grounds in the
possession of rivals, and to profit thereby. This led
to stealthy pursuits on the one side and to clever baf-
fling on the other, resulting in loss of time to both.*'

After Captfiin Wyeth's withdrawal, expeditions to
the Pacific slope became less frequent among Amer-
ican trappers, for the immediate region, particularly
south of the Oregon line, was no longer rich enough
to tempt enterprise. California was distant, and the
country to the north had a jealous guardian in one
Hudson's Bay Company. The ejistern slope, however,
still enjoyed t' eir favor, and the main stream and
tributaries of the Missouri were lined with the forts
of Astor's successor. Their steamer which ascended
to Fort Union as early as 1832, made annual trips
with supplies, and shortened the cordelle to the Black-
foot station to seven hundred miles. In 1859 a small
stern-wheel boat approached to within a few miles of
the great falls of the river, and it was not till 1864
that any other than the fur company's steamers were
seen on the upper Missouri. Opposition was not
wanting, but in 1860 the company made a final effort
to once again secure the monopoly by purchasing the
rival forts. A part of the trade was obiained from
the Red River settlers, who since 1849 becoming
more independent of the Hudson's Bay Company,
boldly smuggled sidns across the frontier if their de-
mands were not trranted.

The furs found their way, for all that, to the great
emporium of Eai-gland, for Astor's schemes resulted
only in making N^ew York the centre of the United
Suites trade, aed with the exception of a few ship-

'" Jo Meek relates that the .Uneriean Fur Company sv exasperated the
Rocky Mountain Compauy by djeir steady pursuit that tlio latter phtnned
expeditions for the mere purpose of ler.ding their riv.als into the midst of the
r.ruel IJlackfoot. The result was that tho American Compauy lost their leader
and one or two men. VU-tor^n Iliiv,- n/' /he IIV,i', l30-'2. So intense was the
rivalry at this period that it was ;i. matte'- of deatll for the trapper to sell funs
to any other company than the om; he had contracted wich.

CANADA AXD CHINA.

521

ments to neighboring states, Mexico, ITamburg, uiui
Carlton, her surpkis stock had to be sent to London.
A large part of this consisted of buffalo -robes, the
yield of which had during the fourth decade of the
century reached the number of ninety thousand per
annum. The few consignments from abroad were
merely for domestic use; South America sending
seal, nutria, vicuna, and deer skins, and Europi; the
dressed furs of the squirrel, genet, fitch, and other
animals.

In the earlier stages of the fur-trade in the United
States, her merchants had been obliged to go to Lon-
don for Canada furs, because England's colonies ccjuld
send their products only to England. This at that
time had well nigh prevented extensive operations
in the United States, for all large supplies of furs
nmst come from Canada, and before they could bo
shipped to China, then the best market in the world
for tine furs, they had to be sent to England. But
when some ten years after the organization of the
Northwest Com[)any these restrictions were removed,
and by the treaty of [7'.)^> with Great Britain direct
dealings were opened between Canada and the United
States, the merchants of New York and Boston found
themselves possessed of decided advantages, as the}''
might then ship direct to China, and save the voyage
to England.

Seventeen thousand dollars was considered sufficient
for the outfit of a Boston vessel, and the cargo con-
sisted principally of tin and iron, hollow-ware, brass
kettles, wire, beads, lead, knives, nails, small looking-
glasses, bar iron, hatchets, guns, powder, flints, rum,
and molasses. Prior to 1830 New Englanders traded
few blankets or guns for beaver."

In all the early history of tha Northwest Coast

^*Boslon in the Northwest, MS., 77; Tolmie'a Journal, MS.; Andermii'.s
Northwest Coast, MS., 91-101; lluni'.s Mcr. Mwj., xii. 50; Slehhins' K'kjIUij
Years' View, 343; liai/nal, U'mt. Pliil., xii. 557-8.

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE.

there is no phase or epoch equal in importance to
that of the China fur-trade. The whale-fislieries did
little in comparison toward brinj^ing this region into
notice. Before the adventurers trading into Hudson
Bay had ventured far inland from their swampy shores,
or the Montreal merchants had formed the Northwest
Company partnership, the Russians, impelled by the
growing scarcity of furs in Siberia, had extended their
operations to Alaska.

The Russians had enjoyed the benefits of the lucra-
tive China trade some time before it became known to
Europe. With a semicircular cordon, the middle link-
ing the Aleutian Archipelago, and one end extending
down Alaska and the other Kamchatka, they were
not exposed to the dangers and uncertainties of tran-
sient voyages, but the whole sweep of icy ocean was
theirs to deal out to the Asiatics of lower latitudes as
occasion might offer.

The doings of the Russians will be fully treated in
another volume. Suffice it to say here that to facili-
tate their operations a company was incorporated under
patronage of the crown with a capital of two hundred
and sixty thousand pounds sterling. The Russians
did a large business with northern China which did not
touch Canton, and it was in the northern part of the
empire that the consumption was greatest. Canton
was in truth but the entrepot, where furs were received
for distribution throughout the empire. Now if by
shorter, quicker, and less expensive routes the same
results might be accomplished, the advantages were
obvious.

Still there was a tempting demand at Canton; and
later the Russians were found laboring under a cloud
in that quarter. However this might have been, we
know that about 1780, a quantity of sea-otter skins
sent to China yielded so well, that a stimulus was at
once imparted to the traffic of the northern coasts,
which afterward concentrated on the seal.

It was not, ho\\ever, until the return of Captain

™'

IN THE TACIFIC.

James King from the expedition so fatal to Captain
Cook, that the high prices at which sea-otter skiii.s
were ruling in Canton became generall}^ known in
Europe and America. Then it Nvas like finding a new
gold-coast. British and American merchants both
entered the field, but the latter being less hampere<l
by government protection, grants, and monopolies, pos-
sessed greater advantages, and after 17U5 outstripped
all competitors.

In 1792 there were on the coast engaged in this
traffic not less than twenty-five vessels, most of them
from Boston. Their method of business was wholly
dijfiferent from that of later periods. It was a kind of
ocean peddling. Traders then only touched at differ-
ent points along the coast, and trafficked with the
natives without attempting to penetrate the interior.
There were no forts, no resident agents, no wood-
rangers or collectors of any kind. The savages know-
ing where vessels were accustomed to touch, carried
thither their furs, and putting out in their canoes to
the ship, found temptingly spread upon the deck tlij
things that most delighted their hearts. Many of the
natives living on the coast traded the articles thus ob-
tained from the ships with the adjacent inland tribes,
and these with those beyond, so that when the first
expeditions crossed the Rocky Mountains going west-
ward they found European articles five hundred, and
in some instances eight hundred, miles from the coast.

In this manner, going from place to place along the
coast, the trading vessels employed the summer. Then
as the inclement season approached, they proceeded to
the Sandwich Islands, there to winter and cure their
furs. The following spring they would return to the
American coast, as it was not possible to dispose of
their cargo or load theii- ship with i'urs in one season.
But after two summers' successful traffic they were
prepared to sail for China, frequently carrying witli
them some products of the Islands to complete their
cargo. Arriving at China the ship-master would sell

524

THE UNITED STATES FURTRADE.

liis furs and purchase teas, silks, beads, nankeens, or
other articles, and return to Boston after a two or
three years' absence. The profits of this trade greatly
varied, but we may well believe that they were enor-
mous."

But adventures thither were not always without
reverses. In 1792 a wealthy London firm united with
the Northwest Company in the shipment of furs to
China. For five successive years the experiment was
continued, to the ultimate loss of eighty thousand
])ounds sterling, one half of which was borne by the
London firm and one half by the Northwest Com-
pany. This loss was attributed by the adventurers
not directly to the market or price realized, but to the
diflSculty of getting home the Chinese goods received
in payment for the furs, and converting such returns
into money. Great as were the fur compames in the
Ibrests of America, they were powerless when com-
peting with the omnipotent East India Company,
whose ships then in a measure controlled the trade
between China and Great Britain. United States
commerce being then free from such a scourge, and
I'rom the enormous expenses and restrictions attending
monopoly, could send furs from the Pacific coast to
China and realize on the returns in New York some-
times within twelve or fifteen months, so that Amer-
ica possessed great advantages over Europe in this
trade. To help still further our own Northwest
Coast, from 1796 to 1814 the Russians were not per-
mitted to enter Chinese ports, so that the Boston
ships which then frequented those waters stood high
in advantage above all others.'"

Another rich field was opening before them on the

'"This casual traffic by coasters yielded to their owners in former days,
by means of the returning cargo, an average clear gain of a thousand per cent,
every second year. ' Jio/<s' A dv. , 4.

^^ Twigs' Or., 8; Rons' Adv., 4; Linm/'s Astoria, 32-3; Mackevzie's Voy.,
xxvi. In the London Quarterly Review, October 1816, Archibald Campbell
holds to the opinion as expressed by Mackenzie on p. 363 of this volume,
whereat Greenhow takes oflence, and accuses Campbell of writing in a spirit
of the most deadly hatred toward the United States.

.-'^-i

THE CAUFORNIAN COAST.

525

lower coast, then in the possession of Spanish Amer-
icans, who had neither the enterprise to estabhsh a
trade nor the wise government to foster it. True,
the fur wealth of the Californias liad not been over-
looked, for the archives record a shipment in 178G
from San Diego of two thousand dollars' worth of
otter-skins, and also that for some time the article
had entered into trade in small quantities; but this
industry, which under proper management might
have been considerably developed, was promptly
trammelled by a royal cedula, whereby the whole
trade was reserved for the king and his commissioner,
Vasadre y Vega, and to him the missionaries were
strictly ordered to deliver all skins obtained from the
Indians at a low fixed rate.^^ The receipts, as may bo
supposed, were insignificant, and the monopoly was
abandoned by a decree of 1790, but the export of
skins was restricted to Mexican ports, and tlie prict^s
there being low,^^ the settlers preferred to clandes-
tinely give the lion's share to the foreign vessels which
now began to appear on the coast. The government
neglected to entertain more liberal and enterprising
plans to establish a trade, and the people were too
indolent to acquire the needful skill and to exert
themselves beyond what was demanded by their
actual wants, so that the fur-traders found an open
field when by increased competition on the northern
coast they were obliged to extend their operations
southv/ard. The Bostonian O'Cain, of the Eclipse,
had observed how numerous the sea-otters were on
the coast of southern California, and in 1803 he pre-
vailed on the Russian authorities in Alaska to aid

" This varied from seven dollars for the best otter-skins to two dollars for
the lowest class. Arch. Cal., MS., Dept. St. Pap., San Jose, i. .31-5; Prov.
St. Pap., vi. 38-9, passim. ' Prohibiendo absolutamente A todos los de Razon
la adquiaicion delos pieles de Nutrias.' Governor Pages' Letter, in •Santa Bar-
bara Arch., MS., xii. 3. White men being thus restricted, the Indiana were
alone reUed upon to supply the monopoly, and they had no interest to stimu-
late them, since the faniers applied the money to mission work.

"Tliis is explained by the fact that the Philippine Company had a monop-
oly of the China trade with the Spanish possessions. Arch. Cat., MS., Prov.
St. Pap., xxi. 218 et seq.

IMAGE EVALUATION
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Corporation

i3 WIST MAIN ST»IET

WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80

(716) Sn-4503

^v-

I f

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE.

him in exploring this wealth. An expedition was at
once sent out, with twenty bidarkas, and resulted so
well that the Kussians engaged in the venture on a
larger scale, and soon on their own account entirely.
A few years later found them firmly established at
Bodega, with Fort Ross as the centre of the otter
and seal fishery operations which were carried on from
Oregon to Cape San Liicas, along the shores of the
coast and bays. There they remained with their
well known tenacity until 1841, by which time the
seals as well as otters were almost exterminated.^*

The English and Americans, particularly the latter,
were equally zealous in the trade,'^ though barter,
which was legitimized under republican rule, entered
largely into their operations, and afforded quite an
acceptable revenue to the inhabitants. Of this the
missionaries at first reaped the larger share, but soon
they as well as the Mexican settlers were displaced
b}'^ the more enterprising foreigners, who entered into
the country and became naturalized in order to engage
in the fishery.^^ That foreign vessels should carry
away this wealth without leaving a commensurate re-
turn, was decidedly objected to by the government, and
the most stringent orders were issued to check the

'* The Russian governor as early as 1834 reported that the rtAda of Amer-
ican traders would soon exterminate the otters, overlooking his own unrelent-
ing persecution of the animal. Zavalishin, Delo o Koloniy Rons, 9. General
V^ejo estimates that 50,000 sea-otters were taken in Califomian waters
between 1830 and 1840. Hist. Gal., MS., ii. 204-5; Khlibnikof, Zapiski, in
Matefialui cilia Istor. Rusa., iii., pt. iii. 8-9; Tikhminef, htor. OhoTranie,
ii., app., 272-3; Arch. (Jul, MS., Prov. St. Pap., xix. 307-9, 278; Proo. Rex.,
ix. 47-50.

-"Captain Smith is said to have secured 130,000 sealskins and a large
number of otters at the Farallones between 1808 and 1810. Taylor's Discov.
Fouiidtrs, i. 76.

'" In this they were often assisted by Alaskan Indians with their bidarkas,
who were either engaged by them or tendered by the Russians against a
share in the yield. The missionaries were not pleased with a license system,
under which the government allowed these intruders to displace native enter-
prise. The superior of San Buenaventura mission writes in 1813 that the
mission used to maintain six canoes for otter-fishing, catching annually 100
to 150 pieces, but ' ha tenido que alargar este tan util como precioso ramo.'
Arch. Arzob., MS., ii. 97. A tax was levied on the catch, except on such as
had been obtained by native Mexicans, but it was not very often paid. Arch.
Cal.,U8., Dept.Rec.,vm.52,130i VaMejo, Doc. Hist. Cal., US., i.Z23; VdUejo,
Ifotat Hist., MS., 36-8; Santa Cruz, Arch., MS., 96.

(,*.

OVERLAND TO CALIFORNIA.

527

abuse. The Spanish government, which forbade for-
eigners ever to buy furs, had been able to enforce its
decrees to some extent with the aid of cruisers, but
those of the repubhc were empty threats, and the
fishery was carried on with impunity even in sight of
the forts.^^

The interior river waters of the Sacramento and
San Joaquin had, on the other hand, attracted the
attention of the Hudson's Bay Company even before
United States trappers had reached them, and traders
remained there in unmolested possession long after
the Russians had left the country. The feeble fron-
tier guard could do nothing but protest, and finally
when the trappers had pretty well exhausted th«. out-
lying districts and wished to penetrate into the centre
of the state, the government admitted them under an
agreement with the Hudson's Bay Company, whereby
a tax of fifty cents was to be paid for each beaver-skin."''

The first party to reach California from the United
States was led in 1825 by Jedediah Smith of Ashley's
company, across the desert regions of Utah and Ne-
vada. He found a few beaver. Smith came again two
years later, but met with so disastrous a reception from
the Indians while pursuing the route to Oregon as to
deter him from ever visiting this coast again. Quite
a number of similar parties, varying in strength from
fifty men to a few stragglers, are shown by the official
letters of the period to have entered from the direc-
tion of Arizona and Sonora after 1826, and till the time
when the gold excitement converted trappers into pros-
pectors. One of these parties was headed by Sylvester
Pattie, who in 1824 passed from the Missouri to New

^^Arch. Cat., MS., Dept. St. Pap., Prcf. y Juz, iii. 24; Dept. St. Pap.,
i. 64-5. Ab early aa 1803 several liundrcd otter-skins were seized on tlie
American vessel Alexander, but ■while the supreme decision in the case wan
following the red-taped circuit, moths and other agencies snatched away the
Iwne of contention. Arch. Cat., MS., Prov. St. Pap., xix. 145-15G; xx. !»;i,
101-2; Lanoadorfs To//., 185.

"This arrangement waa made in 1841, at which time the company liarl
already acquired a trading station in San Francisco. Vatlejo, Doc. Hist. Cat.,
MS., X. 77; xxxiii. 180; Pertiajulrz, Cat., MS., 60-7.

■:JU:
:-,'h).':

I'-

:|f^

in, i>
ft.

THE UNITED STATES FUR-TRADE,

Mexico, and thence made trapping tours into Arizona
till 1829, when he entered California, to find a prison
and a grave. His son James succeeded in obtaining
his release in the following year, and published shortly
after an account of this expedition.**

It is time these fur-hunting chapters were brought to
a close. I would gladly have maae them shorter were
it possible so to give any adequate idea of the origin
and operations of the several ponderous agencies that
pushed discovery from the rivers St Lawrence and
Mississippi, from Lake Superior and the bay of Hud-
son across the broad continent of plains and mountains
to the shores of the Western Ocean, and sent fleets of
New England merchantmen sailing round Cape Horn,
and flittmg between California, Vancouver Island,
Alaska, the Sandwich Islands, and China.

'*PaUie'a Peramud Narrative, 210-230; Areh. Cat., MS., Dept. St. Pap.,
iL 4-6, 33-45; iii. 101-2, 111; Dept. Bee., xiii. 17; vii. 89; vL 9; v. 48, 73,
102, 107; St. Pap., Sacramento, ziz. 37-8; Smith, in NowkUcs Ann. dea
Voy., xxxvii. 210-11; Frignet, Cat., 68-60. Some of the trappen had licenses
from New Mexican authoritieB.

CHAPTER XVII.

RELATIVE ATTITUDES OF FUR -TRADERS AND NATIVES.

DiFFEKRNT ViEWS OF SaVAOISM BY DIFFERENT EUIU)PEANS, ACCORDINO TO

THSiR Several Interests— United Statks Policy— HtrsiANE Inten-
TiOKB— Villainy of Agents — Border Atrocities — Policy of th»
•Northwest and Hudson's Bay Companies— The Interests of Gold-
beekebs, Fur Companies, and Settlers Contrasted— System of
WiFB-TAKiNO— Half-breeds — Intoxicating Drink — Missionaries.

The attitades assumed by the several bands of
F iropeans at different times and places in America
were quite distinct one from another. The invaders
were governed partly by clouded conscience, but far
more by interest. Many pretending piety made con-
science subservient to interest. Many really good men
having the welfare of the natives at heart did nearly
as much harm through ignorance and bigotry as did
the vile through lust and avarice.

In the minds of the gold -seeker, the fur- hunter,
and agriculturist the savage inspired very different
sentiments. In the first instance he was regarded as
a temporary tool which after its work was done was
to be thrown away; in the sec d case he was a
splendid fellow who by a little petting and pampering
would bring splendid returns. In the path of perma-
nent settlers he was a viper, a vile, treacherous thing,
fit only for extermination. He was useful, profitable
in the first two instances ; in the last he was an encum-
brance, whose presence poisoned the air.

With the Spaniards conversion was no less a part
of their purpose than conquest. In any event the
country must be conquered for Christ, and the peoplo

Birr. V. W. Court, Vol. I. Si

(629)

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^Ir

!.M

t i

i;jj.

slj

s ■'

630

ATTITUDES OF FUR-TRADERS AND NATIVES.

lield ill lioiy suWection. If they would accept pope,
and king, and Christ as represent 3d by priests and
reckless adventurers, well : if not, they must be butch-
ered for Christ, and king, and pope. The cavaliers
had little thought of cultivating the soil, though some
jittempted it. Gold was their chief concern. But the
native abhorred work; furthermore, it killed him, so
that he was of little value as a slave or for any other
purpose.

The English colonists desired land. There was
little gold upon the eastern seaboard to tempt them,
and furs offered them few attractions. Homes fot*
themselves and their children were what they cov-
eted, and to this end land was necessary. This was
granted them in most cases by their sovereign before
embarking from their native shore. But the land did
not belong to their sovereign, and being men of stub-
born piety and principle, some of them, to quiet their
own minds and at the same time acquire title and
peaceable possession, pretended to buy the land they
wanted by giving for it a few valueless trinkets. Their
descendants, desiring more land, took it, and on one
or another pretext slew the inhabitants; but always
unjustly, because they were robbers and the sons of
robbers. Thus civilization crept swiftly and treacher-
ously westward, the people meanwhile receding from
forest to forest in their vain effort to escape the fell
destroyer.

White people were at first regarded by the Indians
as beings superior in righteousness as well as in ma-
terial strength. But adas! they soon learned their
mistake. From the moment Europeans placed foot
on American soil the aborigines were doomed. Sav-
agism and civilization, like heat and cold, or light and
darkness, cannot dwell together in harmony. Native
wise men and philosophers saw this at the time and
affirmed it.

Taking advantage of the Indian's passion for finery
and fire-water, Frenchmen and Englishmen accumu-

t-ai ;

t ,-;;

SECTIONAL POLICIES CONTRASTED.

S81

[ndians

I ma-

their

;ccl foot

Sav-

;ht and

Native

line and

lated vast fortunes, which their deseondants now enjoy,
while forest ond forester were swept away.

The Indian pohcy of the United States, in so far
as a pohcy existed, has been in the main a righteous
one. All saw that the race was doomed, and that
little was to be done but to make savagism as com-
fortable as possible during its death agonies. The
more bigoted and brainless talked of Chrit;tianiziiig or
of civilizing the natives; but such knew not the nature
o^' civilization. The more enlightened und practical,
regarded them as children needing parental care and
authority, and so they became wards of the nation.

Nothing could have been nobler or more humane
than this view of the matter, which has been gener-
ally acted upon by our statesmen for the past half
century. Part of their lands were fuirly purchased
from them, while other parts wore lield in reservation
for their sole use. Their comfort was likewise re-
garded: supplies were annually furnished them by
the government. Arms and ammunition for hunting
were given them ; likewise blankets, cloths, provisions,
and utensils of various kinds. Schools were estab-
lished, though with questionable yet harmless wisdom.
In all this our government, which should mean our
])eople, behaved m a manner of which we may justly
feel proud. History aflPords no higher example of
kindness and forbearance exercised by a dominant
power to those whose presence could scarcely be re-
garded in any other light than that of a national
nuisance. Congress was even so magnanimous as to
appropriate eighty thousand dollars for a miserable
compilation in six volumes, illustrative of Indian char-
acter and condition, that it might know the better how
to provide for the wants of the savage.

And yet our government, even though it should
mean ourselves, has been greatly to blame, has acted
foolishly, criminally, in not protecting from the spoilers
these children of its adoption. While its counsels were
in the main wise it failed to suppress the most das-

illt^

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A32

ATTITUDES OF FUR-TRADERS AND NATIVES.

Ill
11 ^

■tfi

lul

tardly deeds. It allowed the exercise of its parental
care to degenerate into a trade. Appointments ta
agencies were openly bought by unprincipled men
who trusted, for a profitable return of the investment,
to robbing those in their charge. To prevent this,
as many other iniquitous practices, the government
has been too weak or too indifferent. Notwithstand-
ing our fine declamation and beautifully spun theories,
our conferences, and our Christianizing and civilizing
societies, we have not done our duty by the Indian.*
What can be more fatal to the honor and dignity
of a great nation like that of the United States than
failure to keep faith with the helpless barbarians ou
its border? It is not enough for the government to
say that it has not required of the natives strict com-
pliance with treaty obligations; to break faith under
any circumstances is disgraceful, most of all to break
faith with the poor, ignorant, and helpless. Fourteen
supcrintendencies with numerous agencies under the
Indian Bureau branch of the Interior Department at
Washington accomplish the evil.^

f.i

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' The laxity of the covcmment in protecting the natives, and the conduct
of its corrupt officials, have been for years notorious. In the words of William
Blackmorc, writing in a work by Richard Irving Dodge, lieutenant-colonel in
the United States army: 'It would be extremely difficult to find any treaty
entered into by the government with the Indians during the last twenty years
which had been strictly and honorably fulfilled. ' An acting general in tlio
United States army affirms that, 'Civilization makes it own compact with the
weaker party; it is violated, but not by the savage.' A commission on In-
dian affairs reports: 'The history of the government connections with the
Indians is a shameful record of broken treaties and unfulfilled promises. The
history of the border white man's connections with the Indians is a sickening
recorcl of murder, outrage, robbery, and Avrong committed by the former as a
rale, and occasional savage outbreaks and unspeakable barbarous deeds of
retaliation by the latter as the exception.' It is 'useless to multiply words
upon the subject when we can find them officially printed in black and
damning characters like the following from the governor of Oregon to the
sheriff of Umatilla county, dated the 18th of July 1878: 'It is not necessary,
in my judgment' — Chadwick's, I presume, too g' 4 a man for so bad a judg-
ment — 'that any of the Indians taken should nave been personally present
at any particular murder in order to make tliem amenable to the law. Their
depredations in Umatilla County may be regarded as part^ of a general com-
bination or conspiracy for the commission of a crime, and all who are in any
way connected with it may bo regarded as principals. '

'An a^ent at Siletz, Oregon, robbed the natives in his charge of $50,000,
took service in the army as a colouel, held hich his head, ta&ed loudly of
extermination as the only cure of the Indian evil, and found among our Intel-

THE UNITED STATES.

r>8S

All our Indian wars may bo traced immediately
to one of three causes, namely, outrages by border
men, failure of government in fulfilling its promises,
and frauds peq)etratcd by agents. The outrages com-
mitted by settlers and desperadoes of tiie border
equal any in the annals of crime. Indian agents have
idways been notorious for their peculations, tli'> natives
scarcely over receiving more than twenty or thirty per
cent of the amount appropriated by tlie government
for their benefit.*

Back beyond the Allcghanies the natives were at
first driven; then they were made to vacate the fertile
valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi, and finally the
saints of Salt Lake and the jjold-diffijers of California
completed a contmuous line of pacified cf)untry to the
Pacific. A recital of events durinjx this westward
progress of civilization would cause a heart of stone
to bleed. Adopting the red man's mode of warfare,
liis treachery, and his ])itiless exterminating policy,
which civilization so loves to denounce, stealthily and
in darkness crept the noble European from east to
west, his pathway marked b}' the scalped carcasses

ligcnt and fair-minded people many iinlent admirers. l'nn-ish'n Iwl. Aitec-
dutei, MS., 74. Chillimoii, a Coquillo native, .scpuratcd \vliit(! men into tlneo
classes — the missionaries, who were sober and rightcoiis ; the ' llostons,' who
dnink whiskey, swore, and abused them ; and the soldiers, the ' Bostons' '
dogs, who killed the Indians when set upon them by their masters. Vile,
sensual men, far below the bmtes in bestiality, who could not speak Mith-
out copiously interlarding their words with horrible oaths ami imprecations,
sometimes played the mi-ssionary, selling the savages pack.s of card.s for bibles,
and telling them God would be angry with them if tiicy refused tiiem women,
utid the like. Martin's IIudMii^n liuy, TS-(j; Parker's Ex. Tour, Si-ii.

' I could cito by the score instances which would set abl;izc every honest
heart, and make one wonder how almighty justice should slumber nmidst such
inhuman wrong. The interposition of force to jireviait the lustful advances of
-dissolute white men toward their wives and daughters has cost the life of
inany a native father and husband, and has been the occa.sion of many Iwvttles.
l>riven fi"om their hereditary hunting-grounds, their game fii;,'htene<l yet
larther away, robbed of the food provided by tlie government, by vampires
v/ho to add a few dollars to their illicit gains with brutiil indifference saw
v.hole families starve, to save their lives they would sometimes kill and eat a
Btruy animal belonging to a settler, lint sucii iuHtancca were exceedingly
rare, and occuri'ed only when the jwor sheltei'lcss people M-ere diiven by
hunger to desperation; for they knew that in nil probability their lives would
be the penalty. Often and often in Caliibrnia the nearest rancheria of Indians
have been butchered by drunken miners for oll'ences which it was afterward
jiscertained never had been committed at all.

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as4

ATTITUDES OP FUR.TRADER.S AND NATIVI'^S.

of savages and the mutilated bodies of unoffending^
women and innocent children. Such is Christianity
and civilization as carried westward from Plymouth
Rock into the forests of America by descendants of
the Puritans.*

And the saddest feature of it is that there should
l>e upon this so righteously governed planet so great
a wrong for which there is no remedy. While in tho
full enjoyment of what God had given them, we camo
upon them, killed them, and took their possessions.
Being stronger than they, being what we call civil-
ized, it was what we call right thus to displace them.
They aie dead, and have left no inheritors of their
wrongs. All we can do is to hide our heads in shamo
over the outrages committed in our behalf, and teach
our children that murder and theft are equally wicked ^
whether perpetrated by nations or individuals, by
civiUzation or savagism, in Christ's name or in tho
devil's name,

Whom did we make a neighbor of the red man?
Who upon the ever shifting border of these American
states have been our civilizers? The whiskey- seller,
the blasphemer, the cheat, the libertine, the des-
perado, the assassin. Even the missionary lacked that
complete and equitable moral sense whence alone
comes even-handed justice."

* It would be difficult to find in the annals of law-making anything mor»
absolutely repulsive to a humane mind than the following from tho logislativo
journals of Idaho: 'Resolved, That three men be appointed to select 25 men
to go to Indian-hunting, and all those who can fit themselves out shall receive
a nominal sum for all scalps that they may bring in ; and all who cannot fit
themselves out shall be fitted out by the commi^ee, and when they bring in
scalps it shall bo deducted out. That for every buck scalp be paid $100, and
for every squaw $50, and $25 for everything in the shape of an Indian under
ten years of age. That each scalp shall have the curl of the head, and each
man shall make oath tliat the said scalp was taken by tho company.' When'
we see sucli sentiments promulgated in such language by tho legislature of
one of our most recently formed territories, we may well blush for our people.
Nothing I have ever read of outrages in any form has called up strongei
feelings of disgust.

'What shall we say of such a sentiment as this proceeding from the mouth
of Christ's vicegerent : ' If a policy had been established with the Indians in
the outset that the whites had in tho providence of God become the inhabitants
of the United States, the inhabitants of the same soil with tho Indians, and
that we had just as good a right to tho soil as the Indians because there was a
time when they did not occupy it,' etc. Parriah'a Iiid. Anecdotes, MS., 72.

' II

THE imiTISII COMl'AMEa.

535

All this time ilic moro rcspectablo of our nation,
good and kind dolts as tlioy are, roading of outbi-eaks
on thu border and thinking only of slaughtered set-
tlors and their burning homes, regard their own as
the most injured of races, berate the government for
its leniency in its dealings with savages, and on Sun-
day listen to their pastor's explanation how the dilfi-
culty can be solved oidy by the total extinction of
the barbarians. I have heard God's ministers pieach
blood and injustice from the pulpit until my soul has
sickened.

Soldiers burn to inflict upon them the very hor-
rors they so severely denounce. " Dragoon them,"
says one. " Kill seven nations if necessary," says
another, in order to protect a band of dissolute trap-
pers or a half dozen ruffian miners. It is the old
revenge, hatred, and curses for those we have injured.*

The Indian policy of the Northwest and Hudson's
Bay companies was quite the reverse of those of
Spain and the United States. In the absence of gold
and the desire of settlement, the great temptations to
abuse or extirpate were removed.

Several causes united to bring about this state of
things. The British who first planted their forts on
the inhospitable shores of Hudson Bay were wholly
dependent upon the natives for their entire trade;.
They could not penetrate the interior and catch the
fur-bearing animals themselves. Unless they were

•The tbeme of the cruelty of mail to his fellow-mun liugina with tho be-
ginning of tho race, and to all appearances will cml only with the extinction
of the race. There are no devils more wicked tliim man; it maligns tho
beasts to call men brutal, for brutes do not indulge in sucli merciless diver-
sion as enslaving or torturing tlieir captives. Those wiio have a desire to
continue their investigations further should consult Ermii' I lid. Or., MS.,
172-5; Parrisk'a Indian Anecdotes, MS., 9.5; Sir G<'iir<ie Simpnon, in lfniin>'
of Commonn Jii'pt. ITud.wn\t liuji d., 8.5; Viclor's Xcw I'l-iiclo/jr, Ki'i, and
River of th<: IVe.it, 23; Biitler'n Wild North fAiiid, ~:i: Dohji'H P/ahm, xvii.
321, 430, passim; UmfrevUle'a Hudson's JJay, GO; Ahhofl'n Kit (Janun, 7-.
passim; Peters' Kit Carson, 527; Dunn's Or., 71, SI-.T; (Iri'm/iow's Or. unit
(,'a/., 307; Dunraven's Great Divide, 118, passim: Marfliiiiti/d's Brit. <'ol.,
.'•0-124,172-204; Irvinj's Astoria, b\5; Tache's North West. 110; llunivjii'*
Journal, '.i'^-^^.

-4-

SS6

ATTITUDES OF FUR-TRADERS AND \ATIVE3,

i i

friendly witli the inhabitants, unless their conduct was
such OH to iriHpirc confidence, not alone in jiorBOQal
Hafety but in fair dealinj^, the fur-traders might as well
have ronxiined at home.

Hence it was ordered at the Imme office that tho
savagi^s should be treated as human beings. The men
won not t > be shot tlown ,it pleasure, or tho women
to 1)0 feU>len, or tho children scalped. In commercial
intercourso they were not to be cheated; their self-
respect was to be fostered; credit wn.' +(• -be given
them, and their necessities w«'re to be relieved, even
when there was little probability -f returns. British
sovereigns, instead of calling them 'bucks' and 'squaws,'
the most disgusting and brutal appellations ever be-
stowed on men and womon, designated them as 'Our
American Subjects,' which term for some reason car-
ries with it a sense of greater security and fair treatment
than the 'Our Wards' of the United States.

As the Hudson's Bay Company spread southward
and westward, and finally laid claim to the whole of
hyperborean North America, their original policy
became yet more firmly established. They found tho
natives exceedingly useful to them, indispensable, in
fact, to their trade; to hunt was one of the few things
an Indian could do without disgrace — that and beating
his wives, decking himself in finery, assassinating an
enemy, and getting drunk. To preserve the wild
men, the game, and the native hunters were all abso-
lutely essential to tho continuance of their exceedingly
lucrative traffic. By this time they were strong
enough, backed up by their pretended chartered rights,
to hold the country against interlopers and completely
to dominate it. Obviously settlement would be fatal.
The admission of rival traders was not to be thought
of Even the employment of Irish or Orkney men as
hunters, were such a course possible, would sooner or
later break up their monopoly; for with the admission
of white men in greater numbers t'ian they could
individually control, tho land would quickly bo thrown

RBCXXJNITION OF KKJHTS.

open to the world. In tlioHo rorost-s tlioy couh\ iiuumj^o
Kiiva^sm better than civilization; and they did inunjj^w
pcrfbctly.

By their moral and intelloctnal Huperiority thoy
v^t only stimulated the natives to greater activity in
bri \ ing in peltries, thereby converting tliem into ous-
to^ri^-rs, but they made them 'Ii'i)endent.s and uUieH,
buihiing of t^cm bulwarks for pernuineiit protection.
And hey^ liieir servants, the patient pta-sants of Aber-
deen-hire; achieved a grander conquest than did ever
* >e eomzadcs of Cortes or Pizario. The ra[)ine of
the wealth of civilized nations required little else than
cunning and brute courage, whereas in the domination
of the countleu^ tribes iidiabiting the vast forests and
plains of tlie north, there must be in dealing; with
these hunters and fishers, in a})[)eavance at least, a
recognition of rights. Thus it was in tlie Oregon
Territory that such British subjects as the company
could easily control were welcome, while citizens t)f
the United States were discournged. The natives
wore taught to despise alike the Amen jans and their
goods: not because thoy were Americans, but because
they were not the Hudson's Bay Company. Their
own countrymen of the Northwest Company they
fought far more bitterly than ever they opposed the
Americans, Spaniards, or Russians.

By the time the conquest of Canada was achieved,
and the Northwest Company was fairly in the field,
the wise and conciliating policy of the Hudson's Bay
Company had become so firmly established, and was
so universally recognized as the profitable and right-
eous one, that the Northwest Company was in a
measure obliged to adopt it. Indeed during their
bitter and bloody feuds both sides became too con-
ciliatory, feeding the native with fire-water until he
could not hunt, and paying him more for his peltries
than the traffic justified. Nowhere does the Hudson's
Bay Company system claim our admiration to greater
extent than in its treatmc nt of offenders.

338

ATXrrUDES OF FUR-TRADERS AND NATIVES.

The object was in all cases even and exact justice,
not indiscriminate retaliation. Unlike the people of
the United States, the British North Americans did
not seek to revenge themselves upon savage wrong-
doers after the savage fashion.

When an offence was committed they did not go
out and shoot down the first Indians they met ; they
did not butcher innocent women and children; they
did not scalp or offer rewards for scalps. Professing
Christianity and civilization, the argument that as
brutes and savages treat us, so we must treat brutes
and savages, had no force. A stolen article must be
restored, and the tribe harboring a thief was cut off
from commercial intercourse. The fort gates were
closed to them; they could neither sell nor buy until
the thief was brought to punishment.

If an Indian murdered a white man, or any person
in the employ of the company, the tribe to which he
belonged were assured that they had nothing to fear,
that King George men were single-hearted and just,
that unlike the Indians themselves, they did not deem
it, fair to punish the innocent for the deeds of the
guilty; but the murderer must be delivered to them.
This demand was enforced with inexorable persistency ;
and herein lay the secret of their strength. In all
that vast realm which they ruled there was not
mountain distant enough, nor forest deep enough,
nor icy cave dark enough, to hide the felon from
their justice, though none but he need have aught to
fear. The officers and servants of the company were
ordered to go to any trouble or expense in seeking
and punishing an offender, and they were never to
cease their efforts until the end was accomplished.
Threats were made against those who harbored a
criminal, and rewards offered for theu capture. Num-
berless instances I might cite where criminals were
tracked for thousanas of miles, and where an officer
of the company would enter a hostile camp alone, and
shooting to death a murderer walk away unharmed.

■

EVEN-HANDED JUSTICE.

530

Often friendly natives would be employed to capture
malefactors."

This certainty of punishment acted upon the savage
mind with all the power of a superstition. Felons
trembled before the white man's justice as in the pres-
ence of the Almighty.

Five hundred millions of dollars the United States
has spent in Indian wars. Between the shores of
the' Atlantic and Pacific, in United States territory,
there is not a hundred-mile patch on which white
men and red have not fought; and during our hun^
dred years of national history each successive score
may count its great Indian battle, and some scores
three or five. North of the Canadian line, where
dominate the same avaricious Anglo-Saxon race over
the same untamed element of humanity, there never
have been Indian wars or massacres such as have
been almost constant on the United States border, not
a single encounter such as we could call a bloody
battle;^ and no money spent by the government to
keep the natives in peaceful subjection. The reason
is plain. In the latter instance the natives are
treated as human beings, and their rights in some

^Alexander Simpson in his life of his brother, Thomas Simpson, staten
that murder was avenged by blood for blood without trial. The House of
Commons committee, Report Uvdaon^a Bay Company, 01, asked Sir Gcorgo
Simpson if this statement was true. Ho replied : ' ^Ve are obliged to punish
Indians as a matter of self-preservation in some parts of the country. We sel-
dom ge-u 1 old of them for the purpose of trial, and they are usually punished by
their own tribe. I scarcely know a case, though there may have lieen perhaps a
few cases, in which our own servants have retaliated. ' I could cite. Sir George,
a score of cases; in short, retaliation without trial was the rule, and punisli-
mcnt by the tribe the exception.

*The reverend Mr Hincs, in his Oregon, Us History, etc., 31)1-5, Ijeconu's
somewhat loose in his statements respecting intercourse with the natives.
All the sins of all the fur-hunters and border ruffians ho lays indiscriminately
upon the Hudson's Bay Company. In general and sweeiting statements lie
fills the northern country with wars, robberies, and murders wliich I fail
utterly to find coiToborated, surpassing even Mr (Jray in this particular.
Strangely enough wo find stated on the same page that while they are in the
habit of sending out war parties to attack indiscriminately the offending tribe —
and frequently in these excursions women and cliildren have been tlic greatest
sufferers, yet — 'whoever has been intimately acquj'.intcd with tlie Hudson's
Bay Company, and has observed its operations for any length of time, must
be aware that the policy pursued by them with reference to the Indians, L»
one of the greatest forbeaiance and conciliation.'

I'i

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ATTITUDES OP FUR-TRADERS AND NATIVES.

measure respected. Being amenable to the law they
are protected by the law. In the former case they
are treated as brutes, having no rights.

Of crimes among themselves, of their wars and
atrocities, the fur companies did not feel called upon
to take special notice, though without direct inter-
ference they used their influence to prevent barbarities
and maintain the peace, for the men could not hunt
and trade while fighting.

By preventing the coalition of neighboring nations,,
by fostering petty jealousies, by refusing arms and
ammunition for purposes of war, by dividing clans, by
setting up one chief and deposing another, by weak-
ening the strong and strengthening the weak, the
fur companies held the balance of power, and easily
controlled the fierce tribes by which they were sur-
rounded."

Now it would not be just to human nature, it
would not be just to Spaniard or Russian, or to our
own people of the United States, to infer from their
superior Indian policy and kinder treatment of the
savage that the fur-traders of British North America
were better men, more humane or fair-minded. It
was alone the difierence of situation and circumstances
that made them different. In the gold -producing
regions of middle America they would have carried
themselves very like the Spaniards; thrown among
the fierce islanders of Alaska, they would have de-
fended themselves with cruel retaliations, as did the
Russians; and to suppose for a moment that the
Scotch and English who traded around Hudson Bay
were morally superior to their countrymen who landed
on Plymouth Rock and founded this great American
republic is simply ridiculous. The British fur com-

•Townaend, speaking in his Narrative, 105, of Thomas McKay, who
nnited the artless fiiuikness of the forester with the affable grace of khe
Frenchman, greatly admired the discipline of his men, most of whom were
(vanadians, half-breeds, and Indians. McKay ruled them completely, although
they required his constant attention. Flagellation was sometimes resorted
to, but this disgraceful punishment was indicted only by the ' ad of the
captain himself; othoiwLsc the humiliation would be unendurabl

THE FREE TRAPPER.

541

panies found it to their pecuniary interest to be just
and humane in their dealings with the natives — this
aad nothing more.^°

Unhke the United States border men, the servants
of the British- American fur companies were bred to
the business, and held to a strict accountability for
every act, whether in their intercourse with white men
or Indians. They were no more allowed to shoot or
ill-treat savages than to murder or swindle their own
comrades,"

The free trapper, on the other hand, was often a
rough character escaped from home in early life or
from later questionable transactions, governed solely
by his passions, and responsible to no one; all cases
were to him simple questions of expediency. Many
held savages to be really soulless, and the killing of
them no greater crime than the killing of wild beasts.
Indians were only a distinct species of animals, re-
markable chiefly for their instinct of revenge. Con-

•*Oray says that Greenhow is quite wrong in ascribing to the Hudson's
Bay Company eflforts to promote culture and conversion, and I am of tho
game opinion myself. There are instances where pious postmasters havu
supplemented the efforts of tho missionary, and encouraged schools and coii-
version. But in the main it was money the company souglit, and not tlio
mental or moral improvement of the savages. As a dims they were ungodly
men for that day, and quite inclined to lechery, the freedom of tlio forest
seemingly having freed their minds from many of the trammels of conven-
tional thought.

" 'A Hudson Bay officer would receive no thanks for cheating an Indian.
The policy of the company was honesty, and also to keep the several tribes
divided and at enmity among themselves.' Fiiilaysott'a Vancouver [daml, MS.,
83. Mr Finlayson also Ijears testimony that the natives were honest when
honestly treated. Slaves, he says, were an element dangerous to the fur-
traders, who made presents to the chiefs to liberate them : for if a slave was
ordered by his master to kill a white man he must do it or be killed himself.
Said Mrs Harvey, daughter of Dr McLoughlin, to mo in her quaint way :
'The Indians cams into the Hudson's Bay fort at Vancouver in spring moro
than at any other time. There was a large hall there where they came in
and sat down. The Indians would ask what was right to be done, and my
father told them what was right and what was not right — whether, for in-
stance, they should kiU such a man fur doing so and so. If he said 'No, you
must not, it is wrong,' it would be all stopped. Tho whites, hired men,
sometimes troubled the Indians, and they would complain to my father. He
would put them in irons.' Harve^Js Life McLourfhlin, MS., 6. 'I have not
heard as yet of a single instance of any Indian being wantonly killed by any
of thn men belonging to this company. Nor have I heard any boasting among
them of the satisfaction taken in killing orabnciug Indians, that 1 have cLsu-
where heard.' Parker's Ex. Tour, 131.

ATTITUDES OF FUR ADERS AND NJbXIVBK

sequently when one thoogiit of shooting an Indian for
the beaver-skin he carried, it wa<= well enough to con-
sider the diances of capture and escape. This was
the doctrine many independent frontiersmen acted
upon. I know of nothing of the kind during the two
centuries of fur- hunting history north of the United
States boundary."

To gain yet further influence over the savages,
a system of wife-taking or popular concubinage was
encouraged by the fur companies on behalf of their
officers and servants. By this means two objects
were secured: the more powerful native tribes were
allied to the traders' interest, and the servants of
the companies, as offspring came on, became fixed in
the country. Further than this, gross immorality
among officers and subordinates, which often led to
dangerous feuds, was thus in a measure prevented.
No civilized marriage rites attended these unions.
The father of the bride was usually solicited, and

" The authorities on this subject are almost endless. Among the more
important are Harvey^sLi/e of McLaughlin, MS., 5-6 ; Work'nJuuriicU, MS., 205;
Finlaygon'n Vancouver Island, MS., 8.'l-4; Kane's Wanderings, 96-7; Umfre-
ville's Hudson's Bay, 66 ; Sir G. Back, in House of Commons Rept. Hudson's
Bay Company, 186; SchoolcraJVs Per. Memoirs, 327; Viajes al Norti; MS.,
411 ; Sir T. Richardson, in House of Commons Rept. '/udsr,''s Bay Company,
159-60; Abbott's Kit Carson, 72; Oreenhow's Or. a -'., ;i97; Dunraven's

Oreat Divide, 121; Fitzgerald's Vancouver Island, chu^) "it,; Victor's River of
the West, 29. Mr Gray, Hist. Or., chaps, v. vii, Ixiv., cataloj^es the crimes
of the Hudson's Bay Company ; and others ■writing as partim. as enumerate
many atrocities committed by it* servants. These I do not deny. It would
bo strange if in the arbitra/y and informal administration of justice in this
ilistant wilderness some excesses were not committed by the inexperienced.
I have not space to cite examples. I am not writing as a partisan. My
opinion, based upon my study of the subject, is that for every case of unfair-
ness or cruelty perpetrated by the northern fur companies upon the natives,
one liimdred crimes, each of tenfold intensity, might easily bo found which
liave been committed by our border rufBanc and the holdeii of office under the
United States government. Martin, Hudson's Bay, 1 1 1-136, quotes The Bishop
of Montreal's Journal, Missionary Papers, and Extracts from Despatcltes of
iftriou.^ Chief Factors and others to prove that the conduct of the company
wua wise, prudent, and benevolent. Mr Martin writes only in the interest
of the company, and though he states only one side, his assertions are in the
main true. A. McDonnell, m House of Commons Rept. Hudson's Bay Company,
389, thinks the Hudson's Bay Company's system one of bondage to the native,
and believes competition to be materially beneficial to him. The Nootkas
begged an American captain not to sell muskets to certain tribes lest they
should become too powerful. Viajes al Norte de Cal., MS., 411.

THE MARRIAGE POLICY.

543

presents were made ; the delighted women thus taken
were as a rule affectionate and obedient, and to the
honor of the fur-hurtters be it said they were treated
by the men with kindness and often with show of
respect. To some regrets never came : they seemed
to take as much pride and happiness in their Indian
wives and half-breed children as if the hair liad been
less lank and the skin less dark and greasy; others,
more refined and sensitive, perhaps experienced re-
grets in finding themselves thus trammelled as mar-
riageable white women began to appear."

Some, in returning to civilization and mingling
again with graceful, lovable, fair- featured women ,
having hearts and minds akin to their own, remem-
bered their forest family with some degree of shame
and chagrin; but back ajjain amidst their old associa-
tions they were speeduy reconciled."

The British American fur companies were not the
first to encourage sexual union with the natives. It
has been the English policy since the marriage of
John Rolfe and Pocahontas in IGIG. The treaty
with Powhatan growing out of this alliance was faith-
fully observed by him, and renewed by his successor.
Yet this turning the wilderness into a harem, and the
settlements, where intoxicating drink was introduced,
into pandemonium, greatly scandalized the mission-
aries, who saw their harvest thus spoiled and their
religion disgraced by emissaries of Satan.

'* Although informal, thsse marriages had been pronounced binding by the
t!0urt3. From the Gticlf Herald Mr Andei-son, Hist. Northwest Coast, MS.,
208-9, extracts a case decided by the superior court ''lit Montreal. William j
C'cnnoUy in 1803 purciiased an Indian wife, thus marrying her, according to
aboriginal custom. The two lived together 28 years, and ten oliildren were j
bom to them. In 1831 Connolly returned to Canada with his family and con- j
tinned to cohabit with his wife until the following year. lie tiicu married
his cousin, and the Indian wife returned to her country, being granted an
annuity by Connolly. The children were also treateil with great kindness
and liberally educated. Connolly died in 1849. The Indian wife died iu
1862. Action was brought by the eldest son to recover a portion of the prop-
erty, on the ground that the second marriage was illegal. Judgment was
rendered for tlio plaintiff, thus affinning the Ic^alitj' of Indian marriages.

'*Seo Victoria New Penelope, 103; Harmoii^s Journal, xiii.; Butlers Willi
North Land, 44-7; Wilkes' Nar. U. S. Ex. Exped., iv. 352; Maynt'a Brit. doL,
116; Oreenlum's Or. and Cat., 398; White's Or., 119-20.

^e'i'i

%i^

JiioO

^v^

-lit'v)^.:^

S44

ATTITUDES OF PUR-TKADERS AND NATIVE:^.

Attached by wife and children to the soil, of which
during good behavior a small patch for a garden was
allowed them, the servants of the company sank to
a state of vassalage. The strictest decorum was in
this way secured, out the offspring thus engendered
were usually without much mind or energy.

The term metis, or half-breed, is used to designate
any mixture of white and Indian blood; sometimes a
person with one fourth Indian blood is called a quad-
roon, but that appellation is not common in northern
intermixtures. The chief distinction is French half-
breeds and English half-breeds, which are so desig-
nated according to the language spoken rather than
actual parentage. Yet it :s interesting to note the
difference in those of different nationality on the
father's side. All inherit the deep-seated passions
of the mother, but while those of the French father
are frivolous and extravagant, the sons of Scotchmen
are often found to be staid, plodding, and economical.
Though swarthy, the half-breeds are usually largo
handsome men, proud of their parentage and nation-
ality, and quite hardy. No shame is manifested by
reason of their aboriginal extraction, and some scarcely
show it at all. They are a sharp-sighted, sharp-tem-
pered race, yet too often uniting savage sluggishness
of mind with civilized proclivities to drink and disease.
Yet I have seen many beautiful and intelligent ladies
who were daughters of Indian mothers. The half-
breeds have large families, and though their instincts
are Indian, they are generally kind-hearted and hos-
pitable. The women are better than the men; they
make good wives and are quite thrifty.^

1^ Many half-breeds proved themselves able men, and were allotted high
positiouB. Moses Norton, born at Prince of Wales Fort, where he subse-
quently governed with prudence and ability, being very successful in for-
warding the interests of the company, was a half-breed, educated in England.
Six of the most l)eaatiful Indian girls were kept fur his harem. At the same
time he was exceedingly jealous for the honor of his people, andof the reputation
of their wives and daughters for chastity. He lost no occasion while indulging
himself in every excess to inculcate precepts of virtue and preach morali^ to
others. The wrath of God and the savageness of Indiaa natm'e were alike

HALF-BREEDS.

545

The fur companies have generally acknowledged
the claims of their half- breeds to protection and sus-
tenance, and this class has never been forced into
savagism. Attached to the Northwest Company in
1817 were fifteen hundred half-breed women and chil-
dren; so many, indeed, that the company forbado
their servants taking new wives from the foi'^st,
there being sufficient of this mixed element for J
practical purposes. Several thousand dollars were
about this time subscribed by the partners and clerks
of the Northwest Company to establish a school at
Rainy Lake or Fort William for the education of their
children.

'''&*.»iw.T!Hg

The liquor question was always one of no small
moment to the fur-trader. The savage took greedily
to intoxicating drink and tobacco from the first. His
passion for rum and whiskey approached madness,
and his only idea of happiness in the bottle was dead-
drunkenness. Anything he had, his gun, his horse, his
wife, he would give for a quart of bottloil oblivion.

Intoxicating drink was not only the strongest
magnet for brmging hunters to the forts, but its i)ur-
chasing power was greater than that of any otiior
commodity. Hence the constant temptation to swull
the profits by dealing out fire-water.

But experience soon taught that the advantage
thus gained was temporary; that the Indian would
not hunt so long as he could get drink; and that it
was not only safer, but in the long run more profitable,
to dispense entirely with the destroying liquid in abo-
riginal traffic. To collect furs the Indian must pos-
sess his senses; to endure the winter's cold he must
be fed and clothed; drink destroyed his energies, ab-
sorbed his property, and left him hungry and naked.

held up as a waminK. In his old age, overcome by jealousy, he is said to
have poisoned two of his young women. See Oood's Brit. Col., MS., 110-17;
I learne's Journey, Q2; Bnllantyne^a Hudnorin Baij, 107; Tachc's Northwftt,
D7-110; Biitler'n Wild North Land, 45; Kane's Waiuleriiiys, 75-0; GratU't
Ocean to Omni, 175.

HiKT. N. W. CoABT, Vol. I. 35

um,

!|i

-I' ]

i '

■1 1

646

ATTITUDES OF FUR-TRADERS AND NATIVES.

The great monopolies, therefore, had no diflScultv
not alone in regulating the trade within their terri-
tory to suit themselves, but in forming compacts with
their neighbors prohibiting the traffic. It was onl}-
when opposition was rampant that prudential prin-
ciples were thrown aside, and the fragrant forest air
was thickened with the fumes of vile distillations.

In 1742 by the French in Canada the traffic was
forbidden, and to trade required license and passport;
yet the governor winked at it, and the trader met
with little difficulty when liberal with his profits to
the officials. The missionaries affirmed that the devil,
to pervert the gospel, had with the gospel sent rum.
Therefore they bestirred themselves to thwart the
adversary; and for a time the prohibitory order which
they procured, seconded by their own watchful exer-
tions, stopped the traffic. Spiritual as well as temporal
punishment followed the violation of the order; for
not only were the privileges of trade withheld, but the
rite of sacrament was denied offijnders, though some
evaded the regulation by giving the Indian liquor
instead of selling it to him.

Under later French regime the license law was gen-
erally observed; but following the conquest of Canada
was free dispensation attended by the usual violence
and debauchery. It was to do away with drink,
among other things, that the Northwest Company
organized. The X. Y. Company, however, appearing
in the field as an opposition, with a plentiful supply
of fire-water, the Northwest Company was obliged to
sell it or to abandon the situation. With the junction
of the two factions the sale almost wholly ceased,^" but
was revived again on the breaking-out of hostilities
with the Hudson's Bay Company.

*• ' It was shown by accounts produced at the meeting that the quantity of
spirituous liquors intrckluced into the Northwest country had in the two pre-
cedinff years been reduced from 50,000 to 10,000 gallons; no great quantity,
considering there were at tliat time 2000 white persons in their employment,
of which the greater number were to pass the winter in a Siberian climate. '
Northwest Company's Nar. of Occurrences in the Indian Countries, x.

INTOXICATING DRINK.

547

It was no difficult matter for the United States
after the evil had long been prevalent to pass prohib-
itory laws, but to enforce them was totally beyond
the nation's strength or inclination." After the union
of the Northwest and Hudson's Bay companies the
sale of liquor ceased almost entirely, and Sir George
Simpson m 1842 even prevailed upon the Russians to
stop the selling of it to the natives. The American
Fur Company were in the habit of obtaining annual
permits to sell a limited quantity in order successfully
to compete with the Hudson's Bay Company across
the border.

On the Pacific coast the natives obtained copious
supplies at an early date from the masters of trading
vessels, to whom the demoralization of the people was
a matter of indifference so long as they were enabled t< »
fill their ship with furs. In the Rocky Mountains, and
in the disputed Oregon Territory prior to 1842, alcohol
flowed freely. The entire property of a village would
sometimes be swept into the pockets of the traders
during one debauch.

At different times and places the practice of the
Hudson's Bay Company was quite different. In 1833
east of the Rocky Mountains it was the custom to
deal it out sparingly but gratuitously, giving the
voyager a regale, as they called it, on his arrival and
departure, and the same to the Indian hunter when
he brought in furs to sell. Strange to say, the Chipc-
wyans would not touch intoxicating drink, and at one
time the Crows would not allow it to be brought into
their country. They called it " fools' water." Heads
of families were sometimes presented a few gallons of
whiskey on Christmas. In 1841 wagon-loads of al-
cohol in barrels were conveyed openly from the Mis-
sissippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and sold
everywhere, notwithstanding the laws then in force

" The agents were not slow to profit by this law, supplying the natives, as
thejr did, but making them pay enormous prices, while they pocketed the
profits. Schoolcrc^ft'aPer. Mem.,48Q.

i»', J

1 1'-

ATTITUDES OP FURTRADERS AND NATIVES.

against the traffic. All the great companies north and
south of the Canada line bewailed the necessity of
dealing out alcohol, affirming that they would gladly
discontinue it but for their competitors. Later, in
1850 and 1851, the Hudson Bay servants grew lax, for
we find complaints by the Russians on the one side,
and the American government on the other, of their
lack of good faith in selling alcohol to the natives.^"

The missionaries of the several denominations who
played so prominent a part in the settlement of
Oregon and of other sections of the Northwest Coast
were, in the main, intelligent, honest, well meaning
men, who sought to do the best for themselves, their
families, their country, and their God. We shou' 1
scarcely expect those who were inspired with sufficient
enthusiasm to enable them to brave the hardships
and dangers of pioneer missionary life, to be wholly
free from partisanship or fanaticism. We should
hardly expect the highest practical wisdom from per-
sons educated in closets, and from books and teachers
regarding all human affiiirs from a single standpoint.
We should hardly expect to find the most evenly
balanced minds among votaries of a religion which
recognizes no higher rights than those belonging
to its dogmas. Nevertheless I am prepared to do
honor to the pioneer missionaries of the Northwest,
Catholic and Protestant, for I believe them to have
been single-hearted men and actuated by the purest
motives, though I must be permitted to take excep-

'^In 1795 the Hudson Bay Indians were enervated and debased by reason
of the deadly drink. Winterbotham'a Hist., iv. 21; E. Ellice testifies before
the House of Commons, Hept. lludnon^s Bay Co., 326, that from 1811 to
1821 liquor waa used wherever rivalry existed, that is in territory occupied
by both the great companies and on the United States border over which
from either side Indians were enticed for hundreds of miles. See School-
cnijfa Per. Mim., 326-7; Victor's Rivera/ the West, 225-6; T. Roe, in House
of Commons Rept. Hudson's Bay Co., 37, 43-4; R. King, id., 316; Evaiis'
Hist. Or., MS., 173; White's Or., 78-9; Rockjf MoujUnin Scene-'*, 28-9; U. S.
Catholic Magazine, v. 20; Martin's Hudson's Bay, 68-71 ; Greenhow's Or. aiid
Col., 389; Gray's Hist. Or., 33-4; Or. Sfjectator, June 11 and 25, ISiH ; Kane's
Wanderings, 97-8; Armstrong's Per. Nar., Isi, 164; Richardson's Polar
Regions. 298-330; Stvan's Northweat Coast, 106.

MISSIONiiRY LABORS.

549

m
for
side,
;heir

tions to such acts as appear to mo unwise, impolitic,
or unjust.

In looking back upon their early efforts wo can but
regret that those whose zeal in their great work was
never wanting to carry them through any sufferings
demanded, even unto death, and who bore their trials
with a courage which claims our admiration, should
not have met with the success which their meritorious
services seemed to deserve.

Several causes united to bring about the result.
First of all, impossibilities were attemj^ted. Speaking
generally, all missionary effort is a failure. Such his-
tory pronounces to be its fate. Missionary effort
seeks to lift the savage mind from the darkness of its
own religion, which God and nature have given it as
the best for it, and to fix it on the abstract principles
of civilized belief which it cannot comprehend. It
seeks to improve the moral and material conditions
of the savage when its very touch is death. The
greatest boon Christianity can confer upon the heathen
is to let them alone. They are not ready yet to culti-
vate the soil or learn to read, or to change their
nature or their religion. These ends the Almighty
accomplishes in his own good time and way, unfolding
their minds as from a germ of his own implanting
into the clearer light as they are able to receive it.
Then the religious civilizers 'became too quickly ab-
sorbed in the acquisition and cultivation of landed
possessions, which at best were to reduce the inhab-
itants to a state of serfdom.

It was indeed a hard task thus imposed upon the
poor missionary, a task whose innate difficulties he him-
self did not comprehend. Manfully he applied himself
to the material as well as mental and moral improve-
ment of the savage, all unconscious of the poisonous
nature of the civilized atmosphere which environed
him. As settlers came in, the bad examples of those
of his color and ^lith tended to destroy his influ-
ence with the na ves. The simple savage reasoned

i I

■I 1

'iij

050

ATTITUDES OP FUR-TRADERS AND NATH'ES.

within himself that if drunkenness, profligacy, and dis-
grace were the practical fruits of Christianity and civil-
ization, they were better off without these blessings.

As regards the attitude of the fur companies to-
ward the missionaries I should say, speaking broadly,
that it has been indifferent or at least undemonstra-
tive. The Hudson's Bay Company's charter required
of it the encouragement of missionary effort. Tiie
company did not dare to throw impediments in the
way of the missionary. And yet any interference of
white men with their traffic or with the natives was
unwelcome. Post commanders usually treated priests
and preachers with politeness and consideration. If a
missionary was stationed near a fort, he was usually
installed as chaplain of the fort with a salary of fifty
pounds per annum and free passage to and from the
country.^"

We still read of the attendance of chaplains on the
soldiers who go out to fight the natives, which calls to
mind Cortes and Pizarro of old, who with their blood-
hounds and Indian-killers carried their man of prayer
to beseech the God who made the Indians, to give the
white marauder the Indians' lands and join the in-
vader in the extinction of this wild race whose creation
must assuredly have been a mistake.

"Douglas, Private Papers, MS., Ist ser., 82-7, gives some interesting in-
formation respecting the natives before their demoralization. Richarosou,
Journal, ii. 55-0, says that 'the Hudson's Bay Company aid the clergymen of
all the persuasions by free passages, rations, and other advantages, besides
granting salaries to those employed at their fur-posts, whether Protestants or
Roman Catholics.' See also .<46-<a-ra-i'a, 180; Mayne'aBrit. Col., 305, 349; Hoi-
comhe'H Slraiujfv than Fiction, passim; IIoreXzkij'H Canada on the PoA-ifie, 2G,
138; Orai/s Hist. Or., 100; Orant's Ocean to Ocean, 140-1; Mackenzie's Voy.,
V. ; London Times, July 22, 1858.

fTM

lis-
Ivil-

to-
lly.

tra-
Ired

Ithe
of

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE NORTHWEST COMI'AIVY.
1783-1821.

ClURACTER OF THE MONTREAL ASSOCIATES — TlIE FnEXfll RfeoiME RE-
VIEWED — Trade at Michiumackinac— The Montreal MERciiAVTa
Penetrate North-westward and Form a Commercial Cofartner-
BHiP— The Disaffectionists form tue X. Y. Company— Union ok thi
Two Factions — Inteiujal Reoulations of the Northwest Company—
The Grand Portaop -Early Voyages from Montreal to Lak»
Superior— Feudal Glories of Fort William — Wars between thb
Northwest Company and the Hudson's Bay Company — The Red
BivEB Affair — Fusion of the Two Companies.

Of all associations formed at any time or place for
the purpose of obtaining the skins of /ur-bearing ani-
mals, the Northwest Company of Montreal' was the
most daring, dashing, audacious, and ultimately suc-
cessful. Its energy was surpassed only by the apathy
of its great chartered rival, which had been in exist-
ence one hundred and thirteen years. Canada jiad
been twenty years in British possession when it was
organized, without assistance, privileges, or govern-
ment favors, by a few Scotch Canadians for the better
prosecution of a business with which they were all
more or less familiar.

Infusing into their traffic the spirit of enterprise,
these associates pushed adventure beyond Lake Su-
perior to Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, and Athabasca,
and finally overspread the then wholly new North-
west. It was they who found the river Mackenzie,

' Sometimes called the Canada Company, Injcauae it was organized ia
Canada, in contradistinction to the Hudson's Bay Company cliartered ui Kng-
.land.

(531)

tmm

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

and followed it to the Frozen Ocean; it was they who
ascended Peace River, crossed the Rocky Mountains,
planted posts upon their western slope, and traversed
the country to the Pacific; it was they who by their
Scotch shrewdness and resistless energy, after absorb-
ing the Canada trade, took possession of the North-
west Coast, swept Astor from the Columbia, and
brought the monster monopoly itself upon its knees.

We have seen how under the French regime those
forest pedlers, called coureurs des bois, obtained from
the merchant, perhaps on credit, the necessary store of
goods, and set out in their birch-bark canoes for the
great lakes and regions beyond, whence after one or
two years of successful traffic they returned richly
laden with their annual harvests, followed perhaps I y
crowds of Indians with furs to sell. We have seen
how after settling accounts with the merchants these
rovers gave themselves up to dissipation \ hich shortly
left them with little of their hard-won earnings.

This licentiousness excited to jealous action the
missionaries, who endeavored to suppress this prosti-
tuted traffic by requiring every man trading with In-
dians to procure a license from government, which,
license prohibited the sale of intoxicating drink to
natives, and was to be given only to men of good
character.

Pure men only were thus to be brought in contact
with the tender savage. The church was to furnish
its quota as well as the state. Men made holy by
hunger, by filth and fasting, by sleepless vigils, coarse
gowns and bead-tellings, should enter the forest only
for good. In their trail there should follow no siimy
serpents of civilization, no hissing flames of disease
or deadly distillations; and more wondcr+ul than all,
honest servants of the government should be found
who would deal fairly, humanely, with these rude and
defenceless forest -dwellers. Saturn &houl:l supply
them.

AFTER THE MISSIONARIES.

553

And for a very short time the system worked well.
The forests were exorcised of Christian demons; mis-
sionaries salted souls without let, and merchants paid
their own price for furs. It was heavenly. It was
far too fine a state of things to last. The mission-
aries began discussing transubstantiation, whilst the
traders fell to cheating, and so the devil was per-
mitted to return, fire-water was used again, and civil-
i-'iation followed its beaten track.

The establishing of military posts on the shores of
the great lakes brought upon the border a better in-
fluence than that of either missionaries or licenses,
by bringing the traffic into more respectable and re-
sponsible hands and checking improper policies. The
chief officer of a fort at this time was recjarded in
the light of a commander rather than trader. This,
however, did not change the character of the estab-
lishment; for call himself what he would, he com-
manded that he or others might trade.

Following the interruption of trade incident to the
conquest of Canada by the British, Scotch merchants
with purses as long as their heads located themselves
at Montreal and assumed control of the fur-trade
formerly enjoyed by the French. By employing such
French Canadians as were friendly with the natives
and attached to forest life, of whom there were thou-
sands, the new masters of the country were enabled
in time to conquer the repugnance of the savages
to everything English, which aversion had been stren-
uously instilled by the French. Indeed many French-
men still took part in trade, for by the cession of Canada
in 1763, they had become British subjects.

Beginning in a small and prudent way in 17G6,
with Michilimackinac as their interior station, singly
or in pairs, or parties of three or four, accompanied by
French boatmen, guides, and interpreters, the Mon-
treal Scotchmen entered the field, at first venturing
scarcely thirty miles away from head -quarters, l)ut
quickly gaining confidence with success, until one

-i![.

i'l^

554

THE NORTHWEST COMPAirr.

Thomas Curry with four canoes crossed to Fort
Bourbon, and returned the following spring with furs
enough to supply his wants for the remainder of his
life. James Finlay visited Nipawee, the farthermost
French port on the Saskatchewan, and returned with
four canoes fully laden vdth furs.

More adventurers now entered the field, and com-
petition became animated, not only among themselves
but with their brethren of the United States on the
south, and the Hudson Bay people on the north. In-
deed the latter became more jealous of their fellow-
countrymen than ever they had been of the French;
and in 1774, aroused to the adoption of protectionary
measures by constant encroachments, they established
a post on the east bank of Sturgeon Lake.

Gradually the nearer country became exhausted
and remoter regions were sought. In 1775 Joseph
Frobisher penetrated beyond Churchill River. A
year or two later his brother reached He h, la Crosse,
both meeting with success. In 1778 some traders on
the Saskatchewan River having surplus stock agreed
upon a common venture, filled four canoes and sent
them to the Athabasca country in charge of Peter
Pond. The goods bought twice as many furs as the
boats could carry ; and having secured a portion in his
winter hut, he returned for them the following springl

This, however, was exception rather than rule, for
throughout the country generally trade was falling
into evil ways. Every possible artifice was employed
to undermine competitors, and among others liquor
was. again introduced. The natives in consequence
became troublesome, threatened to exterminate the
traders, and were in a fair way to succeed when the
small-pox broke out among them, committing fearful
ravages.

Traffic was brought to a standstill. The country
was well nigh depopulated, for those who escaped the
disease fled to the forests. Nor did the fur -hunters
perceive very flattering prospects before them cvou

ORGANIZATION OF COMPANIES.

555

com-
Ives
the
In-

when the scourge ceased. Satisfactory results could
be secured only by excursions of constantly increasing
extent and danger, performed by parties of constantly
increasing size and strength. More boats were neces-
sary, more goods to fill them, and men to navigate
them ; forts must be built and Indians awed.

Thus matters stood when in the winter of 1783-4
Simon McTavish, Benjamin and Joseph Frobisher,
McGillivray, Recheblave, Fraser, and others, including
the larger part of the wealthiest and most influential
of the merchants of Montreal, together with the more
able and successful of the traders in the country',
associated themselves under the name of the North-
west Company of Montreal, though sometimes called
McTavish, Frobisher, and Company, and agaii McGil-
livray, Thain, and Company.

The number of shares originally was sixteen, but
Peter Pond and Peter Pangman, able and successful
traders, not being admitted by the association upon
such terms as they deemed their due, left their busi-
ness in the country and proceeded to Montreal, in-
tending to form a rival company. Pond was at once
admitted to the Northwest Company, so his opposition
fell to the ground. Pangman won to his scheme two
influential men, Mr Gregory and Mr McLeod.

Shortly before this the famous Alexander Mac-
kenzie had been five years' clerk in the counting-house
of Mr Gregory, and was then at Detroit w'th a small
stock of goods intrusted him by his former employer.
Without his solicitation or knowledge Mackenzie was
made partner in the Pangman and Gregory Company,
which now took the name of the X. Y. Company,*
provided he would make an expedition into the Indian
country in the following spring of 1785, which pro-
posal wa^ iramedip.tely accepted by Mackenzie.

'Schoolcraft, Per, Mem., 135, eiToncously states tha*' Mackenzie estab-
lished the X. Y. Company. Mackenzie was at first opposud to tho Northwettb
Company, and always dislilced McGiillivray, who never spoke well of him.

056

THE NORTHWEST COMPAM.

I {

I 1

A severe struggle now arose between the McTavish
Company and the Pangman Company, the bitterest
hitherto experienced in those parts, arising from the
attempt of the former to crush the latcer. In the
feuds which followed, one of Pangraan's partners was
killed, another lamed, and a clerk shot but not killed,
the bullet passing through the powder-horn before
entering his body. Hostilities were finally terminated
by the admission in July 1787 of the plucky opposi-
tion into the ranks of the Northwest Company, whose
unequally divided shares were increased for that pur-
pose to the number of twenty.

The Northwest Coaipany was now prepared to
make its influence felt; and the partners purposed
to do business. The association included the best
men in the country, the very cream of the Canada
fur- traders. It was a simple commercial partnership,
and none the less strong because not a dollar of capi-
tal was required from anybody. Every partner must
be a man, a strong man in some one particular branch
of the business.

There were no two houses in Montreal of greater
might or wealth than the Frobishers and Simon
McTavish; these two distinct houses while continuing
their regular business acted conjointly as agents for
the Northwest Company in Montreal. They were
to supply the necessary capital for conducting the
business, the money actually employed to draw in-
terest. They were to obtain supplies from England;
have the goods made at Montreal according to the
requirements of the trade, and packed and shipped
to the Grand Portage on the north-western side of
Lake Superior, where the French Canadians had
formerly a rendezvous, and where the Northwest
Company now made their head-quarters, bringing
there every spring the furs collected, and sending
thence for the interior fresh supplies. There two of
the Montreal agents were to proceed every year to
;;ttend to the business, for which service the Montreal

PARTNERS AND CLERKS.

067

,vjsh
3rest
the
the

partners were to receive a commission in addition to
dividends on shares.

The other proprietors were to spend their time in
the Indian country managing the business with tho
assistance of clerks, and occupied during winter in tho
fur-trading districts, whereby they were called winter-
ing partners. They were not obliged to furnish capital,
but ability and enei-gy, and even then such was tho
skill and influence of some of them that they held two
shares, with one of which they might at any time re-
tire from active service, each naming a clerk as his
successor who should have the other. It was an ad-
mirable combination of skill and capital, founded not
on speculative theory, but on actual experience and
practical necessity.

To obtain admission into partnership was no easy
matter. It could be accomplished only by long and
arduous service; money was no object, ability was
everything. It was what the candidate could do, not
who his grandfather was, that spoke him favorably.
Yet those admitted were generally of good family.

Clerks succeeded to partnership after a five or sevuu
years' apprenticeship, receiving one hundred pounds
sterling for the term, according to prior-ity and merit.
If at the expiration of their apprenticeship there was
no immediate vacancy in the partnership, from one to
three hundred pounds per annum according to merit
was allowed as a salary until they could take their
place in the company as partners. During their term of
apprenticeship some added to their duties the office
of interpreter, receiving therefor extra pay. Shares
could be sold only to servants of the company whose
admission as partners was secured by vote; the seller
of a share received only its value based upon actual
earnings irrespective of probable dividends. This held
out to meritorious young men having served a five or
seven years' apprenticeship the prospect of some day
obtaining shares without the payment of a premium ;
and if worthy they were seldom disappointed. Each

■I'l

.1 ,v

088

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

share was entitled to a vote, and a two thirds vote
was necessary to the carrying of a measure. Thus by
a liberal and intelligent policy interest was aroused
and emulation sustained, and the affairs of the com-
pany were no less wisely ordered than efficiently exe-
cuted.

Forty thousand pounds was the gross return in
1788, increasing to three times that amount in eleven
years. So signal a success was unparalleled in the
annals of the fur-trade. In 1790, the term of part-
nership having expired, the organization underwent a
change. Some retired, while new partners were ad-
mitted and the shares were increased to forty-six. A
new firm was formed by the retired partners, who
built a fort at the Grand Portage and styled them-
selves the X. Y. Company, and for a time there were
again two powerful parties in the field; but in 1805,
yielding to the dictates of interest, the two factions
coalesced.

The company's business routine was as follows : No
money was directly employed in the purchase of furs
from the natives; Indians scarcely ever knew what
money was. In October of each year the agents at
Montreal ordered goods from London, which were
shipped the following spring and reached Canada in
the summer. These goods consisted of coarse woollen
and cotton cloths, calicoes, blankets, silk and cotton
handkerchiefs, hats, hose and shoes, thread and twine,
brass kettles, cutlery and other hardware, arms and
ammunition, and tobacco. Liquors and provisions
were obtained v Canada.

The next winter the cloths were made into such
articles as suited trade with the natives. The stock
required was then put into packages of ninety pounds
each, and sent from Montreal the following May, and
reached the wilderness market the winter following,
two years from the date of ordering. Goods for the
posts of the Pacific were yet longer in reaching their
destination.

BUSINESS ROUTINE.

This is not all. Goods wore frequently kept over
a year or two at the interior forts, and the furs did
not reach Montreal until the autumn following the
winter of their purchase. Then they were shipped for
the most part to London and sold; but pay was not
received until the succeeding spring or summer,
three years at least from the shipment from England
of the goods with which they were purchased, and
sometimes four or five years.

The expenses attending the sale of the goods were
about equivalent to their first cost. Allowing the
Montreal agents twelve months' credit in London,
they were still obliged to carry for two years the
outlay for the goods and the expenses attending their
sale. It is easilj' seen that when the traffic was
£80,000 or £120, 000 per annum, the amount required
to be carried especially for those times was enormous ;
so that although profits were large, expenses, risk,
and labor were likewise large. At first goods for the
Pacific posts were transported across the mountains
in boats and on men's backs, at fearful cost and labor;
later they were shipped round Cape Horn and taken
up the Columbia and Fraser rivers.^

' There were employed in 1798 by the Northwest Company 50 clerks, 11 "JO
canoe-men, and 35 guides. Of these between Montreal and the Grand Port-
age, some going as far as Lac la Pluie, were employed during the summer live
clerks, eighteen guides, and 350 boatmen. These people were called 'pork-
eaters,' also 'goers and comers,' as they lived chicQy on pork instead of the meat
of wild animals, which was almost the only food of those in the forest, and spent
tlieir lives going and coming between Montreal and Fort William. As com-
pensation for this trip the guides received, besides expenses and privileges to
trade on their own account, §100 and their equipment; foremen and steers-
men, §90; middlemen, §70, and a shirt, trousers, and blankets. In trading
they often maile as much as their wages. Those who wintered at the upper
end of the route received double pay. All other employes were engaged by
the year, and for a term of years. A first-class equipment consisted of four-
teen pounds of tobacco, two blankets, two shirts, two pairs of trousers, two
handkerchiefs, and some trinkets for trading; second-class, ten pounds of
tobacco and the otlier articles ; third-class, half the quantity of second-class.
To the northmen, as the employes who wintered in the field were called,
were attached more tlian 700 native women and children, victualled at
the company's expense. During the height of their power 2000 voyageurs
were employed at an average wage of £40 per annum. Korthwi'nt Com-
pany's Nor., 77-87; E. Ellke, in Iloiise of Commons Report Hudson's Hay
Company, 323; SiUiman'a Journal, April 1834; Mackenzie's Voy., iii. xliv. ;
Harmon's Journal, 40; Dallaiityne'i Hudson's Bay, 244; Franchere's Nar.,
338-9; Dunn's Or., 14-33; Pons' Fur Hunterr, i. 270-7; Cox's Col. ]iiver,i. xi.--
xix.; Irviny's Astoria, 21; Gray's Or., 22-23. 'Employed at one time not

060

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

When the boundary line between Canada and the
United States was determined it was found that the
old fort of Grand Portage, situated on the north-
western side of Lake Superior, and which from the
date of their organization had been the rendezvous of
the Northwest Company in that region, stood on
United States soil, and the company determined to
demolish it and build another forty-five miles to the
northward, at the mouth of the Kaministiquia River,
flowing into Thunder Bay, still on the shore of Lake
Superior. It was in 1805 when the two unfriendly
factions of the Montreal merchants, that is to say
the X. Y. Company and the Northwest Company,
were united that this was done, and the new estab-
lishment, built upon a magnificent site, was called
Fort William, in honor of William McGillivray, then
chief agent of the company at Montreal.*

Fort William became, as the Grand Portage had
hitherto been, the grand dep6t for the interior posts,
where every summer assembled the wintering parties
from the interior and the agents from Montreal, the
former to deliver the furs collected and receive new
outfits, the latter to bring forward the necessary sup-
plies, discuss the affairs of the association, and plan
the campaigns of the ensuing season.

Let us follow a brigade, as they called their little
fleets, from Montreal to Fort William, and then look

! i

fewer than 2000 voyageurs.' Tmss' Or., 13; OreenJiow'e Or. and Cal., 325;
British N. Am., 247; Lord Selkirk and tfte Northwest Company, in London
Quarterly Review, October 181 G. 'The number of voyageurs in the service
of the Northwest Company camiot be less than 2000. Their nominal wages
are from 30Z to 60Z, some as high as 802 or even 1002; the average cannot be
less than 402, and is probably higher; so that the sum total of wages must bo
80,0002 or 90,0002. The gross return of their trade seldom exceeds 150,0002."
Selkirk's Sketch Fur Trade, 39, not the best authority on Northwest Com-
pany. Umfreville, Iludson^a Bay, 71-5, asserts that while the Hudson's Bay
Company through a false sense of economy endeavored to make boatmen of
the Indians, and ground their servants down to £15 per annum, the Canada
merchants paid theirs £40. Yet the former stigmatized the latter as pedlers,
thieves, and interlopers, because they went where trade was instead of wait-
ing for it to come to them.

* McGillivray originated the measure which, first in the Northwest Com-
pany and later in the Hudson's Bay Company, made every efficient clerk in
due time partner or shareholder.

d the

at the

lorth-

n the

ous of

od on

led to

;o the

River,

Lake

endly

say

Qpany,
estab-
called

f, then

FROM MONTREAL TO FORT WILLIAM.

561

in upon them for a moment there; for it was a gay,
dashing hfe, in which creature comforts were by no
means forgotten, though it was the boast of this com-
pany, from the managing agent to the humblest voy-
ageur, that he was always ready to accept hardships
cheerfully, that upon emergency he could tramp for-
ests, buffet rapids, burrow in snow, carry burdens,
sleep hard, and eat dog.

The start is made from Lachine, a prettily situated
village on the bank of the St Lawrence, eight or
nine miles above Montreal, and in the month of May,
when the rivers and lakes are nearly free from ice.

At a cost of about sixty dollars each the requisite
number of canoes have been provided, say thirty,
in which case the s'^aadron is divided into three
brigades, each having its guide or pilot, whose busi-
ness it is to point the course, take charge of boats
and property, attend to all repairs, and act as com-
mander or admiral, to whom the voyagiurs stand in
the relation of common sailors.

In each boat are eifflit or ten men with their ba<jf-
gage, six hundred pounds of biscuit, two hundred
pounds of pork, three bushels of pease — these as shi[)'.s
stores, with sixty-five packages of goods as freight.
The equipment of the canoe consists of two oilcloths
with which to cover the goods; a sail and sailing
tackle; an axe, a towing-line, a kettle for cooking
purposes; a sponge for bailing, and some gum, bark,
and watape for repairs. To the inexperienced ob-
server of these frail craft, thus crowded with men and
heaped with goods three or four tons in each, until
the gunwale is within six inches of the water, it seems
that destruction is inevitable, especially when winds
and swift currents are considered. But so experienced
and expert are these Canadian boatmen that loss of
life and property is comparatively rare, although acci-
dents are frequent. Two picked men, a foreman and
a steersman, are placed, the one in the bow and the
other in the stern of every canoe; those who simply

HiBT. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. "'

I' i

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

ply the paddle are called middlemen. A sail is hoisted
whenever the wind is favorable. Above Fort William
and the Grand Portage the boats are about half the
size, and are managed by four, five, or six men. They
carry about thirty- five packages, twenty- three of
which are for purposes of trade, and the remainder
luggage and stores.

A prayer and a vow to Saint Anne, a few confessions
and cheap votive oflferings, a farewell carouse to com-
rade and sweetheart, and the voyageur is ready. Then
adieu for a time to civilization and dissipation, adieu
to church-bells and tutelar saint; for the white mis-
tress now must give place to the brown, the dusty
cobwebbed vault of Saint Anne to the open arc of
God's temple, where the stars shall keep vigil amidst
the companionship of wild men and wild beasts.

Embarking, soon the rapids of Saint Anne are
reached, when part or the whole of the cargo must be
unladen. These portages, from porter, to carry, though
frequent and fatiguing, are not annoying, because
taken as a matter of course. The voyageurs at these
places vie with each other in displays of strength and
celerity , and would as soon think of complaining because
the sun heated them, or the water made them wet, or
mm drunk.

The advantage of ninety-pound packages, from long
experience proved the most convenient weight, is now
.seen. The usual load for one man is two packages,
but if the way be exceedingly rugged one suffices,
though the ambitious boatman will sometimes carry
three. These are thrown upon the back and there
supported in slings suspended from the head. The
cargoes are thus carried to some point above the fall
or rapid, to which the canoes are either towed by a
strong line or carried on men's shoulders. The car-
rying-place passed, the boats are again loaded and the
party proceeds. So methodical and expert have these
boatmen become by practice, that a portage is made in
an incredibly short time, twelve or twenty of them

'Tm

ALONO THE LIQUID HIOHWAY.

CAa

being frequently iiassed in a single day. The length
of the portages varies greatly, extending from sixty
yards to six miles, or even twice or thrice that dis-
tance. Round a perpendicular fall the way is usually
not far. In crossmg from one stream to another the
carrying-places are longest.*

Up the Ottawa River the Portage de Chaudibre is
passed, where over craggy rocks the stream plunges
twenty-five feet; then Portage desChones, after which
Lac des Chaudi^res is entered.

Whatever calls to mind the Christ, his crucifixion, and
his comfortings, claims recognition. In passing a fork of
the river, or a cross erected over a grave, of which there
are many on all the main routes, the voyageurs solemnly
remove their hats, cross themselves, while one in each
boat or in each brigade repeats a short prayer. But
not alone their songs and superstitions break the mo-
notony of portages and paddling. Like the sailors
they have their Tines, passing which for the first time
comrade or clerk must treat or take a ducking. Heavy
hearts and weeping eyes were all left with Saint Anne ;
and the wild solitudes echo only laughter and loud
delight.

Step by step picturesque waterfalls are surmounted,
.•md the transparent streams, placid lakes, and wild
untenanted shores come and go as in panorama.
Hunters are sent out and bring in fresh meat; a light
eanoe, paddled by twelve picked men gorgeously ar-
]-ayed and striking in exact time, shoots past, carrying
n director clothed in rich furs and surrounded by
sovereign state for the grand council to be presently
held at Fort William.

Portage des Chats is passed; likewise Ddcharge

"'The tract of a transport occupies an extent from three to four thou-
sand miles, through upwards of sixty large lakes and numerous rivers, and
the means of ^transport are slight bark canoes. It must also be observed that
those waters are intercepted by more than two hundred rapids, along which
the articles of merchandise are chiefly can- 1 on men's backs, and over one
hundred and thirty carrying-places from twenty-five paces to thirteen miles
in length where the canoes and cargoes ])roceed by the same toilsome and
perilous operation.' Mackenzie's Foy., 410, note.

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

dea SableB, and Mountain Portage, and Lac Coulonge,
and fifty other places with old-fashioned names, smack-
ing of the all-absorbing traffic of the times. Then
across the Nipissing Lake, past Huron, and to the
upper end of Superior, where at Thunder Bay the
centre round which the fur-hunting universe revolves
is reached.®

111

Rightly to picture in our minds such an establish-
ment as Fort William in the flush fur times, wo must
place the feudal beside the original and mark the
eflfect of subserving civilization to commerce. As in
the classical abnormities of California gold -seeking
there were many phases of huDan nature never be-
fore displayed, many scenes in social statics never
again to be dramatized, so here we may see the blend-
ing of savagism and civilization, a mercantile mixture
of French volatility and keen-edged Scotch cunning,
such as the world will never witness again. There
are no more unguarded Californian valleys, gilt-edged
with a gold -embosomed sierra; there are no more
hyperborean planet-parks filled with various animals^
beasts, birds, and fishes, and hunted only by simple-
minded savages; no more of these vast unappro-
priated natural treasures in which civilized man may
make display of his voracity. Within the palisades
of Fort William, in the centre of the enclosure, stood
the great corporation's great house which was both
council-chamber and caravansary.

In it were the rooms of officers, the spacious dining
hall where staid revels were indulged in ; below was the
ample kitchen, stocked from Montreal. Surrounding
the council-house, and still within the pickets, were
subordinate tenements, eating, sleeping, and working
houses, warerooms, and stores.

Outside the stockade during the summer fortnight
of business festivity were ^wo encampments, con-

. * For less tlian one fiftieth th^ cw'^ by canoe trensportation from Montreal^
goods arc uow landed at Fort \\ iV.iam in ships direct from Fnglaud.

FORT WILLIAM.

Prob-
loust con-
ned they

lb lost, was

^istin^ f)f between three and four hundred men each,
the one on the east side of the fort being the man-
(jevvK ih' lard, pork-eaters, comers and goers between
Montreal and Fort William, and those on the west
side the hivernants, or winterers in the field. Behind
the fort were camped such Indians as were drawn
thither by curiosity, love of liquor, or love of finery
and display.

The four groups afforded many conl
ably of them all, the least thoughtful, tli-
cerned about the here or hereafter, as
\vere the liappiest, the noisiest, and the gi\
the pork-eating company. They had not the reflective
melanoholy-mindedness of the Indian, although they
vied with him in filth and freedom. Next to tlie
chiefs and their immediate followers who inhabited
the fortress, and made pretensions to refinement and
even luxury, were the winterers, who were indeed
the chivalry of the company. As a cla.^- they were
entitled to the credit of some de<jree of intellectual
rasping in addition to their sylvan accomplishments.
Across the river from tlie fort was a small settlement
of worn-out voyagcurs, their little log-houses filled
with native wives and children, who cultivated small
patches of corn and potatoes, Avhich with a few fish
and perhaps a tobacco pension from high quarters,
sufficed to secure what kingdoms could not buy, con-
tent.

A busy buzzing characterized the day both within
and without the fort. There were multitudes of ac-
counts to be settled, of old scores to be wiped out and
new obligations to be assumed. Expired engagements
were renewed, and promotions made. Those who de-
sired mijjht send their earninjjs to Montreal or London
by purchasing the company's draft on those places.
Always there was more or less bartering going on
between employes, accompanied by boisterous mirth
or sullen cursings, as the case might be. Games of
chance and skill were indulged in, Indians and French-

THE NORTHWESI' COMPANY.

men alike entering into them with the keenest zest.
Thus the gathering bore to some extent the appear-
ance of a pleasure party no less than a business meet-
ing. While the bizarre brotherhood of Canadians,
Indians, and half-breeds without the fort were engaged
in their noisy industry and still louder voiced pas-
times, the grave Scotch seigniors were holding weighty
councils within. It was a huge machinery which they
had set in motion and were now obliged to keep run-
ning, and at no Spanish c6rtes were ever presented
countenances stiffer with concern; and although some
pqmpous diction and swelling oratory were indulged
in, there was much more of tough Orkney logic, the
immediate result of practical business intuition. Buu
it was at the hour of dining, when, the sober business
of the day accomplished, like old feudal barons the
wintering partners, each surrounded by his retainers,
had entered the great banqueting-hall, there to meet
the still more august magnates from the city, that the
glories of the fortress shone resplendent. Running
parallel down the hall were two large tables loaded
with the combined delicacies of forest and field, }. re-
pared by skilled cooks and served by experienced
stewards from London. Fish, beef, and venisc i, vdth
rarer and more savory side-dishes, moose nose, beaver
tails, and buffalo tongue; milk and butter, white hraad
and corn, pease and potatoes, luxuries indeed to those
whose regular diet was only meat; dainty desserts,
ale, liquors, delicate wines, and finest tobacco — all this
and much more was every d" :)laced before the as-
sembled fur-hunters in the great hall at Fort William.
At the head of each table a proprietor-agent, the
highest officer of the association, took his seat, and on
either side partners, clerks, guides, and interpreters
arranged themselves according to their several pre-
tensions. The Montreal partners were nabobs richly
attired, and with the surroundings, whether at home,
en voyage, or at the rendezvous, of luxury and wealth.
In the city they kept open liouse, and entertained like

THE MONTREAL PARTNERS.

est zest,
appear-
ss meet-
nadians,
engaged
ed pas-
weighty
ch they
ep run-
esented
h some
ndulged
•gifi. the
u. Bui.
business
ons tho
tainers,
[to meet
bhat tho
RrUnning
J loaded
3ld, i re-
2rien,:^jd
y.\, vntli
, beaver
'Q bread
those
esseHs,
•all this
the as-
/^illiam.
nt, the
and on
preters
al pre-
richiy
home,
v^ealth.
od like

lords, and in the field, though they should sleep upon
the ground, they slept soundly, and were attended
like monarchs. Though ranking no higher, and in the
council having no extra vote, by reason of position
their influence was more general, having the buying,
selling, and handling of all merchandise employed in
the traffic, than that of the wintering partners ; though
there were few of these last named but ruled a realm
as large as England. Nor must we forget that be-
tween the several members of this assembly there was
a bond of common sympathy; they were not only
friends but business brothers; so that, when they
came together on this great occasion of the year* it
was not like an ordinary feast made for the indulgence
of vain display, but more like a family festive gather-
ing, in which the senior j)artners were patriarchs, and
the juniors their sons of enterprise. As the more
importunate claims of appetite became appeased, and
the mellowing influence of happy surroundings brought
relaxation, the dry distasteful parts of British charac-
ter disappeared, and there beamed in every face a
kindly sympathy which presently kindled to enthusi-
asm as home and distant friends were brought to
mind; likewise future plans were discussed and the
present as usual well nigh forgotten. How different
an affair it was, this thinfj of livinfj here and there.
Become savages for furs 1 a commentary truly upon
the divine ideal in progress. There was little philoso-
phy, however, little inquir}'' into the a priori reasons
of their skinnings ; instead, storieji were told of youtn-
ful frolics in the dear old native land, and these com-
pared with the life-defendings of pathless wastes,
which often swelled in the recital to a diapason of
<langers.

And as the generous wine went round and brim-
ming bumpers were drank to loyal toasts, and rising
impulse broke forth in highland song and chorus,
making the rafters of Fort William ring witli high
liihirity, round tlu; outskirts of this knightly wassail-

11 •!

■ H

tir

U ;l ;

ai8 THiS NORTHWEST COMPANY.

ing were heara the roarinQjs of French and Indian bac-
chanals, which were indeed a credit to lordly example.
Such was Fort WilUam, and such the magnificent
Northwesters in the days of their popular renown.

Slowly, slowly awoke the monster monopoly, as by
their charter ar.d se! -affection they would wish to
be, well nigh dv imj?... "n their hyperborean dealings
these hundred } Liar.:, and more, to a realization of
their situation. These Montreal Scotchmen, with
their constantly increasing wealth and independence,
with their superior intelligence, enterprise, and pluck,
were becoming formidable.

What should be done?

There was but one answer an Englishman could
make to such a question: they must be driven out.
Although they were planting themselves firmly enough
in all the wide north-west, scaling the stony barrier
which had so long obstructed the fur-hunter's path to
the Pacific; and although the fiercer beat upon them
the storms of rivalship the let ner and more fiimly
did they root themselves to ihe '.oil, yet they must be
driven out. For every ,io * ti oy planted, another
should be built beside it, f-^r e . '?fy inducement offered
the natives to trade, double siio.:.u be given; so the
council ordered, and so the servants did.

Now no highland chieftain in his sovereign strong-
hold was ever more ready for the issue than these
same revellers in the great hall of Fort William; no
highland clansmen were ever more eager for the fray
than the impulsive voyr 'eurs and fierce half-breeds
that echoed their mf^^»^ .r*' bacchanals beyond the
pickets.

Three claims to sole occupation and superiority the
Hudson's Pay Company set up, not one of which with
tin Nor tlr vest Company was of a feather's weight.
I iifcit wafi III ir royal grant, which, whether confirmed
b parliament or established by time, or neither con-
iirmed nor established, restricted the grantors to Ru-

THE BRITISH BROTHERS QUARREL.

560

pert Land, which latter terir» signified the territory
immediately encircling Hudson Bay. Secondly, the
policy of the Rupert Land adventurers, which was to
let the natives of the interior alone, while the white
men should remain at their factories on the coast and
rec»eive such peltries alone as the Indians chose to
bring them. This method was deemed better than
to push traffic into the heart of the continent to
the speedy extermination of native men and beasts.
Thirdly, fixed prices, sober routine, orderly inter-
course, and various slow commercial flummeries to
which the wide-awake Northwesters would not even
listen. It must be confessed tliat the Northwest Com-
pany were not so strictly scrupulous in their use of
means as they might have been ; but in principle they
were sound enough. The north-west territories were
as rightfully open to one robber as to another; and of
this a Scotchman did not need to be told. Evils arose
from bitter rivalry which might be justly chargeable
to both. I have no disposition to put in a pica for or
against either. Competition led to summer hunting,
which yielded imperfect furs, and to dam and cub
killing, alike suicidal and cruel.

By this time, say 1805, private speculators were
practically driven from the Canadian fur-trade. In
the region north-west from the great lakes, beyond
the established boundary, the Canada Company did
not attempt to penetrate after 1804. Prior to that
time, besides forts on the great lakes, the Northwest
Company had forts on the headwaters of the Mis-
sissippi.'' In like manner the United States com-
panies east of the mountains confined themselves to
their own territories. West of the Rocky Mountains,
where proprietorship was yet uiidisputed, nation-
alities met, as we shall see hereafter. Hence the two

' ' Prior to the year 1789 tliey had extended tlieir discoverica an<l estab-
lishments along the numerous lakes and rivers situated north of that high
tract of countrywhich divides the Mississippi and Missouri waters from those
wliich run toward the north and east to within a short distance of the Rooky
Mountains. ' G'ow' Journal, 4.

h!',-

'! i.

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

!i!ii

J i

great British companies were prepared in British ter-
ritory to throw their whole weight against each other,
in bloody rivalry; school-fellows perhaps in England
or Scotland were now to array themselves under com-
mercial banners in deadly antagonism.

In 1806 a Hudson Bay trader named Corrigal was
stationed with a body of men at Bad Lake, within
a short distance of which was a fort commanded by a
Northwest partner, Haldane, it having now become
customary for both companies, following their de-
clared policy, to plant their posts beside each other.
Corrigal having obtained some skins from natives
owing Haldane, the latter with five men broke into
the establishment of the former, and threatening to
kill him if he interfered, carried them off. Then
Alexander McDonnell, clerk with the Northwest
Company, broke into the house of T. Croor, a Hud-
son's Bay Company trader, and after beating him
and stabbing his servant, righted some real or fancied
wrong by seizing some furs, a quantity of provisions,
and a canoe. In like manner William Linkwater and
Duncan Campbell fought.

From Churchill Factory in 1809, Peter Fidler went
with eighteen men to establish a post at He h. la Crosse,
the Hudson's Bay Company having failed in previous
similar attempts, being driven away by their rivals,
who had secured the attachment of the natives of
that locality. Mr Fidler built his fort; but mean-
while the Northwest Company stationed a party of
hattailleurs or professional bullies in a watch-house
built for that purpose, in order to overawe the natives
and prevent them from trading at the Fidler fortress.
Not liking his situation, Mr Fidler retired, and his
persecutors set fire to his fort. In like manner
the Hudson Bay people treated their opponents as
opportunity offered; and for such outrages Canada
at this time offered no redress, for had one party
attempted to capture another, and carry prisoners
to Mont .al for trial, general war would have been the

TRIALS AND DUELS.

671

(Visions,

result. In shott such action was not possible. A
thousand Hudson Bay men could not carry a single
Northwester through his own territory to a Montreal
prison.

But one instance of bringing an offender to trial
occurred within a period of twelve years, and that was
the memorable case of Mowatt, a Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's servant, who killed a Northwester at Eagle
Lake in 1809. Surrounding the house in which ho
took refuge, the Northwesters demanded his imme-
diate surrender, which was made on condition of his
being taken to Montreal for trial. This was done ;
and after long and harassing delay, the Hudson's Bay
Company then having no agent at Montreal and the
man no friends, he was finally convicted of man-
slaughter and sentenced to six months' imprisonment,
and to be branded on the hand with a hot iron.^

During this bloody epoch pugilistic encounters were
frequent, not only between the men but between the
principals. Clerks who had not fought their duel were
regarded as little better than cowards. Liquors were
circulated freely by the associations both among the
natives and the servants of the companies. Trade
was demoralized to a disgusting extreme. White
men besieged the Indians' hunting- path so as to se-
cure the catch. Some of these clansmen, while they
would fight fiercely in the field, once leturned to
their respective forts were brothers, visiting each
other freely and keeping holidays in common. Their
friendships were their own, their fights were their
masters'. So tame were some of the servants of tlio
old monopoly that a Hudson Bay clerk was once

*A complete history of the war between the rival companies would fill a
volume. The instances cited, however, together with a brief account of tho
Red River difficulties, will, I trust, bo sufficient to give the reader a clear
idea of tho nature and method of the contest. Cumberland I{ouso was a

Slace much spoken of. 'The houses of tlio two companies at this place,' says
ir John Franklin, Nar., i. 80, 'are situated close to each other, 'with no
friendly intercourse at this periotl between them. 'A suspicious kind of armed
neutrality was preserved on each side.' Cox^h Adv., li. 229-244 ; see also
Northwest Company's Nar., 40-r).

'^- ^f .

THE N0RTE[WE8T COMPANY.

heard to say in declining the challenge of a chival-
rous sprout of the Northwest Company, "that he waa
employed to trade for furs and not to kill his fellow-
countrymen."

In playing at duello, it must be confessed the clerks
succeeded well in their efforts not to harm each other.
Tricks were always in order, and the bright doings on
both sides lost nothing in the telling.

One winter's day in the Athabasca country a
Hudson Bay scout reported Indian tracks in th'e
snow, thereby indicating the return of a hunting ex-
pedition. As usual the forts of the two companies
were near together, so that it was almost impossible
for one to make a move in any direction without ex-
citing the curiosity of tJie other. The question was
how to reach these returned hunters and secure their
furs without the interference of their rivals.

There were too many to coerce, therefore courtesy
should do it. Childish rivalry for the moment should
give place to friendship's hallowed communion. A
grand ball should be given to the honorable North-
west Company, and on the spot. When drink was
not wanting, a ball in fur-hunting circles was a matter
quickly arranged. Invitations were answered by the
dancers presenting themselves in the evening at the
hour named in grandest apparel, with clean capotes,
bright hat-cords, and new embroidered moccasins. The
native fiddler struck up a Scotch re(}l, and while from
the huge fire came fitful gusts from savory roasts,
the guests were invited to manifest their appreciation
of the entertainment by the measure of their pota-
tions. Would they not drink? would they not dance?
would they not take another drink, and another, and
another?

This within the palisades; while down in a hollow
behind the fort muffled men with packs and snow-shoes
were hurrying to and fro hitching dogs to sledges, pat-
ting the creatures to keep them quiet, and directing
their eager movements only by signs and whispers.

RfTTT

DEATHLY COMPETITION.

573

chivftl-
he waa
fellow-

Finally, the sledges being well loaxled with goods and
the bells all removed from the dogs' necks, the party
started at a round pace for the Indian camp. Long
after the noiseless train had departed, the sound of
revelry was borne upon the frosty air, until finally still-
ness reigned. Next day the Northwest lookout re-
ported the returned hunters. With bolls ringing
merrily a party set out in pursuit, only after a long
day's journey to find the hunters all dead-drunk, with
nftt so much as a musquash left to sell.

Yes, it was a brilliant ball, but the NForthwestcrs
swore there should be dancing to anoikcr tune ere
long. Soon opportunity offered. Rival trains in
search of the same hunters meeting one cold day, it
was proposed to build a rousing fire, and eat and
drink together. Soon a huge pile of logs was crack-
ling furiously, and spirits were flowing freel}'. This
time the Northwesters by spilling their liquor upon the
snow were at length enabled to put their competitors
into a state of beastly intoxication; then tying them
to their sledges they sent the dogs homeward, wliilc
they went fcrward to the Indian camp and secured
the furs.

A novel idea, though unmarked by deep diplomacy,
nesit arose in the minds of the monopolizers. If they
could not extirpate their enemies they might at least
hope more thoroughly to annoy and exasperate them.
The route of the Northwest Company from Montreal
and Fort William to their posts in the western inte-
rior lay along Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods,
and thence by way of the river and lake Winnipeg
to Athabasca, or across Red River to the Saskatcli-
ewan country.

Now if by any pretext their way westward might
be barred, if at the very threshold of their broad field
of operations these impudent interlopers might be
driven back or turned aside from their beaten path
and compelled to make a wide ddtour in order to

I'i!;,!

I'll i

I li

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

reach their destination, thereby adding time and ex-
pense to all their operations and enabling the monopo-
lizers the better to compete with or crush them, would
it not be a fine thing, a noble thing, a thing worthy
of civilized Christians to do?

They would try it. Round the junction of the
Assiniboine with Red River, at the lower end of Lake
Winnipeg, and between Lake of the Woods and
Manitoba Lake, and extending thence westward to
the Rocky Mountains, is a region of more than ordi-
nary fruitfulness and beauty called the fertile belt.
It is well watered and wooded, and consists in part of
prairie land and in part of rich river bottom. This
tract they would appropriate : though not their own
they would call it theirs, and so make a cheap oflfering
of it to civilization. Yes; they would magnani-
mously curtail the common hunting-grounds to that
extent; they would gather here the hybrid race which
they were so rapidly propagating in every forest and
beside every stream; they would here establish
schools, teach the simple savage superior cunning,
improving him meanwhile to his swift destruction.
It was contrary to rule they well knew to colonize
or settle hunting-ground; but might they not here at
once help themselves and injure their enemies? Might
they not indeed serve God as well as the devil by
building churches and making revenge popular as
well as profitable? They would do it. Singular
they had not thought before of applying religion to
fur-hunting,® Briefly the history of the Red River
settlement is as follows:

In 1811 the earl of Selkirk obtained from the
Hudson's Bay Company possession of a tract of land
round Red River, extending from Lake Winnipeg far
into United States territory, for the purpose ojp estab-

* Says Governor Semple himself, about 1816 : ' I have trodden the burnt
ruins of houses, bams, a mill, a fort, and sharpened stockades, but none of a
place of worship, even on the smallest scale. I blush to say that throughout
the whole extent of the Hudson's Bay territories, no such building exists.'
Jlinds' li- J River -Ex., i. 174; Northwent Company^ s Nar., 36-9.

'*'*'^,«-«

^mm

THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENT.

578

Kshing there a Scotch colony, though Irish, Scandi-
navians, or native half-breeds were not excluded.
The tract was given Selkirk in the form of a grant
from the Hudson's Bay Company; the Northwest
Company denied the validity of the grant, but the
British government was disposed to encourage the col-
onization scheme.

The spot selected, besides being situated on the
great thoroughfare between the St Lawrence and the
Northwest, included the pemican depot of the North-
west Company, who were already in possession. Here
this important article of food was manufactured ; and if
colonization were permitted, the buffalo would shortly
disappear, and the company be obliged to remove
their manufactor}'' to other parts, or bring supplies at
heavy cost from Canada. In short, as every one well
knew, a colony planted in a hunting-ground was in a
measure ruinous to the fur traffic.

The scheme, as may well te imagined, was not favor-
ably regarded by the Northwest Company. Hence
when in 1812 several Scotch families presented them-
selves as the vanguard of Lord Selkirk's colonial army,
they were met by a large party of natives and half-
breeds, retainers of the Northwest Company, and
warned not to attempt settlement there.

Passing the winter at the Hudson's Bay Company's
post Pembina, in the following May the colonists re-
turned to Fort Douglas, near the present site of Fort
Garry, and began agriculture, spending the winter
again at Fort Pembina. Some became discouraged
and returned to Canada, free passage being offered in
their canoes by the Northwest Company. Those re-
maining now determined to attempt permanent settle-
ment upon the forbidden ground; but every effort
was attended by danger, their houses being destroyed
and their lives threatened. During this summer of
1814 Miles McDonnell, Hudson's Bay Company's
governor of the Assiniboine district, famine being im-
minent, issued a proclamation forbidding the sending

'i r

:,\

{. 11

!' I 1

I!)

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

away of any kind of provisions. To this the North-
west Company paid no attention, their store-keeper,
Mr Pritchard, having in charge several hundred bags
of pemican which they drew upon at pleasure. Hear-
ing of it, McDonne]! sent Pritchard an order de-
manding the surrender of the pemican, which order
Pritchard refusing to obey, McDonnell seized the
pemican and carried it off by force. The servants of
the Northwest Company flew to arms, coming in from
quite a distance to recover their winter's provender,
and but for the opportune arrival of one of the
Northwest partners blood would then have flowed.
Half of the pemican being immediately restored, the
remainder was allowed to remain under protest.
During the severities of winter part of the colonists
had joined the Northwest Company, but repudi-
ated their obligation in the spring. The exasperated
Northwesters, however, appeared among them, burned
houses, killed one Warren, took Governor McDonnell
prisoner, and ordered all settlers to retire from the
river. Thus it was, when in October 1815 the main
body of colonists arrived from Scotland, starvation
and the sufferings incident to a shelterless winter in
that region stared them in the face.

But Selkirk proved equal to the emergency. If
war was the cry, war it should be. Strengthening
himself by a new purchase of shares in the Hudson's
Bay Company,^" he assumed active management of
affairs, opened a general store at Fort Douglas where
colonists were supplied on credit, won to his service
by promises of higher positions and pay several clerks
of the Northwest Company discontented by reason
of non-promotion, of which there were always some,
and displayed on every side a determination to adopt
extreme retaliatory measures.

Fortunately securing for his manager Colin Robert-

'* ' For this purpose it is said, and we believe truly, his lordship purchased
at a price far beyond its value, about one third part of the stocli of the Hud-
son's Bay Company, the whole of wliich is only £100,000.' London Quarterly
Jtevietc, October 1816.

WAR IN EARNEST.

577

son, one of the Northwest Company's most shrewd
and enterprising men, with him Selkirk obtained all
the Canadians he required, and throwing aside the
traditional caution of the Hudson's Bay Company
met his rivals, in the person of Mr Robertson, with
their own daring policy.

Trade with the natives was now opened ; and know-
ing all the weak points of his late masters, Robertson
carried the war into the enemy's stronghold, which
■was then the Athabasca country. Thither he made
an expedition which proved eminently successful, Mr
Clarke, late partner with Astor in the Pacific Fur
Company, was engaged and sent there. By paying
higher prices for furs, the nearest natives were seduced
from their late allegiance, and the loyalty even of the
more distant was made to waver. The enemy visibly
winced beneath these blows.

Selkirk was j ubilant. His triumph, however, was of
short duration. As well might he attempt to stop the
eruptions of Mount ^tna with his hat, as thus to
quench the audacious fire of his opponents. Rousing
themselves to action with their rising wrath, the
Northwest Company prepared for the campaign of
1815 by raising the wages of their men, promoting
clerks to proprietors, and doubling the usual quantity
of goods "'^nt to the interior. Codte qiiil cotltc, buy furs,
was th 1 ler on both sides.

It seems a little strange to hear of actual war be-
tween commercial companies of the same nationality
on American soil, of attacks and repulses, of capturing
forts, and holding business competitors as prisoners;
yet truth compels the utterance, for throughout this
then practically limitless region arms were the only
argument and brute force was the ultimate appeal.

Early in 181G the war began iu earnest, and in tho
battles which followed, the Hudson's Bay Company
and the colonists were the greater sufferers. Three
hundred half-breeds, armed, painted, and plumed, were
mounted by the Northwest party and sent forth to

IIiBT. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. 37

I Ij

878

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

maraud in good old feudal fashion. First the settle-
ment was destroyed and the colonists dispersed, some
proceeding to Norway House and others to diflferent
parts, thoujjh their fort on Red River yet remained,

At Athaoasca Mr Clarke was besieged; and after
losing seventeen men by starvation he capitulated.
At Slave Lake the Hudson's Bay Company were
more successful, though they elsewhere lost thirt-een
more by famine in June. Two of the Northwest
Company's forts, with all their properties, were taken,
Mr Cameron, proprietor, made prisoner, and the for-
tresses burner' The keeper of the Northwest Com-
pany's static I Qu'appelle River, who had been
threatened w^.^x annihilation by the Hudson Bay
people should he attempt to pass downward, growing
anxious for the arrival of a party expected from the
northward, on the 1 9th of June sent Alexander Fraser,
seconded by Cuthbert Grant, with eleven men and some
fifty Indians and half-breeds, and having two carts
loaded with supplies.

Their way carried them within two miles of the
colonial post Fort Douglas, where Governor Semplo
of the Hudson's Bay Company was then in command.
Notified of their approach, the governor with twenty-
six men sallied from the fort and demanded their
purpose. Grant answered that they were attending
to their business, and wished to know of the governor
what he was going to do about it.

Words came sharper and quicker; and almost be-
fore any one was aware of it, Semple had given the
order to fire. The order was obeyed, and the result
Avas one killed and one wounded. Then at the com-
mand of Fraser, the Northwesters raised their deadly
implements, and taking deliberate aim fired. Seven
fell, among them the governor himself, mortally
wounded. The Hudson Bay people turned and ran
for the foi't, the Northwesters pursuing and firing.
Of the twenty -six who so lately left the fort only
four returned. The Northwesters then took posses-

MORE FIOHTINO.

579

Bion of the fort, securing therewith a large quantity
of arms and ammunition. Among the officerH of the

farrison killed were Governor Semple, Doctor White,
IcLean, Rogers, Holt, and Wilkinson. Again for a
time the colonists abandoned the place."

In the immediate vicinity of Red River, however,
the Northwest Company suffered severely, while at
a distance their superior energy and boldness carried
all opposition, Selkirk himself staited to quell the
disturbance, but paused at Fort William, preferring
discretion to valor. Proclamations were issued by the
governor-general of Canada threatening peace-breakers
with the severest punishment, which fuhninations were
treated by the spirited fur-hunters on both sides with
sovereign contempt. Commissioners were then ap-
pointed to proceed forthwith to the scene of action to
investigate outrages and seize offenders; but such a
mission smacked of danger, and was easily postponed
on account of the lateness of the season, thereby per-
mitting the fur-hunters to fight through the winter of
1816-17 unmolested by the busy, buzzing law.

Meanwhile the war continued with unabated vigor.
Men were killed and forts captured on both sides,
the monopolists being as usual the greater sufferers.

" The statements respecting the affray are very conflicting. As told by
different persons it can hardly be recognized aa the saiiio story. Some say
tliat Semple wa« out in search of this band ; others that the Northwesters
■were about to attack the fort. Each side accuses the other of havLiig fired
the first shot. By n careful comparison of all tlio authorities, my text con-
veys the facts as nearly as I am able to airivc at them. That Governor
Semple was an amiable, modest, humane man, following his line of duty, there
can be no question. The Montreal Jferatd of October l"2th hides u body
of cavalry in the woods, which surrounds Semple and his party, when one
Bouche opens the conference by applying insulting language to the governor,
lloss, Red lilver Settlement, iii., is obviously so biassed in favor of the Hudson's
Bay Company that I find myself unable to follow him with any degree of
confidence. In describing the attack he goes further even tlian Selkirk
himself, and asserts that an armed band of 65 approached the fort to at-
tack it, when Governor Semplo appeared at the head of 27 men, and that
while he was in consultation with his party 'the Indians and half-breeds
divided themselves into two bodies and instantly commenced firing from the
shelter afforded by a few willows ; first a shot or two and then a merciless
volley.' The Northwest Company in their ofUcial version of the affair. Nar-
rative of Occurrences, 54, assert that in view of the fact, not even denied by
the opposite party, that they marched out and followed tlie Indiana, and fired
first upon them, no doubt can remain who were the aggressors.

' 11

i i

580

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

Trade was complotely ruined. In their revengeful
competition the natives were paid more for furs than
their value at Montreal, while their expenses were
wonderfully increased. And when at last, tired of all
this, Selkirk was permitted to bring his hundred sol-
diers up from Fort William and call back his frightened
colonists, the charges and arrests which followed were
little preferable to war.^**

*" Ross Cox, A dv. , ii. 225-42, gives the best account of any one there duiinp
hostilities. Lord Selkirk's Sketch of the British Fur Trade in North America,
published in 1810, as well as the Statement Respecting the. Earl of Selkirk's
settlement upon the Red Itiver, London 1817, are not so much historical and
descriptive accounts, but rather bills of indictment against tho Northwest
Company. They bear no comparison with Sir Alexander Mackenzie, llistonj
q/" the Fur Trade, in points of intelligent observation and fairness. In th'a
Narrative of the Occurrences in the Indian Countries of Aiuerica, 50-5, published
by the Northwest Company in 18) 7, wo have the other aide of tho story, whicli
must be accepted with the same u igrees of allowance. When men became so
crazed with anger as to resort t»i e ' .ling, little reliance was to be placed on oaths
and asseverations. From the uiinutes of a meeting of a council of Rupert
Land held at Red River, 1845, Gray, Iliat. Or., Gt?, quotes eight rules regu-
lating the rights of settlers. See also JJoiiijlas' Privalv Papers, m&., 1st series,
79-80. In tho House of Commons Report from the Select Committee on Iht
Hudson's Bay Company, 323, in the testimony of E. Eliice, \n\\ he found the text
of tho gi-aut mai'.e to Lord Selkirk by the Hudson's Riy Company, dated the 1 2tli
of Juno 181 1 ; also, 3G1-2, copy of land deed as made by tho company in convev-
ing land to settlers at Red River; on 381-5 statistics of the colony by Donalil
Gunn, and on 445-G a complaint made by Pequis, chief of tho Saulteaux, of un-
just treatment by the settlers and by the Hudson's liay Company. Coniwallis,
New El Dorado, Gl-2, gives an accoimt of the overflow of Red River in 1820,
when houses by the score were lifted up and can-ied away. Van Tramp\i
Adv., 2G0-6, and Farnham's Travf/s, 13-14, contain general sketches on tlio
Red River settlement. Evans. Jlixt. Or., MS., 109, gives a general sketch of
Red River afiairs. See also Macdoiiald's B. C, 247; Gray's Hist. Or., 2i-(i,
61-6. During the a*l'ray and for years thereafter those belonging to tho
Hudsou'a Bay Company were known as the ' Blues,' while tho Northwesters
were designated as the ' Grays,' from tho officers affecting a uniform of those
colors respectively. Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 53. Tho advantages
and disadvantages of the Red River establishment over similar settlements
are given at length by Sir Jar"e3 Douglas in his Private Papers, MS., 1st
series, 79-80; Ballantyne's Hudson's Bay, 94-6; Hinds' Red River Ex., i.
172-5; Martin's Hudson's Hay, 19; Rosa' Red River Settlement ; Andrews'
Min. Letterx. ; Franchere's Nar. , 330^3; Palliser's Papers and Further Papers :
Iuart'i'"'s British Colonies, iii. 532-3; West's Red River Colony ; Cray's Or., 24,
212-13; Milton and ChewHe's Northwest Passage, 37-45; Hinen' Life, 387;
Gretnhow'a Or. and Cal., 323-4; Britixh N. Am., '^"•2; Lord Selkirk's Sketch of
the British Fur Trade in North America; British Quartet ly Review, xvi. 129-
44; Beltrami's Pilgrirnafie, ii. 349 et seq. ; Harmon's Jour., 259-Gl; Portland
Oregonian, January ir., 1870; Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 49-52; Tod's
Neio Caledonia, MS., 3; Douglas' Private Papers, M.S., 1st series. 89. John
Dunn, Or. Ter., 10, gives a rabid and rambling statement, the erroneous de-
ductions of which are only exceeded by its remoteness from truth. Call his nar-
rative by another name, and one would scarcely recognize the story as told by
others.

JUSTICE AND LAW.

581

At that time the Canadian courts had nominal
jurisdiction over all the north-west territories. The
offending of both companies were equally amenable,
and after feuds so serious as those of Red River it
wa,s scarcely to be supposed that on the field of battle
the trouble should be ended.

Human justice, however, is an uncertain affair.
The wonder is that men pretending to be wise should
make so much of it; that is to say, it would be strange
were not chicanery become reputable. No sooner
was it announced that legal investigations had been
ordered than a general scattering on both sides took
place, particularly among the Northwesters, who had
fought in earnest and with fair success, and who did
not care to face close scrutiny. It was remarkable how
many of these fighters just then had business at remote

Eosts, even in the depths of the wilderness and in the
osom of native families; so that when law's slow
minions appeared there was scarcely a bad man to be
found. Innocence was stamped on all faces. Enough,
however,, were arrested to g've occupation to the law-
vers and cause much trouble to offenders. Several of
the more prominent actors, those whom to secrete would
be inconvenient, were taken to Canada or England for
trial; but money and influence seldom failed to hood-
wink justice.

Four years' fighting in courts followed criminations,
prosecutions, and suits over titles, leaving matiXTS
exactly where they were originally. The adventurers
into Hudson Bay still held Rupert Land, and the
Northwest Company still disputed their ligl.'t to ex-
<;lusive trade, and still carried off the larger part of
the peltries. Over fifty thousand pounds sterling were
spent by each company in these litigations; after
which unsatisfactory attcm[)t^ to achieve the ulti-
mate, both at force and at law, negotiations followed.
By the deed-poll statute of the 2Gth of :March 1821,
the trade was to be carried on exclusively in the name
of the adventurers of England trading into Hudson

I • !

682

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

Bay, and bj that of the 6th of July 1834, an attempt
was made still further to regulate the trade in furs
t^ ..ghout tho territory and diffuse the duties of em-
ploycrs. Notwithstanding which, after much suffer-
ing the colony at Red River ultimately prospered.
Churches and academies were built, and close beside
them jails ; and law, learning, and religion were thus
administered to multitudes of the fur-hunters' half-
savage offspring.

Steadily all this time the Northwest Company had
extended its cordon into and to the westward of tho
mountains, particulars of which extension will be given
in their proper place. Old Establishment on Peace
River was built by Mr Pond in 1778-9. No other
fort was built in that region until 1785.

Fort Chipewyan, on Athabasca Lake, was one of
the most important posts of the Northwest Company.
Thence Alexander Mackenzie took his departure in
both of his expeditions. Two months were occupied
in bringing goods from the Grand Portage to this^
place. Often one hundred men would winter there,
dependent for their sustenance wholly upon such fish
as they could catch. Prior to 1782, the natives round
Athabasca used to go to Fort Churchill to trade, but
the hardships they experienced on the way more than
offset the higher price obtained for their furs. In 1 8 2 1 ,
the Northwest Company's force between the Rocky
Mountains and the Pacific numbered three hundred.'*

In other places than at Red River, with greater
or less intensity at various times, hostilities raged be-
tween the two companies until negotiations for peace
were instituted." Alexander Mackenzie pointed out
the advantage of union as early as 1801, which, had

^^Boitchette'g Brit. Dom., i. 15: Mackenzie^ Voy., Ixxxvii. ; Boston Tran-
vrript. May 25, 1S57.

''Tliis ui 1820. 'It is not the dread of the Indians, but of one another,
that has brought the rival companies so close togetlier at every trading-post;
each party seeking to prevent the other from engaging tho affections or the
natives, and monopolizing tho trade. Whenever a settlement is mode by
the one, the other immediately follows, without considering the eligibility of

tston Tran-

UNION OF THE COMPANIES. ail

it then been concluded, would have saved great loss of
life and property, besides a general demoralization
of the trade.

Both companies possessed such international rights
as they had the strength to maintain. The Huds«Mi's
Bay Company might plead their charter, but as they
had failed to fulfil its conditions their better claim
was prior possession. This likewise was the title of
the Northwest Company to the territory claimed by
them, derived, through the conquest of 1759, from
the French discoverers and colonizers of the country.
At one time negotiations were entered upon for the
sale of the Hudson's Bay Company to the Northwest
Company. In 1804 Edward Ellice, then a partner in
the Northwest Company, offered Sir Richard Neave,
governor of the Hudson's Bay Companyj £103,000
for the whole concern, that being the capital stock of
the Hudson's Bay Company at that time. But part
of the stock being the property of minors, the bar-
gain was not consummated."

In June 1819 the question of rivalries and existing
disputes between the Northwest and Hudson's Bay
Companies was brought before the British parliament.
Later by interposition of the ministry, a compromiso
was effected and the two companies merged into one.
In conjunction with this coalition an act for regulating
the fur- trade and establishing a criminal and civil
jurisdiction in certain parts of North America was
passed by parliament the 2d of July 1821, which
consummated the union. The capital stock of the
united association was divided equally between the
late members of the two companies, and more "^^laii
half of the officers were secured by the former y .li-
ners of the Northwest Company. Upon the happy
consummation of these arrangements a grant was
made by the sovereign of Great Britian to the repre-

the place; for it may injure its opponent though it cannot benefit itself,
wliicn is the first object of all other commercial bodies, but the second of
the fur-traders.' Fraidliii'i Xar., i. '290.

^^Ilouae of Commons liept. Iluihon'.s Bay Cuinjxiiiy, 344.

'!• 'I

lip" ""V\

884

THE NORTHWEST COMPANY.

sentatives of both companies, of exclusive trade for
twenty-one years. The name of Hudson's Bay Com-
pany was retained in preference to the other by reason
of its age, respectability, and charter.'®

" Simpson, Life, 46, says the Northwest Company's resources were well
nigh exhausted by the huge expenses, particularly for legal processes. But
if this were true, how could they bring tne proud old Hudson's Bay Company
to such humiliating terms. See also Oreeu/iow^s Or. and Col., 324-6.
No less were the hearts of the Hudson's Bay Company turned toward recon-
ciliation by reason of loss of dividends. Says one: 'The interests of the
Hudson's Bay Company suflfered so much that between 1800 and 1821 their
dividends were for the first eight vears reduced to four per cent. , during the
next six years they could pay no aividend at all, and for the remaining eight
years they could only jmy four per cent.' BritMi N. Am., 249, note. Al-
though throughout its whole career the Northwest Company labored under
disadvantages, assuming risks and dangers which were declined by the
Hudson's Bay Company, and although they paid their servants much more
liberally, and were under many heavy expenses which their rival was not,
and required a much longer time in which to turn their capital, yet by reason
of superior energy the Northwest Company made their business more profita-
ble than the older and slower company. Sir George Simpson, in House. Com-
moiia Report Hudson's Bay Company, 87, laments the general demoralization
of Indians and whites arising from the rivalry between the two companies.
' It was very uncertain for a long time which of them lost most money ; none
of them gained money.' Ellire, in House Commons Report Hudson's Bay
Company, 348-9. Mr Finlayson, Vancouver Island, MS., 84-8, says that
both companies were almost ruined, and that their rivalry tended to the
demoralization of the Indians. See also the testimony of McLoughlin and
McDonell in House Commons Report Hudson's Bay Company, 2C3-6, 283,
387; Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 40 et seq.

CHAPTER XIX.

EARLIEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS NORTH-WESTWARD.

1640-1786.

Unknown North- wests — The North-west of New France — Champlain —
BrAboeuf — Mesnard — Allouez— Marquette and Joliet — La Saixk
AND Hennepin — Grosseliez and Radisson— La Honian — The Stoey
OP Joseph la France — Verendrye, the Ftru-HUNTER, Proposes to Fit
Out an Expedition — Character of Veuendhye — Governou-general
BEAniARNAis Regards the Plan Favorably — Verendrye's Copart-
nery AND Route — Embarkation— Erection of Forts— Massacre at
Lac i>l3 Bois of Young Verendrye, Pere Anneau, and Twenty
Mi.N — Discovery of the Rocky Mountains — Verendrye's Return
AND Death — Infamous Conduct of Canadian Officials —Adven-
tures 'F Moncaciit Ap6 — Carver's Speculations — Hearne's Jour-
ney — Pike's Expeditions— Long's Explorations.

The term North-,. est was orginally applied by
Spanish, French, and EngHsh colonists to the unde-
fined regions of North America in the direction indi-
cated. Later, both the United States and Canada
had each within prescribed limits their North-west
Territory, as the former had its South-western Terri-
tory east of the Rocky Mountains. At the close of
the revolution in 1783 the country south of lakes
Huron, Michigan, and Superior, now comprising the
states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wis-
consin, was organized as the North-western Territory.

Fifty years ago Canada called all that portion of
her domain west of Lake Superior and Hudson Bay,
except such portion as belonged to the Hudson's Bay
Company, the North-west Territories.^ As the Hud-

' ' By the North -west Territories, is generally understood all that portion
of country extending from the head of Lake Superior, westward to the west-
ern shoren of America, northward to tiie Frozen Ocean, and north-westward to

(685)

! ': i

586

EARLIEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

•i;3

son's Bay Company gradually absorbed its lesser
rivals, and from the borders of its original Rupert
Land spread its dominion over all unoccupied country,
naturally such territory took its name ; but when m
1870 the Hudson Bay Territory passed into the pos-
session of the Dominion of Canada, the term of North-
west Territories was again applied to this region,
which to-day comprises all British North America
except the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Sco-
tia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward
Island, Manitoba, and British Columbia.

It includes the surfaces drained by streams flowing
into Hudson strait and bay, the Arctic Ocean, and
Lake Winnipeg.

The name Northwest Coast was given by early
voyagers to that part of the Pacific seaboard north
of California. For the purposes of this volume I
extend this designation from the sea-shore north of
the forty- second parallel back to the Rocky Moun-
tains, excepting only Alaska. It will be noticed that
none of this domain has ever come within the appel-
lation proper of the North-west Territories as it was
applied to portions of their possessions east of the
Kocky Mountains, both by Canada and the United
States; nor would it make any difference in this con-
necticii if it had. Between the years of 1776 and
1796, the white population of the United States over-
spread her south-western territory, and from 1795 to
1804 her north-western.

To the French in the north, as to the Spaniards
in the south, are due the first attempts to traverse
the continent from east to west. While yet in timid
bands Dutch and English fur-hunters were percolat-
ing through the chief Atlantic range into the valley

the limits of the territory granted under the Hudson's Bay charter. What
these limits actually are, has long been a subject' of doubt and difficulty ; and
created not many years ago the most inveterate and alarming feuds between
the rival traders of the north-west and Hudson's Buy, whidi led to conse-
quences the most disastrous and lamentable.' Bouchctte'n Erit. Doni., i. 29.

JE8UIT MISSIONARIES.

,.j,

587

of the Ohio, whose sombre shades, like the Sea of
Darkness, were filled with monstrous creations of the
fancy; and while the hypothetical shores of the South
Sea were thus receding from the western base of tlieso
Blue Mountains, as the Alleghanies were then called,
observant Frenchmen from Canada were quietly de-
scending the Mississippi and noting the streams, wliieli,
flowing in from the north-west, told of more continent
in that direction than had ever yet been dreamed of.

Aroused perhaps by the reckless chivalry of Cham-
plain, a kind of forest knight-errantry broke out among
the religious men of the Society of Jesus, which drovo
fifty or more of them from Quebec to welcome death in
the western wilds. It was during their distant excur-
sions that a knowledge of the marvellous lake system
leading westward was revealed. Thus in 1640, Vhyo
Br^boeuf came upon the Falls of Niagara; in 16G0,
P^re Allouez, dispensing grace from the same spot,
learned much from the natives concerning the yet un-
explored region. The Sioux assured him that their
lands extended northward to the end of the earth,
while the Great Stinking Water bounded the nations
on the west.

Leaving Michilimackinac, where since 1671 he had
been teaching the Hurons, P^re Marquette, accom-
panied by the Sieur Joliet, in 1673 floated silently
down the Great Water, not knowing whither it would
carry him. Straight on was the Mexican gulf; but
it might deflect to the east, and so prove to be one
of those streams found by the English on the coast of
Virginia; or it might turn to the west and discharge
into the gulf of California, or into the South Sea.
But when the junction of the Missouri was reached,
it was then clearly evident that much elevated land
must intervene between them and the Pacific, to send
so large a body of water toward them.

More than this, the natives assured the two ex-
plorers that beyond the sources of the Rivi&re des Mis-
souris, there was another large stream which flowed

■i"i

1 1 i

1 ■

i
J

588

EARLIEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

westward. This the missionary was sure found its
way to the South Sea, and he said God helping him
he would find and follow that river. In his surmise
Marquette was right; but death directed his explora-
tions elsewhere before he was permitted to prove his
theory.

Since he was a boy thoughts of a route from the
Laurentian gulf to the Pacific Ocean had filled the mind
of La Salle. His factory near Montreal was called
La Chine, some said in derision, because the proprie-
tor fancied it one step on the way to China. Hence
when M. Joliet returned to Quebec, La Salle did not
hesitate to express the belief that by ascending this
river Mississippi instead of descending it, some means
might be found of reaching the western ocean. It
is not strange, therefore, that before undertaking his
memorable journey to the gulf of Mexico La Salle
should despatch P5re Hennepin .to trace the Illinois
to the Mississippi, and to ascend the latter as high as
possible.

This the famous Recollet accomplished in 1680,
reaching the Sault St Antoine.'' To the westward of
Hudson Bay in 1682 we find Grosseliez and Radisson
discovering the rivers Nelson and Churchill.

Thus laboring side by side, piety and avarice slowly
pushed back the curtain so long obscuring the setting
sun.

The temptation to romance about the unknown
regions was not always withstood. The Baron La
Hontan appears to have been the Munchausen of the
day. It is as impossible, however, to write unadul-
terated falsehood as unadulterated truth; hence we
may find shadows of history in the baron's mythology.

In the account of his pretended journey up the

" Father Hennepin's piety was greater than his veracity. Notwithstanding
his vanity andlove of exaggeration, hia Description de la Louiniane, Paris, 1688,
contains much correct information, but his NouveUe dicouverle d'un Ms grand
jiaya aitui dans Vamirvjue entre In Nouveau Mexique H la Mer Olaciale, Utrecht,
1697, in which he professes to have been the first to descend the Mississippi
to the gulf of Mexico, was unmitigated falsehood.

LIES OF LA HONTAN.

580

long river' in 1688, he speaks of meeting four slaves
of the Mozeemlek nation, whom lie at first mistook
for Spaniards, as they were clothed and had thick
bushy beards.

Their country, of which they gave a description,
illustrated by a map drawn on deerskin, was the
farthest north and west then known. It lay beyond
mountains "six leagues broad, and so high one must
cast an infinity of windings and turnings before he
can cross them." Continuing, La Hontan says: " The
four slaves of that country informed me that at the
distance of one hundred and fifty leagues from the
place where I then was, their principal river empties
itself into a salt lake of three hundred leagues of cir-
cumference, the mouth of which is about two leagues
broad; that the lower part of that river is adorned
with six noble cities, surrounded with stone cemented
with fat earth; that the houses of these cities have
no roofs, but are open like a platform ... that the
people of that country made stuffs, copper, axes, and
several other manufactures." Again: "AH they could
say was, that the great river of that nation runs all
along westward, and that the salt lake into which it
falls is three hundred leagues in circumference and
thirty in breadth, its mouth stretching a great way to
the southward."

The people on the lake called themselves Tahug-

*La Hontan, Voy., Let., xvi. Obviously the story of Long River is fiction,
there being no duch stream in the locality named. Nevertheless there is trutli
in it. The writer may or may not have made the journey described ; certainly
he did not see all ho professes to have seen ; but for all that he may have made
the excursion, may have ascended a stream which in his narration is larger
and longer than iii fact. Other travellers before and since have indulged in
exaggeration. However this may have been, certain it is that some of his
reports of the information given him by the natives bear internal evidence of
their truth. Something of the Rocky Mountains was known, and something
of the great river flowing to the west. Information, to some extent correct,
the L^ar^n certainly obtamed from some source, which could have been no
other than the natives. La Hontan was a free tl inker and a free writer ;
hence he was traduced and his works by many were discredited. Mr Oi'an-
ville Stuart, m Montana, Hint. Sac. Contrib., i. 30;i, expresses the opinion that
•the information concerning Long River which he obtained from the Indiana
referred to the Missouri, but that in passing througii the many intervening
tribes it became greatly exaggerated.' Sie furtlier North A7n. Review, Jan-
uary 1839, p. 97.

tfi'i ^i

! "f I il

''I

EARLIEST OVERLAND LXPLORATIONS.

1 '111

1 if

i i^^

ill

lauks, and wore beards two fingers' breadth in length.
They were covered with garments reaching down to
the knee; a sharp-pointed cap covered the head; their
boots reached up to the knee, and they carried a
tipped cane in their hands.*

Are there any of my readers who desire yet more
absolute fiction, they may find it in the El Dorado of
Mathieu Sdgeau, who had been with La Salle and
afterward went exploring, as he says, on his own
account. With eleven Frenchmen and two natives,
he ascended the Mississippi one hundred and fifty
leagues from Fort St Louis to a cataract round whidb
they carried their canoes and proceeded forty leagues
farther. The party now began a hunt which lasted a
month, during which they encountered another river
fourteen leagues distant from the first and flowing
south-south-west. Carrying thither their canoes, they
descended this stream one hundred and fifty leagues,
and found themselves amongst fortified towns governed
by a king claiming descent from Montezuma. Gold
was there in greater abundance than ever it had been
found in Mexico or Peru, the brick of the king's
apartment being made of it, and the floor being paved
with it. They saw a caravan of three thousand oxen
laden with gold depart on a trading journey to a
neighboring nation. The Frenchmen were royally
received and entertained; any woman who refused
them was punished by death. On their way ttiither
they encountered lions, tigers, and leopards, which
offered them no harm. Much more this rank impostor
told, the strangest part of all which was that he
should find fools to believe him.

* The deerskin map gives river, lake, and cities. The mountains referred
to were assuredly the Rocky Mountains ; and whether the narrative be true
or false, this is the first mention mode of them. Though we call them now a
thousand miles broad instead of six leagues, there are water-dividing ridges
of less width than that last named. The river referred to may have been the
Columbia or the Colorado, and the salt lake may have been the Paciiic Ooean,
the Gulf of California, or Great Salt Lake of Utah. The houses, clothes, and
beards of the natives may have been the huts, breech-cloths, and down of the
Oregon tribes pluralized, or if we imagine a distant reference to the pueblo-
towns the exaggeration is less gi-oss.

pOMprmSTSBwaRBsr'XWFffl??

THK WESTWARD WAY OF FRENCHMEN.

091

As early as 1708, half a century before France had
lost her vast American domain, which toward the
north-west was then of limitless or unknown extent,
attention was directed toward explorations westward
across the Rocky Mountains. Some knowledge of
this had been brought to the merchants of Montreal
by their agents trading in that direction, which in-
formation had been originally obtained from the
natives. It was about this time that M. Jeremie,
first lieutenant and afterward governor of Fort Bour-
bon, or as the English called it Fort Factory, at the
mouth of Hayes River, and others made excursions
westward.

Among the more forward of the clergy to denounce
the pretended claims of La Ilontan to a journey up
Long River was a learned priest named Babe, who on
the 15th of March 171G wrote from Versailles to
De risle, geographer to the Academy of Science in
Paris: "They tell me that among the Scioux of the
Mississippi ther-e are always Frenchmen trading , that
the course of the Mississippi is from north to vest,
and from west to south; that it is known that toward
the source there is in the higli land a river that !eads
to the Western Ocean . . . For the last two years I tor-
mented exceedingly the governor-general, M. Randot,
and M. Duche to endeavor to discover this c^cean.
If I succeed as I hope we shall have tidings before
three .years, and I shall have the pleasure and the
consolation of having rendered a good service to geog-
raphy, to religion, and to the state." Babe's efforts
were not wholly fruitless, for in 1717, with a view of
extending westward French explorations, he succeeded
in having reestablished by Robertel de Laudue the
post erected by Du Luth in 1G78 at the head of Lake
Superior.

When Crozat in 1712 obtained from the French
king the monopoly of Louisiana for fifteen years, ho
looked forward not only to the discovery of mines but
to a lucrative trade with Mexico, in both of which

EARLIEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

! I

he was disappointed. Sieur Juchereau, whom Crozat
sent overland to Mexico as his commercial agent, on
hi:; arrival at the city of Mexico was seized and im-
prisoned by the viceroy; and although he was subse-
quently released, and kindly treated, and besought to
renounce his allegian ^ to his country and become a
Spaniard, and was given the fair Marfa, daughter of
Pedro de Velasco, commander of Fort Jeau, to wife,
with one thousand piastres as a wedding present, yet
on taking a reluctant and affectionate leave the vice-
roy's last words were: "I can allow no trade between
Lousiana and Mexico."' So that in this direction the
westward way of the Frenchman was blocked.

To Arthur Dobbs on< Joseph la France, a half-
breed, related a stoiy. t id him at Fort Factory by
an old Home Indian, who about 1726 went as he
affirmed at the head of thirty warriors "to make war
against the Attimospiquais, Tdte Plat, or Plascotez
de Chiens, a nation living northward on the Western
Ocean of America." Taking with them their families,
they hunted and fished for two winters, and the fol-
lowing summer "came to the sea-side on the Western
Coast," where were "a great many large black fish
spouting up water in the sea." Constructing some
canoes, they If ft their families on a little island easily
reached u t* -hei! the tide was out, and coasted
thr li it three months in search of their enemies,
t" iLiieads, p; ^ing meanwhile a strait where the

Be loast ]py almost east and west. Upon the bank of
a riv< r tb y found a large town of their enemies, which
with wh< op and wild halloo they attacked, routing the
inhabitants. But when tl > villagers saw how few
were their assailants they i cturned and killed fifteen,
the remainder being glad to escape with their lives.
Of these, while attempting to return, all died save this
one old man. Thus we sco how '•eport'; reach eas^;ern
settlers, of the country be ond the mountains.

^Charlevoix^a Nouvelle France, iv. 170; North Am. Review, Juuaary 1839,
p. 105-6.

VtRENDRYK'S KFFORTS.

003

Jtuiuary 1830,

But not until 1731 was any signal effort made by
Europeans to reach the Pacific overland IVoni New
France. In that year Pierre Gauthier do Varennes,
eieur de la Vdrendrye, who for many years past had
held commercial intercourse with the western aborig-
inal nations, left Lake Nepigon, where since 1728 lie
had been stationed, and visited Quebec to consult the
government upon the subject which had been much
in his mind of late.

There are some things which simple energy will not
accomplish, nor yet energy united with ability. En-
thusiasm is necessary, both in the conception and in
the achievement of great deeds. The explorer as well
as the missionary must have in hint somewhat of the
stuff of which martyrs are made; something to lift him
in a measure out of himself, above the ordinary pleas-
ures and discomforts w.hich constitute no small por-
tion of every man's life, and which will enable him to
sacrifice cheerfully according to the fervor of his hope
and the worthiness of the object.

In the matter of transmontane exploration, Vereii-
drye was an enthusiast. He had thought of it long,
and talked of it long, and from him his brother and
his two sons had caught the inspiration. Though a
fur-trader in the wilderness of America, he was of
gentle blood and much elevation of character. Tem-
perate in forming plans, he was bold in their execution ;
of broad views, penetrating judgment, and intrepid
energy, it required no small obstacle to turn him from
his purpose. And yet his scheuios were not wholly
free from mercenary motives. Few were in those
days, or are even now. Ho was not a religionist, and
therefore made no pretensions to pious zeal ; he was a
dealer in skins, and if seized by intelligent aspirations
sufficient to incline him to forego a portion of his
profits, to take unwarrantable risks, or even expend
the half of his fortune, it did not follow that he was
indifferent to the remainder.

The governor-general of New France at that time

Hist. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. US

W II

594

EARLIEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

was the Marquis de Beauharnais, a commodore in
the navy, an intelligent man, of generous and ambi-
tioufci impulses, and one who had filled many important
posts, and gained much distinction elsewhere than
in America. When informed by V^rendrye of his
project, Beauharnais was by no means indifferent to
the lustre that such an expedition, if successful, would
give his administration, and as Vdrendrye begged
from him nothing, he felt in duty bound to give him
all he asked.

Vdrendrye's purpose was to form a trading copart-
nery with certain Montreal merchants who should
furnish funds with which to procure goods for barter
with the natives and equip the expedition. To avu^J
the territory of the Sioux he would ascend the Assini-
boine and Saskatchewan rivers instead of the Mis-
souri, which otherwise would o^er superior attractions ;
thence he would take nny stream he should find flow-
ing westward and follow it to the Pacific.

It was a pleasing plan to one who knew nothing
of what he was undertaking. Were such a stream
there, and should he find it; were there no mountains
to cross, no cold to endure, no mouths to feed, no
hostile tribes to encounter, he might estimate the
chances of success more accurately. And yet Vdren-
drye was experienced in forest affairs, and thoroughly
competent to accomplish any possibility.

Having formed his partnerships and equipped his
expedition, with a small fleet of canoes, in company
with a missionary, Pere Messager, he embarked for
Lake Superior. Orders had been given him by the
government to take possession in the king's name of
such countries as he should discover, and carefully
to examine them in order to ascertain the best route
for connecting Canada and Louisiana with the Pacific
seaboard.

As Vdrendrye had kept himr^olf free to act as his
judgment should dictate, he now determined to carry
with him as far as possible toward the west a line of

^"-r

LINE OF FORTS ERECTED.

59a

forts which should enable him to hold permanent pos-
session of any country he might discover. From Lake
Superior, therefore, he despatched part of his force to
build a fort, St Peter, at Lac La Pluie.

Then proceeding to the Lac des Bois, he erected
Fort St Charles, but did not complete it until the fol-
lowing year. In 1734 he established Fort Maurepas
on the Winnipeg River. Gradually working his way
westward, he examined the country on every side, never
failing to take formal possession whenever he planted
a fortress. Thus several years were occupied.

Extending his circuit, Verendrye crossed lakes
Dauphin and Des Cignes, and ascended the Sas-
katchewan to its fork. He then built Fort Dauphin
at the head of Manitoba Lake, and Fort do la Reino
at the foot. He built Fort Bourbon at the head of
Winnipeg Lake, and Fort Rouge on the Assiniboine
at its confluonce with Red River.

From these posts Verendrye sent expeditions under
his brother and his sons northward and westward.
They found the Rocky Mountains, found them far-
ther west than they had supposed, but in vain they
sought there the South ^ea. Their efforts were not
unattended by dangers. On one island in the Lac
des Bois in 1736 the youngest son of Vdrendrye
with a Jesuit named Anneau and twenty men were
massacred by a company of Sioux."

Striking southward, ah^ays seeking the Pacific, in
1738 Verendrye entered the Mandan country, build-
ing in October of this year Fort La Reinc on the As-
siniboine. Proceeding slowly up the Missouri, he
reached the Yellowstone in 1742. Ascending the As-
siniboine and taking the Mouse River trail, on the 1st
of January 1743 Vurendrye's eldest son and brother
found themselves face to face with those monstrous
craggy upheavals which sixty years lo.ter unsuccess-
fully barred the progress of Lewis and Clarke in their
efforts to penetrate the mysteries beyond.

" The natives have a tradition of this tragedy, which may be found, as
given by Belcourt, in Minnesota Hhst. Soc, Annala 1803.

596

EARLIEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

There was little wisdc" after all, in thus attempt-
ing to unite exploration with traflfic. Pursue traffic,
and exploration attends ; explore, and traffic follows at
its heels. There are laws regulating these things,
which he who risks life and fortune would do well to
observe. Yet this earnest Frenchman was wise and
noble according to his day. It is very easy for us,
knowing the beyond, to point the proper way, saying
that to explore, one should drop fort-building and
trading, and with a company of tough reliable men
press rapidly forward to the end, and then return.
Whatever risk of life might have attended such a
movement, the expense would have been less. But
all was as a wall of darkness to this explorer, one
step into which might plunge him to the foot of a
precipice.

As it was, Verendrye spent all his fortune and forty
thousand livres besides. Then he returned to Quebec
and asked government aid, which was denied him.
The truth is, there were those who wished to continue
his explorations, availing themselves of his spent for-
tune and twelve years of effort without return, hoping
to reap the reward rightly his due. This is the old
story in pioneering, whether in art, industry, letters,
or discovery.

Frowns are plentiful enough among disappointed
associates. Maurepas circulated reports unfavorable
to Vdrendrye's character, and the latter was finally
induced to remit his commission to Noyelle, who pur-
posed to continue the exploration in his own name.
As a cheap reward for his services to the state thus,
far, the king^ conferred upon Vdrendrye the order of
St Louis. Beauharnais, however, was faithful to the
explorer, as was the governor's successor, Galissonibre ;
and Vtirendrye was about to resume his undertaking
when he fell sick and died December 6, 1749.'' Vdren-

' Granville Stuart, in Montana, ffiiit. Soc. Contrtb., i. .S16, surmises tiic last
ramblo of the Vt^remlryes to have been from Fort La Heine, on the ^Vsaini-
boine, up Mouse River and across to the Missouri, which he touched just below
where since was built Fort IJcrthold. Thence they ascended the Missouri to

■p

RESULTS OF VERENDRYE'S EFFORTS.

IS attempt-
sue traffic,
c follows at
ese things,
do well to
IS wise and
asy for us,
svay, saying
lilding and
eliable men
hen return,
ded such a
less. But
tplorer, one
le foot of a

ne and forty
d to Quebec
denied him.
to continue
is spent for-
iturn, hoping
is is the oltl
stry, letters,

disappointed
unfavorable
' was finally
lie, who pur-
^ own name,
le state thus-
the order of
ithful to the
3ralissonibre ;
undertaking
'49.'' Veren-

, Burmises the last
ne, on the Aasini-
Buched just below
ed the Missouri to

drye's son and brother claimed the right, and very
justl}'', to continue the discovery; but men high in
office now stepped forward and in the name of prog-
ress prepared to fleece the state. Forming an asso-
ciation composed of Jonqui5ro the new governor,
Breard the comptroller of marine, Captain Lamarquc
de Marin, Le Gardeur de St Pierre, and others, the
Intendaut Bigot placed himself at the head of it, and
setting all other claims aside prepared to avail him-
self of V^erendrye's efforts.

The scheme was for Marin to ascend the Missouri
to its source, cross the barriers which so friglitfully
presented themselves to the former explorers, and
take the first stream which should present itself, and
follow it to the Pacific. St Pierre was to sot out from
Fort de la Heine, cross the mountains farther to the
north, and join Marin at a given latitude on the shore
of the Pacific. This project was entirely feasible,
being practically what both Mackenzie and Lewis and
Clarke, though at different dates, and without acting
conjointly, successfully accomplished later.

But mercenary motives interfered and crushed what
otherwise might have })roducod tlie grandest results.
Once fairly embarked, with the puhHc treasury to draw
upon, these political explorers paused in their direct
effort to traverse the continent, and eniployctl the op-
portunity for their personal profit, peltry -gathering at
the eastern base of the llocky jNiountains, where in
1752 they erected Fort Jonquiere. To their ever-
lasting disgrace be it said that these high officials, on
the wrecked efforts of the truly noble Verendrye, by
infamously diverting to tlieir personal and pecuniary

tuc gjites of the mountains near Helena, Montana, the latof January 174.1,
found them on these mountains, whence thoy passed up Deep or Smith River,
crossed to tiie head of the Musselsliell, ami tiien to the Yellowstone, which
they crossed anil ascended Pryor Fork and passed through I'lyoi- (lap to the
Stinking River, crossiuy which they continued soutli to Wind River, M'here
the natives told them of (Jreen River over the mountains, and of the armed
Iwuida of Sioux waiting at tlie ]iass io slay any wlio should come from the
land of their hereditary foes the Siiosh<ines. Hence the explorers turned back
and reached the Missouri in May 1744.

mT" ^ '

«M EARLIEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

profit the state aid which they had obtained pro-
fessedly, as public servants, for the advancement of a
laudable purpose, divided large spoil, the governor
receiving as his share three hundred thousand francs.®
"Thus," says M. Garneau, "ended ignobly a project
nobly conceived, but made almost abortive by injustice
and selfishness."

The first exploring expedition across the Rocky
Mountains, and thence to the Pacific Ocean, was
neither that of Alexander Mackenzie nor yet that of
Lewis and Clarke. It was not performed by an armed
band under the auspices of a powerful corporation or
by army ofPcers guarded by a posse of soldiers. We
are not even indebted to European intelligence or
progress for the first account of the Oregon country.
Frompted by curiosity, the stimulant underlying all
advancement, a native of the Mississippi Valley,
unassisted and unattended, found the path which
Jefferson's captains sixty years later, with all their
government aid, encountered such laborious difficulty
in following; for brains work under red skins as well
as under white.

While engaged in historical and ethnological in-
vestigations west of the Mississippi, M. Le Page du
Pratz, a French savant, like many another before
and since, became interested in the question of the
origin of the Americans, and thought immediately to
solve it.* To this end wherever he went he inquired

^Dobbs' Hudson^ 8 Bay, 44; Pierre Margry, in Moniteur Universel, Sep-
tember 14 and November 1, 1857; Journal of Traveln performed in 1742
by Chevalier de la Vilrendrije in search of the i\'entei'n Sea, addressed to the
Marquis de lieauharnais ; F. X. Oarneau, L'llistoire du Canada, tom. i. lib.
vii. cap. 2; Smith's I list. Canada; New York Hist. Mag., 1859; Contrih.
Hist. Soc. .Montana, i. 301-lG; Parkman's Old lUgitne, 227 ; NeilVa Dia. Rocky
Mountains in 1743.

* M. Le Pago du Prntz gi^ea the result of hia researches in hia Histoire de
la Louisiane, published in Paris in 1758. An abridged English translation ap-
poareil in London in 17(>.'< and another in 1 704, the former being reprinted in 1774.
In these translations the text is badly mutilated. The author resided fifteen
years in Louisiana, and it is from him that later writers derived their fullest
and most reliable information respecting the Natchez and adjacent peoples.
Though somewhat dilTuse, like most writings of that day, much practical good
sense is displayed in these pages. The writer was well acquainted with his
subject, and the wtirk may be considered reliable.

1 r

MONCACHT APfi.

599

for those most familiar with tradition, that they might
tell him what he wished to know. At lengtli among
the Natchez he encountered an ancient aboriofinal,
wiser than all the rest, who himself had thought much
of the beginning of things, and more particularly of
that time-worn puzzle whence he and all other men
had come. He belonged to the nation of the Yazoos,
and was known to the French as L'Interpr&te, because
he spoke many languages, but by his own people he
was called Moncacht Ape, that is to say. He who
Kills Trouble and Fatigue.

This sa'^age was a most remarkable man, possessing
a most remarkable mind. It is a mistake to give
civilization all the brain-power of the planet. Not
less than Europe, America had her arts, her letters,
her eloquence and diplomacy; not less than the uni-
versity, the forest has its lofty contemplations, its
hungerings after higher intelligence, its battlings with
black ijjnorance and mental obscurations.

Though struggling in the darkness, his love for the
sciences was not less than Plato's; his thirst for the
enlightenments of travel was not exceeded by that of
Herodotus.^"

How shall we rate a redskin who, prompted alone
by the Avorkings of inward intelligence, seeks from
tradition to know what has been, and from what has
been to determine what shall be? to this end asking
first his neighbors who and what they arc, then tribes
beyond, until in his eager thirst for knowledge ho
travels from the Mississippi first to the Atlantic, and
then across the mountains to the verge of the Pacific.

"When I saw it," exclaims this American Marco
Polo, referring to his first view of the ocean, "I was
so delighted that I could not speak. My eyes were
too small for my soul's case. The wind so disturbed
the great water, that I thought the blows it gave
would beat the land in pieces."

'" 'Je ne puis mieux le comparer qu'i'i ces premiers (Jrecs qui voyagcoient
principalcnient ilans rOrient pour oxaniiiier les moeurs ut lew cofttumcH dea
diverges nations.' J.c I'aiji ihi Praf:, //inf. (!<■ Id Loiiitium , iii. 88.

600

EAEUEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

The flux and reflux of the tide greatly puzzled him.
On the approach of the water toward his camping-
place upon the beach he fled in dismay, thinking the
world would be engulfed. Reassured, he returned;
and when he saw the water retiring, so long and so
intently did he regard it that his companion thought
him crazed. In journeying toward the north he ob-
served the days lengthened, while in going south they
shortened. Asking the cause, none could tell him,
until finally M. Le Page du Pratz explained the matter
by the aid of his instrument. Returning from the
east, his longings unsatisfied, and having all his life
heard that beyond the source of the Missouri was the
cradle of his race, he was hungry, he said, to see with
his own e3'es the land whence came his first fathers;
hence he resolved upon a journey thither. Not later
than 1745, Moncacht Ap(^ crossed the Mississippi
and spent the winter with the Missouris, who inhab-
ited the banks of the river which to-day bears their
name, near its junction with the Mississippi. There
ho learned the language of the Kansas, the people
above.

Embarking in a pirogue the following spring, he
began the ascent of the Missouri. At the river and
country of the Kansas he stopped to learn something
of the regions beyond. The Kansas sought to dis-
courage him from so difficult and perilous a journey;
but when they saw he was not to be turned from his
purpose they lent him every assistance. They di-
rected him to continue his course up the great river
of the Missouri for one moon, when he could reach
certain mountains exceedingly high and beset with
dangers. Then he should turn to the right and pro-
ceed directly north, and after several days' march he
should come to a river flowing toward the west.
This was called the Beautiful River, and it flowed
into the great Western Ocean." There he would meet

" Under the name Bdle River, in latitude 45°, north of the Missouri and
west of the IkOcky Mountains, the same stream with tributaries all flowing

ASCENT OF THE MISSOURI.

601

Missouri and
es all flowing

a people called the Otters, who could inform him how
to descend the river in a boat.

Map of Le Page ucj Pratz, 1757.

westward is placed in the north-west corner of the Carte de.da Louiaiane
Cotonie Frangaue of M. Le Page du Pratz, dnvwu iu Paris in ly.")", of which
above it is written: 'Cetto belle lliviere t'st representee .sans noni dans la
Carte qui fut doun^o par un Sauvage d M. de la Hontjw).' I give herewith a
facsimile of that section of the map.

'",*

1;-

,i ■

EARLIEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

"I ascended the Missouri for one month," continues
Moncacht Apd, "and although I had gone so far I
did not turn to the right as they had directed me,
because for some days past I had seen many moun-
tains which I dare not cross for fear of bhstering my
feet," While hesitating, not knowing what to do, he
presently saw a smoke, and thinking possibly it might
arise from a camp of the Otters, he presented himself
and to his joy found that it was so, the camp consist-
ing of some thirty men and women bound eastward
buffalo-hunting.

Their language Moncacht Apd did not understand,
but he himself understood by signs. The Otters were
greatly surprised with him, and they tarried there
three days. Fortunately for the traveller it mean-
while happened that one of the women complained of
illness, and her husband, in a most un-Indian manner,
offered to take her back to their village. Moncacht
Apd accompanied them, and thus secured safe guid-
ance over the worst part of his route.

"We ascended the Missouri," he goes on to say,
"for nine short days, when we turned directly to the
north and marched five days, at the end of which time
we came upon a river of beautiful clear water, called
for this reason the Beautiful River."

Fatigued and travel-stained, the man and woman
plunged immediately into the cool tempting stream,
and signed their fellow-traveller to follow. With

Ehilosophic caution he replied that he needed bathing
adly enough, but that he was afraid of crocodiles.
When informed that such monsters did not infest
these northern waters, he bathed with pleasure and
profit. Along the bank of the Beautiful River they
marched the remainder of the day, when they came
to a creek where the hunting party had cached their
canoes. Taking one from the place of concealment,
the travellers embarked, and reached the village of the
Otters that same night.

The fortnight our philosopher spent with this

ADVENTURES ON THE RIVER.

003

friendly couple was quite sufficient for him to learn
somewhat of their language; and now that he had
come among the old men who loved to teach he soon
knew it well. After resting there some days ho sig-
nified his intention to depart. His new-found friends
urged him to prolong his stay, but his project burned
within him and occupied his thoughts alway.

As some of the Otters were going to smoke the
calumet with a kindred tribe directly on his route,
Moncacht Ape accompanied them, floating delight-
fully with the stream for eighteen days, stopping now
and then to hunt. Landing with the Otters at the
village of their friends, Moncacht Ape was persuaded
to go no farther that season, because the heat was
great, the grass high, and snakes to the hunter dan-
gerous. Moreover, it was necessary he should learn
the language of the people below," for it so happened,"
he says, "that with this knowledge I should be able
to understand all the nations which I should find, even
to the Great Water which is to the west."

From the counsels of the old men of this nation
Moncacht Ape derived great benefit, and he loved
them, for their heart was as their mouth spake.
When ready to depart they placed him in a canoe well
stored with pemican and everything necessary for his
comfort, and sent him happily on his way. " I soon
arrived," continues the traveller, "at a small village
whose people were astonished to see me come alone.
This nation wear the hair long, and regard all who
wear it short as slaves, cutting it in order thus to dis-
tinguish them. The chief of this nation, who found
me on the bank of the river, called to rae brusquely,
'Who are you; whence do you come; and what seek
you here with your short hair?' I answered him, ' I
am Moncacht Ape; I come from the nation of the
Otters; I seek information, and I come to you that
you may give it me. ^Ty hair is short that it may not
embarrass me, but nij heart is good. I ask no food ;
I have still far to go ; my right arm and my bow are

I 1

i i

,.i

604

EARLIEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

always equal to my necessities. In the winter I am
the bear and lie dormant ; in the summer I am the
eagle, ever on the wing to satisfy my curiosity. Should
you fear one who comes alone and in the day?' "

Mumbling that though he came from the nation of
the Otters ho was not one of them, and wondering
how he should know the language of a people he had
never seen, the cross chief bade the stranger rest if
he would; but our arrant scholar now rose, slightly
rampant, and would have no sour hospitality. Turn-
ing upon his heel he growls: "When bears meet they
rub noses; but men speak rudely." Then raising his
voice as ho was about to shove off he exclaimed: "I
was charged by Salt Tears to see the Big Roebuck."

Scarcely were spoken these magic words when out
from his tent hurried an old man so blind as to be led.
He was the Big Roebuck, and father of the cross chief,
and he spoke to the stranger as to his own child.
Seizing him by the hand he took him to his tent and
ordered thither all his effects from the boat, and kept
him there two days, telling him how to conduct him-
self Avith favor toward the people below. When
ready to depart he pressed upon the traveller fresh
food, and among other things some meal prepared
from a small grain smaller than the French pea, which
Moncacht Apd was very glad to get, as no maize was
found in that country, and he had had only pulverized
dried meat to carry in his boat. In parting, the old
man assured the stranger that to be well received by
all the nations thence to the Great Water, he had but
to say that the Big Roebuck was his friend. And so
he found it to be.^^

'" M. Le Page du Pratz here questions Moncacht Ap6 closely regarding
his route, and the latter went carefully over the ground again. The Great
Water could be nothing else than the Western Ocean, but tliis Beautiful
Kivcr had never before been described to a European by an eye-witness.
Again he was told that his course was northward from the Missouri nation to
the Kansas, from the Kansas nation up the Missouri north-west to the Beauti-
ful River, which he struck in going directly north from the Missouri, and the
course of the Beautiful River was north-west to the Great Water. The Big
Roebuck had assured him that the Missouri and the Beautiful River flowed
for some distance parallel to each other. This of course was an error, as well

AT THE SEA- SHORE.

605

At each of the nations below, Moncacht Apd tar-
ried but one day, so that he shortly came to the
last, a people one day's journey from the Great
Water, and about a league distant from the Beautiful
River, who were hiding themselves in the woods from
white bearded men*' who came every year in a baric
for a yellow stinking \v'ood, and to steal the young
women for slaves. By this people the traveller was
at once received as a chief by his own family, "because
they thought with reason that one who had seen
white men and many nations should have more mind
than one who had never been from home and had seen
none but red men."

These bearded disturbers of their peace, the natives
further informed him, went always clothed, no matter
how warm the weather; their weapons also made a
great noise ai I sent forth fire, and they came from
where the sun sets."

Seeing that it was the yellow wood which seemed
to bringr them there, folio winjx the counsel of the old
men, the people were fast destroying that odorous
attraction, so that they hoped in tinie they should bo
no more molested.

Exceedingly curious to see these white-bearded
men who were neither English, French, nor Spanish,
Moncacht Apd entered heartily into a plan to attack
those who should next come. It was now about the

as the direction from the Missouri to the Columbia, and the general course of
the latter to the sea. But in view of the riiggedness of the country, the wind-
ings of mountain passes, and the twistings of streams, we can readily excuse
slight discrepancies as to direction by one without chart or compass, and the
first to traverse this region and return to loll of it.

" 'On me dit que ces hommes (Stoieut blancs, qu'ils avoient une liarhc
longue et noire qui leur tomboit sur la poitrine ; qu'ils paroissoient gros ct
courts, la tCte grosse et couverte d'(5tolfc ; qu'ils (jtoient toujours habilk's, monii!
dans les plus grosses chaleurs; que leurs habits tomboient jusqu'au milieu
des iambes, qui 6toient couvertes ainsi que les pieds d'(5toffe rouge ou jaunc. '
Le. Page du Pratz, Hist, de la Luuisianc, iii. 110.

" M. Le Page du Pratz pronounces tlie intruders Japanese ; others think it
quite as likely they were Russians. Whatever is said of them must of course
be taken with allowance. The description of their color, beard, and dress,
together with their annual visits, might point toward Kamchatka, or Japan.
But as a matter of fa«t the Russians had at this time visited the coast but
once, and then not below latitude 50^

I I'M

1 <

606

EARUEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS,

time of their annual arrival. All the families in the
vicinity of their landing-place had retired from the
coast lest thair young women should be captured.
Our hero had smelt gunpowder and was not afraid.

Leaving their camp near the Beautiful River the
warriors journeyed five days to a point on the coast
where were two great rocks, between which emptied
into the sea a shallow stream on whose banks grew
the yellow wood. It was between the two rocks
that the foreigners ran their vessel when they came
ashore.

Seventeen days the warriors now waited the arrival
of their prey. All had been arranged in council for
the attack. Presently they espied the vessel in the
distance, and hiding themselves they watched an
opportunity four days more. At length two boats
containing thirty men put off from the ship and en-
tered the little stream between the rocks. When the
strangers were well scattered gathering wood and
taking in water, the natives fell upon them and killed
eleven, the rest escaping.

Having slaughtered the strangers like a savage,
Moncacht Apd examined their dress and physique
like a scientist. The bodies were thick, short, and
very white ; the head was heavy, the hair short, and
instead of hats they wore cloth wound round the
head. The dress was neither of wool nor bark, but
of a soft stuff like the old cotton shirts of Europeans.
That which covered the leg and foot was of one piece, ^'
Only two of the dead had fire-arms, with powder and
balls.

Joining some northern nations who had come to
assist at the slaying of the strangers, Moncacht Ape
continued his journey along the coast till he reached
their village, when the old men of the place dis-
suaded him from proceeding farther, saying that the
country beyond was cold, barren, and tenantless.
Therefore he returned to his own people by the route

''Not unlike the clothing of the Aleuts.

JONATHAN CARVER.

607

he went, having boon ulxscnt on this western tour fivo
years."

It was not long after the journey of Moncacht Ape
that Jonathan Carver, captain in the British provin-
cial army, made his exploration of the intorior of
North America." Setting out from Boston in Juno
176G, lie proceeded to Fort Michilimackinac, whence
he made excursions round the headwau's of the
Mississippi, reaching as his farthest west a ^joint on
St Pierre or Minnesota River, sixty miles from the
Falls of St Antliony. There he met a people wJiich he
designates as the Naudovvessie nation, but who were
in truth the Dacotahs, with whom he remained seven
months studying tlieir language and learning of them
something of tlie country to the westward. Of the
surrounding r-egiou they drew for- him })lans with coal
on the irmer birch bark, which, though rude. Carver
found on verification to be in the main correct.

'•After questioning the narrator closely, M. Lc Pagj du Pratz asserts hi«
belief in the truth of the story ; and indeed I see no reason to doubt it. Tho
mountains, tlvc river, and the sea are there to-day as Moncacht Ap6 dfscrilKjd
them ; and ht it be remembered, no other person, white or red, so far as
known, had c\'er before perfonned this journey between the Mississippi au<l
the Pacific Ocean by way of the Columbia llivcr. 'Lc bon sens que je connu
il cet homm(5,' concludes the author. Hist. >le la Lonisiavi', iii. 137-8, 'cpii
n'avoit ni no pouvcit avoir aucun interOt Ix m'eu imposer, me fit ajoflter foi ii
tout ce qu'il mo dit ; & jo ne puis me persuader autre chose, sinon qu'il alia sur
les bords mfimcs de la Mer du Snd, clont la partie la plus Septentrionale pent
so nommer, si I'ou vent mer do I'Ouest. La Belle llivicro qu'il a desccuduo
est un fleuve consid^rabiv", que Ton n'aura point do peine a ducouvTcr, lorsqu'-
une fois on sera parvenu au.c sources du Missouri; & jo ne doute point ([u'une
semblablc expc^-dition, si elle etoit entreprise, no lixat entiu'reinent nos idi'^es
sur cettc partie do I'Amerique Septcntrioniilo & sur la fameuse Mer do I'Ouest
dont on parle tant dans la Louisiane, & dont il parott que Ton desira la dOcou-
verte avec ardeur. '

"Carver was bom in Connecticut in 1732, and died in London in 1780.
Owing to the interference of government, the publication of his book was
delayed ten years ; and although the work ran through several editions and
seemed to throw some light upon the (lueation of a nortli-west passage, the
author derived little benefit from it, and died in poverty after having rendered
important services to his country. The infonnation which it pretends to
contain is not of the most reliable character. His journey was neither dilli-
cult nor important; liis description of tho natives was taken from La Hontan
and Hennepin, and his dissertation on the origin of the Americans from
Charlevoix. 'It is probable,' remarks Mr W. F. Sanders, Montana, IHk/.
Soc. Contrib., i. 301, 'that from the discoveries of Vdrendrye and his party.
Captain Jonathan Carver derived tho information which enabled him to put
forth the pretentious but inaccurate knowledge of the sources of the four
greaX rivers.'

H'-'

,_ 1

; ^

\ m

608

EASLiiiST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

With singular intelligence they pointed to the
Rocky Mountain region directly to their west as the
highest land upon the continent, from the fact that
thence flowed great rivers in every direction.*^ There
were the Mississippi, Carver .said, the River Bourbon,
which we should now call the Saskatchewan, the
Oregon, or River of the West, and the St Lawrence.
Substitute for the latter the Colorado, which makes
the observation all the more striking, and the atsie-
raent is essentially correct.*® I append Carver's map.

"Sujce which time explorers and scientists have called attention to the
f;ict a score of times at least, each apparently as a first obsen'er, when tlie
savages hail said as much a hundred ye.ars befoi-e them.

'"Tills is the first mention wo luive of the word Oregon. Carver mentions
it first in his introduction, p. jx., as applied to the Columbia, 'that fallA into
the Pacific Ocean at the straits of Anian. ' On p. 70 tho statement and word are
again repeated, and on one of the maps, in latitude 47° and longitude '.)1>^ west
from London is placed a lake, shooting from which are two short streams, and
tlie words ' Heads of Origa?!.' See NiM. Or., i. 17, this series.

THE SHININCt mountains.

609

Further than this, the Dacotahs tokl Carver of
certain Shining Mountains, which were part of a range
beginning at Mexico and continuing northward oast
of Cahfornia, and dividing the waters which flow into
the gulf of Mexico from those which flow into the
gulf of California.'" On one of Carver's maps we lind
laid down in about latitude 45" a mighty stream which
for five hundred miles fr-om its mouth is twice as wide
as the Mississippi in a like location, and with dotted
banks and concinuation, signifying that its breadth and
limits were unknown. It is labelled in larsje letters
River of the West, and at its moutli is mentioned that
it was discov<ired by Aguilar. South of it is New
Albion; to the north the straits of Anian, a limitless
western sea and the ]Mountain of ]hight Stones, which
blazed with variegated crystals of such exceeding
brilliancy as to dazzle beholders, though very far west
of the continental ridge in which were placed the
Shining Mountains.

Other wonders there were in these undiscovered
lands no less marvellous than the sea-serpents, mer-
maids, and monsters on undiscovered ocean throu n in
by map-makers to till blank spaces. Round the head-
waters of the ]\Iissouri, if ve may believe Car\"cr,
grew male and female mandrakes, that is to say, a spe-
cies of root resembling human beings of both sexes.
But after America has been obliged to make room Ibr
Bacon's Atlantis, and Gulliver lias founded here his
kingdom of Brobdignag, we should not be disturbed
by trifles.

Doubtless the Shining Mountains of the Dacotahs
were those white domes rising from emerald forests

"' It wonld not do to carry tlie Rocky Mountains too far to the north so us
to block the Anian Strait ; iience wo iind stated, though the ground for it if*
not given, that 'they appear to end in about forty-seven or forty-eight dej^ees
of north latitude, where a numl«;r of rivers arise, and empty themselves, eitiier-
into the South Sea, into Hudson's Buy, or into the watt'rs tliat eomnuinicato
between these two seas. Among these mountain'), tiiose that lie to tiio west
of the River St Pierre are called tlio Shining Mountains, from an iutinito
number of chrystal stones of aa amazing size, witii which they are covered,
and which, when tlie sun shines full u|k>u them, ^wrklc ao us to be seen at a
very great distance.' (Vt/ue/'s- 'I'nv ^', I'Jl.
UlBT. N. W. Coast, Vol I ;:9

EARLIEvST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

ii\

which greet the weary traveller's eye while yet far
away over the billowy plain, which greet the mariner's
earnest gaze while yet the shore-line is invisible ; for we
are told that the phosphorescent waves of the Pacific
at night are lustrous under the reflection of their glist-
ening snows.

To make the tale complete, Carver impregnated
with gold the Shming Mountains of the Dacotahs;
and here again he was nearer right than perhaps he
himself suspect So plentiful was gold among the
pe*!)ple of the Sh... g Mountains, he had been assured,
t' ;i! '■ II. ,•,.!, fjuir (•' ■ onest utensils of it. ^^ Gold
•A.—, vr^i . ^ Li*',^^.i, but deep hidden in the gorges
mm4 4ttR<.ult to fin<' Befor*- gold, the soft warm cov-
ering of beasts whio; nkipped upon the surface was
destir»ed to be the attraction. The natives in that
vicinity wore white, an befitted their celestial sur-
roundings.'^

Carver's object in making his explorations, besides
studying the character and customs of the natives,
was to traverse th^ '^//ntinent and ascertain its breadth
between the forty »ir.ird and forty- sixth parallels,
after which ho jnten/k;d "to have proposed to gov-
ernment to establish a post in some of those parts
about the Straits of Annian, which having been first
discovered by Sir Francis Drake of course l>elong to
the English." Such a course; would facilitate truide
and settlement, and hasten the discovery of a jxissage
between Hudson Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Twice
did he make the effort and twice his plans proved
abortive. In his first attempt promised suiJplieH did
not reach hiirt; his second project, forruecl in 1774

■" ' Prolmbly in future ages, ' Carver writes of the Sjiiniug Mountains,
Tmi-c/n, 122, 'they may be found to contain ini)re riches in their Ixtwels than
those of Indosteu and Malabar, or that are produced on the (Jolden Coaat of
Guinea; nor will I e.xccpt oven the Peruvian Mines.' IJrave word-i for one
who might as well have been speaking of the Mountains of the Moon so far
us actual knowledge or even probability was concerned ; and yet this ro^ror
was not far wrong.

''On the whole the narrative of Moneacht ApC" is to my mind far more
Dobcr an.l consistent, and contains nmch more ascertained truth, than any-
thing Carver wi-oto of matters bcjond the mouutains.

FROBISHER, POND, TURSLEY.

61 1

in conjunction with Richard Whitworth, a wealthy
member of parUauient, was frustrated by the breaking
out of the war for independence. The Britisli gov-
ernment sanctioned the latter plan, which was to
ascend the Missouri and descend the Columbia with
fifty men, and after building a fort to prosecute dis-
covery on the Pacific.

Besides the natives there were the fur-hunters and
several French writers from whom Carver obtained
information, and whose accounts, in order to make his
own appear more important, he did not fail to dis-
parage. On a immber of the maps drawn about 1750
we find the cominjLj Columbia desiijnated as Rio
Aguilar, Rio Thegayo, and Great River of the west,
also the fictitious Auian Strait, and other myths
whence Carver derived his imaginings.

For the first overland journey by a European from
the northern interior of North America to any sea-
shore other than the eastern, we must look to the
Hudson's Bay Company. In 1745 a reward of twenty
thousand pounds was offered by parliament I'or the
discovery by any British ship of a passage between
Hudson Bay and the Pacific Ocean. This offer was
renewed in 1776.

After a century- sleep by the Frozen Sea, fearful
lest others should be before them in the search for a
northern passage which they did not wish to find, yet
.satisfied of the non-existence of a navigable channel,
in 1760 the directory despatched Samuel Hearne on
a tour of discovery. Directing his course north-west
from Prince of Wales Fort, on Churchill River, he made
it his mission as well, in determining the question
of a north-west passage, to search for a rich deposit of
copper said by tlie natives to be upon tlie bank of the
far-off Metal River. After proceeding two hundred
miles, Hearne was deserted by his guide and forced to
return. Early the next year a second attcnpt wa.s
made, which was likewise attended with iii success.

1 i
i

612

EARLIEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

In December 1770 Hearne set out for the third time,
and the following year discovered the Great Slave and
other lakes, as well as the Coppermine River, and
crossed what he called the Stony Mountains to the
Northern Ocean.^

It was 1786 before the first traders from Canada
stood on the banks of Peace River. Then little forts
sprang up, the Metropolitan Fort being Chipewyan,
founded in 1788, which was the year in which was
abandoned the establishment on Elk or Athabasca
River built by Frobishcr and Pond ten years previous.
And it was yet later when, in 1802, James Pursley
with two companies loft St Louis on a hunting ex-
cursion, and after three years' wanderings and losses
reached Santa Fe, being the first American to cross
the plains to New Mexico.

In 177G padres Dominguez and Escalante pene-
trated from New Mexico to Utah Lake in the Great
Basin.^'

After Hearne's journey were the expeditions of
Alexander Mackenzie in 1789-03, and of Lewis and
Clarke in 1804-G, of which I fully treat hereafter.

Some time before the journey up the Missouri of
Lewis and Clarke, Mr Fidler had made explorations
in that quarter, the results of which were drawn on
Arrowsmith's map. The geography thus laid down
subsequent explorers very naturally found incorrect,
the knowledge of a country, like the knowledge of any-
thing else, being sometliing which cannot be achieved
at once, but must be left to develoi> itself from small
beginnings.^"^ I will menticv, hero out two others of

^' Hearne's journal was not printed until !lT95, r,ha Hudson's Bay Com-
oany being in no haste to make known the naS«re of that territory. Probably
it would not have then a\jpeared hatl not L* Ferousc, who when he t-apturcd
Fort Albany found there the manuscript of Hawo, ^pulated for its publica-
tion.

''* Dominguez and Esrulante, i'mr-r //'-timftoM^ Egsai Pol., i. 316, and
Pacijic J{. li. /?«/><.. xi. •>

^^Sco Li'iris and (,'!a-^''s Travels, 186. In Mr Arrowsmith's map is laid
down in tin: Rtickj Mountain nutge one yfii— wt tnouatain tuuu- latitude
4^" called Tho Tooth. ' Said t« b« so MMMmI t^mu the d<r«oo%'«rie3 of a Mr
ndler.'

riKl-: AND LONG.

0^9

/., i. 316, and

the most notable early (.expeditions cast of the Rocky
Mountains, which wen those of Zebulou Montgomery
Pike in 1805-7 and of Stephen H. liong in 1819-20.

Pike was a lieutenant in the United States army,
sent by his government to explore the sources of the
Mississippi and establish friendly relations with the
nations whose territory liad lately come under the
domination of the republic. Embarking witli twenty
men from his encampment near St Louis on the 9th
of August 1805, in a keel-boat seventy feet in length,
he ascended the Mississippi to its source, hoisted the
United States flag, and returned after an absence of
nearly nine months. The following year he penetrated
the interior of Louisiana on a similar mission. Arrived
in February 1807 at the Rio (Jlrande, which he sup-
posed to be Red River, he was arrested by a body of
Spanish cavalry and taken to Chihuahua, whence he
was sent home. The peak bearing his name, which
rises from the gold-fields of central Colorado, was first
seen by him in 180G.

The results of Pike's expeditions were important.
Before this the sources of the Mississippi were not un-
known, but the river remained undiscovered except at
certain fur-trading points. Its upper course had never
been continuously traced. He first reported and
mapped the upper Arkansas, the Kansas, and the
sources of Platte River.

One can hardly realize, that at the beginning of the
present century the interior of the North American
continent, now so familiar to us, was less known to
the world than is to-day the heart of Africa. It is
true that French fur-traders had penetrated these
parts, no one knew whither, for they kept their own
secrets iuid cniried them to the grave. We might in-
deed except Du Pratz, who in his work on Louisiana
threw more light upon the geography of this region
than had any one prior to the observations of Pike.
In return for hi-< important services Lieut? nant T'lkw
was made general and appointed to a commifciiaJ

614

EARLIEST OVERLAND EXPLORATIONS.

!: 1

against Canada, but lost his life in an explosion which
accidentally blew up the fort which he occupied. Full
of fortitude and humanity in his several expeditions.
Lieutenant Pike won the hearts of his men by regard-
ing their comforts and sharing their hardships. He
was far too brave and high-minded an officer to treat
with unfairness or cruelty the natives with whom he
came in contact. He could not do a mean or inhuman
act. With pride the American historian may hand
his unblotted record to posterity.

Major Long of the United States army, by order
of his government left Pittsburg in April 1819, to
explore by steamboat the navigable waters of the
Mississippi and the Missouri, and to examine the
region ' etweon the Mississippi and the Rocky Moun-
tains for the purpose of ol^uning a more thorough
knowledge of the country. Jeft'ei^son's instructions
to Captain Lewis were recommi ended to Major Long.
The expedition fell in with many of the traders
of the Missouri Fur Company, then an institution of
that region. Making their way up the Missouri and
camping for the winter near Fort Lisa, five miles
below Council Bluffs, the expeditionists there met
Messrs Pilcher, Fontenelle, Woods, Geroni, and Im-
mel, all of the Missouri Company. Major Long was
restricted in his movements by straitened national
finances, arid after wintering his company at Council
Bluflfe, further progress up the river was arrested "by
order of the secretary of war. At the same time,
however, was authorized a land excursion from that
point to the source of the river Plaxte, which was
made, tkeir steamboat, the Western Engineer, mean-
while departing down the river. From the base of the
Front RajQge, which deterred him from coming to the
sources of the Platte, he turned back and proceeded
southward to the Arkansas and thence to the Missis-
sippi.

Minor expeditions might be mentioned, such as
that of Dunbar and Hunter up the Washita River, a

REFERENCES.

G15

report of which was ccHnniunicated to congress by tho
president in 1806; J. C. Brown's survey uf a road
from Fort Osage to Taos in 1825-7; Richardson's
survey between Little Rock and Fort Gibson in 182G,
and others; but we must hasten on to things wliich
led more directly toward our great Northwest beyond
the mountains.'"'

"Pike's ttccountof liis exj)C(litioii8 was printed iu rhiliidclpliiaiii ISIO. Ab
ill most works of the kiml, much reading is necossarj' in order to olitaiii a small
amount of not very vftlunl)le infornuition. The account of Lons't expedition
was compiled by Edwin James and printed in two volumes in i'hilad'Iphia,
1823. For further reference to matters treated in this chapter may l..; men-
tioned Aim. (lea Vol/., xvi. 27.1; Kraiiii' IHh/. Or., MS., l(Mi 7; liiihmd.ton'a
Polar Jlegioiis, 122-7; Tyiler'x Ui4. Jiiicno., 1415-70; Kolil'.'i J/ii^f. DUnw., ii.
87-07; Green hmu'f Or. and Cal., 140, 14(!, 2(50, 2S9, .'522; Jmnn's Astoria, X>;
Monette'a Valley Miss., ii. .'544; Tioim' Or. Que4., 4; Falrom r'.^ .Miss, ami Or.,
passim; Brit. N. Am., lt)3-218; Wines' E.c. Or., 'Mo-'XH'); J'Hr/.inau'ti DLicou.
of Great, Went, 413; Am. UeijiMer, v. 27i>-;iil; Lewis and C/urke's 'I'raveU,
87-146; Allen, in />. Bow's Iml. Res., in. ,510; Pwljic /?. /{. Hepnr/., xi.
23-6; Am. State Pafiers, xiii. .'51-2, 08-9; lit., Bpecially referring to Carver,
xviii. 521, Oil; fVisconxin Hist. Soc, vi. 220-70; Wentieurlh's Mis., con-
taining threads that lend over the Rocky Mountains; Tucker's Hist. Or.,
30-7; Garden of the World, 17-48; Xile.s' Reij., vi., ix.; .l/r,s Victor, in West
Shore, April 1878. In Pacific Ii. R. Reports, xi. 17, is given a map of North
America drawn in 1795. In the United States general land otlico was
filed the 2l8t of January 1818 a manuscript by Rector and RoberdoiU
showing the western partof tho continent between latitudes 3.!>" and .52'. The
mountain ranges are exceeilingly erratic, and excepting the hypothetical
rivers of San Buenaventura and Timpanogos or Mongos, all tho errors of its
predecessors, Carver, Arrowsmith, Pike, Lewis and Clarke, and Humboldt,
seem to have Ixhui faithfully copied. Piniei/'s Map of North America, Phila-
delphia 1828, shows the Tttpotette flowing from the north-west and emptying
into the Columbia at its conlluence with Snake River; the Multnomah or
Willamette flowing in from tho south-cast, tho rivers Mongos and Timpanogos
both beginning at Lake Timpanogos and dischaiging into the Pacitic, tho
former juKt below Cape Orford and tho latter below Capo Mendocino. Tho
Buenaventura rises near the heatiwaters of Snake River, flows into I^ako
Salado, and thence proceeds to the bay of Sir Francis Drake, where stands tho
presidio of San Francisco. H. A. Homes, Cat. and Norlhiuest Coast, traces
the growth of geographical knowledge and fixes tho dates when errora were
introduced and wiped out from tlie charts. On tho govomment map of 1830
the Rocky Mountains are also called the Oregon Mountains. U. S. Gov. Doc.,
»6th Cong., Sd Sess., H. Rept., No. 830, p. 28. In Wheeler's Geog. Survey
Progress Report, 1872, is a map showing United States exploring routes from
that of Lewis and Clarke to date.

pt^^

! !■

CHAPTER XX.

PASSES AND ROUTES.

Historical Consequences of the Position of the Cordilleras — Physical
Geooraphy of the Mountain Region of the West— The Rooky
Mountain Passes between the Arctic Ocean and the Forty-ninth
Parallel — Passes through the Coast Range — Through the Rocky
Mountains between Latitudes 49° and 32° — Paths across the
Plateau— The Sierra Nevada— San Bernardino Mountains — The
Colorado Region— Routes through Mexico- The Sierra Madre —
The Eastern Range — The Isthmus and Central American Passes —
Historical and Ethnographic Significance of the Routes from
THE Atlantic to the Pacific — The Northwest Passage- The North
American Situation — Routes to Asia Ethnooilvphically Consid-
ered—Historical Conclusions.

The various paths by which successive emigrations
overland reached the shores of the Pacific were de-
termined, as a matter of course, almost altogether by
the physical features of the intervening barrier. An
examination of the character of the several passes
seems therefore appropriate.

That the Spaniards first explored the western coast,
and first settled in the heart of the continental chain,
resulted from the fact that in the latitudes earliest
occupied by them the Atlantic approached the base
of the highland; while to the westward, the Pacific,
opposite the passes by which they penetrated the
range, was either not remote or else actually washed
its base.

Nor was proximity the only factor in the emigration.
In the north, where the Pacific slope was settled by
English, French, and Germans, the trend and rela-
tions of the river valleys were no less significant.

(616)

RANOKS AND KIVHKS.

(517

The unity of the great valley behind the Laurentian
chain, the St Lawrence-Ohio-Mississippi valley, the
key of which was the Hudson River, cutting the way
through that chain, conii)elled these colonists to •\d()pt
a common language.

The first explorations and settlements of Canadians
on the Pacific coast were due not merely to the
shorter distance from Hudson Bay, but to the fact
that a great river, the Nelson-Saskatchewan, naviga-
ble bv canoes and batteaux, and in more recent times
by steamer for the greater part of its length, Uowed
in a direct course fi-om the Rocky Mountains to the
haven frequented by the, Atlantic vessels at York
Factory on Hudson Bay. Its headwaters interlaced
with those of another great river, the Peace-Mac-
kenzie, which cleft its way through the entire Rocky
Mountain chain by a navigable pass only sixteen hun-
dred feet above the sea.

It may be observed that the entire mountain region
of the west, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific,
is one general system, the continuation of the An-
dean system of South America. Widening gradually
in northern Mexico, Utah, and British Columbia in
accordance with the general widening of the continent,
it yet remains indissolubly united by its lofty inter-
vening plateau, while the general altitude and the
complexity of the individual parallel or angling ranges
increase in proportion to the width, the loftiest snowy
mountains being found in latitude 38" 45', fianking the
highest portion of the plateau.

When the Spaniards crossed in 1513-30 and the
Californians in 1849 by the Chagres-Panamd Pass,
in latitude 9° 10', the altitude of the range was only
two hundred and sixty-two feet, and it was a simple
range made up of parallel ridges only forty- eight miles
Where the Hudson's Bay Company s people

across.

crossed in 1847 by the Peel and Porcupine rivers, in
latitude 67° 30', which pass leads from the Mackenzie
to the Yukon Valley, there was a portage of but fifty

\'U\

618

PASSES AND ROUTES.

miles over a rough, broken table-land of inconsiderable
altitude.^ Here the Rocky Mountain, or eastern
flanking range, subsided with the contracted plateau
into the slope of the gradual slope of the Yukon Val-
ley toward the Bering Sea level, while the western
flanking range, still maintaining its individuality, dis-
appeared beneath the Aleutian Sea. In latitudes 38°
to 42° the width of this mountain system is one thou-
sand miles; in latitude 60° it is less than five hundred
miles; in Mexico from one hundred to three hundred
miles.

The name cordillera came gradually into use as
"a comprehensive term for the vast complex of ranges
west of the 104th meridian, which are so connected
together as to demand a name which shall include them
all."^ Hence the cordilleran region, or the cordilleran
plateau, embracing as it does a territory so vast in
area, unique in situation, and known to history (tnly
since 1848, must be understood as describing a grand
physical feature of the continent, as strongly idiosyn-
cratic and marked in its influence upon the history of
the Pacific coast as the mining industries character-
istic of the latter region.

Passing over for the present that series of Central
American routes across the cordillera whose inconsid-
erable elevation has recommended them for lines of
interoceanic canals, and of which that of Tehuantepec
in southern Mexico is the farthest north, we find in
Arizona and New Mexico, near the Mexican frontier,
the next great depression, and the lowest pass within
the boundaries of the United States. Here in early
times the Spaniards of New Mexico traversed the
cordillera, locally termed the Sierra Madre, to the
headwaters of the Gila in Arizona, and of the Yaqui
in Mexico, without attaining a greater altitude than
four thousand feet. This is the most northerly of the

> See an account of the establi' iraent of the Hudson's Bay Company at
Fort Yukon, by McMurray, in DaU'a Alaska.

'Whitney, m Walker's Statistical Atlas, 1874, 1.

--.-A.^-^^- >'■

1 !:;

GOVEUNING CONDITIONS.

010

o use as

J Company at

passes which is not inoro or l(\ss obstructed by winter
snows. To iinil another as low wo have to journey
northward beyond latitude 4D°. Mackenzie, tlie first
Enghsh exi)l()rer to the Pacific, found and traversed
in 1793 the lowest of them all, except such as are
within one hundred miles of the Arctic Ocean, namely
that of the Peace liiver, already mentioned.

Routes Nokth of Latitude 49°.

Returning now toward the south, we will survey in
detail the passes of the cordillera, remarking the ruling
conditions which affected the migrations westward,
whether for traffic or for settlement. Of the motives
for discovering a north-west passage, and the explora-
tions of routes for commercial communication overland
by canoe, by wagon, or by railway, mention is made
in other parts of this work.^

»//ts(. Cal.; HtKt. Northwest Coast, passim; Hist. Oregon; Hist. Brit. Co-
•imiia.

:\.4

*^**^.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

1.0

1.1

11.25

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S 144 ""

u. ,.

U 11.6

Photographic

Sciences

Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREIT

WCBSTER.N.Y. 145S0

(716) 872-4S03

620

PASSES AND ROUTES.

Porcupine, or Peel River Pass, in latitude 67° 30',
within the Arctic circle, and but one hundred miles
from the Arctic Ocean, was the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's northern highway to the Yukon, leading from
Fort McPherson, on the Peel River branch of the
Mackenzie, to La Pierre House, on the Porcupine
branch of the Yukon. Hearing from the nativea of
this short and easy route to the great river of the far
north-west, McMurray, a factor of the Hudson's Bay
Company, followed it in 1847 and built Fort Yukon.
The goods designed for Fort Yukon reached Fort
McPherson by descending the Mackenzie nearly to its
mouth and then ascending Peel River. Thence they
were conveyed in winter a distance of fifty miles on
sledges to La Pierre House, and embarked on the
Porcupine -Yukon the following season.* Liard River,
a branch of the Mackenzie, penetrates the Rocky Moun-
tains in latitude 59°, but this pass does not appear to
have been used by the fur-traders to any great extent.

Peace River Pass, in latitude 56°, was visited by
some of the Hudson's Bay Company traders previous
to 1792, for Mackenzie remarks that Mr Finlay had
been making arrangements for erecting a fort not far
from the pass. Horetzky in 1872, and Selwyn and
Macoun in 1875, also explored this pass, Horetzky
l)lacing its altitude at sixteen hundred feet.

Pine River Pass, in latitude 55° 30', was examined
for railroad purposes by Hunter in 1877, and Smoky
River Pass, m latitude 54° 30', by Jarvis in 1876.

Yellowhead, or T6te Jaune Pass, known also as the
Leather, and Ja'^per Pass, is situated in latitude 53°.
Its first appellation came from an old tow -headed
Indian who lived there, and its other titles from the
leather traffic carried on by the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany between Jasper House, the Saskatchewan post
of Edmonton, and the Fraser and Thompson posts of
forts George and Kamloop.

This traffic began prooably about the time the

* DcUTt AUuha, 342.

ir-n

YELLOWHEAD AND ATHABASCA PASSES.

821

Hudson's Bay Company's head-quarters on the Pa-
cific were transferred from the Columbia to Van-
couver Island, when their accustomed route across
the Rocky Mountains via Kootenais Pass was also
abandoned for one more direct.

A large party of Canadians traversed Yellowhead
Pass en route for Cariboo about 18G2, and charactci--
ized it as a natural roadway. It was also fully ex-
plored and described by Milton and Chcadle," and
afterward by the Canadian Pacific Railway surveyors.
During the Cariboo gold excitement, and later, all the
overland travel from Canada entered British Columbia
by this route. For some unexplained reason, how-
ever, Palliser failed to exauiine this pass during his
three years of (exploration for a road through tho
Rocky Mountains in 1857-D, thougli he scrutinized
all the passes south of it as far as the forty-ninth
parallel, and reported adversely as to the practica-
bility of building a road through any pass in British
territory." Yellowhead Pass is the key to British Co-
lumbia, being situated at the apex of the Columbia-
Fraser triangle, and within easy reach of both liver
valleys. Its altitude is tliirty-four hundred feet.'

Athabasca Pass, in latitude 52° 25', was first ex-
plored by David Thompson in 1810, when he was
despatched to the Pacific by tho Northwest Company
with a view to anticipate Astor in the fur-trade. It
leads from the source of the Athabasca along Whirl-
pool River to the Big Bend of the Columbia at Boat
Encampment. This was the original route of the
Hudson's Bay Company to the mouth of the Colum-
bia, and was travelled by them from 1810 to the time
of Simpson's second journey in 1840. The old Cana-
dian cart trail from Winnipeg, as laid down on the

^Northwest Passage by Land. See also Bromi's Essay.

• Palliser foil in with tho Bour.dary Camp at Colvillo, where ho was well
received, and was led to believe that au astronomical boundary lino was a
great mistake.

' Speaking of it in 1859, Pollisor says : ' It has never Iwcn used except as n
portage' between tho Athabasca and Friiscr rix'cis, there being no land route
connected with it.

022

PASSES AND ROUTES.

Pacific Railway general map," aft«r reaching Edmon-
ton, in latitude 53° 10', continues south-east toward
Kootenai Pass as far as the Old Bow fork on Bow
River, a branch of the South Saskatchewan, opposite
the Kananaski Pass, and leading to and through that
pass in latitude 50° 50'.

B3' a detour the old trail continued toward the
south-east along the base of the mountains to the
boundary or South Kootenai Pass, where another
cart trail from Winnipeg reached the base of the
mountains by a direct route following the forty-ninth
parallel. Leaving Winnipeg by the cart trail, there
was but one road up the valley of the Assiniboine till
that stream turned to the north. The boundary or
Wood Mountain trail then left it, continuing its course
to the westward, while the Edmonton trail deflected
with the river in a northerly and north-westerly
direction, and crossing the water-shed, followed the
valley of the Saskatchewan to Edmonton.

This Saskatchewan road, as it may be termed,
derives great importance from the fact that it led
along one of the principal water highways of the
Hudson's Bay Company, that of the great Nelson-
Saskatchewan, which flowing through the northern
end of Lake Winnipeg, had its eastern terminus in
Hudson Bay, while from its western extremity at
Edmonton was ready communication with the country
beyond tlie mountains by several different passes.

Dunn, speaking of the Athabasca Pass in 1844,
says it was the most frequented of all the passes
through the Rocky Mountains, and was used by the
Hudson's Bay Company as being comparatively easy.
Blakiston remarks in 1859: "Until the last few years
it was used regularly by the Hudson's Bay Company
for the conveyance of a few furs, as well as despatches
and servants, from the east side to the Pacific by
way of the Columbia River, and from the Boat En-
campment is navigable for small craft." There was at

'Fleming's Report, in Canadian Pacific Railway, 1877.

KOOTENAIS PASS.

898

that time no land route to the westward in connection
with this pass.

The Athabasca and Yellowhead passes are identical
as far as Henry House. The former then continues
south, between two of the highest mountains in Brit-
ish Columbia, Mount Brown and Mount Hooker, both
estimated at about sixteen thousand feet, but neither
actually measured.

From Henry House the Yellowhead Pass has a west-
erly direction, following a branch of the Athabasca to
the extreme source of the Fraser in Cowdung Lake.

Howse Pass, in latitude 51" 45', leading south from
the source of the North Saskatchewan to the Black-
berry branch of the Upper Columbia, was explored
by Mr Moberly in 1871 for a railway route, and at
first favorably considered, its elevation being forty-five
hundred feet, but was subsequently abandoned on ac-
count of the sinuosities of its approaches and greater
altitude than the Yellowhead Pass.

The Kicking Horse'Pass, in latitude 51° 25', was so
called by Mr Hector, who examined it in 1858 in
connection with Palliser's expedition.® He found that
it led from the source of Bow River south-west to the
Kicking Horse branch of the Upper Columbia. The
expedition also traversed the Vermilion, Kananaski,
and the north and south Kootenai passes. Of these
Hector explored the Vermilion, which proved densely
wooded and much obstructed by fallen timber, but
having the advantage of a gra<lual descent c. both
sides of the water-shed, was deemed remarkably well
adapted for a wagon road. This pass is in latitude
51° 10', and leads from a small branch near the source
of Bow River south-west, with many windings, to the
Vermilion branch of the Kootenai River. Mean-
while Palmer went through the Kananaski Pass on
his route to the westward, and returned to the east-
ern side by the North Kootenai Pass.

• Mr Hoctor while in this neighborhootl waa severely hurt by the kick of
a hors-1.

PASSF« AND ROUTES.

Kananaski Pass, in latitude 50° 40', leads from oi\e
of the branches of Bow River south-west to a branch
of the Kootenai. The Indians informed Palliser that
this was "the place where Kananaski was stoned but
not killed." Simpson and James Sinclair with a
party of fifty Red River emigrants passed througli
it to Oregon in 1841. It was commonly used tor
the purpose of following the valley of the Kootenai
into United States territory. On its eastern ascent
Blakiston came upon the remains of Sinclair's aban-
doned wagons.^"

The North Kootenai Pass, in latitude 49° 25', leada
from the Belly River branch of the South Saskatch-
ewan south-west, past the sources of the Flathead,
to the Wigwam branch of the Elk and Kootenai
rivers.

South Kootenai or Boundary Pass crosses the
continental water-shed a few miles north of the forty-
ninth parallel, from the Waterton branch of Belly
River, in a south-westerly direction to the valley of
Flathead River, and thence over another summit to
the head of Tobacco River, a branch of the Kootenai.

Among these passes through the eastern flanking
ridge or flange of the cordilleran plateau in British
territory, that of Peace River is the first in importance,
from the fact that the great river of the eastern slope
of the Rocky Mountains, in this latitude, also drains
half of the plateau west of the axis of the range ; the
real continental water-shed at this point being only one
hundred and fifty miles from the axis of the western
flanking ridge or flange, and within one hundred and
ninety miles of the sea, at the mouth of Skeena River.
By the Finlay branch of Peace River the Hudson's
Bay Company had an old travelled route to the Babine
branch of Skeena River, passing through the Omineca

fold re^Tfion, and crossing the water-shed near tho
Julkley House, on Tatla Lake,
Scar jely second in physical and strategic importance

*'>McDcnald'» Brit. Col., 230-40.

TS THE ALASKAN RANGES.

625

\h tlio YuUowhead Pass, on account of the peculiar
configuration of the Pacific slope in British Columbia;
in consequence of which it was early ascertained by
the Canadian Pacific Railway surveys, and by common
consent admitted to be the ruling point governing the
railway location to the strait of Fuca. Chief trader
John McLeod as early as 1823 learned from the
* Shinpor' Indians of Thompson River, who sometimes
went east of the Rocky Mountains, that in this re-
gion there was "a pass leading through both ranges.""
The following principal canoe portages and fur-
trading routes upon the plateau itself, used by the
Hudson's Bay Company, may next be indicated,
namely, the route connecting the McLeod branch of
Peace River with the Eraser, in latitude 54° 30',
travelled by Mackenzie in 1793; and also the Giscomo
Portage, in the same vicinity, mentioned by Mackenzie,
and subsequently adopted as the usual route. Next,
the lake and river chain, occupying the centre of the
plateau, and trending in the same general direction
from the Fraser to Lake Frances and Fort Pelly
Banks, on the headwaters of the Yukon, in latitude
62°. And lastly, the trail and portage from Deasc
House, on the Liard branch of the Mackenzie, leading
to the Stikeen River, not far from the Cassiar mines.

Once 'more, beginning at the northern end of the
western flanking range or flange of the cordilleran
plateau, as we have done on the eastern, it is to be ob-
served that the passes south of Mount St Elias formed
the roads from the Russian American sea-coast to the
British American interior even as far south as the
fifty-fifth parallel, a distance of five degrees of latitude.

To the north of Mount St Elias, or the sixtieth
parallel, there was but one broad channel of travel
and traffic this side of the Arctic Ocean, that of the

^^John McLeod's Report on Indian Tribes, quoted in M. McLeod'a Pence
River, 1 16. The Carilwo-Selkirk and the Kocky Mountain ranges are hero
referred to.

HiBT. N. W. Co^ST, Vol. I. 40

i •-. ■ • i I

M PASSES AND ROUTES.

great Yukon river and valley, in latitude 65°, first
explored by Gldseuof in 1835. From the facility of
communication by water along this river to La!;o
Frances, near its source in latitude Gl" 30', it i.s evi-
dent that the northern interior plateau has been in
constant communication with the coasts of Berin;^
Sea. By the pass of the Yukon through the Aleutian
range, in latitude G4°, canoe navigation was found so
little obstructed that in 1849-51 Mr Campbell, the
Hudson's Bay Company's factor at Fort Selkirk, in
latitude 03°, had his goods brought around and up the
Yukon from the Mackenzie via Porcupine River
Pass. In this pass of the Aleutian range "the river
is narrow and dark, rurning with great impetuosity,
though withott rapids, for many miles."^'' In its
course of two thousand miles the descent of the
Yukon from an altitude of two thousand feet is made
with great regularity.

Touching the features of the north-western end of
the cordilleran plateau, as a means of communication
with Asia, the operations of the Russian American
extension of the Western Union Telegraph Company
under Bulkley in 18G6 are significant, he having
been forced on and confined to the easy plateau
within the extremely rugged mountains of the west-
ern flange.

The western flange of the plateau has been called
by various names. In the north it is known as the
Coast or Cascade Range, being the equivalent of
the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and of the Sierra
Nevada of California,

In Mexico the eastern and western flanges are
both, at different points, denominated the .Sierra
Madre, without much regard to identity or system,
though that name is most commonly applied to the
western flange.

From Mount St Elias to California all the princi-
pal rivers of the coast rise east of the flange, on the

"Dall't Alaaka, 501 8.

"■^^tttu-*;

•WTS

THE COAST RANGE.

C'27

plateau, cuttin<,' tlirougli the Cascade ^lountains, aiul
forming passes aloiij^Mvhich arc aiuiunt ami tiiiR'-woni
Indian trails that have been followed and gen»r:ill\'
improved by the march of civilization. INiiicipal
among these are the Stikeen, in latitnde 58 ; tlio
Nasse, in 5G°; the Skeena, in 55°; the Salmon, in 54 ;
the Bellacoola, in 5,'J'; the Hornathco, in 51° 30'; tiio
Fraser, in 49° 30'; the Skagit, in 48° 30'; the Cohuu-
bia, in 4G°; the Klamath, 42'; and the I'itt, or ri)[Hr
Sacramento River, in latitude 41°. In Mexico the
two typical largo rivers are the Santiago and tlio
Zacatula, the former in latitude 21° 30' and the latter
three degrees farthor south. In the Colorado rcgio.i,
though the western ilango is broken, the Colorado
itself has linked the inhabitants of Utah and Arizona
with the south and west.

While the course of the smaller streams, including
their passage through the flange, is generally south-
westerly and at right angles to the latter, that of the
rivers of the first class differs in a strange and uniform
manner, the Yukon, Fraser, Columbia, Santiago, and
Zacatula persisting in curving to the right, due west.
The four great rivers of the west have besides to
make long detours to the north or south in the course
of their descent from the plateau.

Proportionate to the size of the streams is the
altitude above the sea of their respective passes or
erosions into the axis of the western flange; varying
from less than ten to three or four hundred feet.
Most of the plateau-coast rivers have been navigated
precariously by canoes, with occasional portages, in a
traffic which for the time lacked a safer or a better
road. Trading houses and towns were called into
existence on the imier edge of the Pacific flange,
whence trails or roads were found to have led from
time immemorial to the more favored valleys of the
plateau, inhabited by the populous tribes. Since the
advent of the white men they have led to the first
known mining regions. " It is useless to disguise,"

OM PASSES AND ROUTES,

says Butler, "that the Frascr affords the sole outlet
from that portion of the Rocky Mountains lying
between the boundary line and the fifty-third parallel
of latitude; and that the Fraser River valley is one
so peculiarly formed that it would seem as though
some superhuman sword had at a single stroke cut
through the labyrinth of mountains for a distance of
three hundred miles. "^'

South of the forty-ninth parallel, on the eastern or
Rocky Mountain flange of the plateau, after leaving
Boundary Pass we find in latitude 48° the Flathead
Pass. It leads from a branch of the Marfa River,
a tributary of the Missouri, westward to Flathead
Lake, which is merely an expansion of the Flathead
branch of Clarke or Bitter Root fork of the Columbia.
Flathead Pass forms the shortest route from the main
Missouri to the main Columbia. It was mentioned
by Dunn among several others as being well known
to the Hudson's Bay Company's servants in 1843."

Lewis and Clarke Pass, in 47° 5', and Cadotte Pass
are close together and virtually the same. By a
small branch they lead from the main Missouri south-
west, on two different sides of a hill, to the Blackfoot
branch of Clarke fork. It was first explored by Clarke
on his way east from the Lewis and Clarke expedi-
tion in 1806. MuUan Pass, in latitude 46" 30', near
Helena, Montana, leads from the Little Prickly
branch of the Missouri south-west to the Hellgate
tributary of Clarke fork. Mullan constructed a wagon
road through it from the navigable waters of the
Missouri at Fort Benton to those of the Columbia at
Walla Walla in 1858-62. The Hellgate Pass is near
it, a little farther south ; while Deer Lodge Pass, also
in the same vicinity, leads from the extreme source of
the same stream, in latitude 46°, to Divide Creek and
Fish Creek, tributaries of the JeflPerson fork of the
Missouri.

•» Wild North Land, 352.
"jy«n«'tf Or., 348.

F fl

IN THE UNITED STATES.

629

Passes between Latitude 49° and 32*.

880

PASSES AXD ROUTES.

From tlic Soutli Platte TlivtT at Julcsburg, now
tupped by the lliiittii Pa(-itic Railway, theru is an old
luilitary road which follows the Oregon oinij^i'ant route
alonj^ the North Platte n«)rth-we«»t to Fiirt Laramie,
viu-re it hrancht-, oil* and continues alcn*^ the base of
the mountains to forts Fetternian, llenw, atid Kearney,
and to Fort Smith, in the Yellowstone basin. It
ascendfc. the Yellowstone and crosses over to Bozen' »'i.
and the mountain park of the Missouri, by the Boze-
man or Yellowstone Pass through the brok.. eastern
llange of the plateau, in latitude 45° 45', connecting
by way of Gallatin, in the Upper Missouri Valley,
vith MuUan Pass, at Helena, beyond the continental
vater-shed.

Big Hole Mountain Pass, in latitude 45° 38', leading
from the Big Hole or Wisdom branch of the Missouri
north-west to the extreme source of the Bitter Root
or ( 'larke fork of the Columbia, was the route
tin veiled by Lewis on his back-track from Oregon in
] >S' , and was the pass he may be said to have been
looking for on his way west. It is the natural route
from the extreme source of the Missouri to the extreme
f(Hirce of the Columbia, though not the most direct
nor the best.

Seeking a direct route, Clarke led his party west
across the water-shed from the Horse Plain branch of
the Jefferson or Beaver Head fork of the Missouri,
by the Lemhi Indian trail, in latitude 44° 45', into
the Salmon River branch of the valley of the
Columbia. Not until Idaho and Montana were ex-
plored and settled by the prospectors from California
111 18G0-2, was there even a local importance at-
tached to a passage to this portion of the water-shed,
anil it remained for the completion of the overland
railway in 18G9 to bring into prominence this and
other communications between the parks of Montana
and the south.

The road to the railway, leading from Helena up
Beaver Head Valley via Bannock, goes through the

THE OREGON EMIGRATIONS.

031

into

snmo pass to Lonihi; tlu'iicc it aHccnds Raltnoti Ivivcr
Vallt-y throuj,'!! Coti's ])ulili', in latitmlo 44 iM)', and
thenco continues to Fort Hall and to Coriiinr ri'i
]>annock Ilivor u;i ' Malado liiver Pass, tlui.s pcno-
tratin^ the Utah banin.

A more direct routo hetwocii the saino iiltiinato
points leave dio lioavni Head at the junction of
llorso Plain and lied Kock orooks, and ascends the
Litter to the 8or;h-eas»t, roachiiiL,' Snake River A'alley
by a sin^jle pass Ihroujj^h the water-shed, in latitude
44^ 30', leading to (li.^ head of Dry Creek near Pleas-
ant Valley, and thonce to Firt Hall; another looj) of
t!ie same road taking in Virginia City, Montjina, and
connecting at the ])ass.

It was hy this IMeasant Valley Pass that Montana
received the larger part of her mining population,
mainly from California. It was by Hellgate River
that the Oregon and Idalio miners mostly reerossed
the water-shed, through the jMullan, Hellgate, and
iJeer Lodge [)a8ses, to the eastern slope parks (if the
broken Rocky Mountain ilange at the head of the
Missouri.

The Oregon emigrations between 1842 and 1 840 fol-
lowed the North Platte to Port Laramie, anil entered
the Laramie park or plain by the pass of that stream '
through the Black Hills, in latitude 42" 30'. The
North Platte changes its name to the Sweetwater,
opposite the Sweetwater Mountains, the latter sepa-
rating it and the old Oregon trail from the iiridgcr
Pah>-, Holladay stage road, or Union Pacific Railroad
route to the south of it.

South Pass, in latitude 42° 2G', leads from the
Sweetwater branch of the North Platte west to the
Big Sandy branch of Green River, the main Colo-
rado, attaining an altitude of 7489 feet. ]3onneville
was probably the first to draw the attention of the
civilized world to the merits of this pass through
the Rocky Mountains, having obtained his informa-
tion originally from the French or Canadian trap-

tta

PASSES AND ROUTES.

pera of St Louis, and having explored it personally
m 1832."

At this point we find the eastern flange of the Cor-
dilleras bent and broken to such a degree that the flat-
bodded tertiary lake formations, called parks, within
the parallel ridges of the Rocky Mountains form the
most elevated portions of the plateau, and along with
the underlying conformable cretaceous beds furnish
the characteristic scenery of the old Oregon and Cal-
ifornia emigrant road which unites the Atlantic and
Pacific water-sheds by a nearly level road 7000 feet
above the sea.

From here to Fort Hall the Oregon emigrant road
crossed the headwaters of the Colorado over level
country and reached the upper waters of Snake River
by a short journey through the somewhat hilly coun-
try formed by the northern extension and breaking
down of the Wahsatch Mountains, of older rock.
Leaving Green River behind, the road followed up
the Piney Creek and struck westward through Thomp-
son Pass, in the hills just mentioned, to the Salt River
branch of Snake River.

Frdmont in 1842-3, Stansbury in 1849,and Hayden,
King, and Wheeler's surveys since 1872, surveyed and
mapped not only the old Oregon road, but the entire
region north and south of its intersection of the Rocky
Mountain region over several degrees of latitude.

The emigrant pass through the Blue Mountains of
eastern Oregon, in latitude 45° 20', was more formi-
dable both in the matter of abruptness and in being
obstructed by forest growth. It ascended the Grand
Ronde tributary of Snake River from Grand Ronde
Valley north-west to one of the branches of the Uma-

li Bonneville's adventures from South Pass as a centre began in 1832, and
were publislied by Irving in 1843. Ho was the iiist to recognize (ireen River
as identical with the Colora<lo, and tlie first to discover the character of the
'Utah Basin,' its being without outlet to the sea. Dunn, Or., 348, said in
1843 that a ^ass ' whicli is very important lies between Long's Mountains and
the Wind Rn-er Mountains.'

STAGE AND RAILWAY.

tilla River, and was followed and delineated as far as
the Dalles by Frdmont in 1843.

Bridger Pass, in latitude 41° 3G', was south of the
Sweetwater Mountains, and like the old Sweetwater
road ran parallel thereto in an east and west course,
leading from the elbow of the North Platte north-
west over Laramie plains and the continental water-
shed to the Bitter Creek branch of Green liiver. In
this tertiary region of the Laramie Plains and of
Green River, Holladay's overland stages, and subse-
quently the Union Pacific Railway, crossed the con-
tinental water-shed many miles west of the axis of the
eastern flange.

Holladay's stage road, constructed for the purpose
of carrying the United States mails at a rapid rate
by a continuous night and day travel to Calilnrnia,
after the state attained its full importance in 1850-GO,
entered the Rocky Mountains from St Vrain Fort,
near Denver, through the Antelope Pass in the Black
Hills, a defile cut by the Cache ii Poudre tributary
of the South Platte, and then proceeded west across
the Laramie park, or plains, to Bridger Pass.

When the railway army reached the Rocky Moun-
tains in the autumn of 18G7, the rails were laid along
the Lodge Pole branch, intermediately between the
North and South Platte, as far as Cheyenne, whence
the engineers struck due west through the Black Hills
by a direct route through one of the Cheyenne passes.
Emerging on the Laramie Plains, between the emi-
grant road and the overland stage route, the railway
followed the course of the latter, traversing the same
tertiary lake region over the continental water-shed
near Bridger Pass, and over the main tributary of the
Colorado near the Green River ferry. Instead of
crossing the Wahsatch with the Oregon emigrant
road, however, in a north-westerly direction from the
Colorado to the Columbia basin, both the overland
stage road and the Union Pacific Railroad at this
point kept to the south or left hand, striking boldly

634

PASSES AND ROUTES.

into the heart of the Wahsatch Range toward Weber
Pass.

Wober Pass, through the Wahsatch Mountains, in
latitude 41° 18', leads from the muddy fork of the
Green-Colorado River near Fort Bridger south-west
past the headwaters of Bear River to the head of
Weber River, and along that stream into the Great
Salt Lake basin at Ogden. The western part of the
Wahsatch range is cut by Weber River very nearly
to the level of the Salt Lake basin, or the average
level of the plateau in this latitude; and is made up,
like the main ridge of what we have called the Rocky
]\Iountain, or eastern flange of the plateau — with its
correlative parallels, the Cariboo, Selkirk, and Bitter
Root ranges to the north, and the San Juan, the
Mimbres, and the Sierra Madre of Mexico to the
south — of older rocks, antedating the existence of
the plateau itself

The California emigrant road of 1843-9 was
originally identical with the Oregon trail to Fort
Hall, whence the California-bound followed the direc-
tion of the Goose Creek Mountains, and of the Goose
Creek and Raft River branches of Snake River to
the rim of the Utah Salt Lake basin, and by an easy
though desert road, to the source of the Humboldt,
near Humboldt Wells. Jesse Applegate in 1846
guided Thornton's party over this route to the Hum-
boldt, then known as the Applegate cut-off to Oregon ;
and Joel Palmer in 1849 conducted the newly ap-
pointed collector of the port of San Francisco over
the same route, taking in Fort Hall.

When the Mormons settled Salt Lake Valley in
1 8 4 7, Weber Pass wa.'=' first sought out, since it led from
South Pass to Salt Lake by a more direct route than
the old trapper trail via Fort Hall had done; and the
California-bound emigrants that tarried at Salt Lake
next sought the traverse from the Malade Valley
along the rim of the basin, striking the old California
road from Fort Hall at the source of Raft River,

SOUTH PASS.

035

anfl continuinf^ along it up that stream and over tho
Humboldt divide.

isco over

The South Pass tertiary lakes having levelled the
road-beds, graded the approaches to the plateau irom
the east, and served by pack-trail, by ox-wagon, and
by railroad, from first to last, nearly all the overland
population to the Pacific States, it is proper to con-
sider in this connection several other of the ruling
])<)ints that here governed the movements of the great

emigrations

All the earlier fur-t;uding and exploring ex[)edi-
tioiis beyond the Rocky jMountains as far south as
tliis latitude were governed by the conditions of river
na\igation by canoe. Peace Iliver and the Saskatch-
ewan as well as the Yukon and the Missouri, with
their peculiar fitness for canoe navigation, deter-
mined the location of posts from which the trade of
great areas of plateau region could be reached and
controlled. Owing to the difliculties of canoe navi<;a-
tion on the western slope, however, none but the
Hudson's Bay Company emj)Ioyed it, or made port-
ages to any extent. I'oints of communication called
into existence by these canoe passes or portages
were forts Edmonton, Dunvegan, and McLeod on the
eastern slope; and forts George, James, Alexander,
Fraser, Babine, Connelly, and Shepherd on the
plateau of British Columbia; with Dease, Frances,
Selkirk, and Yukon in the extreme north. In Oregon
the Dalles, Colville, and Okanagan; all these with
the points at the head of canoe navigation from the
Pacific on all the streams flowing westward, whether
small or large, became the termini of the land routes
running in every direction.

On the land routes within the limits governing their
objective points, grass and water for the accommoda-
tion of stock became the ruling consideration in the
main, though the absence or character of the forests
had their weight also iu determining the movemouts

636 PASSES AND ROUTES.

of the masses. The New Mexico and Arizona, or
southern Pacific route, accordingly failed to attract
many emigrants. Among those who went through
South Pass to Oregon only a few could be induced to
follow the Applegate cut-off by the Nevada salt basins
over dreary deserts for four hundred miles.

South Pass possessed the important advantage over
all other passes through the Rocky Mountains north
of New Mexico of being unobstructed by timber. A
wide belt of open country was found by the trappers
to extend through the range elsewhere wooded here-
about.

South Pass had other strategic advantages favora-
ble to the emigration that flowed through it, namely,
the 'three great rivers of the western states centred
near it, in the Wind River Mountains, the Snake
leading to Oregon, the Colorado and the valleys of
Utah leading south, while the Humboldt had cut a
road for the emigrants across the plateau from the
Rocky Mountains to the Sierra Nevada. In this
respect it presents features similar to those of the
Yellowhead Pass, where the Columbia, the Fraser,
the Saskatchewan-Nelson, and the Athabasca-Mac-
kenzie head nearly together.

Stansbury's expedition to Great Salt Lakr ... j 849-
50 delineated and mapped all the routes and ap-

f)roaches to that region from the east. Gore Pass, in
atitude 40°, is on a more direct route between Denver,
on the South Platte, and Salt Lake City, by way of
Middle Park, White, and Uintah rivers, and along the
south side of the Uintah Mountains to Utah Lake.
The pass proper leads from the Golden City tributary
of the South Platte to the head of the Bunkara branch
of the Colorado, in the Middle Park, thence it crosses
two western spurs of the mountains to the head of
Bear River, and thence to the head of White River,
following the latter down to Green River.^

"This appears to have been the route followed by some of Famham's
eompanions on their way to Oregon in 1839.

T^l

NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA.

637

izona, or
) attract
through
duced to
dt basins

;age over
ns north
iber. A
trappers
ed here-

s favora-

namely,

centred

e Snake

alleys of

ad cut a

from the

In this

56 of the

3 Fraser,

sca-Mac-

... 1849-
and ap-
! Pass, in
I Denver,
y way of
along the
ah Lake,
tributary
ra branch
it crosses
head of
te River,

>f Famham'g

The Sangre de Cristo Pass, in latitude 37° 3G',
leads by the road from Bent Fort, on the Arkansas,
along the Hudrfano branch of the Arkansas south-
west to the headwaters of the Rio Grande at l<\irt
Garland, in San Luis Valley. From this point there
are two different routes to the Colorado River basin
by the passes leading from the Rio Grande: one run-
ning north-west over the San Juan Mountains by the
Coochetopa Pass to Grand River, surveyed by Cox
in 1858; another after descending San Luis Valley a
short distance toward Taos and Santa Fe,''' connected
at Abiquiu, near Taos, with the old Santa Fe and
Los Angeles trail.

The old Santa Fd and Los Angeles trail ran fi'om
Santa Fd north-west, following up the Chama branch
of the Rio Grande, and crossed the water-shed near
the Calinas ]\Iountains, in latitude 36° 30', in a north-
westerly direction to the Navajo tributary of the San
Juan branch of the Colorado; thence continuing in a
westerly direction across the Colorado, near the junc-
tion of the Grand, it crossed the Wahsatch Mountains
at Wahsatch Pass, in latitude 38° 45', near Fillmore;
thence it continued south-west to the Rio Vi'rgun, over
the Colorado desert, and through the San Bernardino
Mountains by the Cajon Pass to Los Angeles. From
Santa Fd to the Colorado it was travelled and sur-
veyed by Macomb in 1859; and from California to
Utah Frdmont followed and mapped it in 1844.

From Missouri Santa Fd was approached by a
wagon road which left the Missouri at Independence,
near the junction of the Kansas, and striking south-
west crossed the Arkansas, reaching the base of the
Rocky Mountains at Fort Union, in latitude 30°;
thence curving around the hills, it crossed the head-
waters of the Pecos and passed over the axis of the
eastern flange, a sharp little divide, in latitude 33^ 28',
into the valley of the u})per Rio Grande at Santa Fd.

From Bent Fort, farther up the Arkansas. Fort

"Whitman and Lovejoy's route in 1842-3. Lovejoy'a Portland, MS., 21-3.

■JM'M

!!!

Hi!

PASSES AND ROUTES.

Union, on the Santa Fd road, was reached by a road
over Raton Pass, in the spurs of the Rocky Moun-
tains.

South of Santa Fd the lowness of the eastern flange
in the Pecos Mountains leaves New Mexico all open
toward the east; and it is entered by numerous trails
and roads from all directions. Going west, however,
from the valley of the Rio Grande, in New Mexico,
there are but two principal roads in Arizona, leading
respectively into the valley of the Little Colorado and
that of the Gila.

The Zuni, or Little Colorado Pass, in latitude 35°,
is in the Zuni Mountains, one of the westerly paral-
lels of the Rocky Mountains, similar, in its relations,
to the Wahsatch Range, though shorter, lower, and
more broken. The Zuni road leads from Santa Fo to
Alburquerque, thence by the San Josd branch of the
Rio Grande west to the Zuiii branch of the Colorado,
continuing down the latter past the Zuili village, till
the river turns north-west, when it leaves it and strikes
south-west to Prescott.^^

The Gila road by Apache Pass, in latitude 32° 30',
crosses the continental water-shed at the Mimbros
Mountains, a local name for another of the short
broken parallels of the eastern flange, near Mowry
City. This was the old overland mail route, which
led from Preston, on the Red River, by way of Fort
Belknap, on the Brazos River, across the Texan
table-lands, called the Llano Estacado, to the valley
of the Pecos i^" thence traversing the Guadalupe Pass,
west of the Pecos, in latitude 32°, and entering the
valley of the Rio Grande.

It crossed that stream at ]\Iesilla, and thence led
west through barren hills,, passing the water-shed, as
stated, at a lower altitude above the sea than any
other of the routes pursued by the emigrants to Cali-

'"This road wm followed and sun'eyed by Beckwourth in 1849, and by
Sitgreaves in 1852.

'•Surveyed by Maroy in 1849, and by Pope in 1854.

SPANISH TRAILS.

630

fornia, being nearly three thousand feet hnver tlian
South Pass. Here the southern emigrant road de-
scended at once into the Mexican salt lake basin of the
Rio Mimbres; thence continuing west over the Colo-
rado plateau, it traversed the southern affluents of the
Gila, crossed the Chiricagui ]\Iountains, on the })luteau,
by Railroad Pass, and penetrating the other parallel
ranges, reached Tucson near the western llango; this
was the main artery of travel from the cast into this
territory.

It was connected at the Mimbres Pass with a
direct road leading north from that point to Santa
Fe, and was mapped west of the pass by the ^Texican
Boundary Commission, and by Lieutenant Parke in
1854.

A remarkable feature of the drainage of the east-
ern flange and its parallels in New j\Iexico at once
affected the communications and settlement of this
country. The Rio Grande intersects the broken-
down eastern flange in the Pecos-Coahuila Mountains,
in latitude 29° 30', and its valley extends northward
in the form of a narrow basin into the heart of the
Rocky Mountains, half of the distance from its em-
bouchure in the gulf of Mexico to the forty- ninth
parallel.

The Mexicans accordingly were early in possession
of the country near the sources of the Arkanas, and
were settled there in sufficient force to overwhelm
the United States exploring party under INIajor Pike
in 180G. Pike was carried a prisoner to Chihuahua
for trespassing on Mexican soil, and all his topo-

fraphical sketches were confiscated. JSlcLeod's Santa
I'd expedition, consisting of six companies of Ibrty
men each, met a similar fate in 1841. Father Esca-
lante, the discoverer of Utah Lake, set out from
Santa Fe in 1776; and the mythical Rio Buenaven-
tura of the Spaniards, flowing into the Western
Ocean, was perhaps reported to them by some In-
dians who had seen the Columbia, though it was con-

640

PASSES AND ROUTES.

I ,

".ill

fused with the Humboldt. The desert and rugged
character of the plateau alone prevented the Span-
iards from advancing by the olcl Santa Fd and Los
Angeles trail along the Utah and Salt Lake Valley,
to the valley of the Snake-Columbia. While the heart
of the Rocky Mountains became settled as early as
Ohio, the want of a natural road to the north-west
checked emigration from this direction entirely.

Having observed the influence exerted by the
natural features of the eastern flange of the plateau
on the emigrations which attained it from the north
Atlantic, it is next in order to consider the method
of their descent to the Pacific. In their eight hundred
or one thousand miles of travel with oxen and horses
at an average altitude of 4000 or 5000 feet above the
sea the guides and scouts fixed their vision on points
where water and grass were to be found, these being
beyond all other considerations attached to a practi-
cable route.

On the road leading to Oregon there were well
wooded mountains in view, at a distance of from
fifty to seventy miles, nearly all the way from their
entrance to the Rocky Mountains till they reached
the coast valleys. The road itself was in open coun-
try, merely skirting the forests of the Black Hills,
the Wind River Mountains, the Wahsatch, and
the Goose Creek Mountains, till the Blue Moun-
tains were reached. Grassy meadows were found in
abundance in the well watered basin of the Snake.
It was not until the necessity arose for a direct route
to the isolated valley of California that the desert
stretches surrounding the basin of the Humboldt
were attempted. , But experience soon taught the
emigrants that even here they might venture with
safety as long as springs of water could be found.
Following the guiding hand of nature, trappers and
emigrants first made the descent in a north-Avest
direction along with the natural drainage to the sea,

1.^ 1^1

THE UTAH BASIN.

C41

rugged
3 Span-
md Los
Valley,
le heart
early as
•th-west

by the
plateau
le north
method
hundred
d horses
)ove the
n points
se being
I practi-

ere well
of from
)m their
reached
en coun-
:k Hills,
ich, and
! Moun-
found in
; Snake.
)ct route
e desert
umboldt
ght the
are with
e found,
pers and
rth-west
the sea,

passing through the western flange on rafts bearing
their families and wagons.

Humboldt River was nevertheless destined to play
an important part in the peopling of the cordilleran
region, occupying as it does a significant position in
the structure of the plateau. Flowing west, at right
angles to the longitudinal extent of the plateau, it is
found where the plateau is broadest as well as highest,.
and midway between the two great rivers flowing
respectively north-west and south-west, itself without
outlet to the sea. Placed in the basin of that river
known to Spanish geography as the Rio Buenaven-
tura, that river which so belied its title, it formed the
central feature of what Bonneville, and after hiui
Fri^mont, termed the Great Utah Basin, though it
was not in the Utah basin proper, and the major part
of the great plateau of which it forms part was not
in the drainageless region of the salt basins at all.
This was the place where destiny had foreshadowed
an outlet to the sea, a road from the strategic pass of
the eastern flange. That road was thus continued by
the hand of nature across the plateau, and it was
necessary that it should pass also through the western
flange for the accommodation of the dwellers in the
isolated valley by the Golden Gate.

As if other than ordinary inducements had been in-
sufficient to draw the adventurous to cope with the
grand obstacle of the Sierra Nevada, nature had en-
dowed the mountains with bonanzas of silver and gold,
and rewarded the successful explorers, miners, and
builders of railroads and cities with a romantic fame
more fascinating to posterity than were the wonderful
seven cities of Cibola to the world pridr to the great
emigration to the Pacific.

When the existence of rich deposits of silver on
this portion of the plateau became a well ascertained
fact, it also became clearly demonstrated that the
natural difficulties of the central railroad route into
California would have to be, and could be, overcome.

Hist. N. W. Coast, Vol. I.

PASSES AND ROUTES.

Humboldt River therefore proved a curious exception
to the threat law concerniii}; rivers and the moveiDeiita
of populations, first pointed out by the renowned
pioneer of the physical features of the plateau after
whom that river was named.'"

The Humboldt separates two different geological
formations, that of the elevated volcanic plateau of
Mount Shasta and the Modoc lakes, extending north
over a large portion of the Columbia basin within tlie
western flange, from the corrugated north and south
trending ridges of the state of Nevada, between tlio
Humboldt and the Colorado respectively, the volcanic
and the metamorphic sedimentary regions of the
drainless basin of the plateau. In the valleys between
these ridges there are the same natural roads of the
fresh-water tertiary lake basins leading to the south.
Toward the north and north-west the comparatively
level region of the Modoc lakes was as early as 184G
discovered by Jesse Applegate and taken advantage
of by the Oregon emigrants in what was known as the
Applegate or southern route, and for years there was
more or less travel into Oregon by way of the Hum-
boldt and the Shasta corner of the cordilleran plateau.
In latitude 41° 42' the plateau reaches farthest to the
west and nearest to the sea in the very divide that
was sought out by Applegate's party of roadmakers.^'
This southern route to Oregon joins the present Cal-
ifornia and Oregon stage road a few miles north of
Pilot Rock, near the boundary line, on the hill between
Klamath and Rogue River valleys, the western flange
being still represented by the ridges continuing north-
west to the ocean at Cape Blanco, in the main direc-
tion of the Sierra Nevada, and shaping the bends of
the Klamath and Rogue rivers in the mining region
of southern Oregon, though really leaving the lattor
on the seaward slope of the plateau and continuing in

Tn Co»moa; the matter being further discussed with especial reference
to the Columbia by C. C. Coffin in Thr Path of Emfiire.

" Mentiuued by Thornton as arriving at Fort Hull and inducing his party
to undertake the southern route. '

THE CASCADE AND NEVADA RANGES.

043

icing hia party

an altered course, in the Cascade ^rountaiim, to the
north. Strictly spoakinjr, the Sierra Nevada suhsidca
toward the north at Pitt liiver.and the Cascade Uim^^o
subsides toward the south at the passes of tlie U|)|K<r
Klamath River into an anj^le ofthe cordilleran phileaii
on which the great volcanic peak of Shasta toweis, a
worthy monument of the grandeur of both. While
taking advantage of this, Applegate found at the same
time a more hghtly timbered belt to the northward,
avoiding thereby the main obstacles of the Cascade
Mountains.

Bonneville's expedition to the Rocky Mountains in
1832 was the next after Mackenzie's, and Lewis and
Clarke's, to cope with the difficulties of linding a road
through the western flange. It was the first to under-
take it in the latitude of California, and without the
usual following of configurations. In 1833 Walker,
Bonneville's assistant, with a party of forty men and
supplies for a year, left Salt Lake and followed the
Humboldt down to its sink, whence they struck
across the Sierra Nevada, with twenty-three tlays of
entanglement among the passes and defiles of the
sierra, by a route not definitely known, but probably
by Carson Lake, Walker lake and river, and by the
Merced to the San Joaquin Valley. Sutter informed
Wilkes eight years later, when at his fort, that a
route across the Sierra Nevada was followed by a
party "directly east of this place, but they were
twenty days in getting here, and found the country
so thickly wooded that they were obliged to cut their
way," recommending therefore in preference the Pitt
River Pass."

Johnson Pass took a position of historical impor-
tance third in the order of exploration and emigra-
tion, subordinate to the Columbia and the Eraser,
from the north Atlantic. It was evidently an old
pass frequented by the natives, as F' '^mont remarked
while he was struggling through .xie snow on the

" Waixa' Nar., v.

G44

PASSES AND ROUTES,

iti

eastern ascent that a party of natives on snow-shoes
passed them, en route to the western side of the
mountains to fish."*

As the emigrations by the old Spanish trail from
Santa Fd to Los Angeles, and the American emigra-
tion by the southern overland mail route were of
little importance numerically in comparison with those
of the northern routes across the plateau, the road
being desert and difficult, and its terminus on the
Pacific being only on the seaward slope of southern
California, fenced off moreover from the rest of the
coast by intervening mountains, we may consider its
passes through the western flange as of local bearing
onl}'-, and pertaining rather to the movements of
populations from the south-east to the north-west, and
along or from the coast itself.

Resuming now our general view along the west-
ern flange from where we left off at the Canadian
boundary, and having noted the ruling points which
directea the movements of the emigrations to the
several leading passes through the western range al-
ready mentioned, we will now observe the relative im-
portance and significance of the whole series of passes
as far south as the gulf of California, and the part
they have played as routes for emigration eastward
from the Pacific coast, as well as the position and the
junction of the passes between the coast or coast and
interior valleys, aflfecting the low coast country alone.

Between the Fraser and the Columbia are the
Skagit Pass, in latitude 48° 15', the river of that
name having cut through the range to the edge of
the plateau opposite Fuca Strait, and opposite the
upper Columbia and Bitter Root rivers, the latter
being on the Northern Pacific Railroad Company's
route through Mullan P^ss, and the only available
railroad route through the eastern flange north of the
Union Pacific Railroad; the Snoqualmie Pass, in lati-

^ Fremont's Exjdoration, 1843, 234.

ALONO THE COLUMBIA.

tuck 47° 20', Icadiiij,' from the Yakima ncrtli-wost into
the Snohomish Valley ; the Natchez and the (^)\vlitz
passes to the north and south of Mount Rainier; ail
of which are old and constantly travelled routes of tho
natives between the plateau of the Columbia and
Puget Sound. Tho only af^proach to I^us^et Sound
from the east of any historical importance, however,
besides that of the Eraser, has hevn the j)ass of tho
Columbia, in connection with the valley of the Cowlitz,
leading north from the Columbia over a level country.
By the latter, western Washington received its pioneer
settlers from Oregon, and tlio Vancouver Mediter-
ranean itself has had its principal connection with tho
populous coast valleys of the south

Columbia River Pass, in latitude 45° 40', two and a
third degrees farther south than the Bitter Root
Valley's emergence from the Rocky Mountains, has
furnished a natural road from South I 'ass to tho
coast, as well as from the coast to tho plateau em-
bracing the whole of the Columbia basin; but it is
out of the range of Fuca Strait as an outlet for the
valley of the main or upper Colund)ia, including the
transcontinental route by Bitter Root Valley. It
has been the road for emigration from tho south-east
to the north-west, and from the south-west to tho
mining and plateau region north-east of it, and vice
versa, being opposite the Bitter Root Mountains
toward the east.

South of the Columbia the first and the earliest of
the passes used by white men through the Cascade
Mountains was the Indian trail over the southern
flank of Mount Hood, near which was afterward
made the Barlow road, in latitude 45" 05'. It leads
from the Tyich Prairie branch of Dcs Chutes River,
west to the north fork of the Clackamas branch of
Willamette River. The ascent from the plateau was
found comparatively easy, being lightly t mbered; ,
but the densely timbered summit and western slope
presented to Palmer, Rector, and Barlow in 1842-6

646

PASSES AXD ROUTES.

the first serious obstacle that the Oregon emigrants
had encountered in road-making. Their trains were
abandoned at the summit, and the emigrants them-
selves had to be rescued by a relief party from the
Willamette. This was but two years later than Fre-
mont's narrow escape from starvation in the Sierra
Nevada; but the Oregonians in the following spring
completed their wagon road across the range, and
improved it into a toll road; and it remained for many
years the principal road across the Cascade Moun-
tains, while Fremont's route was not made into a
passable wagon road until after the gold -discovery
in 1849, nor into a good road until after the silver-
discovery in 18G0.

From the fact that the Columbia River Pass was
essentially a water highway obstructed by portages,
the Barlow road became a necessity for the move-
ment of herds in the settlement of western as well as
of eastern Oregon later.

To the south the Willamette River Pass, in lati-
tude 43° 2G', leads from the head of Willamette Val-
ley, near Eugene, along the upper Willamette River,
south-west into the Cascade Mountains, crossing the
southern flank of Diamond Peak to the edge of the
plateau at Klamath Marsh

Mackenzie Fork furnishes a similar road and pas?
in latitude 44° 12', leading east to the Metelius branca
of the Des Chutes River.

Rogue River Pass, crossing the western flange in
latitmle 42° 30', leads from the head of Rogue River
Valley north -cast to Klamath Lake. Through the
last three passes emigration has moved eastward.

The pass through the western flange by the Apple-
gate cut-olT, or southern route into Oregon, in latitude
42° 10', which has already been mentioned by reason of
its historical and physical significance, leads from Lower
Klamath Lake west over the southern end of thi Cas
cade Mountains to the head of Stuart Creek, a branch
of Rogue River, on the California and Oregon road.

w^m

OREGON AXD CALIFORNIA,

emigrarits
trains were
•ants them-
y from the
r than Fre-
the Sierra
k^ing spring
range, and
id for many
ade Moun-
ade into a
i- discovery

the silver-

r Pass was

y portages,

the move-

n as well as

[ass, in lati-
imette Val-
lette Hiver,
Tossing the
edge of the

id and pass
ilius branoa

■n flange in
ogue River
brough the
stward.
the Apple-
, in latitude
)y reason of
from Lower
of thi Cas -
;k, a branch
regon road.

From Oregon to California and vice versa the routes
of the Hudson's Bay Company's trappers, guided by
former Indian trails, appear to have been followed in
the main by the roadmakers of more recent date.
Applegate and his party from Oregon bound to Fort
Hall in 1846 followed the old California trail as far
south as Pilot Rock, in their flanking movement
around the Cascade Mountains, as already described.

In the later mov ement upon California with wagons,
General Palmer and his party of Oregonians in 1848
continued in Applegate's trail by the Klamath lakes
to Goose Lake, making a large portion of the distance
to California on the plateau, and finally descended to
the valley by the Quincy and Oroville route, being
the first wagons over that road.

The Oregonians who accompanied Marshall to Cal-
ifornia, and there made the gold-discovery, were not
governed by considerations of wagoning, and simply
retraced the trail of the California and Oregon herd-
ers with pack animals. Two old routes by the Noble
and Scott Mountain passes went northward east and
west of Mount Shasta respectively, and reunited at
Yreka near the present boundary line; the former
followed Pitt River to the plateau. The latter vas
probably the older and has tjie api)carance of having
been originally explored from the north. Leaving the
extreme head of the Sacramento Valley near Shasta
City, it ascended French Gulch and Trinity River;
and crossing Scott Mountain by its pas.s, in latitude
4 1° 20', descended Scott River to the Shasta Valley
plateau at Yreka. Our earliest record of the opera-
tions of the Hudson's Bay Company in California are
identified with this locality common to both routes.

Scott Mountain Pass may be considered as a pass
through the axis of the Sierra Nevada, if not through
the western flange, as it intersects the older rocks
peculiar to the sierra, and the altitude of the i)latc!au
is attained throuirh the Klamath River Pass between
Pilot Rock and Scott River, in latitude 41° 50', where

848

PASSES AND ROUTES.

the country north and east more properly represents
the position of the broken flange. The old Oregon
and California trail between Scott Mountain and Pilot
Rock here traverses the western edge of the plateau
for seventy-five miles. Ridges are crossed from the
Klamath at Yreka to the Rogue L-?:ver at Jackson-
ville; and from Rogue River the Rogue River Moun-
tains are crossed to the Umpqua River, at Caiionville,
above Roseburg; and lastly the Calapooya Mountains,
by the pass leading from a branch of the Umpqua to
the coast fork of the Willamette at Eugene.

The Pitt River route to Oregon ascended the Fall
River branch of Pitt River to Fort Crook, and con-
tinued along the eastern base of Mount Shasta to
Yreka. To attain Fall River, however, which is on
the plateau, it was necessary to first cross the Sierra
Nevada by Noble Pass, in latitude 40° 30', leading
from Fort Reading easterly up Battle Creek and
over the north flank of Lassen Peak to the head of
Hat Creek, and thence north-west as far as Yreka.
In later years a road was made from Fort Reading
ascending the Cow Creek branch of the Sacramento
by 51 more direct route to Fort Crook, crossing the
Sierra Nevada at a lower altitude, in latitude 40° 45',
near Pitt River. By the latter route, which was fi)r
many years the stage and mail route to Yreka and
Jacksonville, the cordilleran plateau was used for a
distance of one hundred and forty miles. Fremont
explored Pitt River from Sacramento Valley to
Klamath Lake in 1846.

By the Lassen road along the upper Pitt River
there was another route from California to Oregon,
which followed the plateau along the inner side of
the flange from Chico and Noble passes, by Klamath
lakes to the valley of Des Chutes River, and along
that stream to the Columbia, being a natural road to
the north.

All the passes through the Sierra Nevada were in
one respect more favorable to exploration and emigra-

iili

THE SIERRA NEVADA.

649

tion with wagons than those of the Cascade Moun-
tains ; they were more openly, and on the whole, com-
paratively speaking, more lightly timbered. To the
north of Pilot Peak, at the head of the North Yuba,
the sierra flange of the plateau was easily approached
frcm the east over the volcanic table-lands; and it
was cut through by the Feather and Pitt rivers to
the edge of the plateau, as old Peter Lassen was the
first to find out for the benefit of the trains via
Smoke Creek, in whose service he lost his life.

When Wilkes visited California in 1841, Sutter,
though a new-comer himself, was already aware of
the advantages of the northern and of the extreme
southern passes for a road from the east. He in-
formed Wilkes that the best northern route was
through the gap made by Pitt River, and of his be-
lief that that stream extended through and beyond
the Sierra; declaring, however, that in his opinion
the best route to the United States was to ascend the
San Joaquin and proceed thence easterly through a
gap in the Snowy Mountains by a good beaten road,
having reference probably to Walker Pass.**

Chico also had its pass, known as Bidwell Pass,
the next south of that descending from the plateau
to Fort Reading. Its connecting roads reached the
Sierra by way of Surprise Valley, and also by way
of Honey Lake to Eagle Lake Valley, traversing
the axis of the ^,•estern flange between Lassen and
Spanish peaks, in latitude 40° 10'. The road loft
Eagle Lake Valley by its Pine Creek tributary, and
attained the spurs on the north side of the north fork
of Feather River while yet on the plateau, descending
along the backs of the volcanic ridges south-west, and
reaching the valley by Chico Creek, at Chico.

From Oroville there was a pass; though the pass,
it is needless to point out, first made the road, whii.li
afterward contributed toward making the town. This
road was the first by which wagons entered California

**Wilkea' Nar., V,

650

PASSES AND ROUTES.

from Oregon, having been opened by Palmer and his
party in 1848. The Oregonians came from Goose
Lake to the Meadows, and passing the site of Quincy,
crossed the western flange of the plateau on the
southerly shoulder of Spanish Peak, in latitude 39°
52', descending along the divide between the middle
and south forks of Feather River to Sacramento
Valley near Oroville.

Both the Oroville and the Chico passes were con-
nected to the eastward with the Fort Crook and
Yreka road to Oregon, by travelled routes along the
inner side of the plateau flange ; but the Shasta route
by these passes does not appear to have been used to
any extent for travel between California and Oregon,
having only such slight significance as might attach
to the intercourse between the extreme northern part
of California or southern Oregon and Washoe.

As an emigrant route the Oroville- Quincy Pass,
connecting with Beckwourth Pass through the eastern
member of the Sierra Nevada, in latitude 39° 45', was
of importance, the road striking north-west from the
Truckce near Reno, and passing along the edge of
Sierra Valley. Connecting at Mill City, on the Hum-
boldt, with the road by way of Honey Lake and Eagle
Lake valleys, it was even more important, being one
of the most direct and practicable routes leading into
the northern part of Sacramento Valley.

In later times the Oroville and Chico passes have
figured as routes for emigration eastward to the
(jvvyhee and Idaho mines; not to mention the more
regulated flow of herders into Modoc and the more
distant grazing lands of the plateau.

From Marysville a road followed up the Honcut
and Yuba divide. Crossing the north Yuba, it fol-
lowed the middle Yuba to Henness Pass, in latitude
39° 28', a branch of it continuing to Downieville,
Sierra Valley, and through Beckwourth Pass.

Another road from Marysville to Henness Pass
followed up the south side of the Yuba to Nevada

■«' Tl

3r and his
)m Goose
)f Quincy,
u on the
titude 39°
he middle
acramento

were con-
>ook and
along the
lasta route
en used to
id Oregon,
srht attach
'them part
hoe.

incv Pass,

the eastern

39° 45', was

it from the

le edge of

the Hum-

and Eagle

being one

jading into

•asses have
,rd to the
the more
the more

he Honcut
uba, it fol-
in latitude

)ownieville,
ass.

mness Pa^
to Nevada

ROADS AND RAILROADS. eSI

City, crossed the south Yuba, and continued to the
sunmiit on the middle Yuba divide, having joined
the other road at Jackson. From Nevada City again
there was a branch leading along the south side of
the south Yuba to Donner and Truckeo Pass, in lati-
tude 39° 25', the pass pointed out by the Nevada City
people to the explorers of the Central Pacilic Railroad
Company at the commencement of the silver era.

Johnson Pass first and the Donner Pass later were
the passes leading from the city of Sacramento, at
the head of navigation on Sacramento River, to the
plateau. It was by these passes mainly that the en-
tire drainless plateau between the Columbia and the
Colorado was finally taken possession of by a perma-
nent population, aided from the east by the Mormon
occupation of Salt Lake. A quarter of a century had
elapsed from the time when Frdmont dispelled the
error of the mythical Rio Buenaventura crossing the
Sierra Nevada, in latitude 39°,^^ until the fantastic
romance of the Spanish geographers was blasted into
reality, when a channel was cut and tunnelled for the
iron road, the true Rio Buenaventura, the modern
River of Good Fortune.

When the Central Pacific Railroad was begun at
Sacramento, the wagon road which led up to the
ridge forming the northern rim of the American
River basin was followed, instead of that ascending
the valley of that river; and the wagon road was
completed through Donner Pass several years before
the railroad, being known at that period as the Dutch
Flat and Virginia City Wagon Road. The rough
road previously existing was then graded and made a
first-class wagon road, over which the Virginia stage
travelled while the Dutch Flat Swindle was climbing
the ridges, in 18G7-9.

This opprobrious term originated in part from the

^Finlan'a Map of North America, riiiladelphia, 1820, 'including all th<
recent geograpliical discoveries,' represents the Humboldt as flowing into Hixt
Francisco Bay.

!' ■

<ll

968

PASSES AND ROUTES.

rivalry of the builders of the Placerville toll road
already mentioned, through Johnson Pass, the valley
route, as opposed to the ridge route, having hitherto
been the Sacramento and Washoe road par excellence.
Its proprietors had spent large sums of money on it,
and had made it a magnificent highway, worthy of
^he important functions it had to perform. Originally
the silver pilgrinT^ from California descended by it
into Hope Valley and followed down the Carson on
the emigrant and Mormon road of 1850-60; but the
present proprietors, when Washoe silver began to flow
in 1860, carried it by a direct route to Lake Tahoe,
down the Kingsbury grade and over the eastern sum-
mit to the old Carson road near Genoa.

Silver Mountain Pass, in latitude 38° 30', leads
from Murphy, on the Stanislaus and Mokelumne di-
vide, along the dividing ridge to the head of the Car-
son, joining the Johnson pass road at Hope Valley.

The Sonora Pass, in latitude 38° 12', leads from So-
nora, Tuolumne County, on the Stanislaus-Tuolumne
divide, along the dividing ridge to the head of West
Walker River, at an altitude of 9600 feet, being the
highest wagon road pass over the sierra. Its sig-
nificance is connected with the settlement of southern
Nevada from California.

Between the Sonora Pass and the southern ex-
tremity of the Californian Alps there is a distance of
one hundred and sixty miles in which three travelled
trails cross the mountains, by the Kearsarge, Mono,
and Virginia Creek passes. These passes are merely
saddles between the peaks, averaging 11,000 feet in
height.^"

Mono Pass, in latitude 37° 52', leads from the Yo-
semite Valley, at the head of the Merced River, by
way of the sources of the Tuolumne, at an altitude of
10,765 feet, to Bloody Canon, a tributary of Mono
Lake. The Mono Trail, by which term this route is
known, was constructed at the time of the Mono gold

"•Muir's Passes in the Sierra, in Scribner'a Monthly, February 1879.

TOWARD THE SOUTH.

653

excitement in 1868, and it has been more frequented
by tourists in search of the picturesque than any
other pass in the Sierra Nevada.

Walker Pass, in hititude 35° 45', leads from Keyes-
ville, on Kern River, along the south fork of Kern
River to the desert plateau at the eastern base of
Owen Peak. It is the last of the passes through the
Sierra proper, leading eastward or northward, and
was named after Bonneville's assistant, Walker, sub-
sequently Frdmont's guide. Sutter referred to this
})ass when he spoke to Wilkes of it in 1841 as the
best route to the United States. According to Sutter
it followed the San Joaquin sixty miles, and thence
struck easterly through a gap in the Snowy Moun-
tains by a good beaten road, and then north-easterly
to Maria River, which flows south-east and has no
outlet.^^

From the great valleys of the Sacramento and San
Joaquin southward the Tehachipa, Tejon, and Canada
do las Uvas passes, from latitude 34° 30' to 34° 35',
lead into the Mojave salt lake basin of the sub-
oceanic region of the gulf of California; the first
named being that followed by the Southern Pacific
Railroad. The railroad then crosses the several par-
allels which in southern California represent both the
Sierra Nevada and the southern coast range, sepa-
rately known by many different names, but which may
be referred to collectively as the gulf coast range.
Through the San Gabriel or San Bernardino Moun-
tains it follows the Soledad Pass, in latitude 34° 30',
and then crosses the San Fernando or western range
of the same mountains by the San Fernando Pass
to Los Angeles, on their seaward slope.

By the Canada de las Uvas Pass tliere is a more
direct route from the San Joaquin Valley to the San
Fernando Pass in the western ridge; while Turner

"This from WiU'es' Nar., v., shows how much geography was at fault at
that time. Sutter was supposed to be well informed, but he appears to con-
found Walker's route via llumboldt llivcr with the Sauta F6 tisU.

lil

fit

1 i 5

►■'fi:

664

PASSES AND ROUTES.

Pass, ill latitude 34° 40', and the Cajon Pass, in
latitude 34° 22', afford roads like that of the Soledad
Pass, from the Mojave Desert west through the gulf
coast range. These passes, excepting the Cajon in
part, wore of importance mainly as leading from the
southern coast valleys to the great valley of the Sau
Joaquin; and the San Fernando Pass, near Los An-
geles, was the ruling one. The old travelled road
reached the Mojave Desert from it through Turner
Pass instead of the Soledad.

From the seaward slope at Los Angeles to the east
and south-east the principal pass of historical note is
that followed by the Southern Pacific Railroad, being
rather a succession of passes made by the San Gabriel
and Santa Ana rivers, the San Gorgonio, in latitude
34°, being the ruling one. It leads from the head of
Santa Ana River south-easterly to Coahuila creek
and valley, below sea-level, near Yuma. This was the
direct line of approach to California from Mexico
overland.

Cajon Pass, branching off from this route at San
Bernardino, might be regarded as the continuation of
the Coahuila and San Gorgonio road from the gulf
of California into the San Joaquin Valley, occupy-
ing the eastern side of the gulf coast range without
touching on its seaward slope. Its principal signiii-
cance consisted in its being the ruling point of the old
southern trans-continental route, the Los Angeles and
Santa F«^ trail of the Spaniards, and the route of the
annual caravan from New Mexico to California.''^ Its
direction wa^ from the bend of the Colorado, at Col-
ville, by the trend of the Mojave Valley to the same
point in the gulf coast range that was indicated by
the Coahuila Valley and the San Gorgonio Pass, the
two routes connecting at San Bernardino, in the heart
of the mountains, and leading thence to Los Angeles.

If any further explanation be needed as to the
position occupied by Los Angeles in connection with

** See Du Mofras' map of the coast. Paris, 1S44.

wryi

THE GULF COAST RANGE.

605

Pass, in

lie Soledad
h the gulf
) Cajon ill
from the
af the Sail
r Los All-
el led road
gh Tumor

to the east
ical note is
road, being
Ian Gabriel
in latitude
lie head of
luila creek
lis was the
)m Mexico

(ute at San
inuation of
m the gulf
ey, occupv-
ge without
ipal signiii-
t of the old
LUgcles and
oute of tlie
jrnia.^ Its
ido, at Col-
;o the same
idicated by
o Pass, the
n the heart
OS Angeles.
as to the
cction with

the movements of the earlier Spanish populations, it
may be found in the fact that from that place the roail
of the seaward slope leads not only to the south, l)ut
that northward it attains the Salinas Valley by the
(laviota Pass through the Santa Incs Mountains, in
latitude 34° 28', traversing, however, the rugged j)ar-
allels of the California Coast Range before reaching
tlie Salinas Valley at Paso Robles.

The road from San Diego to Yuma appears to have
had a less general importance. It ascends the San
Juan River and keeps close along the boundary line,
as though intended to mark it out, following a direct
course to Yuma, and crossing the gulf coast range at
an inconsiderable altitude.

It will be observed that what we have termed the
western flange of the cordilleran plateau has no woJl
defined existence between the Sierra Nevada and the
Sierra Madre of Mexico, the space between them
being occupied by the Colorado Desert. Still tlie
plateau itself is well enough defined in the valley of
the Colorado, as distinguished from the low country
at the head of the gulf of California, in south-eastern
California, and in western Arizona. Climatic causes
attributable to the latitudes where the variable trade-
winds begin and the influence of the steady north-east
trade-winds ceases, more than the contiguratit)n of
the land, perhaps, made this country a waste; so that
the Coahuila and Yuina road, continuing up the Gila
to Tucson, and to the populated country of Sonora in
Mexico, failed to become a channel of emigration to
California, though every other consideration was favor-
able thereto.

The significance of the routes and passes in this
direction is in connection with emigration southward
and eastward from California, dating especially from
the completion over the desert of the Southern Pacific
Railroad in 1878.

To avoid the Colorado Desert as far as possible, tho
military and missionary expeditions from Mexico to

ess

PASSES AND ROUTES.

California, with the single notable exception of that of
Anza in 1776, crossed the gulf to Loreto, and passed
through the gulf coast range to the seaward slope at
Santa Gertrudis Pass, in latitude 28° 32'; or they
sailed from San Bias direct to Monterey, the ancient
capital.

In the peopling of California from the Atlantic
states, neither the southern overland mail route, the
southern emigrant route by the Gila or Mimbres Pass,
nor the Zuui Pass road leading through Tucson and
Prescott resp'jitively, were of any appreciable im-
portance, for the reasons already stated. The sig-
nificance of those passes was limited to Arizona; and
so far as the American population was concerned, was
limited in the main to recent times.

By the Mormon approach to San Bernardino,
following the valleys of Utah southward to the old
Santa Fd and Los Angeles trail, a comparatively easy
though desert road was found in the valleys of the
Colorado and Mojave rivers, emerging from the Mo-
jave Desert through the Tejon and Cajon passes.
Walker was the first to discover its northern con-
nections, having passed over it on his return from
California in charge of Bonneville's California de-
tachment in 1834, being guided over the Spanish trail
portion fairly into the valleys of Utah by a Mexican
from California. Fremont went over it and mapped
it in 1844.

This was not only a natural route following the
valley of the Colorado to the south-west from the
American strategic point at South Pass, but it con-
tributed its share to the permanent occupation of the
coast by the Americans, in the early Mormon settle-
ments that were made on the "seaward slope of south-
ern California.

Following the plateau into Mexico we find it nar-
rower, yet well defined, and of influence upon the
American Pacific states chiefly in connection with the

THE SIERRA MADRE.

411

jf that of
nd passed
I slope at
; or they
lg ancient

Atlantic
route, the
jres Pass,
iicson and
liable im-

The sig-
zona; and
jrned, was

ernardino,
to the old
;ively easy
eys of the
a the Mo-
pn passes,
hern con-
turn from
fornia de-
anish trail
I Mexican
d mapped

owing the
from the
)ut it con-
;ion of the
Lion settle-
of south-

ind it nar-

upon the

m with the

physical features of its western flange. Tlie latter,
though broken in the Colorado Valley, is represented
in the Pinal Mountains near Tucson, the northerly
continuations of the Sierra Madre, and in the various
lofty ranges continuing from them to the north-west-
ward into the great bend of the Colorado between
Colville and Fort Mojave, giving origin to that fea-
ture of the river in its pass through the mountain-
ous region in latitude 35° to 36°. Toward the north,
as the })lateau widens, the range has the appearance
of distributing itself to a degree in the northern and
southern corrugations of Nevada. But by a curious
coincidence the south-eastern boundary of California
draws a line from the bend of the Colorado to the
White Mountains, near which are the loftiest peaks
of the sierra, marking the culminating portion of the
western flange as well as the deflection to the south-
west of the Californian sierra, where it speedily sub-
sides; marking a general line of separation between
the highlands and lowlands, yet including among the
highlands of the plateau, by way of contrast to the
culminating range, the dried -up lake bottom of
the Amargosa, below the sea-level. The Gila and
the Santiago, in Mexico, are the only streams on the
Spanish Pacific side that cut through the flange under
conditions furnishing material advantages for commu-
nication; the Zacatula Pass above Acapulco being,
like that of the Colorado, in a rugged mountainous
region. By the valleys of the Gila and of the San-
tiago natural roadways were found, practicable for
wagons, along which flowed the principal currents of
population and trade eastward and westward between
the region or valley of the gulf and the plateau in
Arizona and Mexico; Tucson and Yuma, San Bias
and Mazatlan being the historical consequences.

In Mexico there are, of course, many other p<i ^ses
or trails through the western flange which were more
or less travelled. The most northerly of these was of
importance to New Mexico. A branch of the Gila

HiBT. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. *3

i'M

3
Ml

;i!:«

«»

PASSES /ND ROUTES.

Passes of Mexico and Central Amebica.

ACROSS MEXICO

650

y'l

overland mail and emigrant road 1> ads south from the
Gila or Mimbres Pass, near Mowrv City, throngh the
plateau Salt Lake basins, by Cook's route in 18r)4, to
the Mexican boundary at the Guadalupe Mountains of
the Pinal Range or Sierra Madre and to the sources
of the Yaqui River, crossing the mountains near the
boundary line, in latitude 31° 30', and descending the
Yaqui to the towns of Arispe, Ures, and Ilermosillo,
thence continuing in tlie same southerly cou'se to
Guaymas. It would appear tliat the importance of
these towns was due very largely to their position on
the route from the plateau in New Mexico to the
Pacific sea-coast, being situated on the shortest route
from the upper Rio Grande Valley to either sea.

Pertaining to the western slope of the flange in So-
nera, the Altar and Sonora Rivers within the Coast
Range at the head of the gulf of California afforded
valleys not unlike the coast valleys of California, by
which north-western Sonora and Arizona were peopled
from the south ; Hermosillo, Altar, Tubac, and Tucson
being the historical consequences of the lowland coast
trail along them.

The earliest main artery of travel in Mexico, cross-
ing the entire plateau from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
led from Vera Cruz over the eastern flange by the
Puebla Pass, in latitude 19° 30', into the plateau
lake basin of Mexico proper, draining at different
points both into the Atlantic and the Pacific. From
the city of Mexico it attains the valley of the Santiago,
already referred to, by several different routes through
the plateau ridges, the principal one following the
basin of that stream by way of Querdtaro, Leon,
Lagos, Guadalajara, and Tepic, to San Bias, and con-
tinuing along the lowlands of Mazatlan.

By the trend of the plateau the roads and towns
marking the locations of industries and populations at
Zacatecas and Durango, within the flange opposite
Mazatlan, created the necessity for a connection of
these places with Mazatlan. Its pass, in latitude 23°

i'li

r^l

I );
i I'

i li

I . Ml

;t^

,1 ( I

660

PASSES AND ROUTES.

30', doGio not appear to have been an import nt route
of travel from the east nor for any other than local
intercourse between the Pacific and the plateau in this
latitude.

A similar pass of local import, that of Tamazula,
in latitude 25°, connects the gulf and river town of
Culiacan with the mining region of the state of Du-
rango. Aside from these passes the western flange
of Mexico for nine degrees of latitude, a distance of
six hundred miles between Santiago River and the
American boundary, has presented a barrier to inter-
course between the gulf of California and the plateau,
with its approaches by tlie Rio Grande on the cast,

Quite as important ast the east and west artery by
the valley of Santiago River is the northerly and
southerly system of roads located between the moun-
tain ranges of the plateau, and along the river valleys
which drain it through the eastern flange. The
second principal highway across Mexico was shaped
by the northerly and southerly trend of the cordillera
into a north and south course.

Beginning at Tampico, on the Atlantic gulf side, it
followed up the Pdnuco River and attained the plateau
by its pass, in latitude 21° 30', through the eastern
flange, and thence continued in the same southerly
course through the city of Mexico to Acapulco. It
crossed the Santiago trans-continental road, as well as
the remnants of the western flange, at right angles to
the latter by the Cliilapa Pass of the Sierra Madre
del Sur, in latitude 18° 30', thence descendl^^ .apidly
to Acapulco.

Approached from Texas, the main plateau artery
of Mexico, shaped by the plateau ridges in the same
northerly and southerly course, was leached by way
of Monterey, on the San Josd branch of the Rio
Grande, through the Saltillo Pass, in the east<;rn
flange, in latitude 26° 20', and passed through San
Luis Potosl and Queretaro to the city of Mexico.
This was the route of the American armies in 1 847.

CENTRAL AMERICA.

6G1

The Mexican plateau itself extending into Now
Mexico, there were natural roads which led Mexican
emigration in that direction at a very early date.
The plateau valley of Chihuahua, between the Sierra
Madre and the Sierra de los Frailes, the latter beinsr
one of the parallels of the eastern tlange, had its road
leading north-westerly to El Paso and Santa F6, the
route by which New Mexico was populated, as well
as to the north-east by the valley of the Conchos. a
branch of the Rio Grande, connecting with the
southern overland mail and emigrant route at the
crossing of the Pecos. Although mining has been
carried on to a considerable extent for a century past
on the inner side of the western flange in the state
of Chihuahua, the roads of that state terminate toward
the west with the plateau and lead the tribute of the
mines to the south and east.

In southern Mexico the isthmus of Tehuantepec
furnishes the first low pass through the continent
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the altitude of the
pass, in 16° 45', being only 855 feet. The attention
of the early di .scovercrs was drawn to this remarkable
depression of the Mexican, plateau; and the idea of
constructing a canal through if, though jpreviously
entertained, received a sudden impulse in 1871, when
it was ascertained in the port of San Juan do Ulloa that
some cannon that were cast at Manila had crossed the
isthmus by the rivers Chimalapa and Goazacoaloo.'^''

From Minatitlan, on the Atlantic, the road loada
south up Goazcoalco River and terminates at Te-
huantepec on the Pacific.

On a parallel with the Tampico and Acapulco road
across Mexico we now see the cordilleran plateau
itself brolien through and differently shaped; near
which the Laurentian axis of the Atlantic side of the
continriit fiuds a repetition in the peninsula of Yuca-
tan. Canal surveys were made through this pass by
the Spaniards.

**IIumboldt, Es»a\ Pol; 'Davit' Interoceaitic CanaU, 6,

603 PASSES AND ROUTES.

The remaining passes in Central America most
notably connected with the dissemination of settlers
on the Pacific slope have nearly all been brought into
prominence as routes for railroads or canals.

The Nicaragua route to Cal^fo nj ", in its pass
through the western range, jr lutiti' li° 15', and
the Panamd, route, in latitude '-f 10 V «tre the only
ones of historical note, however; am they, as port-
ages connecting great sea routes on the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans, have an extensive history of their
own. In addition to these, where the distance from
sea to sea is so short, and the mountains are so fre-
quently interrupted and low as they are in Central
America, the number of passes of more or less local
importance is too large for mention in this connection.

Those actually surveyed for interoceanic canals or
railroads were, continuing southward from the isthmus
of Tehuantepec, the Honduras Pass, leading fcouth
from Honduras Bay along Ulua River to th • biy of
Fonseca, crossing the water-shed in latitude' I'S 15';
the Nicaragua Pass, leading west from C :;;ytown
along the navigable waters of San Juan Riv r and
Lake Nicaragua, and crossing the wator-sLeti t 8" u
Juan del Sor, in latitude 11° 15'.

The Costa Rica Railroad line leads west from Port
Limon, at the mouth of Macho River, to the head of
Grand River, flowing into the gulf of Nicoya. It
passes the dividing ridge in latitude 10°. Along this
route a fine macadamized wagon road wa"^' completed
in 1866.*°

The Chiriqul Railroad route leads wc.-Jt :> uth-west
from Chiriqui Bay, on the Atlantic, to i. . gulf of
Dulce on the Pacific, following small river valleys on
either side, and cro'^-'ng rLc water-shed in latitude 9°.

At the isthmu'i ot Da 'i/^o three different routes
have been survey' 3d, a'] at them approximately in
latitude 9°; the tanamil Rj'ilroad route from Limon
Bay up Chagres River having only a distance of

'"Kootz' Interoceanic Railroad liept., quoted ia Davia' Interoceanic Canals, 9.

ca most
settlers
ght into

its pass
15', and
he only
as port-
ntic and
of their
ice from
•e so fro-
Central
ess local
mection.
canals or
! isthmus

•,pr fcOUth

bay of
13° 15';

i\-(:r and

•om Port
! head of
oya. It
long this
srapleted

uth-west
guif of
ilieys on
iitudo 9°.
it routes
lately in
a Limon
tance of

lie Canals, 9.

THIi; PANAMA ISTHMUS. 663

forty-seven and a half miles and an altitude of two
hundred and fifty-four feet to overcome. Since 1832
this route has been the most prominent line of travel
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, becoming second to
the Central -Union Pacific Railroad in the amount of
its travel after 1869. That leading from Caledonia
Bay, on the Atlantic side, the site of the old Scotch
colony of Darien, following Chucumaque River to the
gulf of San Miguel on the Pacific, and was the route
most favorably reported on of all those advocated
for an interoceanic canal by the oflScer deputed to
make the comparison by the United States congress
of 1866."^

By the trend of the coast at Panamd, as well as by
the Atrato route to the Pacific, the Spaniards were
naturally led first to explore and to take possession of
what appeared to them to be the more valuable con-
tinent; and the discoveries of placer gold-mines in
South America had the eflfect of leading across the
isthmus and to the south a much larger emigration
of Spaniards than went to the western coast of North
America. To the south Panamd has contributed a
steady flow of emigration for as many centuries as
there are decades in its existence as a route to the
Northwest Coast. Yet Panamd has done more and
won more by the latter since 1849 than in all her pre-
vious history.

With the discovery of America, which was also
approximately that of the Pacific Ocean, by Balboa's
journey from the Darien settlement over the isthmus
of Panamd, in 1513, began the commercial movemente,
and emigrations from the north Atlantic, which in
less than four centuries have assumed the character
of a general invasion of the western world by the
Indo-European race, foremost of all races in phvHicul
perfection and mental development. Having fairly
possessed themselves of the Atlantic Ocean, there'
immediately arose a rivalry among themselves for the

'^Admiral Davui' Rept. on Interoceanic Railroads and Canals, 11-16.

6d4

PASSES AND ROUTES.

possession of the road to the Indies. A passage, in
short, from the north Atlantic to the Pacific, giving
its possessor absolute control of European trade with
the Orient, was deemed necessary by England to offset
the fortune of the Spaniards in dominating the Central
American region.

Thus the north-west passage became the grand de-
sideratum of the English; its history is told else-
where. But the problem had to await its solution
until the Anglo-American emigration to Oregon
through South Pass had developed the fabulous
wealth of the Pacific flange of the cordillera in both
silver and gold, as has now been shown.

Their superior mechanical and engineering capabil-
ities in time gave the English and the Anglo-Ameri-
cans possession of every road to the far east by land
and sea. When the pass by the Laramie plains
through the Rocky Mountains was finally perfected
by railroad, not only was the north-west passage
realized, the north Atlantic being brought into com-
mercial proximity to the Pacific, but the destinies of
the world for a thousand years hence instantly un-
ravelled themselves. The extensive admixture, after
the discovery of America, of the Indo-European races
now gathered under one language and a northern
civilization, rather than that of a Latin race, placed
the emigration to the north Pacific in historical relu-
tions of the widest scope, and, as affecting race mix-
tures, of the utmost human interest. By reason of
their geographical position the North Americans were
now enabled to lay one hand upon the Atlantic and
the other upon the Pacific, midway between the
Occident and the Orient, and within easy reach of the
great populations of both, and thus permanently placed
in possession of the central and commanding situation
of the civilized world as it is to be.

We have traced out the broad road made by nature
in the valley of the Yuko:., forming the north- wtestern
extremity of the cordilleran plateau, and along which

EFFECT ON POPULATIONS.

issage, m
ic, giving
*ade with
to offset
e Central

*rand de-
o\d else-
solution
Oregon
fabulous
a in both

y capabii-
o-Ameri-
t by land
lie plains
perfected
passage
into com-
jstinies of
antly un-
;ure, after
jean races
northern
ce, placed
rical relu-
race mix-
reason of
cans were
antic and
ween the
ich of the
tly placed
situation.

it is believed by the foremost students of ethnological
science that the native Americans probably emigrated
to the New World from Asia; their affinities both of
race and language being those of the Asiatic sub-
division of mankind.

The races of the west and those of the cast, brought
face to face, though separated by the extent of the
broad Pacific, have nevertheless had established be-
tween them a line of communication physically in-
dicated by the trend of the cordillera, and the islands
of the ocean extending in a genial climate between
Asia and America, formed the commercial highway
of the Russians from their Asiatic coast to the north-
west coast of America.

Briefly as we have glanced at the physical condi-
tions under which the emigrations from oast and west
have hei n influenced and directed, until finally they
have come together, it is noteworthy that they still
exert, and must continue to exert, a like influence, in
a greater degree as the progress of settlement, of in-
dustry, and of wealth shall enhance the importance
of communications : a permanent guide to the student
,of history who would attempt to read the future.

by nature
h-wfestern
)ng which

CHAPTER XXI.

MACKENZIE'S VOYAQE.
1789-1793.

Obioik, Ocottpation, and Chabaotxb or Alexander Mackenzie — Hn

JOCBNET TO THE ABOTIO OOEAN AND ReTUKN — EmBARKS AT FORT

Chepewyan fob the Pacific— Proceeds up Peace Rrv^n— Winters
AT Fork Fort — CJontinues his Journey the Following May — Ar-
rives AT the Finlay Branch — Turns Southward into Paesnip
River— Ascends a Branch of this Stream to its Source — Portage

AT THE QrEAT DiVIDE — DESCENDS BaD RiVER TO THE FrASER, WHICH .

THE Party Follow as far as Quesnelle— Return to a Trail above
West Road River— Strike Out Overland for the Western Ocean —
Route — Abbive at Fbiendly Village — Gbeat Village — Rascals'
Village— Reach the Sea at Bentinck Nobth Abm — Observations-
Traces OF Vancouver — Retubn — Teoubles with the Natives — Nar-
row Escapes — Reach Fraseb River — Arrive at Fort Fork — Tub
Journey Completed.

We come now to the first passage by a European
of the Rocky Mountains north of CaUfornia. This
honor belongs to Alexander Mackenzie, a native of
Inverness, knighted by George III. for his distin-
guished services. Emigrating to Canada while yet a
young man, in 1779 he entered the service, as clerk,
of Mr Gregory of Montreal, a prominent fur-trader
of that day, and subsequently a partner in the North-
west Company. After remaining with Gregory for
five years, he engaged in business on his own account,
becoming partner, first with Pangman and Gregory,
and later in the Northwest Company.

Mr Mackenzie possessed a vigorous mind and a fine
physique. In form he was of medium stature and of
spare muscular build, symmetrical, very strong, hthe

(6M)

PREPARATIONS.

667

5NZIE — His

:s AT FOBT

. — Winters

Mat — Ar-

ro Parsnip

C — PORTAOB
SER, WHICH

"rail ABOVB
RN Ocean—
: — Rascals'
ibvations—
'IVES — Nab-
FoBK— Tub

juropean
1. This
ative of
3 distin-
ile yet a
as clerk,
ir-trader
! North-
^ory for
account,
Gregory,

nd a fine
3 and of
tig, lithe

and active, and capable of enduring great fatigue.
His features were regular, eyes bright and searching,
nose and mouth Grecian, and his forehead high,
intellectual, and crowned with dark wavy hair. Firm-
ness and weight marked the man in every attitude
and expression. Lips, chin, and facial illumination,
all implied the possession of a will which would never
rest satisfied until its purposes were accomplished. In
thought he was as refined and noble as in outward
expression he was dignified. His energy was mild,
not of the impatient, fretful order, and therefore well
suited to his self-imposed task. His large gentle
eyes imparted to his decisive features a suavity of
expression of the utmost importance to him in deal-
ing with his own men, who were sometimes inclined
to be mutinous, no less than with affriglited savages,
who in him beheld the first white man they had ever

seen.

It was an enterprising spirit and an inquisitive com-
mercial mind which prompted Mackenzie to attempt
explorations; and when these ardent desires wore
seconded by his associates, who were willing to bear
their portion of the expense, the field of his ambition
lay before him unobstructed. More immediately it
was the old endeavor oo find a practicable route from
ocean to ocean, in this instance united with commer-
cial zeal, that stimulated a journey to the Pacific.
• Nor was the hazardous enterprise to be entered
upon with precipitation. Success, so far as careful
preparation could go, must be secured in advance.
Hence before undertaking his journey we find Mr
Mackenzie studying astronomy and navigation in
London so that he might properly record his obser-
vations wherever he should go. Being neither geolo-
gist nor naturalist, he would not trouble himself with
what he knew nothing about. Patience he knew the
value of, as well as the capability to endure and the
tact to make others endure. Herein were all the
elements of success: common -sense, enthusiasm, and

668 MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

strength, which accident or incalculable events alone
3ould circumvent.^

The journey to the Arctic Ocean, though of the
highest consequence in its results to science, need not
long occupy our attention.

It dates from Fort Chipewyan, a post of the North-
west Company, situated at the western end of Atha-
basca Lake, near where Peace River, which opens a
passage from the Pacific slope, discharges its waters,
ind the channels which carry them to the Northern
Ocean take them up, and where the distinguished
ixplorer was sometimes in charge. The site of this
post was at this time, of all places on the continent, a
point of inquiry, the great rivers on either hand being
to the intelligent, thoughtful mind two mighty marks
of interrogation.

Mr Mackenzie set out on the 3d of June 1789, in
a birch-bark canoe, having on board a German, and a
crew of four Canadians, two of them with their wives.
In two other smaller canoes, with his family and fol-
lowers, was an Indian called English Chief, who laid
claim to the honor of having attended Heame in his
Coppermine River exploration, and who now purposed
adding to his laurels by following a still more famous
discoverer. These natives were to act as hunters and
interpreters. One of the company's clerks, M. Le
Roux, accompanied the expedition a portion of the
way in another boat laden with goods for purposes of
traffic with the natives. Trapping beaver, shooting
wild-fowl and reindeer, and catching fish as they went,
the party proceeded by way of Slave River to Slave
Lake, and thence down the Mackenzie to the Arctic
Ocean, where they gave chase to whales and paddled

' The journal of his expedition, entitled Voyages from Montrral on the River
St Lnurence through Uie Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pa^^ific
Oceans in the Years 1739 ami 1793, was published in London in 1801. It ia
far more elegantly written th i- are the journals of fur-traders usually. The
reader feels that he is penis; .,; die work not only of a shrewd and intrepid
commander, but of a humane r.nd intelligent gentleman.

TO THE ARCTIC OCEiiN.

669

mts alone

gh of the
need not

he North-
of Atha-
h opens a
ts waters,
Northern
;inguished
te of this
)ntinent, a
and being
bty marks

e 1789, in
lan, and a
leir wives.
ly and fol-
, who laid
me in his
T purposed
're famous
inters and
8, M. Le
on of the
arposes of
, shooting
hey went,
' to Slave
he Arctic
d paddled

al on the River
en and PiKtfic
n 1801. It is-
usually. The
and intrepid

among the icebergs, all the while, however, loolcing
for a in^r d!oue<^t, as the Canadians called it, and being
in no wise desirous of visiting a northern sea. When
the explorer entered the river which bears his name,
the position of its mouth was wholly unknown to him,
and along its entire way, both in going and returning,
he sought some stream which should conduct him
westward. He was not a little surprised, therefore,
to find himself in July in the icy regions of the
farthest north and under the starless summer sky
and never setting summer sun of the hyperborean sea
instead of on the shore of the more genial Pacific.

The journey was unattended by the usual hardships
and hair-breadth escapes. The natives were not trou-
blesome, food was plenty, and navigation easy. Loaded
with fine peltries, Le Roux returned homeward from
Slave Lake. At Bear Lake iron ore and coal were
found. The natives indulged in a variety of tales
more or less absurd concerning lakes and rivers toward
the setting sun, relating what they supposed would
most accrue to their advantage. The Eskimos affirmed
that eight or ten winters previous they had seen to
the westward, at a place they called Belhoullay Couin,
or White Man Fort, large canoes full of v/hite men,
who gave them iron in exchange for leather. He en-
deavored to persuade the natives to guide him across
the country, but was unsuccessful. On another occa-
sion the explorer gave a native some beads to make a
drawing of the adjacent country.'^

After an absence of one hundred and two days
Mackenzie returned to Fort Chepewyan the 12th of
September, regarding as somewhat of a failure what
was indeed a success, none the less brilliant because
easily achieved.

' 'This singular map he immediately undertook to delineate, and accord-
ingly traced out a very long point of land between the rivers, though without
paying the least attention to their courses, which ho represented as running
into the great lake, at the extremity of which, as he had been told by Indians
of other nations, there was a Belhaullay Couin, or Wliite Man's Fort. This I
took to be Unalascha Fort, and consequently tlie river to the west to be Cook's
River, and tliat the body of water or sea into which this river discharges itself
at Whale Island communicates with Norton Sound.' Mackenzie' » Voy., 85.

■t!

87b

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

Three years after his northern tour Mackenzie
again made preparations to set out in search of a
route to the Pacific Ocean. His preient plan was to
ascend the current that flowed near his door instead
of descending it.

Embarking at Fort Chepewyan the 10th of October
1792, he proceeded up Peace River with the intention
of reaching that autumn the base of the Rocky Moun-
tains, where stood the most distant western settle-
ment' of the Northwest Company, This would give
him a fine start for the ensuing spring. The first
station on the river at that time was called Old
Establishment,* which the party reached early on the
morning of the 19th, just in time to prevent its total
destruction by fire, arising from the carelessness of a
party who had camped there the previous night.

Next day they reached New Establishment," that
winter in charge of James Finlay. The exploring
party landed amidst the firing of guns and the re-
joicing of the people, who were now especially happy
over the prospect of rum, for not a drop had these
martyrs had since the previous May, it being then
the rule that the summer traflSc of this locality should
not be stimulated by fiery potations; wherefore, if
the savage was forced to abstain, it were unseemly
for the civilized man to denaturalize himself.

But neither civilized nor savage on this occasion
were in the least backward in confessing the general
aridity of their constitutions, whereupon Mackenzie
produced a nine-gallon keg of rum ana some tobacco,
and calling together the redskin hunters, to the num-
ber of forty-two, embraced the occasion to preach

'Fort Chepewyan waa the westernmost depflt of supplies at tliis time,
but there were several trading establishments along Peace Kiver, the farthest
being about 200 miles distant. While on his first journey Macken?:ie left
McLeoil in charge of Fort Chepewyan; during his second expedition Roderick
Mackenzie ruled.

* This station was only relatively ancient, and was so called because thero
was one later built a short distance up the river called New Establishment.
Both of them had been erected within two or three years.

* Fort Vermilion and Fort du Tremble were subsequently erected on sites
passed before reaching this point.

Mackenzie
iarch of a
Ian was to
)or instead

of October

intention
cky Moun-
ern settle-
would give

The first
called Old
irly on the
nt its total
ssness of a
night.
QQent," that

exploring
nd the re-
ally happy

had these
being then
ility should
lerefore, if
} unseemly
If.

is occasion
ihe general
Mackenzie
ne tobacco,
o the num-

to preach

;s at this time,

rer, the farthest

Mackenzie left

sdition Roderick

!d because there
Establishment.

erected on sites

UP PEACE RIVER.

671

them a sermon, telling them how to conduct them-
selves to their own and the white man's best inter-
ests—particularly the white man's. All listened
attentively and promised unreservedly. With such a
pa,lpable heaven of happiness in immediate view, what
missionary could not perform miracles of conversion?

Out of the three hundred natives congregated here,
about sixty were hunters. Warned by the forming
of ice on the river, and with an apology for his un-
wonted liberality in the distribution of drink and
tobacco, on the third day after his arrival Mackenzie
continued his journey, after giving some instructions
to Mr Finlay. The volleys of musketry attending his
departure expressed the thanks and good wishes of
the people.

His loaded canoes had been despatched two days
before, so that now his progress was rapid. Passing
the spot where afterward was placed McLeod Fort,
he arrived at a small branch of the river coming in
from the south, six miles beyond which was his win-
tering place, called Fort Fork, where he landed on
the 1st of November.

Thither the previous spring two men had been sent
to clear the ground and square logs for buildings.
Right well had they imp .v d the time; for besides
having prepared the timbei a.ii J planks for the erection
of a house, they had cut enough palisades seven inches
in diameter and eighteen feet long to enclose a spot
one hundred and twenty feet square, and had dug a
ditch three feet deep in which to plant them.

Pitching his tent until the buildings should be com-
pleted, Mackenzie called the neighboring savages to-
gether, and giving to each some rum and tobacco
began to preach to them according to his custom. He
told them he had heard bad reports of them and he
had come to learn the truth. If they did well, they
should be treated with kindness ; if ill, they should be
punished. Immediately the whole assemblage were
his devout followers, ready to believe and do as the

672

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

g as the rum and tobacco

master might say, as Ion
should last.

As the winter deepened the cold became intense.
The 23d of December a house was finished for Mac-
kenzie, of which he took possession, and a block of five
houses more, each twelve by seventeen feet, was soon
completed for the men. Many sick and maimed among
the natives, and some among his own men, came to
Mackenzie to be treated, and although he was not a
surgeon he did not dechne the T( nonsibility, but gath-
ered such remedies as he hapf ! to be familiar with
and ajiplied them : for fur-hur ^n those days must
know something about everything or suffer severely
sometimes through ignorance or lack of wit. This
explorer saw in the healing art no great mystery
locked in the Latin terms of ancient mvsticism, but a
simple practical matter which every man possessing
common-sense might learn and apply.

Quantities of furs were brought in; for the deep
snow having not yet come, the beaver could be easily
tracked. Food was abundant, and Mackenzie took
care to keep himself and men in good condition for
the arduous efforts of the coming summer.

Thus not unpleasantly wore the winter away. The
new year was welcomed with the discharge of fire-
arms, and spirits and flour distributed among the men.
Frigid-featured nature was subdued by smiling spring.
April bade the snow adieu, though the river was yet
covered with ice; and with the pink and purple May
flowers, and the yellow-buttons, came the voyageur's
most exasperating summer pests, the gnats and mos-
quitoes. No sooner was the river free from ice than
Mackenzie closed the year's business by writing up his
accounts, and having despatched six fur-laden canoes
to Fort Chepewyan, he prepared to embark at once
on his journey of discovery.

Nine men, two of whom were native hunters and
interpreters, had been selected for the expedition,
and every one of them promised to stand by his com-

d tobacco

intense.
I for Mac-
ock of five

was soon
led amoiior
came to
was not a

but gath-
iiiliar with
days must
r severely
wit. This
t mystery
ism, but a
possessing

the deep
1 be easily
Bnzie took
ndition for

way. The
je of fire-
g the men.
ing spring.
3r was yet
irple May
i^oyageur's
and mos-
n ice than
:ing up his
ien canoes
k at once

inters and
xpedition,
f his com-

DEPARTURE FROM FORT FORK.

6lf"

mander to the last.' One canoe, twenty-five feet long,
with four and three quarters feet beam and twenty -
six inches hold, was launched for the service. This
slender craft, destined to carry ten persons with all
their equipage, arms, ammunition, provisions, goods
for presents, and baggage, in weight not less than
three thousand pounds, was yet so sligUL that two
men could easil}- carry it three or four miles without
stopping.

On the 9th of May 1793 the party left Fork Fort
and pointed their little vessel up the stream. Belbro
them spread primeval nature in redundant gayety. On
the west were decorated terraces formed of alternate
precipice and plain; high hills covered with white
spruce and birch rolled off toward the east; alder and
willow fringed the stream. Vast herds of elk fed
quiietly upon the uplands, and myriads of buffalo with
their frisking young enlivened the plains. The fierce
grizzly was passed by at a respectful distance. Ground-
hogs and cormorants were likewise let alone. Game
for food was easilj^ secured without detention, tlio
hunters going before.

At first navigation was easy; though the current
was swift, strong arms sent the quivering bark rapidly
up the stream. In propelling, poles were used more
freely than paddles. But by and by obstacles were on-
countered in finding a passage through these unknown
waters. It soon became apparent that this was to be
a journey different in kind from the last, one which
would try men's strength, temper, and fidelity.

Cascades became frequent, driving the travellers
from the water into the woods. Sharp rocks cut into
the sides of the boat; sunken trees pierced the bottom,
and rapids and whirlpools opened seams, the heavy
cargo increasing the strain.

On the 21st of May they encountered a torrent

• The names of the white men were Alexander Mackay, Franyoia Beaudieiix,
Baptist Bisson, Francois Courtois, Jacques Beauchamp, Joseph Landry, and
Charles Ducette, the two last mentioned having been with Mackenzie on liis
former journey.

Hiar. N. W. Coast, Vol. I. 43

674

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

walled on either side by almost perpendicular moun-
tains. For three leagues the river was white with
rage as it rushed onward betweer two mighty walls of
rock. Already the men began to complain, and talked
of returning. The place, they said, was simply im-
passable.'' Mackenzie paid not the slightest attention
to their remarks, but prepared to go forward. With
exceeding difficulty the ascent was made by cutting
trees and warping the canoe up the side. The summit
reached, it was let down on the other side in like man-
ner with the aid of ropes. The cargo was carried over
the portage on men's backs. Three or four miles a day,,
and that with excessive fatigue, was the most that
could be made. A written account of the journey
was sent down the river from time to tire ^, enclosed in
a tight keg.

Arrived on the 31st at the fork, where one branch,
subsequently called Finlay River, from James Finlay,
who made a tour in this region shortly after Mac-
kenzie, came in from the north-west, and another,
afterward known as Parsnip River, from the quan-
tities of wild parsnips that grew upon its banks,
flowed in from the south-east, the explorer took the
southern stream, although his instincts pointed toward
the northern one, which was larger, less raging, and
came from seemingly nearer the course he wished to
follow.^

But before starting, an old Indian had cautioned
him by no means to be led away in that direction, as
in divers branches it scattered and was soon lost

' Fraser, who in 1806 followed the track of Mackenzie, says of him at this
point: ' I can aiKrm that f~oui the portage to Fenlay's branch, and which I con-
tend to bo the main brunch of the Peace River, we had few of the difficulties
he mentions to have encountered, 'luo aavication is not only safe but as
easy as in the lower part of the Peace River. ' Franer^s First Journal, MS., V'O.
It may be that the water was higher during Mackenzie's ascent than during
Eraser's ; at all events I would sooner suspect the latter of churlishness than
the former of exaggeration.

* Malcolm McLcod, son of chief-tradei- .John McLeod, in his notes to Archi-
bald McDonald's journal of Governor Simpson's canoe voyage up Peace River
and down the Columbia in 1828, makes frequent reference to Mackenzie's eay-
Ings and doings; see also McLeod' s Map Peace River; Mayne's Brit. Col., 84;
i£axfie'» Vancouver Island, 208.

EARLY DISAFFECTION.

675

liar moun-
rhite with
by walls of
md talked
iimply im-
: attention
rd. With
by cutting
he summit
1 like man-
arried over
nilesaday,,
most that
le journey
enclosed in

>ne branch,
nes Finlay,
after Mac-
id another,
the quan-
its banks,
3r took the
ited toward
raging, and
3 wished to

1 cautioned
lirection, as
3 soon lost

ys of him at this
and which I con-
of the diflSculties
only safe but as
lournal, MS. , 70.
icent than during
3hurli8hnes8 than

lis notes to Archi-
;e up Peace River
Mackenzie's eay-
ne'8 Brit. Vol., M;

among the mountains. Therefore he took the south-
ern branch, which was the proper one.

So rapid now was the current and so severe the toil,
that the men threw off restraint, and openly cursed
the expedition and all engaged in it. Calmly Mac-
kenzie bore with them, for they had suffered much;
nevertheless he firmly expressed his determination to
proceed.

The beaver in this vicinity were given an excellent
character for industry, acres of large poplars having
been cut by them at various places along the stream.
Rain and thunder were frequent and severe. Thus
the explorers continued their way, passing three
streams which flowed in from their left, and leaving
Nation River and the branch which leads to McLeod
Lake on the right.**

One day Mackenzie ascended a hill and climbed a
high tree in order to obtain a view of the country.
It was so thickly wooded that he could distinguish
but little, but toward the north-west he saw a level
country with snow- clad mountains beyond; another
ridge, snowless, stretched southward, and between
the two he fancied his route lay. Descending again
to the river he was at a loss to know whether his
boat was above or below him. Discharging liis gun,
there was no reply; then he broke branches and
threw them into the river, that, carried downward by
the current, they might notify his party, if they were
below, of his whereabouts. Another discharge failed
to produce any reply. Mackenzie then ascended the
stream for some distance, and turning retraced his
steps, his anxiety increasing every moment. At last
wet and weary he reached his party and learned that

" From the namtive alone it is almost impossible to follow the expediti m
up this river, but wit)i the aid of Mr Fraser's manuscript Mackenzie's course
is made plain. "The most direct route, and the one hitherto believed to liave

fsrtage, after which was another small stream to be desceudcd before reaching
raser River.

676

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

the canoe had been b^rlly broken, that the men wero
more than ever exh ^ed and discouraged, and that
in his absence they had been laying plans to build a
raft and return.

Still the journey was continued, Mackay walking
much of the time with the hunters, that their minds
might be diverted from returning, as well as to lighten
the canoe. The shooting of a porcupine is recorded ;
they also found patches of wild parsnips, the tops of
which they gathered and boiled with pemican for
their supper. On the 9th of June the party came
upon a tribe of Rocky Mountain Indians, who mani-
fested both fear and courage at their appearance,
though some fled to the forest. Assured at length,
they permitted the strangers to approach. They had
heard of white men, they informed the interpreters,
but they had never before seen such a sight. They
obtained iron from a people living on a river to the
westward, which was only a branch of this river, and
between which and Peace River there was a carrying-
place of eleven days' march. For this iron they gave
beaver and dressed moose skins, and the tribe with
whom they traded travelled a whole moon to reach
the country of other natives, who lived in houses, and
from whom they traded for this same iron. The last
named people likewise must make a journey for it
from their country to the sea-coast, where they found
white men like those present, who came in ships as
big as an island. Thus we see the poor savages in
the heart of this immense wilderness beset by civil-
ization behind and before, and even then the pale
strangers, harbingers of death, at their door.

Here was a dilemma. Mackenzie wished to strike
some stream which would carry him to the Pacific,
To find the spot of Carver's speculations where the
four great rivers of the North American continent, a
northward flowing stream, an eastward, a southward,
and a westward, all took their rise within an area of
thirty miles, did not seem at all likely at this moment.

w^.

len wero

and that

build a

walking

ir minds
lighten

ecorded ;
tops of
ncan for
rtj camo
ho mani-
pearance,
length.
They had
irpreters,
b. They
er to the
river, and
earrying-
they gave
iribe with

to reach
ouses, and

The last
ley for it
bey found
1 ships as
avages in
■j by civil-

the pale

[ to strike
le Pacific.
«rhere the
intinent, a
outhward,
m area of
3 moment.

ABORIGINAL GEOGRAPHY.

To ascend Peace River much farther was impossible.
For a moment he was tempted to abandon the canoe
and strike out along the line of the iron trade before
mentioned, but a little reflection satisfied him that
such a course would be suicidal, as he could not carry
a tenth part of the necessary food, ammunition, and
presents to secure him good treatment among these
savage tribes in the heart of the wilderness.

Meanwhile the most generous hospitality was af-
forded the strangers by these savages, for not only did
they bring them fish for food, and beaver- skins as
presents, but at night, at the solicitation of the civil-
ized Christians, the men of the forest not only re-
signed to them their beds, but the partners of them.

Next morning mention was made by one of the
natives, while standing by the camp fire, of a great
river in the direction the white men were going, and
between which and them were three lakes and three
carrying -places. From these lakes, which were ail
near the source of the river they were now on, a
small stream flowed into a large river which ran
toward the mid-day sun though it did not empty
into the ocean. ^^ They were many and brave who
inhabited that country, so said the informant, and
they buiit houses and lived on islands. This coin-
ciding with what filled the ardent mind of the explorer,
and being what he wished to believe, he straightway
embraced the tale as true. Then taking from the
fire a black coal, and stripping from a log a piece of
bark, he directed the native geographer to draw him a
map of that country, which was satisfactorily done.
Moreover, one of the savages was induced to act as
guide to the border of the neighboring nation.

And now once more all was activity and hope
The 10th of June the company, refreshed, embarked

'"A remarkably exact description of tlie Fraser, wliich could not be as
cribod to the imagination of the writer, for he thought the natives mistakcu.
'The opinion that th^ river <li(l not disciiar^o itself into the sea, I very
confidv.atIy impu' ' t^ liia ignorance of the country.' Mwkenzk'» Vuy., 204;
and yet the Fraser does not discharge directly into the main ocean.

■

«M

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

As usual on such occasions, for the safety of the guide
the old men of the tribe expressed the greatest so-
licitude," though the guide himself did not appear
greatly troubled. Five beaver-skins presented Mac-
kenzie the night before, were returned, with the as-
surance that he would be back that way in two moons
and purchase them — which conduct on the part of a
European must have astonished even an unsophisti-
cated savage.

Proceeding up the river, the first night from the
friendly camp, fearing that the guide might repent his
bargain and desert, Mackenzie sought fresh assurances.
"How is it possible for me to leave the lodge of the
Great Spirit?" the young man replied; "when he tells
me he has no further use for me, I will then return
to my people."

They passed, the 11th, a river on the left, winding
round a conical elevation called by the Indian guide
Beaver Lodge Mountain. Another small stream was
seen coming in on the same side, two or three miles
above which they left the main channel, which was
here not more than ten yards wide, and entered a
sluggish meandering stream,^^ still narrower, which
soon brought them to a lake two miles in length and
from three to five hundred yards in width, fed by
mountain snow. Here was spruce for the principal
wood, with white birch, willow, and alder. There
were swans in great number, geese and ducks ; like-
wise moose, deer, and many beaver; and of birds, blue-

" On a former occasion when Mackenzie carried away a guide, an ancient
of the natives exclaimed: 'My nepliew, your going pains my heart. Tlie
white men rob us of you. They take you among your enemies ; you may
never return. Were you no*' with the chief I should be disconsolate; but he
calls and you must go ! '

■'■' Strangely enough Mackenzie does not say, when he quits the main
channel, whether he turns to the right or to the left. But turning to Fraser's
manuscript wo find the same place thus described: 'Monday, 30th June
1806. Bad rainy weather ; notwithstanding we set off early and soon passed
a considerable river that flows in from tlie left close to the place called Toy Sir
Alexander Mackenzie the Beaver Lodge. About half a mile farther on we
passed another river on the right, and then put ashore to cook for La M.ilide.
Soon after we left the main branch on the left and entered another sma' I river
on the right, the waters of which are very clear and deep. ' Franer « First
Journal, MS., 112.

A SMALL GREAT SPIRIT.

679

le guide
itest so-
; appear
jd Mac-
the as-

moons
art of a
3ophisti-

rom the
pent his
urances,
e of the

1 he tells
a return

winding
in guide
earn was
•ee miles
lich was
ntered a
r, which
igth and
, fed by
principal
There
ks; like-
'ds, blue-

, an ancient
heart. The
8 ; you may
late ; but he

ts the main
J to Fraser's
30th June
soon possied
ialled Dy Sir
rther on we
: La Malide.
r ama' I river
raner 8 First

jays and humming-birds. Wild parsnips lined the
banks in grateful profusion.

Proceeding to the upper end of the lake, they
landed and unloaded. Here w^as the Height of Land,
the apex of the great shed which parted the falling
waters, sending those on one side to the east and
those on the other to the west."

This was on the Pith of June 1793. Following a
beaten path leading over a low ridge eight hundred
and seventeen paces ^* to another small lake of about
the same size as the one just left, they again embarked
and found themselves now movinij a]on<x with the cur-
rent. At the end of the lake they discovered a small
river, shallow at first, but soon increased by other
small streams, through which with diflSculty they
forced their way, unloading to carry at four o'clock,
and at five entering another lake nearly round, and iu
diameter about one third of a mile." Thence they
entered another river called by Fraser subsequently
Bad River, which rushed impetuously over flat stones,
so that soon they were obliged to land, unload, and
encamp. It is far more frightful in canoe navigation
descending than ascending unknown streams with
frequent cascades and falls. This shooting of rapids
which the Great Spirit indulged in. the new guide
did not relish. A great spirit that required guiding
in mountains which he had made, was rather a tame
affair after all, and might possibly be mortal enough
to be dashed in pieces on the rocks. At all events
his heavenly canoe might split and let the poor Indian

"'This I consider as the highest and soutliemmost source of the Unjiguli
or Peace River, latitude 54° 24' north, longitude r21° west from Greenwicli,
•which after a winding course tlirough a vast extent of couutry, receiving
many large rivers iu its progress, and passing through tiie Slave l^ike,
empties itself into the Frozen Ocean, in 70" north latitude, and aliout VMi'

yards long,'
miles long. '

"" ' The distance is one hundred and sixty yards to another lake not quite
OB large as the last.' Fraser's Firat Journal, MS., 115.

660

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

drown, hence he would fain return. But the spirit-
water of the white men was sufficient to fortify his
courage, so that he promised to go on.

Early next morning, the 13th of June, a road was
cut and the canoe carried, as they thought, below the
rapid. The water here was anything but placid, and
on embarking the men insisted that Mackenzie, who
had started to walk with some others in order to
lighten the canoe, should enter the boat and die with
them if they were doomed to die.

The evil they feared came upon them quicker even
than they had anticipated. Scarcely had they shoved
off from the bank when the canoe struck. The swift
current then catching the boat drove it sideways upon
a bar. All hands jumped into the stream, which so
lightened the boat as to enable the water to carry it
over the bar into deep water. Clinging to their craft,
the men climbed in as best they could, leaving one of
their number behind. Before they were fairly seated
they were again driven against a rock, which shattered
the stern and threw the boat to the opposite side,
there breaking the bow in pieces. The foreman caught
some overhanging limbs, but was dragged from the
boat in his attempt to arrest its progress. An instant
more and they were in the midst of a cascade, and the
bottom breaking on the stones. The boat now filled,
all jumped into the water, and the steersman called
out for the men to save themselves. In a peremp-
tory tone Mackenzie ordered them not to quit their
hold on the boat, which command they fortunately
obeyed, thereby not only saving the cargo but their
own lives; for carried out of the breakers, where they
would have begn dashed in pieces or carried over
other yet more fatal falls, an eddy caught and threw
them into shallow water, where 'f/hey made a stand for
their lives, the wreck meanwhile resting on a rock.

It came upon them like a flash, the embarkation,
the dangers, the destruction of the boat, the miracu-
lous escape of the men — not more than five minutes

NARROW ESCAPES.

681

;he spirit-
fortify his

road was

below the

lacid, and

!nzie, who

order to

die with

cker even
By shoved
the swift
vays upon

which so
;o carry it
beir craft,
ng one of
rly seated
shattered
)site side,
an caught

from the
^n instant
e, and the
low filled,
lan called
I peremp-
quit their
)rtunately
but their
here they
ried over
nd threw

stabd for
a rock.
)arkation,
e miracu-
e minutes

were required to strip these explorers of their boat
and the greater part of their equipment. Their first
thoughts w^^re of the two men who were left in peril-
ous predicaments in the water; and when, fortunately,
these came up unhurt, they began to save what they
could from the wreck. Strange to say, the powder
had escaped damage, but the balls were all lost.
There were shot, however, of which balls could be
made.

Such efiects as were not swept away were now
landed and spread out to dry. When the Indian at-
tendants of the expedition who were walking and
hunting on the shore saw the danger and misfortune
which had befallen those in the boat, they seated
themselves upon the bank and lifted up their voices
and wept, without making any move to render assist-
ance. Mackenzie's companions were at heart worse
than the savages; for when they saw the sad plight
to which they were reduced, they rejoiced inwardly,
for now they were sure that the hated expedition must
be abandoned.

But not so the commander. Reaching shore bat-
tered and beniTTi-.ed, so cold and exhausted that he
could hardly keep his feet, having stood in the water
hokling the shattered canoe until the wet remnant of
cargo was landed, he said little but listened to the
reiuiarks of others, and congratulated them on their
escape.

Not a word was spoken of continuing the journey
until the men had been made warm and comfortable
by a good fire and a hearty supper; not until liquor
enough had been administered to raise their spirits
and throw a halo of romance round their misfortunes.
Then very gently Mackenzie recalled to their minds
that before starting he had notified them that hard-
ships and dangers were before them; that they then
promised to stand by him; and that he did not believe*
to be men those who would forfeit their word through
fear. He was going forward, he said, if he went alone,

''m

682

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE,

and if there was a man of Montreal present who was
afraid to accompany him, he had greatly mistaken
their character.

It was enough. Not a word more was said about
turning back — as long as the effect of the liquor lasted.
Although it had been regarded as a hopeless case, the
canoe was repaired with gum and bark so as to do
service after a fashion. Meanwhile the guide had
given the Great Spirit the slip when he saw him thus
come to grief Cutting their way through thickets,
they carried the now soaked canoe through dangerous
swamps, midst swarms of gnats and mosquitoes, under
a burning summer sun, making only two or three
miles a day.^"

After another succession of rapids and falls, on the
17th of June, at the end of a carrying -place three
quarters of a mile in length, through which they had
to cut their way, they put their boat again in the
water, but were soon stopped by drift-wood. Thus
they alternated between the water and the land until
noon, when they found themselves within three
quarters of a mile of the great river. Here the
stream which they had just descended broke into
small channels, none of which were navigable, so that
they were obliged to cut a passage through the under-
brush and drift-wood, and then drag the canoe and
carry the cargo through a swamp to the bank of the
great river, which they reached at eight o'clock.^^

WFraaer complained greatly of this Bad River, as he called it, affirming it
was the worst pieco of canoe navigation he had ever encountered. Notwith-
standing he had Mackenzie's experience to guide him, he did not make much
better work of it. At the long bad rapid he says ' the canoes were continued
one after another by six men and one of ourselves ; and though they were but
lightly loaded it was with much difficulty they were run down ; and through
the awkwardness of the men mine was run against a large emharas in the
middle of the river which broke the bow and smashed all the pieces to the
second bar. Fortunately there was not much water in the river, and the
channel was narrow. All hands jumped out and pulled the wreck on shore
before it had time to fill and sinlr.' Fraser's First Journal, MS., 122-3.

" ' Sir Alexander Mackenzie fuems to have examined the Bad River with
attention ; for, as far as he went lown in peace, he describes it with great ex-
actness. It is certainly well named, and a most dangerous place, being much
intersected with large stones, fallen trees, and embaras, and the current runs
with such velocity that a canoe thougli light, cannot be stopped with poles;

, who was
mistaken

aid about

lor lasted.

i case, the

> as to do

fuide had

him thus

thickets,

dangerous

oes, under

or three

Us, on the
ace three
they had
lin in the
ad. Thus
land until
hin three
Here the
3roke into
lie, so that
the under-
canoe and
mk of the
lock.^^

it, affirming ifc
red. Notwith-
lot make much
were continued
I they were but
1 ; and through
emharas in the
e pieces to the

river, and the
wreck on shore
I., 122-3.
Jad River with
S with great ex-
ce, being much
he current runs
ped with poles;

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

683

The Exploueu's Course.

084

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

Great was the satisfaction of Mackenzie in reaching
this river, the first white man to stand upon the bank
of a large navigable stream west of the Rocky Moun-
tains, and whose waters flowed, as he was sure they
did, into the Pacific. He imagined it the majestic
Columbia thus flowing serenely at his feet; and so
Eraser thought when he first saw it thirteen years
afterward, and so continued to think until in 1808 he
followed it to its mouth and gave it his name.^*

It has been supposed that this was the first known
of this river, but its mouth had been discovered in
1791-2 by the Spaniards; and in Gray's journal
Kelley claims to have found mentioned a large river
flowing into the sea, along whose shores he sailed, in
latitude 49°, called by the natives Tacootche, which
was in truth the Fraser, but which Mackenzie sup-
posed to be the Columbia. Gray, of course, knew
better, he having found the mouth of the Columbia
himself.

nnd it is with great difSculty it can be done by laying hold of the branches ;
and even that way we often drifted one hundred and sometimes two hmidred
yards from the time we began to hold the branches before we could bring to.
Near its confluence it divides into three branches, all of which I suppose to
be navigable, but the one to the right is the best route. ' Fraaer'e First Jour-
7uit, MS., 135.

'^ It was the north branch of the Fraser, called by the natives Tacootche-
Tesse. Lewis and Clarke supposed it to have been the upper Columbia that
Mackenzie had found. Says Gass, in his Journal, 216, note : 'The size, course,
and appearance of this great river seem to confirm beyond a doubt the opinion
of Mackenzie, who supposed that the large river, into which the branch ne de-
scended on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, having its source in these
mountains near that of the Unjigah or Peacfe River, discharges its waters into
the large river in latitude about 54° nurth and longitude 122° west from London,
or 47° west from Philadelphia, was the Columbia.' In 1791 an expedition of
discovery was fitted out by the Mexican government under Sefior Malaspina,
who visited the Northwest Coast, and during his excursions in the seas about
Nootka, not then known as Vancouver Island, discovered a river coming into
the Fuca Sea, not then known as the Gulf of Georgia, which he named the Bi >
Blanche, in honor of the prime minister of Spain. Vancouver's Voy., i, 31*?-)'^.
Kelley says, in hiaNorthtvest Coast, 2, that Gray mentions in his journal 'a river
callecl by the Indians Tacootche, flowing into the eastern part of this sea, in
latitude 49°. ' As Gray left the coast in 1792, this establishes the discovery of
the mouth of Fraser River by the Spaniards, if not by the Americana. See
also Eeans' Hist. Or., MS., 79-80; Franchere'sNar., 19; Butler's Wild North
Land, 191 ; Kellcy's Northwest Coast, 2 ; Irvirig's Astoria, 36 ; Ihoiss' Or. Quest.
2d map; Fleming's Map to Rept. Canadian Pacific Railway, No. 8; Oreen-
how's Or. and Gal. , 288 ; Tytkr's Hist. Discov. ,123-148; Palmer's Report, nmp ;
Richardson's Polar Regions, 128-9.

ON THE FRASER.

685

1 reaching
I the hank
ky Moun-
8u;'6 they
} majestic
t; and no
eea years
a 1808 he
ie.^«

•st known
overed in
's journal
arge river
sailed, in
!he, which
enzie sup-
rse, knew
Columbia

the branches;
!s two hundred
;ould bring to.
h I suppose to
er's First Jour-

ves Tacootche-
Columbia that
he size, course,
ibt the opinion
9 branch ue de-
source in these
its waters into
t from London,
I expedition of
Hor Malaspina,
the seas about
er coming into
named the Bi >
Foy.,i.3:''-)'x.
journal 'a river
of this sea, in
he discovery of
jnericons. See
r'8 IVild North
koiaa' Or. Queat.
No. 8; Oreen-
'a Report, ma,]^;

Next day Mackenzie embarked on the great river
and passed rapidly down the stream. On the banks
gr^w wild onions, and white ducks rose from the sur-
face at his approach. Marks of the presence of na-
tives were seen, but as there was now no one in the
party who could converse with them they were passed
by unsought. Rapids were reached at interval, and
tributary streams broadened the flow of waters as the
explorers descended.

Dov/n past the great forks they rapidly swept, past
Stuart and West Road Rivers to the Quesnelle mouth
and beyond, then turned and came back to West
Road River, and thence presently struck out overland
in a straight line for the sea."

•• The distance made the first day on the great river was 79 miles, 43
miles being above the point where the north branch, which they first reached,
unites with the main channel of Fraser Hiver. Before -caching this first largo
fork a small stream flowing in from the south-east was passed, another from
the nort.h, a rivulet, and then the great fork. Six miles below this 'a small
river falling in from the north-east was passed;' seventeen and a half miles
below the last there was ' a small river running in from the left. ' Eight inilca
farther, half of which was a rapid, 'a small river flowed in on the right,' and
iif two and a half miles more 'another small river appeared from the samo
quarter.' The second day on the great river, which was the lOtli, 47 miles
were made, with 'a small river flowing in from the right' v.'ithin one mile of
the starting-point, and at the end of the day the explorers encamped 'where
a small river flowed in from the right.' An observation taken at an exceed-
ingly bad carrying-place in the middle of the day gave 53° 4'2' 20". Distance,
the 20th, 4,5 miles. Twenty miles from the starting-point 'a small river
flowed in on the left.' Five miles farther down 'a river also flowed from tho
right;' an observation at noon gave 53° 17' 28". Nine miles before encamping
'a small river appeared on the left.' I thus give distances and rivers, con-
densing in a few lines what Mackenzie mystifies into pages, not for their in-
trinsic interest, but that the reader may measure for himself on any map and
make his own calculations. Of course allowance must be made for all tho
crooks and turns ; nor can the altitudes be relied upon as exact. The ques-
tion to be determined is how far Mackenzie descended Fraser River and where
he left it. If my reckoning is right the last-mentioned stream but one is tho
Blockwater, or as Mackenzie called it, tho West Road River, whence he took
his departure for tho sea. Before leaving the Fraser, however, ho descended
it 28 miles farther, but returned immediately to this point. On tho 21st, four-
teen miles were made, during which distance 'a large river flowed in from
the left, and a smaller one from the right.' The former I infer to bo tho
Quesnelle, and the latter the Puntataencut. The latitude given to-day is 52°
47' 51". After descending fourteen miles farther on the 22d, the explorers
next day turned back. It is noticeable that Mackenzie makes no distinct! vo
mention of several of the large branches at the Fraser forks. In fact Fraser
complains that of the Nechaco or y tuart River ho makes no mention whatever.
'This river is not mentioned by Sir Alexander Mackenzie, which surprises mo
not a little, it being full in sight and a fine large river.' Fraser's First Journal,
MS., 138. This may or may not be so. Mackenzie may have called Stuart

686 MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

It was on the morning of the 2l8t that West Road
River was passed on the way down. It was a cloudy
morning, and the blue and yellow clay cli'^'^ assumed
all manner of grotesque shapes in the misty morning.
At the mouth of a small stream they suddenly came
upon a canoe in which was a single native. A shrill
whistle notified his friends on shore of impending
donger, and instantly the bank was alive with armed
and whooping savages, who by their furiouB warlike
antics, accompanied by a shower of arrows, sought to
frigliten awav the apparition.

By this tine the current had carried ^^hem by the
place, and being desirous of opening friendly relations
with all the people he met, he ordered the boatman
to turn and take a position near the bank opposite.
Mackenzie then undertook to gain their confidence,
very much as one would try to catch a horse. It was
a daring thing to lo, but these men were so inured to
danger they scarcely knew what fear was. Directing
one of his Indian hunters to slip unperceived into the
woods with two guns and cover him in case of attack,
Mackenzie stepped ashore and walked along the bank
unarmed and alone, at the ■. i; ^ime displaying
trinkets and beckoning ' hos* on tiie opposite side to
come over for them, Vom the canoe the inter-

preter cried to them i o he alann The hunter
who was concealed beh. i the ees, and kept as close
to Mackenzie as possible, had oeen instructed to ap-
proach only upon a given signal, but to be ready on
th<j instant to rush to his rescue if attacked.

Presently two natives came from the opposite
bank in a canoe, but stopped when within a hundred
yards of the stranger. Slackenzie then with every
art at his command — and his knowledge of vidian
character was as perfect as his knowledge uf the

Eivcr a small stream ; if so, it was the one passed on the evening of the 1 8th
or the one passed on the momins of the l&th. But the morning of the 19th
was foggy and the party were afloat at three o'clock, so that possibly they
may have passed it without observing it. My opinion, however, is that be
mentions it, but that it appeared to him smaller than it really was.

MORE NATIVE DRAWINGS.

687

''est Road
J a cloudy
I assumed
morning.
3nly came
A shrill
mpending
th armed
la warlike
sought to

sm by the

relations
I boatman

opposite,
onfidence,
e. It was
inured to
Directing
d into the
of attack,

the bank
lisplaying
te side to
the inter-
he hunter
)t as close
;ed to ap-

ready on

opposite
L hundred
ith every
of "udian
re of the

Dg of the 18th
ng of the 19th
possibly they
rer, ia that be
was.

otter, the antelope, or th(' gri/.zly bear — .sought to
quiet their apprehension by holding out to them bcad.s
and looking-glasses and beckoning them to approach.
Slowly and timidly the wild men shoved their can<.)0
stern foremost toward the bank until within reach of
the alluring trinkets; and finally they gathered cour-
age to land and seat themselves beside the white man,
at whom they gazed with awe and admiration.

Mackenzie's hunter now joined him, which startled
the two savages somewhat. Nevertheless their fears
were soon quieted, and to the groat joy of the ex-
plorer he found that his hunter could converse with
them. After a short stay, during which the hunter
did all in his power to win their confidence, and de-
clining an invitation to visit the white man's canoe,
the savages signified their desire to depart, which was
cordially permitted by their entertainer. Shooting
their boat across the stream, the two daring natives
were received by their brethren as from the jaws of
death.

After consulting for a quarter of an hour, tlie
natives invited the white men to visit them, which
invitation was promptly accepted. Presents were dis-
tributed; and then Mackenzie set about gathering in-
formation of the ( ountry.

The natives told him that the river was long, the
current rapid and dangerous, in places indeed impas-
sable, rushing furiously between rugged rocks; it ran
toward the mid-day sun, and at its mouth, so they
had been told, were white men building houses. The
people below were a malignant race, and lived in sub-
terranean dens. The}'^ had iron and arras, and to go
among them was certain death. Thus they attempted
to dissuade the strangers from their purpose. But
although this alarming intelligence was by no means
to be disregarded wholly as fiction, yet it did not
materially change the explorer's plans.

Remaining there that night, so as not to alarm the
people below by coming upon them too suddenly,

638

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

Mackenzie requested an intelligent native to draw
him a plan of the river, ;;vhich was done with readiness
and skill.

With two of these natives as ushers to introduce
them to their neighbors, the explorer embarked next
morning, the 22d, and dropped down the river fourteen
miles. On their way they landed near a house, only
the roof of which was above the ground. The in-
habitants fled at the approach of the strangers, but
were soon pacified when they saw no harm was in-
tended.

The next people encountered were wilder and more
ferocious than any yet seen; yet they were soon
made friendly. Among them were four strangers be-
longing to the nation adjoining, one of whom was an
elderly man of prepossessing appearance. To him
Mackenzie, as was his custom, applied for information
respecting the country. Taking a large piece of bark,
the old man drew a map of the country, with the
river running to the east of south, with many tribu-
taries, and every six leagues or so dangerous rapids
and impracticable carrying-places. It was a long way
to the sea, before reaching which there was a lake of
whose waters men could not drink. Their iron, brass,
and copper came from their neighbors to the west. In
that direction the distance was not far from the sea.^
Keep to the lowlands batween the mountains, con-
tinued the natives, and the route is not diflScult, there
being a well beaten path which they had often
travelled, with assisting links of lakes and rivers.
Theie were three points of departure from the river:
one where tinij then were, that is near the Quesnelle
River, one at West Road River, and one beyond that
point.

Mackenzie was now obliged to face his situation.
The concurring accounts of the natives, unwelcome as

'"'According to »ny own idea,' remarks Mackenzie, Voy., 254, at this
"unciure, 'it cannot be above five or six degrees. If the aciaertions of Mr
•ieares be correct, it cannot be so far, as the inland sea which he mentions
within Nootka, moat come as far east aa 12G° west longitude.'

i to draw
readiness

introduce
rked next
r fourteen
ouse, only
The in-
igers, but
n was in-

SHOW OF HOSTILITIES.

and
s^ere soon
mgers be-
m was an
To him
formation
:c of bark,
with the
any tribu-
i)us rapids
i long way
1 a lake of
ron, brass,
west. In
the sea.^
;ains, con-
sult, there
lad often
id rivers,
the river:
Quesnelle
yond that

situation,
elcome as

, 254, at this

irtions of Mr

he mentions

they were, must be accepted, with due allowance for
exaggeration, as true. Provisions and ammunition
were both becoming low, and the men were on the
point of mutiny.''^

At length his mind was made up. Though he
should be unable to return to Athabasca that season ;
though he should never return; though he should be
deserted by his men and left to find the western sea
alone, yet would he find it. So he resolved, and so
he notified his men. Their former action under diffi-
culties he praises; and next to rum nothing so cheers
the desponding heart as praise. We all like it, the
^.Jy difference being in the method of its adminis-
tering. Their better natures aroused by his enthu-
siasm, again they promise perpetual fidelity, only again
to lay plans to abandon the adventure before another
week is gone.

Obviously the short beaten path to the west was
better and less hazardous than the perilous river of
unknown limits to the south. It was from a point
above that this overland route lay, and to that point
they must now return. One of the natives at this
last encampment promised to be their guide. Hence
next day, the 23d, they turned their little craft up
the current; but before embarking, Mackay, at Mac-
kenzie's request, engraved the commander's name and
the date on a tree.

The people above could not understand why the
strangers who said they were going down the river to
the sea should so suddenly return, and they imagined
some sinister design. Instead of listening to an ex-
planation they fied as the explorers reappeared, and
beat the forest into a hostile field. Mackenzie pre-
pared for defense, and the men swore they woukl be
gone from that region the moment they could make
their escape.

'■" 'The more I heard of the river, the more I was convinced it could not
empty itself into the ocean to the nortli of what is called tho River of tho
West ; so that with its windings the distance must be vory great. ' Mackenzic't
Foy,, 'J5(!.

Hist. N. W. Coait, Vot. I. 44

•'.5 *1

800

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

Their boat being incapable of further repairs, on
the 28th they set about building a new one, which
was completed the 1st of July. It now became
necessary to put the men on short allowance, which
with the desertion of their guide in no wise tended
to assuage their ill-humor. Rum and praise are both
comforting, but a whole skin is better than either.
The commander's position was an exceedingly critical
one, for at every accident fresh dissatisfaction broke
out; yet he relaxed not one iota of his determination
to proceed, and issued his orders accordingly. Ar-
rived at West Road River, so called by Mackenzie
because his road to the west appeared to lead from
this branch of Fraser River, the explorer determined
to come to a full understanding with his men. Since
leaving the lower encampment they had not only
openly talked of returning to Athabasca, but had
once gone so far as to load the canoe preparatory to
embarking, without instructions from their officer.

To his no small satisfaction Mackenzie learns that
no definite plan of return has been fixed upon. He
then reminds them of their promise so lately made.
Pointing to the western path, he tells them he is
going to try it. His calm persistency wins. Though
beset by hardships and dangers, habit is too much for
them; their master is before them. Once more they
promise their support. And thus it always is : place
things in the right way before men and they will die
for you, when if you bungle, peradventure they will
make you die for them. Herein consists the diflPer-
ence between born commanders and men fit only to
govern cattle.

Before leaving the great river, however, the men
proposed that they should ascend it a little farther
and seek their guide or find another. To this Mac-
kenzie promptly assented. Shortly after they had
started they met their guide coming toward them
with a number of his relatives in two canoes. He
never thought of leaving them, he said, and for his

■epairs, on
)ne, which
w became
lice, which
ise tended
e are both
lan either,
^ly critical
tion broke
ermination
ngly. Ar-
Mackenzie

lead from
ietermined
en. Since
1 not only
1, but had
paratory to
r officer,
learns that
upon. He
ately made,
bhem he is
s. Though
)o much for

more they
ys is : place
hey will die
re they will
3 the differ-
i fit only to

-^er, the men
[ttle farther
o this Mac-
jr they had
oward them
3anoes. He
and for his

THE MARCH WESTWARD. . 691

fidelity he was given a jacket, pantaloons, and hand-
kerchief These people informed the explorers that
the road which left the river a short distance above
was the best, and it was decided to take it.

Next morning, which was the 4th of July, wishing
to hide some of their articles, Mackenzie sent the
natives on before in charge of Mackay, and when his
secret task was accomplished he continued up Fraser
River to a rivulet some twenty miles above West
Hoad River, where he found Mackay and the guide
awaiting him.

Here the canoe and everything they could not
carry must be left until their return. Making their
effects as secure as possible,'^ they shouldered about
ninety pounds each and set out on their long march.
The lordly aboriginals who attended as hunters and
interpreters felt exceedingly ill-used at having to
carry half the weight the white men bore, or barely
sufficient to feed themselves, and under no circum-
stances would the local guides carry a pound. Mac-
kenzie and Mackay each shouldered a pack of seventy
pounds, which with their arms and instruments made
their burdens nearly equal to those of the Canadians.

Twelve miles due west were made the first day, and
about twice that distance south-west the next. A
well beaten path over wooded ridges conducted them
past lakes Punchaw and Cleswuncut, where they
camped, wet and weary, the night of the 5th. But
few natives were met, and those, having been notified
of the white man's presence in those parts, manifested
neither surprise nor fear. Articles of Europe;ui man-
ufacture had already found their way hither, having
been obtained from the trading- vessels along tlfo coast
and passed from tribe to tribe by way of barter back
to the far interior. Fearful lest his guide might

'■' ' We prepared a stage, on wliicli the canoo was placed bottom upwards,
and flhadca by a covering of small trees and branches, to keep lior from the
iun. Wo then built an oblong hollow square, ten feet by live, of green logs,
wherein we placed every article it was necessary for us to leave here, and cov-
«red the whole with large pieces of timber.' Mackenzie's Voy., 285.

802 MACKENZIE'S VOYAGK

desert, Mackenzie made him sleep with him, and as
his lordship's beaver robe was full of vermin, his head
well greased with fish-oil, and his body smeared with
red earth, he was not the pleasantest of bedfellows.

Before mid-day of the 6th they came to the junc-
tion of the three roads from the great river, namely,
that from Quesnelle, or the I^untataencut River, which
they first intended to have taken, the West Road
River route, and the trail they were on, and which
now led along the terraces near Blackwater bridge,
with the river in sight but beyond reach>^ The march
for the day was south-west ten miles, then west about
twelve miles.

The route next day was through an elevated and
partly open country, up West Road River fourteen
miles to Upper Canon, where were two small lakes,
then along the Iscultaesli branch twelve miles, a por-
tion of which was through a swamp, to where the
river widens into a lake.

The march was attended with frequent showers of
rain, the bushes continuing to shed moisture for some
time after the clouds had ceased. On one occasion the
commander requested one of the Indians to go forward
and beat the bushes so that the rest with their heavy
burdens need not bo always drenched. The free
American declined, whereupon Mackenzie himself
performed the task.

As the region was destitute of game, and food
would be required on their return, on two or tliree
occasions pemican was buried under the fireplace when
the natives were not present.

Crossing south-westerly to the main channel of the
Blackwater on the 8th, they passed several basins, in
some of which was water, while others were empty.
Ten miles brought them to an expansion of the river
called Kluscoil Lake, after which they continued west

M Near the Blackwater depdt, built by the railroad surveying party as a
station for supplies. An illustrated description of this place may be found la
George M. Dawson's Report, in Selteyn's Geological Survey of Canada, 1875-6,
262.

TOWARD THE SEA.

and as

is head

3d with

ows.

le junc-

lamely,

, which

; Road

which

bridge,

e march

it about

ted and
fourteen
11 lakes,
s, a por-
lere the

owers of
for some
ision the
) forward
sir heavy
rhe free
himself

and food

or tliree

iace when

[lel of the
basins, in
e empty,
the river
lued west

ag party as a
ly l>e found in
nada, 1875-6,

by south ten miles and encamped, having been in the
i-ain three fourths of the day. Twenty-one miles were
travelled on the 9th, the latter part of the march
being along Euchiniko Lake, another expansion of the
river, which was crossed early next morning on a raft.
A small stream flowing into the Blackwater at this
crossing, from the south, soon expanded as they as-
cended it, into the Cluscus Lakes.^* This day, the
10th, the distance was nineteen miles, and the en-
campment for the night a little beyond Tsacha Lake.^''

The 11th brought them past Tsilbekuz Lake, the
distance being fifteen miles, in which were crossed
seven rivulets. On the 12th thirty-six miles were
made in a more southerly direction, round swamps
and over stony ridges, rising toward the last into a
clear cold altitude with snowy mountains on every
side. Coming upon a house next day, the inhabitants
were surprised and captured; but their fears were
instantly allayed and presents given them. On the
15th they joined a party journeying the same way,
with whom they were soon on intimate terms.

The wind rose to a tempest on the 17th, and part
of the way was over snow. Descending from the
mountains the climate was quite different, INIackenzie
now found himself on a tributary of the Bellacoola,""
following which he came late at night to a fork of
the river where was a large village. Reckless from
fatigue, Mackenzie preceded his company, and entering
without ceremony one of the houses, he shook hands
with the inmates, threw down his burden, and sat u[)on
it. The peo[)le manifested not the least surprise, but
yoon directed him to the town-house.^''

The men arriving soon after, entered the large

'* Here lived in luier days a big cliicf called Fa\vnie, who conducted parties
in any direction, and for wiiom a mouutaiu was named.

"An altitude obtained at noon gave S.T 4' 32", which was rcmarkaljly
conect.

'"^ In his map Mackenzie pnts down this stream as Salmon River. What is
MOW Salmon Itiver flows into the ocean a little north of the Bcllacoola.

'■" For full description of these people, their dress, houses, and customs, sec
Native Races, i. chap. iii.

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

house, where were several fires, and seating them-
selves were regaled with roasted salmon. Signs seem-
ingly denoting permission to sleep in the house were
made, yet not being sure, and fearful of offending his
entertainers, Mackenzie ordered a fire built outside
at which all slept soundly. This place Mackenzie
called Friendly Village. Berries, dried roe, and
roasted salmon were given the strangers for break-
fast, after which Mackenzie asked and obtained two
canoes in which to descend the river.

In the afternoon of that day, which was the 1 8th,
with seven of the friendly natives and the little
baggage now left, the party embarked. Mackenzie
thought his Canadians expert canoemen, but they
themselves were forced to admit that these savajjes
were in this respect their superiors. Arriving at a
weir, consisting of an embankment with a water-fall
of some ten feet, and having their fishing appliances
both above and below it, the natives landed the white
men, and shot their canoes over the fall without
taking in a drop of water.

In less than three hours the natives informed the
explorers that they were approaching another village,
and that before rei^ching it they must land and notify
the inhabitants. Although this was done, and couriers
were sent forward to notify them, yet so seemingly sud-
den was the appearance of the strangers that the town
was thrown into confusion. As the party entered, they
saw the people running from house to house with loud
and vociferous speech, and the usual antics, feints,
and warlike demonstrations which savages employ to
cover fear.

But when the leader stepped boldly forward alone
and shook hands with them, they immediately calmed,
and laid down their bows and arrows, spears and axes,
pacified. Then they pressed round, hugging and heap-
ing him with compliments until he scarcely knew
which he enjoyed least, their enmity or their friend-
ship. After the ancients of the nation had finished

them-
s seem-
se were
ling his
outside
ickenzie
3e, and
break-
led two

le 18th,
le httle
ickenzio
ut they
savages
ing at a
^ater-fall
)phances
he white
without

med the
r village,
id notify
I couriers
igly sud-
the town
red, they
nth. loud
3, feints,
mploy to

,rd alone
r calmed,
bnd axes,
nd heap-
ly knew
r friend-
finished

ENTERTAINMENT AND TRAVEL.

C95

their embracings, the chief's eldest son appeared, the
crowd making way for him, and snapping the string
which fastened a valuable sea-otter robe he threw it
over the white chief's shoulders. This was the highest
honor the savage could pay the stranger. Mackenzie
gave him a blanket in return. Presents were also
given to the chiefs.

The party now took a stroll about the town. The
houses were larger and finer than any aboriginal struct-
ures they had hitherto seen. Entering the chief's
house, mats were spread, and the strangers having
seated themselves, roasted salmon and other food was
placed before them. But despite every endeavor they
could not get raw fish cooked after their own fashion,
notwithstanding the stream was full of them and their
rude entertainers v/ere ready to show their guests
every attention. The fish did not like strangers; they
were averse to iron; the white chief must not use his
astronomical instruments; flesh must not be allowed in
or on the streams ; and many other like superstitions
must be observed, else the fish would go away and the
people would starve.

A lodge having been prepared for the accommoda-
tion of the guests, after examining the many points
of interest about the place, such as the hieroglyphics
and contents of the houses, and the extensive fish
catching and curing processes, they retired for the
night. Before they were asleep, however, the chief
came to Mackenzie and insisted upon his going to the
chief's bed and bedfellow, while he should take the
stranger's place. Such was their hospitality.

Though some distance from the sea-coast, these
people were intelligent in their knowledge of what
transpired there. A large canoe was shown to Mac-
kenzie, in which he said the chief told him that "about
ten winters ago he went a considerable distance
towards the mid-day sun, with forty of his people,
when he saw two large vessels full of such men as
mvself, by whom he was kindly received; they were.

696 MACKENZIE'S V')YAGE.

he said, the first white people he had seen. They were
probably the ships commanded by Captain Cook."

Again in remarking on the iron, copper, and brass
so highly prized by them, and of which they had
much, both for use and ornament, sometimes twisting
iron bars of twelve -pound weight into ornamental
collars, Mackenzie spoke of another visit to this same
chief, when he "opened one of his chests and took out
of it a garment of blue cloth decorated with brass but-
tons, and another of a flowered cotton, which I sup-
posed were Spanish ; it had been trimmed with leather
fringe after the fashion of their own cloaks."

When the party were ready to start down the
river, Mackenzie was informed that one of the axes
was missing. He immediately requested from the
chief its restoration. " But he would not understand
me," says Mackenzie, "till I sat myself down on a
stone, with my arms in a state of preparation, and
made it appear to him that I should not depart until
the stolen article was restored. The village was im-
mediately in a state of uproar, and some danger was
apprehended from the confusion that prevailed in it.
The axe, however, which had been hidden under the
chief's canoe, was soon returned. Though this instru-
ment was not, in itself, of sufficient value to justify a
dispute with these people, I apprehended that the
suffering them to keep it, after we had declared its
loss, might have occasioned the loss of everything we
carried with us, and of our lives also. My people
were dissatisfied with me at the moment; but I
thought myself right then, and I think now that the
circumstances in which we were involved justified the
measure which I adopted."

Embarking at one o'clock in the afternoon of the
19th in one large canoe manned by four natives, the
party left the Great Village, as this place was subse-
quently called, and passed rapidly down the river.
They had not proceeded far when they were obliged
to land and pay their respects to the owner of two

THE END ATTAINED.

697

hey were
ook."
,nd brass
hey had
twisting
lamentai
his same
took out
rass but-
h I sup-
1 leather

own the
the axes
Tom the
derstand
wn on a
tion, and
)art until

was im-
nger was
led in it.
inder the
is instru-
justify a
that the
jlared its
thing we
"y people
b; but I

that the
tified the

>n of the
tives, the
as subse-
he river.
3 obliged
ir of two

houses, who being a personage of consequenc(.' it was
deemed best not to pass him by unnoticed. Here they
were entertained as before, and many European arti-
cles shown them, among others forty pounds of old
copper. Proceeding, another large house was soon
reached, their last host accompanying them. Here
was seen for the first time by the visitors the famous
underlip ornament.^^ For the berries here placed
before them the travellers made recompense in pres-
ents. Once more embarking, they find the swift cur-
rent separating itself into channels as they approach
its mouth. After shooting a cascade they came to a
fall, where they left the canoe and carried thoir bag-
gage on to a village of six large houses on posts
twenty-five feet high, having completed thirty-six
miles that afternoon. Here they could see the mouth
of the river and an arm of the sea. The few people
they found here were poor, unable to offer the visitors
a single fish for their supper, whereupon the remnants
of the last meal were brought out. The loss at this
place of their dog, who had accompanied them from
Athabasca, was greatly regretted.

Very early next morning they set out in a still
larger though leaky canoe, accompanied by only two
of the natives from the Great Village, the others
refusing to proceed. They were shortly at the mouth
of the river, and soon past the place which they felt
constrained subsequently to call Rascals' Village ; and
at eight o'clock on the morning of the 20th of July
1793, Alexander Mackenzie and his party found them-
selves afloat on the tide-waters of the Pacific. Here
was their object attained; the goal was won!

Bentinck North Arm, this water was afterward
named. And it was not a pleasing sight that greeted
them after their devoted toil ; not so glittering as that
which sent Vasco Nunez and his comrades to their
knees on the hill overlooking this sani' ocean five
thousand miles to the southward, and two hundred

^' See Native Races, i. 98.

608 MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

and eighty years before. There were no flags or pen-
nons flying, no wading into the water with drawn
sword, no fighting of imaginary foes, no declamation
to the winds and waves about the ownership of that
quarter of God's earth. Exploration had Decome a
soberer thing in the course of three centuries.

Spread out before these northern fur-traders, who
had ventured so far to see what this great Northwest
was made of, was a broad uncovered beach, dripping
with sea- weeds. A thick fog shut out the surround-
ing hills. Sea and sky were murky and opaque. A
strong west wind chilled both blood and spirits. There
were many seals, so quick of movement as almost to
dodge the bullets sent after them. Only some small
porpoises seemed willing to be shot. In the distance
was the white-headed eagle, which had come with them
from the interior to see the ocean, and nearer gulls
and ducks, both diminutive, and some dismal dark
birds of evil omen, smaller than the small gulls. To
crown all, as the day wore away the wind rose and
the sea grew boisterous, so that after a voyage of ten
miles from the entrance of the river they were obliged
to land their leaky canoe in a small bay, opposite
another small bay in which was an island, and carry
ashore their scanty stock of provisions, consisting now
of twenty pounds of pemican, fifteen pounds of rice,
and six pounds of flour, for ten half-starved men upon
a savage shore, with a thousand miles of wilderness
between them and security.

The Canadians did not take kindly to the mussels
and other shell-fish which they now gathered and
boiled. One of the natives who had accompanied
them from the Great Village, and who had started for
home some time before, returned about dark, bringing
with him a large porcupine, which he cut in pieces,
boiled, and, with the assistance of two of the Cana-
dians, wholly devoured before retiring for the night.
From this circumstance Mackenzie called the place
Porcupine Cove.

j8 or pen-
th drawn
jlamation
of that
jecome a

[ders, who
orthwest
, dripping
surround -
aque. A
ts. There
almost to
ome small
e distance
with them
jarer gulls
smal dark
^ulls. To
rose and
age of ten
3re obliged
% opposite
and carry
isting now
ds of rice,
men upon
wilderness

18 mussels
tiered and
3ompanied
started for
:, bringing

in pieces,
the Cana-
bhe night.

the place

SURVEY OP THE COAST.

099

Embarking next morning and sailing south-westerly,
they came to the Point Menzies of Vancouver, and
coasted the land called by that navigator King Island,
meeting in their voyage several boat loads of natives
who had had familiar uitercourso with white men, and
manifested neither fear nor curiosity at the appearance
of the strangers.

Entermg Vancouver's Cascade Canal, they were
greatly annoyed by the Indians, who here assumed an
arrogant tone and threatened an attack. One man
made himself specially obnoxious, having been beaten
and shot, as he said, bv Vancouver. The little band
prepared to defend themselves, the commander re-
fusing to yield one iota to the importunities of his
companions to quit the place uiiti, he had satisfied
himself

The westei'nmost point of this memorable journey
was here attained.^ Landing at a place which from
the distance looked like sheds,^ but on nearer ap-
proach proved to be the ruins of a village, Mackenzie,
the better tv defend himself from the natives, whose
numbers and boldness were constantly increasing, took
his position on a rock, which was none too large t

()

™The course since leaving the mouth of Bellacoola River, recapitulated,
is as follows: Down Bentinck Arm or Burke Canal some 25 miles towanl
the sea; then crossed over by a channel in. a north-westerly direction, having
King Island on the left, to Dean Canal; followed down Dean Canal to tlio
westward about six miles to the point where the Cascade Canal joins it,
coming in from the north-west. Followed up the Cascade Canal three miles
to the sheds near the rock on which lie placed the inscription, and then tlueo
miles farther to his astronomical station. It is wortliy of remark tliat on all
the old maps the passage from Burke Canal to Dean Canal is represented as a
broad channel, while on recent maps it is put down as a narrow channel or
slough. The old maps are all based on Vancouver's, and the modem ones
on Admiralty charts.

'"It was during the last days of May and the first days of June 1793, less
thaa two months prior to Mackenzie's appearance on this shore, that Van-
couver was here surveying these same inlets. Speaking, with the aliuds ia
sight, of information received from a native concerning Vancouver's visit,
Mackenzie, Voy., 345, says: 'At some distance from the land a channel
opened to us, at south-west by west, and pointing that way he made me un-
derstand that Macubah came there with his large canoe.' Tlii.s same saviige
asserted that Macubah, as he called Vancouver, had tired upon him, and that
'Benfins had struck him on the back with the flat part of his sword.' llu
now proved extremely troublesome to Mackenzie, on whom he would bo
greatly pleased to take revenge lor insults received at the liands of the other
white men.

Bl'T

700

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

accommodate his little force. The day passed, how-
ever, without an attack, and there they spent the
night of the 21st, keeping a careful watch in turn,
two at a time.

The next day the sky was clearer, and Mackenzie
obtained more satisfactory observations.^* Mixing
some vermilion in melted grease, Mackenzie now
marked in large letters on the south-east side of the
rock on which they had slept the previous night, these
words : Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land,

THE TWENTY-SECOND OF JuLY, ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUN-
DRED AND NINETY-THREE.

For the purpose of completing his observations,
Mackenzie proceeded north-east three miles farther
and landed in a little cove. The only remaining In-
dian from the Great Village now attempted to escape,
but was brought back by Mackenzie, who requested
his men to guard him, but they peremptorily refused
to employ force in detaining him, and Mackenzie was
himself obliged to watch him.

The object of the expedition being now attained,
Mackenzie set out from this point on his long return.
As the situation was both unpleasant and dangerous,
the party embarked at ten o'clock that night, the 22d.
In leaving those shores the men piied their oars lust-
ily, for they were badly frightened. The return was
by the route they came; and at half past four next
morning they arrived at Porcupine Cove, passing
which they came to the mouth of the Bellacoola. On
leaving the bay, the explorer named it Mackenzie
Outlet.

Yet more imminent danger awaited them at Ras-
cals' Village. It seems that the savage who had been
chastised by Vancouver was there, stirring up enmity
against the strangers, so that when Mackenzie, in
order to keep pace with the Indian whose escape he

'1 These astronomical observations, however satisfying to the explorer,
were of little use to science or to history, other than to determine positively
Mackenzie's route.

ised, how-
ipent the
in turn,

Mackenzie
Mixing
nzie now
:de of the
ght, these

BY LAND,
EVEN HUN-

ervations,
Bs farther
ining In-
to escape,
requested
y refused
enzie was

attained,
ig return,
angerous,
;, the 22d.
oars lust-
aturn was
four next
I, passing
oola. On
lackenzie

1 at Ras-
had been
p enmity
:enzie, in
jscape he

;he explorer,
ne positively

THE RETURN.

701

had nreyented the day before, very imprudently pro-
ceded his men, he found the villatjers armed and in
menacing attitudes. Throwing down his cloak, lio
raised his gun, whereupon the Indians dropped their
daggers. Nevertheless they continued to advance
until one of them succeeded in getting behind Mac-
kenzie, when he threw his arms about him and lickl
him in hostile embrace. Coolness and bravery alone
saved the whole party from destruction. The ex-
plorer could have killed two or three of them, but he
would soon have been overcome by numbers, and his
men might easily have been disposed of one. by one
as they came up. Finally he succeeded in shaking
himself from the Indian's grasp, and as some of his
men now apposared, the savages fled.^^

Mackenzie had lost his hat and cloak in the scuffle ;
besides, at this same Rascals' Village on their way
down, some articles had been stolen; and now that
his Scotch blood was up he detormined to have every-
thing restored before he left the place. Ordering his
men to prime their guns, the party drew up before
the house in which the villagers had taken refiiLje.
Finally the man whom Mackenzie had previously
guarded came out and said that the villagers had
been informed that the white men had killed four
Indians in the bay, and had ill-treated others. The
knowledge of this falsehood brought from Mackenzie
a fresh demand for the stolen articles, together with
some fish. These conditions of his departure the
natives complied with, and a reconciliation took place.
The Indian from the Great Village, however, could
not be induced to join them, and they followed him
up the river in another canoe.

The ascent of the stream was tedious; and on

•"It was, however, upwards of ten minutes before all my people joined me ;
and as they came one after the other, these people might have successfully
despatched every one of us. If they had killed me in the first instance this
consequence would certainly have followed, and not one of us would have
returned home to tell the horrid fate of his companions.' Mackenzie's Voy.,
353-4.

702

MACKENZIE'S VOYAGE.

landing frfc^-h alarm was caused by the appearance of
ravages supposed to be unfriendly. The men became
panic-stricken, and throwing their superfluous effects
into the river, swore they would take to the moun-
tains. One of the Indians they had brought with
them having been seized with illness, they proposed to
abandon him.

For a time Mackenzie sat upon a stone waiting for
the subsidence of this demonstration of insane terror.
But when he saw them continue in earnest he arose
and rebuked their folly and inhumanity in the severest
terms. Finally their fears were overcome, and the
party proceeded, part on shore and part by canoe.
In much alarm, though without serious accident, the
white men succeeded in finally extricating themselves
from their perilous position and reaching the Friendly
Village in safety.

Continuing their journey, they arrived at Fraser
River the 4th of August, just one month after leaving
it, and found their canoe and all their effects undis-
turbed. The buried pemican did excellent service, as
the weather was nov/ cold and the stremgth of the men
well nigh exhausted. So long had they been without
spiritous liquor that they seemed to have lost all relish
for it. For respecting the white man's property the
natives were well rewarded, though they might as
easily have taken the whole of it had they been so
disposed.

The 16th of August saw them at the portage
between the tributaries of the Fraser and Peace
rivers. At the mouth of a small stream were found
three beaver-skins, left there by the young Indian who
had presented them to the white chief on his outward
journey; Mackenzie took them, leaving in their place
thrice their value.

At last, rounding the point on Peace River Satur-
day afternoon, the 24th of August 1793, they sighted
Fork Fort, which they had left the 9th of May pre-
vious. Unfurling h«.i^ flag and firing their guns,

:i'A^h

•AjtmnviVWiM *"*^«"W««Hi

HOME AGAIN.

703

arance of
n became
>us effects
he moun-
ght with
oposed to

aiting for
ne terror,
he arose
severest
and the
by canoe,
ident, the
lemselves
Friendly

at Fraser
er leaving
cts undis-
service, as
if the men
n without
t all relish
iperty the
might as
y been so

3 portage
tid Peace
ere found
idian who
s outward
heir place

er Satur-
yy sighted
May pre-
leir guns,

amidst shouts of joy their frail bark flew to the bank.
The jouru(y was done. All honor to the bravo liLtK;
band aiiil Uieir gallant (H)mmander! A month later
Mackenzie returned to Fort Chepcwyan and resumed
the position of trader.

Among the many qualities I find in Alexander
Mackenzie which command my admiration; atuong
the many brave and humane acts done during this
hazardous journey, none have so stirred my heartfelt
respect as his kind and loyal treatment on Bellacoola
River of his sick Indian guide, who but for the severe
and self-denying laboi of the commander, whose men
refused their hearty assistancii, nmst have been left
to perish amongst his foes — .".n act worthy of higher
commendation than even his ijrand excursion.

I append the unpublished journals of Captain Gray's
and of Kendrick's famous voyages to the Northwest
Coast, the first ever made under the American flag,
as described in early chapters of this volume. Some
portions of minor importance are omitted.

A Voyage eo0nd the Wohld on Board the Shu- 'Columbia Rediviva '
AND Sloop ' Washinqton,' in 1787-9, dy Robert Haswell.
Sept. 1787. Early in the fitting of tlie Columbia for a voyago round tlio
T\'orl(:l, I was employed as third oliicer. (iruat expedition was tisoil to for
ward our departure, and on the., .the sliip was hauled olF from the wharf
and anchored in the iiarbor. Here numberless articles of her provisions.
Btores, etc., were received hi board, and on the. . .the pilot came on itoard
and we were removed down to the Castleroads, where wo aiicliored with the
SKiall bower and moored with the stream anchor. Friday the. . .the nloop
Washington, Captain Robt Gray, " !io is to ho our consort, andiored in the
roads. Saturday the ... I took my baggage on board, and in the afternoon
Mr Jo. Ingraham, the second mate, came on 'xard with his baggai^'o, etc., foi
the first, time. Till late in the evening all hands were employed clearing the
dei ks, which were miicli lumbered, and getting in readiness Ui> sea. On
Siiiday morninir, being the <lay wo wen: to sail, we were thn»nij.'d with the
friends of almost all our people, and about noonCapt. K(;n(lr'':k, Lieut Howe,
his clerk, Mr Treet, tlie furrier, Mr Roberta, our surgeon, and Mr Nuttin,
the astronomer, came on board with tlie j)ilot, accom|i:iuied by a great num-
ber of the merchants, gentlemen, and others of Uoston. The ship was got
under way and proceeded down as far as Nantajsket roads, where wo anchored,
it being nearly calm, in company with the Washlwitim. The evening was
spent in mirth ami glee, the highest flow of spirits animating the whole com-
jiany. Jovial songs and animating sentiments passed tlio last evening wo
spent on that sido of the continent. Our friends parted not with us imtillate
in the evening, nor then without the most tender expressions of fneml.'^hip,
ttud their wishes for our prosperity resounded from every tongue, h^rl/ oa

704

HAS WELLS JOURNALS 1788-9.

Monday morning we weightMl and came to sail, and by sunrise were out of
the harbor. . .

Aug. '-J, 1788. At 10 A. M., to our inexpressible joy we saw the coast
of New Albion ranging from N. n. E. to s. s. e., distant about 7 leagues, and
tried for soundings in 100 fathoms without finding bottom. Lat. 41° 28' s.

Aug. 3d. We struck Houndings in 50 fathoms water over a bottom of fine
black sand. At this time we were 6 leagues distant from the continent.
Lat. 41" 38' N., long. l'2V 29' w.

Aug. 4th. We iliscovered a canoe with 10 natives of the country ^.-ciddliug
toward us, and on their nigh approach they made very expressive signs of
friendship. These were the lirst iuhahitants we had seen her*^ I must add
that a regular account of the people, manners, customs, etc., of this \a.st
coast 18 a task equal to the skill of an able historian. However, as there are
i?ome few remarkable occurrences, I mention them with ' '^ule or form.
Tlt^sae people were in a canoe of a most singul*^ shape, j nade from a

Wee of vast b«lk. It was v«*ry wid«, its hroa/tdi nearly lore and aft;

its head and stern were but little di4JE»i-i:at, both ending a.brupi<iy as tl»t ><" a
board, timag some inches abov« tbe Hide '/ the l)oat in an arcb, whutJj oas
neatly wctHkeH o'-^r with straw o<f rrnnoaa •jwko. Ti** boat wa* /rf the moHt
clumsy sh:: - world, yet m, ir«H wm t4 liauih«<f that it looked vnry

passable, i .- idles were very rottj||h, y^fHtght of a*h woe' They were

clothed chiedy ^ deer-skins, and they vrerc '.fmamented with omkIs oi Euro-
pean manufa/;toM- I th'jik they have some intercourse with tiie itoaaiarda
at Monterey, which is but three or four degrees to the south war^T T'.'-y
smoke tobacco out of a small wooden tube aix>ut the size of a child's vrhin- le.
They had some sweet-scented herbs. The country from whence theoe fx'.uple
came appeared to me the most pleasant I had ever seen. The men in tlie
boat appeared to bo well made, about medium size; their bodies were jmnc-
tured in many forms in all parts. Capt. Gray made them several pi'^sents,
but our attentiori was called another way. The wind by thi.-i time blew a
gale. We hove up and sto'xl off sliore upon a wind to the westward.

Aug. 5th. Wo coasted along the shore, but saw no place ^t^r-^ there was
shelter even for a boat. This country must )m thickly inha</y/t/^ by t!ie
many fires we saw in the uight, and columns o* smoke we woulll tme in the
day-timo, but I think they ean derive but little of their suljsistenc** from the
sea; but to compensate for this the laud was beautifully diveraifted with
forests and green lawns, which must give shelter to \a>»t numbers of wild
beasts. Proliably most of the natives on this part of the coast live by hunt-
ting, for they most of then, live inland. This is not the case to the north-
ward, for the face of the country is wiilely different. Lat. 42" 3' N.; varia«
tion, 13° 50' K.

Aug. 6th. About 8 o'clock we were abreiwt a cove whore tolerably goo<l
shelter from a northerly wind may bo had. It is formed by a small l)uy to
the northward and a little island to the southward. Here wood and wutcr
may be procured, but what sort of auchoruge reinains unknown. The people
wire very anxious to come on board, and paddled after us an amazing distance
with groat celerity, waving something wiiieh I suppose was skins, but as
we hatl at this time a good wind, it was judged best U> seek a harbor while it
continued. We ran along shore with a clouri jf sail, paMing within a quarter
of a mile of a bold sandy shore in 5 or 6 fathoms water. AIx>vo the beach
appeared a delightful country thickly inhabited, and clothe.*! vvith verdu»'e
and forests and many charming streams of water. Most of the inhabitants,
as we passed their scattered houses, fled into the woods, while others ran
along shore with great swiftness, keeping abreast of us many miles. Capa
Minaocin bore north, distant about 5 leagues. Wo now ran for a place that
looked like an inlet. It was in a large deep bay to the south and east of Cape
Mindocin.

Aug. 7th. Having run in within a mile of a small island, wo hove the
jolly-boat out and sent her to sound thf channel and explore the harbor, if
any. She soon made a signal that there was plenty of water within the island.

•aaiiB^tawBintaMwitt m tm uAi mtttuu^

HARWELL'S JOURNALS 1788-9.

Tljfy

Wo then followed her, but booii diacuvercd what wo Riippoticd to bo an inlet
was no other than two hills separated by a deep valley. We wore ship withm
half a mile of the land, and found uo bottom with a lou^t scope of line. Wo
now took in the boat and stood out on the other aide the islaml. whii'li cmdd
be compared to nothing else but a hive of bees »wanning, the birds were so
numerous. They were of many species, but most of them j)elicau8. At «
P. M. Capo Mindocin bore n. n. k., disUuit about or 7 leagues. A long mid
very dangerous reef of rocks ran out leagues westward of this promontory.
Steered clear of it and stood in for the land. Lat. 43" '-I0' n. There is a very
deep bay to the northward of the oapc, in which probably there ni.ay l)o wime
deep sounds aud rivers, but in the night we were imperceptibly drifted by a
cun'ent from the eastward far from the shore, which prevented our exploring
this part of the coast. A knowledge of this situation might be oascnlial,
for if there should bo a harbor here, uo doubt there would Im great num-
bers of sea-otters, whose skins to the number of several thousjind collected
on the coast of California are sent by the Spanish missionaries to (yhina l>y
way of Manilla. About 10 or 1 1 leagues to northward of the cape wo hoisted
onr boat out to more minutely examine thu coast, while we sailed in the ship
within a njile of the shore.

Aug. 9th. At '2:'M) o'clock we passed an iulet, where though there did not
appear to be suiDcient water for our vessel, yet I am of opinion it is the en-
trance of a very largo river, where greot commercial advantages might bo
reaped by a small vessel of is or 20 ton.s. This harbor is in l.it. 41" 'JO' N.,
and long. 122° 0* w. The long boat returned alongside in the evening, having
seen nothing remarkable except vast numbers of natives, who ojipcued very
hostile and war-like. They ran along shore waving white skins. These are
the skino of moose. Three or four thicknesses completely tanned and impen-
etrable to arrows aro their armor. They would sonietimes make fiist their
bows and quivers of an-ows to spears of incredible bugtb, nn<l hliake them at
us with an air of defiance. Every gesture was accompanied by hideous
shouting. The coast trended by the cumpass .v. by w. At 11 A. m. there
came alongside two Indians in a small canoe, very differently formed from
those we had seen to the southward. It was sharj) at the head and stern,
and extremely well built to paddle fast. Tlicy cani<' very cautiously toward
us, nor would they come within pistol shot until one of them, a very tine-
looking fellow, ha(l delivered a long oration, accompanying it with action and
gestures that would have graced a f]uropcan orator. Tlic subject of hisili.s-
course was desighed to inform us tliat tliey had plenty of lish and fresh water
on shore at their habitations, which they scemetl to wish us to go and partjike
o^. We made them understiuid that skins were the articles W(! most wantccl.
These, as well as they could bo understood, they would bring the ensuing
day. Wo could perceive their language was utterly dilfercut from those wo
had first fallen in with to the southward. After \iewin;,' the vessel atten-
tively for some time they depnrled, well pleased with the trifling ^)resent3
they had received. The [ilace these people ('amo from is in lat. 45^ N.

Aug. 10th. At4 P. SI. wore ship and stood in with the land. At 9 wo hove
the boat out and she went in seareh of a landing-place. During her absence
there came alongside 2 Indian canoes, one contiiiuing 2 and llio other o pco
pie. Among them were yesterday's friends; they brought several sea-otter
skins, and one of the best furs I ever saw. They were a smart set of active
fellows, but like all others on this coast withoul on - exception addicted to
thefts. They were anr.ed with tows and an-ows and spears, but woeld part
•with none of tliem. They had both iron and stono knives, which they always
kept in their hands uplifted in readiness to strike. We admittted ono of
them on board, but he would not con)o without this weapon. Two or three
of our visitors were much i)ittcd with small-pox. They were dexterous in tlio
mauaffemcnt of their canoes, and though they were long, woidd turn them in
three lengths. Their paddlca were neatly m.ido of ash of cmial breadth, the
comers pointed and end arched like a swallow's tail. They departed, promis-
ing to return apain soon. Lat. 45° 2' N.
Hist. N. V.', Co*BT., Vol.. I. 45

iMf^Sff^Xi '-(frf^'iW1i||())iii[y. • I

706

HASWELL'S JOURNALS I7S8-9.

Aug. lltb. Marked l>y no singular CTent. Lat. 44° 58' >'., having made-
5 miles southing.

Aug. 12th. We came to anchor within half a mile of the shor^, hoisted
the long boat out, and went to a Btnall inlet where there was not .sufficient
water for the sloop to enter. We took off two loads of wood, and then hove
up and came to sail with the wind favorable. We saw while the boat was ou
shore one of the natives who were off on Sunday last. The place had beeu
inhabited, but had been deserted no doubt as late as when they saw the
boat coming on shore.

Aug. J 3th. There came alongside 12 natives in a canoe. Tb»y had noth-
ing to traffic, but seemed enticed by curiosity to view the vessel. Their chief
was the only person tluit was allowed to come on board. He observed every-
thing witli great attention, and was presented with a few gifts and departed
well pleased. Lat, 4.j'' uU' m.

Aug. 14th. Kctween the hours of 5 and G last evening we passed a toler-
able harbor, but having a bar with waves breaking pretty nigh all athwart it,
it looked as though we could witli case get into it. This harbor was now 10
leagues to leeward. In the afternoon it was determined to bear away, and at
I I'. M. we lay her head to the southward, and at 6 hove to with the smaU
boN^'cr in 7 fathoms over a bottom of sand, distant from the shore about 2
miles. We now hoisted the boat out, manned and armed her, and sent her to
explore the harbor and soun<l its entrance, taking proper bearings and marks
for sailing into it. At 10 the boat returned with an account that the harbor
w.iH tolerably commodious and sufficient water for us in the proper channel.
Wo immediately hove up and went in without coming into less than 2^
fathoms water. We anchored half a mile from the shore in 3 fathoms. In
the anchoring >lace I observed my latitude to be 45° 27' N., and longitude
12;i° 10' w. ; the variation by the azmuth was 14° 26'.

Aug. 15th. It was with great persuasion late in the afternoon that a small
canoe came alongside and received many trivial presents, which soon enticed
maijy others off, and each canoe brought large quantities of benies, and crabs
ready boiled. These they handed on board as presents, seemingly without aa
idea of payment. These were the most acceptable things they could have
brought to most of our seamen, who wore in a very advanced state of the
scurvy, and was a means of a restoration to health to 3 or 4 of our company,
who would have found one month longer at sea fatal to them, so advanceil
were they iu this malignant distemper.

Traffic on a very friendly footing being thus established, before evening we
had purchased a number of otter-skins for knives, axes, adzes, etc., but had
we had copper, a piece 2 or 3 inches square would have been far more valuable
to them. 'I'hey would hand their skius on board without sBruple, and take with
satisfaction whatever was given in I'etum. This we very seldom found to be
t!io case in any other part of the coast. The necessary operations of wooding
and watering were the principal objects of our attention. Tiie wiiterinc;-pla(«>
Mas situated at a cousiderable distance from the sloop, uud toi^aily out of pr\>-
tixtion of her guns. For this reason one turn of water was juiImiI sulHciont to
serve till some more safe place might be discovered at some other part i>. Jlie
coast. We took off several boat-loads of wood which was hundy to the ^waul,
and of a very good quality. The natives while wc were nt w<:>rk on shore bc-
iiaved with great proprietyi frequently bringing us fiuit, but t hey always kept
themselves armed, and never ventured nigh us but with thoir knives in their
hanvls ready to strike. This wo imputed to their being such total »tnuige«*
to Europeans.

Aug. 16th. At this time an amazing number of natives w«n atoMfside
with boiled and roasted crabs for sale, which our people pn '■.■)««s*d for iNMftou,
etc. They had also dried salmon and berries in ahuadan v About tkis tisM
the old chief whom wo had met on the 13th came ou Kv*. d. He hftd a giv*t
lumber of the natives with liim all armed, and they had no skins with ttMBh,
.'.hough they were .voll convinced it was thone only we wanted. TWmm^ tte
c'.iicf had not fulfillrd his engagement, for he had promised to supplr <•% 1» nak

HASWKLL'S JOUHNALS 1788-9.

707

having made

■with a polite reception. Having nothing else to dolmt wait for tho next day's
tide to depart early in the afternoon, 1 accompanied Mr CtwledLMum shore in tho
lone boat to amuse ourselves by takiug a walk, while our lH«a was loaded
with grass and Bhrubs for our stock. We took in the Iwmt nil who were
afTected by scurvy, in all amounting to 7. The people st-enied bo friend ly that
we went worse armed than usual. We had 'J niusUets and ."1 or 4 cutlassen,
and we each took our swords and a pistol. On first landing we visited thoir
houses, and such food as they eat themselves they ofiFercd us, but they are so
intokralily liltliy that wo could eat iiotliing but the fniit. 'i'liev tJnii (.mused
us by showing their dexterity with their arrows and spears, and bcgi«, n war-
dance, which was longuiid hideous, accompanied with frightful howls. Indeed,
there vras something more horrid in tlieir song and the (.'oslures tihat accom-
panied it than I am capable of describing. It chilled my blond iti my veins.
J'lic dance over, we left the natives to themselves, and \Nalked alung tliu beach
to the boat, wliere the people v. ere cutting grass, only om; or two of tho
natives with them. We went a little way past tho boat, but within call, to
a small sand-flat in hopes of linding some clams. While we were digging, a
young blaek man, Marcus I^opius, a native of the Cape de Vcrd Islands, who
had shipped as Captain (iray's servant at !St .Iiigij's, being employed carrying
grass down to the boat, had carelessly stuck Ids cutliuss in the sard, (hie of
the natives seeing this took a favorable opportunity to snatch it unobserved
and run off with it. One of ihi nen seeing it before he was quite out of sight
Called vehemently, threatening to shoot him, in hopes he would aliandon the
stolen goods and make his escape. But I ha<l given positive orders to our men
not to lire except in an emergency, when in .self-defence it might be necessary.
The holloaing of our people first rou.so>l our attention, and we inmiediately
rushed to know the cause. AVe were informed of tho eiroiimstances, and told
that the black boy had followed the thief iu spite of all they could say to the
contrary. I was struck with the danger tho lad was in, and doubted of there
being a possibility ol saving him, but resolving no means should be left un-
tried, ordering the boat to keep abreast of us, we ran toward the village with-
out hesitation. We met several chief persons, whoso friendship we had taken
every opportunity to obtain Ijy kind usage and liberal presents. Indeed, it
seemed before this as if wo had fully succeeded. To these pco|)le Mr (.'ooledge
otTercd articles of great value to them to bring back tho man niduirt. This
they refused, intitnaliug their wish for us to seek him ourselves. I now re-
marked to Mr Cooledgo that all the natives we saw were unusually well armed.
However, we proceeded still further, and on turning aolunip of trees ♦he first
thing we saw was a very large group of natives, in the midst of whom was
the jioor black holding the thief and calling f(jr aasistance, saying he had
caught the thief. When we were observed \>y tho main Ixjdy of natives to
harshly approach tiiem, they instantly plunged their kiiive.-j with savage furv
into the body of the unfortunate youth. lie quitted his hold and stumbled,
but rose again and staggered toward us, l>nt a flii^ht i i iniows pieicing his
back he fell within 15 yards of me, r.nd in.sta,ntly ex|)ired, while they mangled
his lifeless corp.sc. We were now, by our pa3,sing a nuudier whom wo suji-
posed to be our friends, situated between two formidable parties. 'I'hose we
had passed, being reenforced hy a y ml number from the woods, gave us tho
first siiliitation by a shower of trn v.-s. Our ordy chance was to get to the
boat a* quickly as possible. iSo we turueil, leaving the ilead body, for it
would have been tho height of imprudence, our h juber was so small, to res-
cue it. We mr.do the best of ou- way to tho boat, oh^< udted on all siiles by
showers of arrows and spears, and at leuijth it lx>eamo aiisolulely necessary to
shoot the most dan ^ liugleaders, whieli I did with my |.'istol. Mr Cooledge
and one man who was with us followed my examph'. Tho former ordered
those in the lx)at to cover us »s we waded olF, for the boat could not come
within a considerable distance of the shore. Uncl*ii-**Bd by thu fate of their
companions, the savages followed us up to their rawi-iles in water, and slightly
wounded both Mr Cooledge and myself in the i\at»i, and totally disabled the
|>Mraon who was with us on shore, who, fainting trom tho loss of blood, hiy

^f&f^^^>ii0'^*^S»>a,Jtetiifi^^,

708

HASWELX,'S JOURNALS 1788-9.

lifeless several honrs, and continued to bleed a torrent till the barb of the
arrow was extracted. We jumped into the boat, put off, and were soon out
of arrow-shot. Then they launched ttaeir canoes, intending to cut us off;
indeed, they were well situated for it, but some were timid and not half
paddled, and wo keeping a constant fire from the boat, they came barely
within arrow-shot when we readied the sloop. They turned towards the
shore as soon as we got on board, and we discharged 2 or 3 swivel-shot
at them, and in a few momenta not one canoe was to be seen, all having fled.
During the whole of the night it was dismal to hear the whoops and howlinga
of the natives, who had fires on the beach near the spot where the lad was
killed. We could see numbers of them passing to and fro before the blaze
Murderer's harbor, for so it was named, is I suppose the entrance of the river
of the west. It is by no means a safe place for any but a very small vessel to
enter, the shoal at its entrance being so awkwardly situated, the passage so
narrow, and the tide so rapid, that it is scarce possible to avoid the dangers.
It is probable whenever a vessel goes there they may procure 20 or 30 sea-otter
skins. We know but little of tlie manners and customs of the people, our
stay among them was so short. The men wear no clothing but the skins of
animals well dressed; the women nothing but a petticoat of straw about as
long as a liighlander's kilt. Tlieir huts wer very small, made of boards, with
a mat on the floor. They appeared to be very indolent, and were intolerably
filthy. Their canoes were well shaped for every useful purpose. The language
we obtained no knowledge of, and I am of opinion it was very hard to leaim.
I am positive it was a planned affair which fii-at gave rise to our quarrel, fin-
seeing how few we were, they had hopes of overpowering us and tnakmg
themselves masters of our clothes and arms. Had we l>een taken, it would have
been no difficult job to take the sloop, for Capt. Gi-ay had but 3 people left
on board. It was folly for us to have gone ashore so ill armed, but it proved
a sufficient warning to us to be well anned ever afterwards . .

Aug. 19th. Having had a good run from Murderer's harbor we had passed
a considerable length of coast, which no doubt affords many valuable furs.
Wo were 4 or .1 miles from a straight coast, trending w. w by n. in w., and
20 fathoms water. Lat. 47" 11' N.

Aug. 'JOth. At 10 A. M. 2 canoes with 4 people in each come alongside.
We purchased several sea-otter skins of them at a reasonable rate for iron,
but they expressed a great desire for copper.

Aug. 2l8t. At f) two Indian wlialing canoes, each containing (> people,
came alongside. They had nothing to dispose of but a few beaver skins.
Their whaling implements were very curious, ben; they would part with none
of them. At 6 weighed, and came tu sail at 7. Green Island .bore north
distant 4 miles. Quinelth (the Indian name for the village where these men
belong) bore N. n. e. distant 7 miles. Lat. 47° 30' n. The land we were
abreast of rises at a distance inland to exceedingly high mountains covered
with now. . .

Aug. 2i')th. A numk*er of craggy and detached rocks and reefs lying at a
considerable distance rran the shore. 47° ""' iv . . .

Aug. 26th. I am ot opinion that tlie iStiaits of Juan de Puca exist, though
Capt. Cook positively asserts they do not, i(r^ in the very latitude where tliey
are said to lie the coast takes a beijd, which v«-y probably may be the entraiMe.
Lat. 48° 6' N., and long. 124° 50' w., maii to rjje e. n. k. lay a very deep hay,
in whose entrance lie many islands. T* tiuB was given the name of Com-
pany's Bay, and there is but little doub^ that it affbnda gwid harbor.

Aug. 27th. Elarly in the morning we made sail standing off w. n. w. . .
Lat. 48° 43' N., long. 124° 54' w.

Aug. 28th. At 8 A. M. 2 canoes came off with 2 men men in each, who
looked at as a little while with great indifference, and then paddled farther
out t ■ sea, where they hove to U) fish. My latitude by observation was 48"
53' N. In the P. m. we were visited by 3 canoes coatainin^ 46 people from
among the islands in Company's Bay. As soon aa tkmf oainv within musket-
shot of us they paddled with exceeding great baala, MgiBg an agreeable air.

barb of the

ere soon out

cut us off;

,nd not half
came barely

towards the

swivel-shot

having fled.
Liiil how lings

tiie lad was

e the blazu.
i of the river
nail vessel to
le passage so

the dangers,
r 30 sea-otter
e people, our

the skins of
raw about as

boards, with
re intolerably
The laugua<e
ard to leani.
r quarrel, ^nr

and makin;^
it would have

3 people left
but it proved

we had passed
valuable furs.
N. in w., and

jne alongside,
rate for iron,

ling 6 people,
beaver skins.
)art with none
id .bore north
lere these men
land we were
itains covered

eeis lying at a

li exist, though

,de where they

B the entrance.

^ery deep bay,

name of Oom-

irbor.

jff w. N. w. . .

I in each, who
wldled farther
vation was 48*
W people froia
vithin muaket-
I agreeable air.

HASWKLL'S JOUIINALS 17SS-9.

709

and keeping stroke in time to the tune, and at the end of every cadence alto-
gether would point their paddles first aft and then forward, first whooping
shrill and then hoarse. Three times they went round tlic vi'ssel porforniiiig
this exercise, and then M-ithout further ceremony came alongside. The ihiefs
came on board at the first Invitation. Tliey had no otter skins, and but few
of any other sort. Beyond a doubt some other English ijjiips must have visited
here this season, for they plainly articulated several ICnglish names. They
were very extravagant in tlieir demands, in cuuscquence of which but little
trading took |)lace. It was late in the afternoon when they departe<l, and
they first sang a very agreeable song. The remainder of the day we gained
only 5 miles to the northward . . .

Aug. 30th. Tln^ first thing we saw through the fog was a wide-spreading
rock lying nearly level with tlic water's edge, over which the surf broke with
violent rage, not farther from us than 1(X) fathoms. In a few moments we saw
several othei-s equally dangerous, and i being a perfect calm, we were borno
along by a swell on a direct line toward tiiem. We manned our sweeps, and
providentially a liglit breeze sprung up which wafted us clear, but wo had
little time to spare, for tiiere was scarce the hollow of one swell l)ctwixt us ojid
a watery grave. While we were in this pitiable situation several canoes came
near us, having with them several sea-otter skins. They could not come ahmg-
side, the swell was so great, and our vessel had so much motion, but by signs
they gave us to understand that a little to the eastward was a liarlx)r winch
they called Nootka. As its entrance was by this time in view, wo hoisted the
long boat out to tow, assisted by the natives in their canoes, and late in the
afternoon we came to in T fathoms water over a bottom of sand in a tolerably
well sheltered roadstead. Soon after sunset the natives left the vessel and re-
tired to their habitations.

Aug. 31st. Early in the morning a great many natives came oCT bringing
an abundance of shins, but greatly to our mortification there was nothing in
our vessel excepting nuiskets would purchase one of them, and we hatl Ijaroly
enough for our defence. Copper \\aa all tiieir cry, and wo had none' for them.
The name of the princijml cliief of the triho is Wickananish. lie visited us
with his brother completely dressed in a genteel suit of clothes, which he said
Capt. Mcars had given hiin. He was not the only one they mentioned, for
they spoliT of Capts. llarkley, Hannah, Dunkin, and Douglas. What they
said of them we, knowiug so little of their language, couhl not comprehend.
The natives had loft their summer habilauou situated on the west side of the
roads, anc' followed the fish up through the rivers. At 7 a. m., armed, we
manned the long boat uud au ollicer went in her to search for a geod watering-
place. This was easily found, with a most excellent harbor, landlocked and
sheltered from all winds. Anchorage in 7 fathoms water, g(x>d holding-
ground; enti-ance naiTOW and tides rapid. Lat. 49" 9' n., long, iio' 2G' w.
At 12 M. we weiglied .ind sailed from Hancock's harbor. The shortness of our
tarry prevented my taking a sketch of it, but I expect to see it again erelong.

Sept. 2d. ^Ve were scarcely out of the roads when it began to blow a
gale ...

Sept. 15th. Heavy gales and thick disagreeable weather until the 15th,
when we stood along shore in Hoi)e Bay, and at o r. m. were disagreeably
situated in shoal water, among large beds of kelp and a rocky bottom. We
were )nak.y enough to get free befoiti ilark, and at sunset the north point of the
entrance of Nootka Sound bore cost, distant ") miles.

Sept. Ifitli. Calm, and wo made sail toward Ship Cove, where Ca])t. Cook
lay when he was in this sound, intemling to lay there till wo could find some
better situation. Hero we expected to meet the i'olumbin, and wc were all
positive that she must be in the sound, when wo saw a l)oat under sail coming
round the north point. We stretched for that side of the sound, but it was
nearly calm, and it was not before the l>oat was very near that wo discovered
it to belong to some strange vessel. As soon as they camo on board, tho boat
was ordered to assist ours in towing. We learned that there »vero 2 snows
lying in a cove on the west side tho sound, at tho village where Capt. Cook

^llipilSSS&Lmmii,iiMui

710

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1788-9.

^ 'l^ .if fi-vjaps-caciT^j-i-rft-

visited and met with so friendly a recoption. Tliithcr these gentlemen offered
to conduct us, and Capt. Gray complied with their request. The commanders
of the 2 vessels and the chief officer were now on board. They breakfasted
with us, and about A. M. a slight breeze earned us into the cove. At 1 1 :30
we were anchored in 5 fathoms water over a bottom of sand. Here were the
Fillis Adventurer, John Mears, and the Efagenin Nuheana, Wm Douglas,
commanders, filled from Macao in China, and under Portuguese colors, botli
belonging to the same merchants; one vessel had made the coasf to the north-
ward and the other to the southward and met at this place, having betwixt
them a very valuable cargo of furs. Capt. Mears arriving here some time be-
fore (y'ant. Louglas, landed his second officer, Mr Funter, and a party of artili-
cers, who first built a tolerably strong garrison, and then went to work l)uild-
ing a small schooner about 30 tons, while Capt. Mears cruised the coast
collecting skins. We found this vessel nearly completed, and they proposed
to launch her in a few days. The natives had quitted their village and
removed far up tlio sound. The commanders of the 3 vessels and Capt. Mears'
chief mate, ilr Duffin, dined with us. In the course of conversation we
learned that ( 'apt. Mears would depart in 2 or 3 days for Macao, leaving
Capt. Douglas to complete tlie rigging of the scliooner, when he also would
leave the coast to wiater in the Sandwich Islands. All the time these gentle-
men were on board they talked vaguely of the coast and the vast dangers
attending its navigation, of the monstrous savage disposition of its inhabitants,
adding that it would be madness in us, weak as wo were, to stay a winter
among them. Capt. Mear.s protested both vessels ever since they had been on
the coast had not collected 50 skins; on our smiling (for wo had been differently
infoi'med), Jie said it was a fact upon his sacred word and honor. So intent
was this gentleman on deceiving us, that ho hesitated not to forfeit his word and
honor to what we knew was a falsehood. The fact was, they wished to frighten
us off the coast, that they alone might monopolize tlie trade. But the depth
of their design was easily fathomed. They very politely offered us every
assistance that lay in their power. Disappointed at not finding the Columbia
in the sound, and at getting no intercourse with the natives even to ob-
tain the supplies of fisli and vegetables that were necessary for the vessel's
use, Capt. Gray, in the long boat manned and armed, went over to the other
side of the sound, hoping to find villages, and to convince the inhabitants of
the friendly intention of our visit to the sound, but they saw not one of the
natives.

Sept. 19th. We hauled on shore and payed her bottom. Capt. Mears
politely allowed his blacksmith to repair our rudder-irons, wbich had been
damaged in Murderer's harbor. This day they launched their schooner, and
named her the Northwest America. The ships saluted, and the day among
the English was spent in mirth and festivity.

Sept. 20th. At high water hove off and moored ship, .'ill hands constantly em-
ployed preparing for sea, cutting wood and getting water. A very friendly foot-
mg existed betweeea the English gentlenien and ourselves, and Capt. Mears of-
fered to be the bearer of any letters to communicate with China. ThisoffcrCapt.
Gray accepted, and giving him a packet on the 22d, assisted in towing her out
of the harbor, wishing him a good voyage, and returning before Capt. Douglas.
How great was his surprise when the latter returned to find his letters enclosed
in a note from Capt. Meais, apologizing for returning them, saying he was not
certain to what part of India he should go, and therefore could not insure a
safe delivery of them. This scheme was well concocted, for he was fearful
that through the letters to our connections some information would be com-
municated relative to the trade on the coast that would bo disadvantageous
to the interest of his company. He knew had he refused to carry his letters
we could have prevailed on some of his officers and people to take them for us,
for (I take him to be a man of deep penetration) he seemed obliging on tho
score that ho might make sure of the letters going by no other way. Tiiia un-

fentlemanliko behavior gave us on unfavorable opinion of Capt. John Meara.
[e is a lieutenant in tho ]>ritish navj', had been several ^ears in India, and

HASWELL.S ,IOUl!\AL.S 1788-9.

omen offered
commacders
breakfasted
e. At 11:30
ere were the
[Vm Douglas,
colorg, botli
to the uortli-
Iving betwixt
loino time be-
iarty of artiU-
work build-
led the coast
liey proposed
■ village and
Capt. Mears'
iversatiou wo
[acao, leaving
he also would
these gentle-
vast dangci-3
a iuhabitauts,
Bl.iy a wiuter
' lad been on
en difTereutly
:)r. So intent
this word and
led to frighten
iat tlie depth
ered ua every
the Columbia
s even to ob-
)r the vessel's
r to the other
inhabitants of
not one of the

Capt. Mears
lich had been
schooner, and
16 daj' among

lonstantlyeru-
friendly foot-
ipt. Mears of-
'hisoflferCapt.
jwingherout
apt. Douglas,
tters enclosed
ig he was not
not insure a
e was fearful
3uld he com-
idvantagoous
ry his letters
i them for us,
iging on tho
y. This un-
Jbhn Mears.
n India, and

711

about 3 years ago was fitted by a company of gcntlcincn in Bengal in the snow
he 18 now in and a schooner (small) for tliis coast. He met with many ditfl.
culties; his vessel was cast away on the Alaskion Islanil.'i, and in his snow he
•wintered at Prince William's Sound, wlicic by the rigor of the climate and
tho scurvy he left almost all liis seamen and ollicers. He left tho coast with-
out exploring much of it, touched at tlic Sandwich Islands, from whence ho
took a young ciiicf of rank and went to M;v;,o. Tiana, tho young cliiof,
accompanied him to tiie Northwest Coast, and from hero is to bo carried by
Capt. Douglas to his native islauds. These vessels were very pooily lifted
vith provisions and cordage, thougli tiiey had plenty of tiio principal article
for trade (copper and iron). All tiie provisions Capt. Mears could spare, ro-
Berving only a scanty allowance to last him to China, united to what Capt.
Douglas had before, was barely enough to preserve existenco till tiiey could
reach tho Sandwich Islauds, and l>ut for tlie provisions with which wc sup-
plied them they would have h^id many a scanty meal.

Sept. 23(1. Our people were constantly employed in preparing for sea.
Some of our geutlenicn were on shore and saw a sail in the offing, which by
our glasses wc soon knew to be tho Colti'mbin. I concluded at first sight her
people were in an advanced state of scurvy, for thougii very moderate and
pleasant, her top-sails were reefed, and her top-gallant masts down on deck.
Capt. Gray in the long boat immediately went out to give them all tho asjiist-
ance in our power, and about 5 i". m. she anchored within 40 yards of us.
They had been so unfortun:ito as to lose "2 of their people with scurvy, and
most of the crew were in an advanced state of tiiat malignant distemper.
After wo parted with the sliip otf Cape Horn she eucouutereil many very
heavy gales. They touched at Massafuero, but finding it would bo very diffi-
cult to take in wood and water, immediately went to Juan Fernandez, arriv-
ing there the 29th of May, when wu in tho sloop were nearly 40 degrees of
latitude to tho northward. They were politely received by tho governor of
tho island, amply provided with all necessaries, and departed after a stay of
17 days.

Sept. 24th. As Capt. Kendrick had now arrived, everything must of course
await his orders, and as often as he was asked what he would have done to
forward the operation, he said, ' Wc can do nothing till these Englishmea
have left the place.' Accordingly, he set his cariiciiters, calkers, black-
Bmiths, etc., at work to facilitate their departure, su])plying them witii pro-
visions, naval stores, etc., while they monopolized all tho skins, nor could wo
et intercourse with one of the natives for the iiurchase of fish or deer. Wo
ad exceedingly boisterous weather for a long time, which was unfavorable to
our work on board or shore.

Oct. Ist. Being the anniversary of our departure from the east side of the
continent, tho Columbia at 12 M. fired 13 guns; wo next fired 13, and it was
returned with 7 from Capt. Funter at tho house on shore, and guns from
the Efaqenia. All the officers of each vessel were invited to dine on board tho
Colvmbia, and tho rest of the day was spent in mirth .and fcwlivity. Tlio
weather through all October was rainy and disagrci'ablc. Tho scarcity of oil
and provisions determined Capt. Douglas to send the schooner up the sounil
to purchase what fish and oil was to bo disposed (jf, and no doubt tlio princi-
pal object of their expedition was to purchase skins. Messers Howe, Im^ra-
ham, and Treat accompanied Ciipt. Funter, and s.alcd on tlie 14tli. On tin?
return of the schooner we found they had not pcnctrat(!d as far up tlie sound
as they at first intended. This was their mode of dealing with the natives;
On arriving at a village, to take all the fish and oil to bo found, giving them iu
return perhaps a small piece of copper far less valuable tlian the provision.*
they had taken by force, and leave tho poor harmless wretches unprovided for
a long and rigorous winter. This cruel beliavior seemed almost unpardon-
able. They would often send their boat from tho snow in chase of the canoes,
and bring them to by firing musket-balls at them (for tho native canoes were
far swifter than those of European build), and then rob tlicm of tlicir fish.
Oct. 20th. At 10 A. M. all our boats towed the /■J/'tf/enia out of Friendly

T19

HAS WELL'S JOURNiiJLS 1788 9.

Core, bound to the Sandwich Islands. The natives no sooner saw the siidtt
clear of the sound than they flocked to ns in great numbers with tish, oil, and
Tenison, and a friendly intercourse soon began, by which we wore plonteouuly
supplied with prorisions and some skins. The natives are a harmless, inoffen-
sive people, and are well described by the great Cnpt. Cook.

Oct. 27th. It was <lctcrmined by Capt. Kendrick to winter here in Nootka
Sound with both vessels. He also determined to rig our sloop into a brig,
without considering tliat he had not cordage, duck, or blocks suiBcient for
the purpose. With these projects in our heads, wo cut some spars, but these
labors soon relaxed and turned another way, for Capt. Kendrick had all hands
turucd to to build a house on shore, but after several days this also fell
through. Our caboose, originally of little valuo and now in shattered trim,
mado it necessary for uf. to burn a lime-kiln and build a new one, which wa
covered with a tolerable house, large euough to hold all hands. Much of our
time was employed burning charcoal for the omiths.

Nov. lt)th. The weather now began to be cold, with frcst and snow, and
on the evening of tho 19th, having frequently seen tho tracks of deer on a
beach not far from the ship, it struck mo if I lay in wait near where they came
at night, favored by the tightness of tho snow, I might shoot some of them.
1 Btt oli' ..bout P. M. Tho cold was severe, nor was it very comfortable sit-
ting in the cleft of a rock, but about 10 I was fortunate enough to shoot a fine
largo buck, which I lugged to the vessel. Most of our people were constantly
employed burning coal to supply our smiths. Copper was tho article in de-
mand, and as wo were unprovided, we used iron worked into chisels. Few
incidents marked the time. The natives visited us almost every day with dsh,
deci', oil, and a few skins. Our principal amusements were fowling and hunt-
ing, in both of which we had tolerable success. The weather was rainy and
disagreeable most of the time. The long boat turned bottom up made a shed,
which was constantly guarded to prevent the natives from stealing our water-
casks, etc.

Dec. 112th. To our great amazement, on the morning of the 12th we found
the natives had landed and carried off 6 small cannon given to Capt. Kendrick
by Capt. Douglas; also 15 water-casks and several other things. The water-
casks were a great loss, nor did we know any way to recover them. The
Indian habitations were far from us, and of course their chiefs were out of our
reach. The next visitors told us that the aggressors were the people on the
opposite side of the sound, with whom they were at war. This story pacified
Cfapt. Kendrick, who fearful of punishing an innocent person let the matter
drop. For several weeks he had been up to his elbows in mortar, build-
ing a brick chimney where tho mizzen-most had stood, though he had a good
brass stove. We all dreaded its bad results and tried to dissuade him, but
to no purpose.

Jan. 13, 1789. We were hailed and told that the ship was on fire, so we
immediately gave all the assistance in our power. The fire was near the
magazine, and it was very fortunate tiiat it was discovered in time to be
quenched before it had done irremediable damage.

Jan. 20th. Capt. Gray intended to have hauled on shore to grave our bot-
tom. We had sli, _)cd our cable, but Capt. Kendrick seeing us about to move
without his orders hailed us in a pet, and ordered us to moor ship, which of
course we did. However, to make up for tliis, his carpenters were employed
making spurs for the sloop, for all idea of making her a brig had been totally
abandoned.

Jan. 28th. A large canoe with the chief of Hancock's harbor, his brother,
and others of distinction, having 30 large sea-otter skins, came alongside.
They sold us none, for they wanted copper and muskets. The natives now
began to come down in great numbers, and about tlie last of the mon,/ii came
to reside in the cove.

Feb. 2oth. Received 450 Indian chisels. When we arrived in the sloop
at this cove we were told by Capt. Mears that he had had a very seriooa
mutiny, and its ringleader was his boatswain. These people were in confine-

HAiSWKLL'S JOURNALS 1788-9.

ri:»

law the sno^
tish, oil, and

B plonteouuly
leas, inofTen-

sre in Nootka
_ into a brig,
auliicient for
irs, but these
had all hands
this also fell
attered trim,
ne, which wa
Much of our

nd snow, and
of deer on a
ore they came
ome of them,
mfortable sit-
:o shout a fine
iro constantly
article in dc -
chisels. Few
day with fish,
ing and huut-
vas rainy and
I made a shed,
ing our water-

12th we found
apt. Kendrick
. The water-
r them. The
'ere out of our
people on the
story pacified
let the matter
mortar, build-
he had a good
lade him, but

on fire, so we
was near the
in time to be

jrave our bot-
nbout to move
ship, which of
rere employed
d been totally

r, his brother,
me alongside,
e natives now
e moni/U came

i in the sloop
i very serioiu
ire in confine-

ment, but supposing we wero wnak-hande<l and wonld give shelter to ono of
them, John (ireen, the boatawaiii, broke from the house where they wore con-
fined, und made his case known to Mr Cooledge, adding that ho was well ac-
quainted witli the coast and the languages R|X)kcn on it. Of course «uc-h a
man as this would be very serviceable, but Cant. (}ray had given his word to
Captain Mcars not to take him on board while snow was in the port. VVe
supplied him wftli ]iroviaiong, and wlien the Cotiimbia came ho wa« taken on
board of her as a swmiun, hut when ho was told to sign the articles on March
4th lie refused, ami Capt. Kcntlrick iiiiniciliatc'.y ordered liiin on shore among
the savages. Oeorgo Monk, a seaman sliipped l)y Captain Kendrick at !St
Jago's, having signed tho papers, was told his wages wero to be less thou tlio
otlier seamen's, and coniplainiiig tliat it was not just, he was ordered to quit
the ship, whicli he did, and dwelt among the natives in the woods.

March 10th. Capt. Kendrick Ijeiiig iuforinod that Monk was sheltered by
the natives, threateneil them with his most severe displeasure if they did not
give him up. In the evening we landed armed i'l '2 boats and took him
prisoner.

March 14th. We bent sails and wero ready for soa. Our intended cruise
was to the southward, wliero we were to lie at llanuock's harbor till the suu
siioiild cross the equator.

March 10th. We weighed in the morning, saluted the Co^(mfcia with li
guns which was returned with 3, and being safe out of the cove, Capt. Ken-
drick and his officers took leave of us wilh 3 cheers. While wo are running
to Clicquot I will give a short account of Nootka Sound and its environs^ Our
constant intercourse witii the natives cnal>led us to gain couaiilerablo knowl-
edge of their language, manners, and customs. I have here iuserteil u vocab-
ulary, which enabled us to converse on almost any subject. Nootka Sound
was discovered by Capt. Cook, 30th of March, 1778, on passing to tho north-
ern hemisphere of this ocean, but from the natives we learn that a ship was
anchored at tho entrance of tho sound 40 months before (,';ipt. Cook's arrival.
From the description, they must have been Spaniarila, but tho natives say
their boats were not out during their tarry. The sound is in latitude 49° 3G' N.,
and longitude 120" 46' w. It abounds in good luirbors, well sheltered from all
winds. The sound is navigable ::carly 20 league;,, where it again incets the soa
in another outlet nearly as largo as Nootka, about 7 leagues we3f;war(l. Uquot,
or Friendly Cove, situated on the west side of tiio sound, is a well sheltered
L.' !bor. On tha west side is a beach almost the length of the cove, and on the
bank above it is a large town, the summer habitation of the natives. At this
place we wiu(;ered, and it was here tliat Capt. Cook met with reinarkablv
severe treatment from the natives. Tliero is but little soil, from the inequal-
ity of tho surface, that can be rendered arable. The trees are so enormous
that it would be very difficult to clear the land in the most level places. The
mountains rise steep to a great height, and to their summits are clad with
immense flora, whose roots woven in with the cragu have but little soil, and
tliat merely the decayed limbs and moss about 2 feet deep. To the top of
tliose mountains lies a continuous mass of rocks. In the woods we find fir,
spruce of several kinds, white pine, red and white cedar, white cypress, ash,
alder, birch, hemlock, poplar, maple, crab, wild cherry, and a small tree that
resembles a hemlock. The wood is close-grained, and resembles maiiogany,
but is heavier. Tho natives tell me there are oaks at Matchlat, a village up
the sound. We often meet with gooseberries, raspberries, currants, black-
berries, strawberries, and thimbleborries. In the spring there are plenty of
wild onions, but late in tho season they are not so well llavored. Tho rivers
produce water-cresses and the marshes samphire. Good clover grows near the
villages, and there are several sorts of fern roots the natives eat with which I
am not acquainted. One sort is very small, ond when boiled tastes like a
sweet potato, but it is not pleuciful. There are also parsley, wild cclerj , hog-
weed, sorrel, mullein, and wild pease. Tho natives of the sound are below
nuddle size, broad-shouldered, and the parts of the body they exercise ore
well proportioned. Their chief employment being paddling, their arms and

<6 ^^a

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)

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I.I

■ 50 M^^B

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1.8

11.25 iU IIIIII.6

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(716) 872-4503

. o^

714

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1788-9.

bodies become more muscular, while their legs are crooked and ill-shaped.
They not only sit in their canoes but in their houses on their hams, and when
walking never straighten the knee, but from constant habit keep it bunt. Tlie
faces of BC me of the females are pleasing, but the generality of both sexes
have high cheek-bones, low brows, small, black, drowsy-looking eyes, thick
lips, largo mouths and nostrils, and their skin constantly coveiud witli paint
and oil. Their dress is usually a garment with 3 sides square,' the lower edge
surrounded with a fringe, and upper trimmed with fur. On each side, about
2 inclies broad, the garment is ' composed of wool from the mountain sheep,
but the rest of the garment is made of the bark of the cedar beaten till it
looks like liemp. liieiio are usually worn under the left arm, tied near tha
corners over the shoulder. With this they generally wear a garment resem-
bling a petticoat, with a hole largo enough to admit the head, and this falling
over the shoulders reaches aa low as t)ic elbows. On their heads they «car
curious conical caps, but their legs and feet arc Imru. In very cold or rainy
weather they \» ear a bear or wolf skin. They have blankets of wool of excel-
lent workmanship, as ^\'cll done as if woven in a loom. Their ornaments are
necklaces of beads, copper bracelets, and earrings, but nose ornaments are not
fasliiouable, though all their noses are pierced. They heighten these orna-
msuts by painting their skins and covermg tlicir h^ir witii feathers. They
throw onto their faces a fine sand resembling isinglass, which sticks to the
paint, and thus equipped they receive and pay visits. The sides of the houses
are i)erpeudicular, the top nearly flat, both cover and sides of very wide
boardf?. The ridge pole is an enormous size, near 12 feet in circumference,
and nearly 100 feet long. The side poles, slightly slanting, are not so la.ge.
The houses generally are about 30 feet wide, and from '20 to 100 feet long.
They are divided into small apartments for the dwellings of separate families,
partitioned only by a siugle lK>ard 3 feet wide, so when a person stands up he
can see all over tho house. Each family has a fire-place, and there is a long
passage from the door to the further end of the house, where the chief of the
lauiily usually lives. They sit on boards covered with mats raised inches
above tho ground. For ornaments they have pillars supporting tlie poles
carved into the shape of human faces with distorted features, beasts, and
imaginary animals. The frame poles are usually painted. They eat regu-
larly, breakfast in the morning, dine at noon, and sup at G. They are intol-
erably filthy. Their amusements are singing and dancing, beating *'ime witit
paddles. Tlteir weapons are bows, arrows, spears, daggers, and stone &xes,
and they now use fire-arms. They generally surprise their enemy in the
night. Few of them are good bowmen, nor do they throw a spear witii dex-
terity. It is a custom to adorn tiieir weapons witli tho teeth of their vau-
?[uished enemies. Here are found bears, wolves, moose, fallow and reindeer,
oxes, raccoons, squirreb, miuks, laud and sea otters, dogs, beavers, iiiarteus,
wildcats, and mice. In tho woods are woodpeckers, robins, Virginia led-
birds, snow-birds, yellow-birds, long-tailed thrush, ground-birds, tomtits,
sparrows, wrens, partridges, quail, hawks, owls, eagles, ravens, crows, swallows,
cloves, pigeons, water-fowl, geese, ducks, brant, shags, teal, loons, divera, gulls,
marsh-larks, king-fishers, and swans. There are whales, porpoises, salmon,
flounders, cod and halibut, jculpins, dogfish, herring, seal, also scuUop.s,
clams, mussels, and starfish. In making tlicir canoes they use iiu other tools
but ft chisel, a wooden wedge, and a round stone for a mallet. No others in
felling trees or cutting firewood. Their employments arc building and re-
pairing their canoes, fching-gear, and bringing homo firewood. The women
prepare the bark of the cedar for garments, anil also split and clean the fi.ili,
which, when it is sutBciently dried by smoke, is packed in boxes and laid
aside till time of need. Their food is dried roots, dried fish, and oil, and
sometimes bear, deer, raccoon, and squirrel. They abhor wolf or dog llesii.
They usually boil their food in a wooden box with hot stones, and by so doing
make a nourishing soup, which they servo to each person in a small bowl.
They are becoming fond of ruin and wine, and will eat bread or anything
•weot. but dislike salt. They pay great adoration to the sun, and believe in

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 178S-9.

715

and ill-shaped.

laniB, and when

p it buut. The

y of botli sexea

iug eyes, tiiick

t'ud wiih paiut

the lower edge

;ach side, about

ountAin aheep,

dr beaten till it

tied near the

garment rescni-

and this falling

leads they wear

■y cold or rainy

)f wool of excel-

r oniamonta are

ii.iments arc not

iten these orna-

feathers. Tliey

;h sticks to the

es of the houses

!8 of very wide

I circninfereiice,

ire not so la;'ge.

[> 100 feet long.

eparate families,

)un stands up he

1 there is a long

the chief of the

raised iuches

orting the poles

ires, beasts, and

They eat regu-

They are intol-

eating time witli

and stone &\es,

x enemy in the

spear with dex-

ith of their van-

jw and reindeer,

eavers, martens,

8, Virginia red-

l-birds. tomtits,

crows, swallows,

•ns, divei-s, gulls,

)rpoises, salmon,

I, also scaUops,

se no other tools

t. No others in

)nilding and re*

)d. The women

id clean the tii<h,

boxes and laid

ish, and oil, and

alf or dog llesiu

and by so doing

n a small bowl.

ead or anything

I, and believe in

a supreme god and a devil. AI)out the latter they have seyeral strange
stories. He is represented as black, with hery eyes of enonnous size, with
but one leg, but so nimble that after eating 20 or 30 of them, the blood run-
ning in streams down his face, he at one hop went across the sound, and they
suppose he dwells in the woods. Their departed friends become guardians of
the fish and animals which are of most service, and the dcgrci'S of bliss are
proportioned to the valor and dexterity in killing whales and l)ea8ta, and tak-
ing fish. I have seen the old people appear tt) pray with great fervor and shed
tears. Their dead of rank are put into Ihjxcs ornamented with sea-otter
teeth, their knees close to the chin. Into these cotHns are also put the fishing-
tackle or favorite weapons. They carry the box to the top of some very high
tree about half a niilo from the village, where it is securely lashed, the top
limbs bent round the box, and as they descend they lop cT branches, which
makes it diiiicult of aucess. The lower class are put in boxes and laid under
the trees, or at the foot of rocks. Kvery man has as many wives as ho can
purchase. The parents of chiefs usually buy their sons wives from distant
tribes at an exorbibiut price in iron, copper, canoes, etc. It costs nearly as
much to purchase a name for a new-born child. The chiefs of other families
give it a, dilFercut name every year until the child is of age, when he assumes
!i. number of names or titles. When any of the villagers die they make great
lamentation. A little while Ijefore we sailed I wa.s on shore with Capt. (iray,
and had walked '2 or 3 miles inland, when on our return we were amazed to
hear a loud and most piteous groan. On inquiring, I was told that a canoe
loaded with herring had upset, and that a mischimmce, or laboring man, wiis
drowned, and that it was the women condoling with the widow and moaning
over the corpse, for they say they revere the memory of a ixirson who dies in
so laudable a pursuit. The next morning there was a large contribution col-
lected at the chief's house, and from thence it was carried in procession to the
house of the deceased, and presented to the widow and children. The like
donations, they say, are always produced on similar occasions. These peojjlo
arc cannibals, eating the flesh of their vanquished enemies, and frequently
their slaves, whom they kill in cold blood. They have no hesitation in own-
ing to the fact, and I myself have seen them eat human flesh. Their imple-
ments for fishing are for savages m'cU contrived. The weather being pleasant
and the wind favorable, we made sail alonsshoro the coast trending E. by s.
At sunset we were within 4 leagues of Clio<iuot, where we hove to.

March 17th. In tho morning we st(H)d in shore, distant 2 leagues, when
the brother of the chief of Clioquot came on board. Many of the natives came
off and several chiefs were on boanl and sold some skins. At sunset we lired
u gun, and they all departed {leaccably.

March 18th. Early in the morning Capt. Gray went \ip into the harbor
and returned at 12. 49" 6' n. At 12:30 weighed and ran into the harlwr.
Wo purchased skins, and I went out and shot some geese.

March 27th. Wo lay doing nothing but amuse ourselves till the 27th,
during which time I took a tolerably uccunite sur\'ey of the harbor. Clioquot,
or Hancock's harbor, is in latitude 49" 9* x., and longitude 12.')° 20' w. In
these roads there is good anchorage and shelter, and the liarlwr was com-
pletely land-locked; plenty of fresh water, game, and wood. All the time we
were hero we were on the most friendly footing with the natives, who, exactly
resembling tho Nootka people in manners and customs, arc stouter and l)ettei-
proporticmed. Their towns are much larger and Itetter built and cleaner. I
really think there is a great inland communication by rivers. The whole
land we could sec I have reason to suppose to bo islands.

March 28th. At 5 wo weii,died and came to sail, standing alongshore to
the E. s. K., to determine whether or not any harlwr exi.sted. It was near 10
o'clock before wo saw even shelter enough for a boat. We now opened the
extreme of Company's Bay, and as wo sailed along saw it to much better
advantage than last summer, and we could plainly see the islands formed
good harbors easy of access. I much regretted leaving this port unexplored,
but there is little doubt we shall sec it before our southern cruise is over.

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1788-9.

The hills to the south of this bay are more equal in height than those to tha
north, and the shore is bold and iron-bound. I obaerved at 12 H. in latitude
48° 44' v., and this time we saw a cape or headland, which I suppose to be
Cape Flattfjry, bearing s. B. by e., but in the eatit no land could be seen. Aa
we proceeded K. by s., following the coast, I fully concluded we were in the
Straits of Juan de Fuca. At 2 p. h. we passed the village Nitenat, which im
in latitude 48° 42" N. This we passed and proceeded in an K. by s. direction,
and at 4 p. ii. we anchored under the lee of the west shore, 2 miles from the
entrance, in 7 fathoms water.

March 29th. At 8 a. m. we stood up the cove 3 miles, and anchored half
a mile from the shore. At 0:30 we saw a canoe at a great distance, which ap-
proached us with great caution. We were glad to find that they spoke a
dialect of the Nootka language. They appeared to be a poor set of fellows,
and left us with a promise to bring some fish, and before long a good many
natives came off with salmon for sale, and remained with us all day. These
people have seen vessels before and fire-arms, but they say they have never
seen a vessel like ours. This place is called by the natives Patchenat, and by
us Poverty Cove.

March 31st. At 8 a. u. we weighed, and when about 4 leagues along the
shore we saw a large canoe making for us. They had no skins for us, and
said there were none in the straits; that the chief of Clahaset had purchased
them all. They offered their own manufactured blankets, which were really
curious, and children for sale, but the sea was so boisterous that we could
hold no further intercourse with them. To have gone farther up the straits
at this season of the year, without any knowledge of where we were goine or
of the difficulties, would have l)een very imprudent. The straits appeared to
extend a little wtey above us, and form a large sea stretching to the east, and
no land to be seen.

April 1st. We saw the sun rise clear from the horizon up the straits.
There was a strong tide setting out of the straits, and a strong east wind.

April 3d. At 1 p. H. we bore away, and ran out of the straits, and at 2
we were abreast of a reef that runs out from Cape Flattery. Betwixt this
and the cape is Tatooches Island, or Chandee. Here, we are informed by the
natives, is a largo tribe, but the sea was so high that not one canoe came off.
It is 4 miles from the cape, which is in latitude 4S° 20' N. , and longitude 123°
65' w., and makes the south cape of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. . .

April 10th. At Clioquot, at 10, Mr Cooledge went up the harbor to shoot
some garne. About noon I was surprised to near a sudden shout, and see
almost everybody running from the village to their canoes, but my friend
Hannah soon relieved my suspense by telling me that Wickananish had struck
a whale, and all the villagers were going to his assistance. I was curious to
see them kill such a large fish with such simple implements, and so with Mr
Treet went to look on. On our arrival the whale hod 16 bladders fastened to
him with harpoons, and was lying unmolested till the chief should come.
He gave orders for the attack; his brother invited me into his canoe, and we
were paddled up to the fish with great speed, and gave it a deadly thrust,
and the enormous creature instantly expired. On my return I made particu-
lar inquiries about their customs in whaling, and they said that the nrst one
that was killed in the season thoy sacrificed one of their slaves, laid the corpse
beside a large piece of the whale s head adorned with eagle feathers, and after
a certain time put it in a box as usual. They say it is particularly pleasing
to their deity to adorn a whale with eagle feathers, for they suppose that
thunder is caused by an eagle of enormous size taking a whale high in the air
and letting it fall. Their utensils are mussel-shell harpoons and lances, and
. grass ropes.

April 12th. We weighed, and shaped our course for Company's Bay.
About 2 we were almost abreast of the village Cehasht, and had passed seveiul
dangerous reefs.

April 1 3th. At daylight we had the satisfaction of seeing the northern
entrance of the harbor under our lee. We bore away for the south entraace.

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1788-9.

717

lan those to the
2 H. in latitude

1 suppose to be
lid be seen. Aa
we were in the
fitenat, which ia

by 8. direction,

2 miles from the

d anchored half
tance, which ap-
at they spoke a
>r set of fellows,
a good many
day. These
they have never
itchenat, and by

eagues along the
kins for us, and
it had purchased
hich were really
IS that we could
er up the straita
we were goine or
raits appeared to
; to the east, and

I up the straita.
ng east wind,
straits, and at 2
y. Betwixt this
I informed by the
e canoe came off.
id longitude 123"
'uca. . .

e harbor to shoot
n shout, and see
i, but my friend
lanish haa struck

I was curious to
and so with Mr

Iders fastened to
ef should come.
is canoe, and we
a deadly thrust,

I I made narticu-
that the nrst oue
3, laid the corose
athers, and after
icularly pleasing
ley suppose that
le high in the air

and lances, and

Company's Bay.
id passed several

ng the northern
south entrance.

and fetched into an excellent harbor, as good as any I am acquainted with on
the coast of Northwest America. . .

Apri?. 22d. We now made sail for Nootka Sound. The morning of the
22d, at (Inybrtak, we wei-e abreast of Company's Bay. At 3 we anchored in
Friendly Vove, and found Capt. Douglas here, having a few days since arrived
from the Sandwich Islands, but the Columbia had removed up the sound to a
cove 7 miles distant. Captain Gray went up to Mawinah to inform Capt.
Kendrick of his arrival, and found all well. Early in the morning the N. W.
American schooner in the offing. At 10 captains Kendrick and Gray came
down. They had determined the sloop should remove where the ship was,
and at 1 we anchored in Mahwinali, or Kendrick's Cove, within 40 yards of the
Columbia. We were surprised to find that scarcely any preparations liad been
made to get her reatly for sea.

April 30th. I accompanied Capt. Kendrick on a shootmg excursion, and
went up the sound till we could see a large arm of the sea stretching to the
N. N. W. This we followed to its head, where is the winter HllaRC of the
Uquots, and several villages scattered along the banks. We lauded at sev-
eral and met with a hospitable reception, and having shot a nunilx-r of fowl,
we built a little house, where we spent the night. In the morning we went
round the head of the river, and amused ourselves iu shooting. As the day
advanced we returned on board. The Tashies River is 20 miles in length,
and generally one mile broad, navigable for the largest vessels to its head.
About 15 miles from the village Cooptrce ia tho western passage, and from
the information of the natives there is a good passage to sea by that channel.
It was late when we returned on board our ships.

May 1st. I accompani"^ I Capt. Kendrick to Uquot to visit Capt. Douglas,
and delivertd to him a man who had run away from Capt. Mears lost fall, and
had concealed himself until the captain had left the coast, when he appliud to
Capt. Kendrick for protection. Tliis was refused till such time as Capt.
Douglas should sail on his departure. The man came on board and did duty
till this period, and as Capt. Douglas expressed a wish to liave tho deserter, ho
was immediately returned by Capt. Kendrick. On our arrival we found tho
N. W. schooner had sailed for the north.vard. On Saturday, everything be-
ing ready for sea, we sailed down the sound, and tho ensuing day at 4 r. M.
wo saw a sail in si'ore of us, and in a little time she fired a gun and hoisted
Spanish colors. At 5 W3 spoke, and they requested us to hoist our boat out
and send her on board, which \vc did. Ho was no sooner informed who we
were, than he said if there was anything in his ship wo needed ho would sup-
ply us. He informed the officers who went on board tluit his ship, with 2
others, were fitted out from Cadiz to make discoveries on this coast; that he
had put in on the coast of New Spain and lost most of his European seamen,
and was obliged to supply the deficiency with naturalized natives of Califoinia.
He had been to the northward, and we noticed he had a northern skin canoe
lashed on his quarter. He said ho had been in Behring's Straits and hatl found
much snow, and had parted with his consort a few days ago in a gale,
expected them to join him at Nootka Sound. He was very inquisitive wuuc
ahms were lying there, and when told Captain Douglas was there, ho said it
would make him a good prize. The ship's name is the Princessa, belonguig
to his most Catholic majesty, commanded by Don Stephen Joseph Martmez,
who endeavored to do everything to serve us, and made Captain Gray pnis-
ents of brandy, wine, hams, sugar, and everything ho thought would be
acceptable, and when we parted with him we saluted him with 7 guns, and
the compliment was returned. On Thursday tho wind increased to a gale,
and we were again driven in Hope Bay, and on Friday we stood into a place
called by the natives Chicklesset, which is the westernmost inlet of the bay.
Saturday morning we made sail for the westward, and saw a snow to the s. E.
She fired a gun and hoisted Spanish colors, and is no doubt one of the consorte
of the Spanish ship we spoke to the other day. We continued on our course
to the northward at all possible speed, and at 7 p. m. we passed Cape Ingra-
faam...

718

HASWELL'S JOURVALS 178S-9.

May I6th. At noon the land was seen at upward of 90 miles extent, and
6 miles distant from the nearest shore. We again stretched over for the con-
tinent in a N. N. E. direction. We saw a smoka on the n. e. part of the bay,
which led us in without hesitation, and we were soon visited by 2 canoes.
The natives were on a hunting expedition, and made us understand they were
at a great distance from their village, and they were very auxious that we
should tarry here 2 or 3 days; supposing they wished to inform the rest of
the tribe, that they might bring their skuis for sale, they departed, making
expressive gestures to inform us they would return soon. A party was now
employed wooding and watering. We found wild geese and ducks, and found
tracks of deer and wolves. In a plain some distance from the harbor I found
cranberries.

May 19th. It was not till the 19th that our friends returned, and much to
our disappointment, they had been to kill otters, instead of informing the
tribe of our arrival. At 7 a. m. wo weighed, and stood out of the covo, and
it was dark before we were out of the sound, which appears to be of vast ex-
tent, called by Capt. Gray Derby Sound, in honor of one of our owners.

May 21st. We stood under sail 5 miles from Derby Sound, and discov-
ered a large inlet trending to the westward, probably the entrance of Admiral
do Fonte Straits. We could not see its extent, which is probably great. We
sounded, but found no bottom with 40 fathoms. We stood out, resolving" to
examine it another time, and late in the afternoon we passed a broken coast
that forms deep, dangerous B0un<ls, with detached isliinds and sunken rocks.
A southerly gale threatened, when we saw we were followed by a canoe, the
natives shouting loudly for us to return. They soon came alongside, and were
very anxious for us to go to their village, making signs that they had plenty
of skins. They were armed with iron-barbed spears, and wished one of us to
go with them, a chief offering to stay on board as hostage. But it would
have been madness to seek a harbor so late in the day and in such weather, so
we stood to the s. w., and before long saw land extending far to the n. w.
At 11 r. M. we supposed we had passed the end of the cape, and so we lay up
south the remainder of the night. At daylight we saw part of the same island
about a league distant, behind which we had been these several days. It was
now a perfect gale of wind, and we were followed by u small canoe paddled
by an elderly man and 2 lively boys. We hove to to allow them to come
alongside, but the sea ran so high they dared not venture, and beckoned us to
go rounJ ''he bluff and they would meet us. Wo purchased several skins and
a number of plover. We could not understand a word of their language, but
it was a great satisfaction to lind the island well inhabited. This island, from
the little I know of it, extends from latitude 52° to 54° 30* w., about 170 miles
long, 15 leagues from the continent, and nearly parallel to it. The southern
parts appeared high, and were covered with snow, but the more northern parts
look more hospitable. The hills are regular, pretty equal in height, thickly
wooded, and could be easily cultivated. This great tract was named Wash-
ington's Island, in lionor of that great American general.

May 22d. The latter part of the 22d we stood to the N. w., edging into
the continent, which was plainly visible. In the morning we bore away to the
westward. At noon I observed in latitude 65" 30' north.

May 24th. We met with a most terrible gale, and our vessel was so
strained that it was thought most prudent to relinquish the design of going
farther to the north, and make the best of our way for Nootka Sound before
the Columbin left it, and get our vessel repaired. A more critical situation
than ours hod been for about 2 hours cannot be imagined, even by those who
have been wrecked in civilized countries. A coast inhabited by a most horrid
race of savage can.>ibals, in whose hands we could not hope for life, and even
if uninhabited, so destitute of everything that we esteem necessary to sustain
life that a 'European could not exist. To admit we had got everything from
the ivreck we cor.ld have wished, and saved our arms and boats, our return
then would have been precarious; our boats were insufficient to carry us a
much shorter distance, and neither carpenters nor smiths to enlarge thein.

Is extent, and
|r for the con-
; of the bay,
I by 2 canoes,
ud they were
ioua that we
|m the rest of
a.rted, making
larty was now
pka, and found
»rbor I found

I, and much to

linformiug the

the covo, and

be of vast ex-

owners.

d, and discov-

ice of Admiral

)ly great. We

it, resolving to

i broken coast

sunken rocks.

>y a canoe, the

^ide, and were

hey had plenty

led one ol us to

But it would

ach weather, so

ir to the N. w.

ad so we lay up

the same island

Ell days. It was

I canoe paddled

r them to come

beckoned us to

!veral skins and

r laneunce, but

his isTauu, from

about 170 miles

The southern

3 northern parts

height, thickly

s named Wash-

w., edging into
)oro away to the

• vessel was so
iesign of going
a Sound before
ritical situation
n by those who
>y a most horrid
r life, and even
ssary to sustaiu
verything from
)at8, our return
t to carry us a
i enlarge them.

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1738-9.

719

But had these difBcultiea l)een surmounted, the many savage tribes wo must
have passed might have proved faUl to so small a number. This disastrous
place, in latitude 65° n., we called Distress Cove.

May 28th. Latitude 55° 43' N. In tliia part of the coast the frontier ap-
pears to be a chain of largo islands, but the good weather did not continue
long enough for us to pass in between them. The winds continued adverso,
and the weather so thick that it was long before we reached Washington's
Island. At G p. m. a vast number of natives, men, women, and children, ca>uo
off, bringing with them several sea-otter skins. Wo under8too<l 2 of them that
thero was a large tribe not far off. Wo soon saw their village, from which they
launched 20 or 30 very large canoes, and came off in great parade, singing a
very agreeable air. Of tlieso people we purchased 200 skins in a few momenta
for one chisel. The natives called their village Custa. It is situated in a
sandy bay on the n. w. eml of the island. Their chief's name is Cundah.
He appears to bo a very good old fellow. His wife came off, and appeared to
have vast authority over every person alongside. I was grieved to leave them
so soon, as it appeared to be the best place for skins wo had seen. We stood
off that night to the southward, and the weather was so foggy that we could
see the land but seldom.

June 8th. I observed in latitude 53° 8' n. We had in the next day or
two passed a considerable part of the island, without being able to view it as
accurately as 1 could have wished.

June 10th. Latitude 53' 3iJ' n. A place that bore the appearance of a
harbor bore n. n. w., distant 8 miles. I judge Custa to bo in latitude 54° 15'
N. The north entrance of the straits that divide Washington's Ishind from
the main land is in latitude 54° 20' n., but hero to the south tlie land has a
far less hospitable appearance, for it rises un into high steep mountains,
whose rocky summits, when the snow is off, ifre barren of verdure.

Juno 11th. Abreast of an inlet that is in latitude 52° 12' n. We were
dtanding in when we saw a cano-', paddling toward us; an agreeable surprise,
as we had thought this part o<i the island uninhabitad. Wo stood into tho
sound, and Capt. Gray ser c tho boat in first, and the officer reported a good
cove, so we bore up and anchored in 14 fathoms, hard sand bottom. A brisk
trade was set on foot by Coya, the chief, who bartered for all his subjects, and
a number of skins were purchased. Iron was of far less value to the people
than to the natives we had just left. Clothing was most in demand with these
people, and they had been visited by navigators. Thej spoke distinctly of
Ootumet and Dunkin, and they brought a piece of paper thut informed us that
the JV. W. American schooner had been here May 24tli last. This sound was
honored with the name of Barrel Sound, for our owner. During our tarry, 1
landed, to make an excursion in the woods, where I met with a fortified rock,
which, I suppose, in case of invasion, is their place of refuge. It was perpen-
dicular, about 40 feet high, flat top, about 20 yards wide, inaccessible on nil
sides, except by p.n old rotten ladder. This f(.irt they call Touts, and whcii
their northern neighbors come to molest them, they put their worncn iuki
children up there while they figiit tlio battle. They say it is their custom to
eat their vanquished enemies, and said it was excellent food. Our intercourse
with the natives while wo were in this port was of tho strictest frcindsiii)).
They, indeed, pillaged any trifling thing they could take unobserved, but as
we took no harsh metliods with them, it never interrupted our trade. IW
this time we had stript tho natives of almost all the skins they were posses-st-if,
and we got in readiness to leave the first time the weatlier was favorable. In
a day we were able to get out, and stood for the southward. Off tho south
point of the island, in a .s. e. direction, lay several small islands woodcd.witli
firs. Had we not met with tho misfortune of running auhore in tlie storm, our
discoveries would have been very interesting. As it was, we discovered that
the Straits of Admr. de Font actually exist. As far north as wo went is a vast
chain of islands, and the entrances between them may be taken for gulfs,
straits, etc., but when explored, large rivers and lakes may be found. Tliis
coast can never bo thoroughly surveyed until it is dcue at some national ex-

720

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1791-2.

peue, whose commanden are interested by oommeroe. We steered e. 8. i.
from this cape for the islands off Gape Ingraham, and at tt p. m. we passed
Woody Point, and at 19 hove to for the night. It was 2 p. M. next day before
we were wafted into Nootka Sound, and as we passed Friendly Cove I was
surprised to find a fort on Hog Island. The Spanish ship was lying in the
cove, with a Spanish snow and an English sloop. The Spanish ship fired a
gun to bring us to, but not knowing how eTerything was situated in regard
to the Spaniards and Gapt. Kendrick, we thought it moat prudent to stand up
the sound to Mahwinah, where Capt. Kendrick lay. Some time before we
got into the cove we were boarde(i by Capt. Kendrick and Don Martinez.
We found Mr. Hudson, the commander of the sloop Princesa Royal of London
(the sloop we had seen at Uquot), on a visit to Capt. Kendrick. As we
arrived, we were saluted by the Columbia, and returned it. We had been
gone several days, and captains Douglas and Kendrick, by lying at a consid-
erable distance from each other, had but little communication except by
letters, but were on a most friendly footing, when one morning in May they
saw an Indian canoe, paddled by 6 naked natives, coming toward them with
great haste. When alongside, they found our friend Culecum with a letter
from Capt. Douglas to Capt. Kendrick, informing him that there was a large
ship in the offing standing into the sound. Capt. Kendrick and some of his
officers set out to escort the ship into the harbor, and Capt. Douglas also went
in his boat. Tliey were received by Don Martinez with great attention. He
came into Friendly Cove and moored, ard seemed to live on a very frie^idly
footing with Cant. Douglas. He paid a formal visit of several days to Capt.
Kendrick. On liis return to Uquot, the St Carlos arrived, the snow we saw
in Hone Bay. Don Martinez now demanded Capt. Douglas' papers, and, on
what pretence I know not, said they were false, and made the vessel his

Erize. This snow, though British property, was under Portuguese colors, and
ad a Portuguese by the title of captain to claim them. The snow was imme-
diately discharged of all her cargo, and mode ready for a passage to 8t Blass.
The officer and seamen of the L/agenia were kept prisoners for several days,
when on a more critical examination of the ship's papers, it was found that
they could not with propriety detain the vessel, and she wiis delivered to the
former commanders, on condition that should the court of Spain demand her
as a prize, she was to be delivered up, and as the ship was in want of cordage,
cables, sails, etc., Don Martinez supplied them, and took bills on their owner,
and in part pay the schooner N. W. America was to be delivered to him as
soon as she shonld arrive. Everything being thus settled. Captain Douglas
■ailed for China.

VOYAQBS ON TUB NoBTHWEST CoAST, 1791-2, BY BOBEBT HaSWELL.

Aug. 14, 1791. At anchor in Hancock':; River. Aug. 15th. At 9 weighed,
and attempted to beat out, but the tide being contrary, we came to in 30
fathoms water, and waited its return. At 2 p. m. weighed, and beat out of
the harbor, hoisted in the boats, and set steering sails. At 8 p. m. Port
Tempest bore n. by w., distance 15 miles, and Masachree Cove, west, 9 miles.
Aug. 16th. At 1 P. u. saw a brig in the ,s. E. quarter, and at 2 hailed her.
She is the Hancock of Boston, Saral Crowell, commander. They sailed from
Boston the beginning of November, touched at St Salvador, at Staten Land,
and at the Sandwich Islands, and arrived on this coast in July, having had a
longer passage than ourselves. The brig bore up and run to the south in
company with us. At sunset Murderer's Cape bore west, distance 6 leagues.
Aug. 17th. At 2 A. H. saw a ship to the westward. At 4 Washington Islands
bore from W. s. W. to south, about 10 leagues distant. Stood alongshore with
the depth of water from 1 to 3 fathoms, neat into Hancock's River, and at 2
P. U. anchored in 6 fathoms water over a bottom of mud, with the small
bower, and 70 fathoms of cable, with an excessive strong flood-tide. At 2 the
brig anchored not far distant from us. Latter part rainy, disagreeable
weather. This port, though we discovered it on our former voyage, we never

steered e. h. b.

P. M. we nasaed

next day l)ef ore

dly CoTe I was

lying in tlie

uish ship fired a

tuated in regard

dent to stand up

time before we

Don Martinez.

Boyai of London

anorick. As we

We had been

ying at a couaid-

ation except )>y

ing in May they

ward them with

urn with a letter

there was a large

and some of his

)ongla8 also went

t attention. He

II n very frieiidly

ral days to Capt.

the snow we saw

i' papers, and, on

ie the vessel his

iguese colors, and

snow was imine-

ssage to St Blass.

for several days,

it was found tliat

8 delivered to the

ipain demand her

want of cordage,

is on their owner,

ivered to liim as

Captain Douglas

ET Haswell.

1. At 9 weighed,
'e came to in 30
, and beat out of
At 8 p. M. Port
re, west, miles,
at 2 hailed her.
They sailed from
at Staten Land,
ily, having had a
to the south in
stance 6 leagues,
ishington iHlands
i alongshore with
I River, and at 2
, with the small
I-tide. At 2 the
ny, disagreeable
iroyage, we never

HARWELIVS JOURNALS I71»J 2.

entered till now. It is one of the Wst plaeeg for sea-otters on tlic coast, and
early in the spring will no doubt atford us a very consiiicrabUi iiuinlK!r. Its
latitude I judge (for I had no observation) is ."li" 10' N., and 'oiiaitiidc l.'W
2.r w. • rf

Aug. 18th. I was employed sounding the river up to a coiisiderablo dis-
tance, and found it everywhere navigalile. There wcro several small scatter-
ing villages, but there were visiblo traces of numerous tribes residing hero at
■ome season of the year, but those that oamo on IxMird made us understand
their village was removed 2 days' journey up the river. When soumling the
river I went on board the Ilancork, and invited Cnpt. Crowcll and Mr Cmy-
ton, the supercargo, to auconipaiiy uiu on board. Tiiis they readily agreed to,
and as ho intended to go out, he j,'ot under way and stood down the river, and
when we came abreast of our uliip tlie gentlemen accompanied me on board,
ordering the officer of the brig to keep as near us as possible, and if the tidu
should run too strong, to anchor. Almut 10 r. m. v.e wore surprised to liiid
the brig was ashore. Our boats were immediately despatched to'thcir assist-
ance, but before we arrived she was oil". From what 1 couhl collect from tiiu
different stories they told us, I lind they have been on no part of tlic coast
but about 30 leagues in circumferenco round the jilace wo are now; that
they had to tlic amount of 700 skins, and were bound to China in the course
of 15 or 20 days, and meant to return again in the spring. They were so
polito as to bo the bearers of our letters.

Aug. 19th. At 10 a. m. the //a/(co'i- sailed. Many of the natives came
off with good skins. Seamen employed in the repairs of the riggin<{ and otlicr
■hip's duties. Purchased a lino fish. (Jceso were very plenty, but since tiio
death of our friend, our sportsmen have become timid, fearful of being cati};ht
by the natives in an ambuscade. Wo ran no hazards, and nogeeae wcro shot.
Aug. 20th. Sjme of the natives caine off with skins, but as the brig Ihiii-
cock had been here several times, ami her long boat almost or)n8tantly, wo had
good reason to suppose we should find other trilies that were better stockcil
with skins, and at 9 a. m. wo weighed, with a westerly wind antl an ebb-tiilc,
and beat out of Hancock's llivcr. At 1 r. m. the tide turned, .•uid wn ciimo
to with the best bower in fathoms water, over a bottom of hard sand, 4
miles distant from Hancock's liivcr, it bearing s. Ijy k., .'j leagues distant, llio
K. w. part of Capo Hancock w. A s., 2 leagues distant, the s. e. part of Miii-
dcrer's Cape, n. N. w. At u p. m., with a fresh breeze from the westward,
weighed and stood to the northward, to (dear the shoals of Capo Lookout.
Capo Hancock is in latitude 54° 18' n., and longitude lli'i" 'M' w. ; Capo Look-
out is in latitude .'54° 24' N., and longitude KH" 5G' w. ; and iMurdcrer's Capo
is in latitude C4° 43' N., and longitude IIW 2:V w. from Greenwich.

Aug. 21st. Under snug sail wo stood to the n. e. until 3 a. m., when we
spread all our canvas and stood to the S. e., with the depth of water from 7 to
12 fathoms, about 4 leagues distant from tlic islands. At noon Capo L)ok-
out bore n. w., distant about 8 leagues. Wo stood alongshore till 0:30 r. m.,
when the island oflf Comsuca village bore s. .s. e., 3i leagues distant. Aug.
■22d. At 4 A. M. made sail for Comsuea village, Toochcondoltii. Found tiie
variation of the compass by an azmuth and amplitude of the sun, 20^ 2' i;.
Fetching in far to leeward, we made several tacks to endeavor to gain a more
commodious anchoring-place, but the tide was strong against us, and at !»
p. H. we came to in 35 fathoms water, Toochcondolth bearing n. by w., dis-
tanco2milc8. Our anchoring-place is in latitude 53''2' n., and longitude 131'
31' w. A good many of the natives came off with their chief, but skins wero
not so plenty among them as they were when we visited them last, and wo
soon found Ingraham was in the neighborhood. Of course it was thought ad-
visable to mako but a short stay. Having set up our rigging, at 1 p. m. wo
weighed and stood to the eastward, and at half-past 2 saw a boat rowing
toward us frequently firing muskets, and m-c heard several cannon firoil up a
Bound to N. w. of us. We bore down and the boat soon came alongside. It
waa Mr Crup in the Ifope'g boat, with a message from Capt. Ingraham inform-
ing U8 that he intended to leave the coast in a few days, and if we had any
Hist. N. V.'. CoABT. Vol. I. *B

722

IIASVVELLS JOUUNAI.S 1791-2.

oommandB he would be happy to be the executor of them. They seemed to
hint they had purchased an excellent cargo.

Aug. 23d. Wo set all our liglit sails, directing our course to the K. s. k.
At 8 A. M. the northwardmoRt land in sight bore n. w. by w. , and the south
wardmost m. k. by h.; Toochcondoltli, w., leagues. Latitude 62* 37' N.,
longitude 131° 'M' w. Aua. 24th. With all sail sot, at 4 a. m. Capo Uaswell
bore H. by w., distance 7 leagues, and at noon it boro h. w. by w. J w., dis-
tance 10 leagues. lAtter part moderate breezes and pleasant weather. lAti-
tudo 52° r/ N., longitude 130° 12' w. Aug. 2oth. Steering to the southward.
Latitude 50° 51' N., longitude 120° 45' w. At the southwardmost part
of the continent in sight bore u. by 8., distance 10 leagues. Aug. 2Ulh.
Latitude 50° 35' n., loiigitudo 128° 38' w. At 7 the southwardmost lund
bore E. by 8., and the westwardmost island n. w. by w. Many whales play-
ing about tho ship. Aug. 27th. Latitude 50° IG'^n., longitude 129° 40* w.
At 8 p. M. passed Woody Point. Aug. 2Sth. Standing to the southward
with all sail set. At noon the entrance of Nootka Sou^'l boro n. e. by r..,
distance about 11 leagues. Latitude 49° 22' n., longitude 127^ 20' w. At 7
r. M. the entrance of Nootka Sound boro n. bv w., uistanco 8 leagues.

Aug. 29th. At 3 A. M. shortened sail ancf hove to, main-top sail to the
iimst, and at half-past 2 hove about aud made sail for Glio({uot. At noon tiie
entrance of the roails bore n. e., distance 3 leagues. Latitude 49° 4' n. At
4 p. M. a canoe came off and informed us that Capt. Kendrick was in the har-
bor. At 5 saw his boat coming oiT. Fired a gun and hoisted our colors.
This was answered, and he came alongside and was salated with 3 cheers . . .
Capt Kendrick spent the evening with us, and went lute aboard his own ves-
sel. Saw two ships, which we supposed to bo Spaniards, pass this port,
standing to the southward. Aug. 30th. At 8 a. h. weighed and towed into
tho harbor. I spenc tho latter part of tho day with Capt. Kendrick at Fort
Washington. Ho had hauled his brig on tlio ground to grave in a very con-
venient place, and tho place whero the provisions and stores were landed wiis
fortified, and dignified by tho appellation of Fort Woshiugton. Aug. Slst.
People employed in scraping and painting tho lower masts, and ropainng the
rigging. The natives came off witli skins, but as they camo not abundantly,
it was reasonable to suppose Capt. Kendrick had purchased most of their
stock.

Sept. 8th. At 9 weighed and stood out to sea, bound to the southward.
At noon the entrance of CliMjuot bore n. w., G leagues. At 4 saw a ship in
the a. w. quarter. Sept. 9th. At 8 Company's Bay Iwre north, distance 3
leagues. At noon Cape Flattery bore east, and tlio northwardmost laal n.
w. Latitude 48° 42' N. At 3 p. m. Cape Flattery boro e. n. e., distance 8
leagues. Sept. 10th. We beat up to the village Chandce, and a great num-
ber of natives camo ofT with skins. Wo shortened sail aud stood to and fro
off Tatooches Island. Tho breeze was now fresh, and Capt. Gray concluded
to lie under the lee of the land thus nigh all night. Sept. 11 th. Saw
Tatooches Island bearing n. n. e., distance 3 miles. So strong did the tide
set, we were within a quarter of a milo of a most dangerous reef. Tims
critically situated, wo hoisted out our boats and sent them ahead to tow, and,
assisted by a very light breeze from tho southward, wo narrowly escaped our
impending fate. . .

Sept. 12th. All these 24 hours keeping nigh the north side of tlie straits,
making short tacks, never stretching nearer than 25 fathoms water, and at
the clearest time we could not see a quarter of a milo. . .Sept. 15th. At 4
A. M. saw Cape Flattery bearing n. n. e.; with a light breeze we stood
toward it. At 9, having a strong tide acainst us, wo anchored in 25 fathoms
water, Tatooches Isle bearing north, 1 league distant. At a quarter past 1
weighed tho anchor, and stood into the Straits of Juan do Fuca. Sept. IGth.
At 10 Tatooches Island bore 8. e., distance 6 miles. Made sail to the west-
ward. It was Capt. Gray's intention to go into winter quarters as soon
as possible, and for this purpose, as a proper place, had pitched on Nas-
patee, in Bulfinche's Sound. We hastened toward that place. Sept. 17th.

They seemed to

le to the K. 8. K.

and the south-

[itude 52* 37' N.,

M. Cape Haiiwell

by w. i w., dis-

t weather. Lati-

to tho southward.

-hwardmost part

lues. Aug. '20lh.

:hw<irdmo8t lund

any whales ploy-

,itudo 120° 40' w.

;o the southward

V)oro N. E. by K.,

127" 20' w. At 7

! 8 leagues.

in-top sail to the

lot. At noon tiie

udo 49" 4' N. At

!k was ill the liar-

oisted our colors.

with 3 cheers. . .

>oard his own ves-

s, pass this port,

ed and towed into

Kciidrlck ac Fort

avo in a very con-

s were landed wiis

gtou. Au^. 31st.

and repairing the

10 not abundantly,

.sod most of their

to the southward.
it 4 saw a ship in
north, distance 3
wardinost lau.l ti.
. N. E., distance 8
and a great nuni-
l stood to and fro
t. Gray conoludctl
Sept. nth. Saw
rong did tho tide
erous reef. Thus
ihead to tow, and,
rowly escaped our

lido of the straits,
ms water, and at
Sept. 15th. At 4

breeze we stood
red in 25 fathoms

a quarter past 1
'uca. Sept. ICth.
I sail to the west-
quarters as soon

pitched on Nas-
nce. Sept. 17th.

HASWKLL'S .lOUKNALS 1791-2.

723

Tursued our course, thouf^li dipt. (!rny had resolved on going into Nootka
Sound if tho Mind would allow. At 8 in tho evening wo saw tho round lull
of Clicquot bearing n. e. Sept. 18tl. At 1 P. M. anchored in tho ri>au«,
with a very fresh brcize, with tho small iMJWor, but dragging this, wo lot go
the ix-st l)ower and brought her up. Sent down tho top-galluut yards. 1
manned and armed the piiiiiacf, and went to seo if ('a|)t. Ktndrick still r«-
miiincd in tho harbor. I wiis accompanied by Mr Iloskins. Wo found him
nearly ready for sea, but not much more so than when we left him. Wo
•pent tho evening in convcrs.ilioii, himself and ofliccrs congratukting us on our
return.

Sept. loth. At half-past 12 weighed, end towed into a licttor anchomgo,
where we waited until daylight, when we weighed nud sfoml into tho liarljor.
It now struck me that if we spent so much time ns vvoulil be rccpiircd to go to
Nofjlka or BuUinche's Souiul, coubidcriiig tlio wind had iii>w set in to tho
weatward, exactly contrary, it might be lato before wo lK!gan to build our
sloop, and consequently bad weather would accompany tho undertaking,
'riicsc ideas 1 commuiiicatcil to Cupt. (Iray, and ho concurred with me in tho
oi)inion tliat it would bo tiie best place we could winter, if pro|)cr woo<l could
be found to saw into plank. In search of this and a commwlious cove to win-
ter (of which there weiu plenty) wc went, and rctunied fully Hatisfiod with
our discovery. On our letMvu we found ('apt. Kendriek uiuler way for tho
harbor in which ve lay, having abiindoned Fort Washington. Wo joined our
bout to assist in towin;,' down, and in a little time she anchored within a
CJible's length of us in the niiddlo liarl)or.

Sept. 20th. At 10 weighed, and with the boats ahead, assisted by Capt.
Kendrick's, towed up to our winter (puuters, a cove alxi.it ;t miles from Opit-
■cta, and moored with tho sliect anchor to tho .n. w. in the mouth of tlio covo,
the small bower cable cliuched to a tree on the harbor island from our larboard
quarter, and a hawser frim tlio starboard quarter to a tree nigh the watering-

Elace. Sept. 2l8t. In tho morning I landed with a party and struck tho first
low toward buililing a log house, and clearing a place for the ve.ssel, for it
was as compact a thicket as over grew. Few of the trees were less than 2
fathoms round, and many of them 4. This made our work hwivy, but all our
people showed themselves alert to accomplish the undertaking. This work
continued without intermission until the 27tli, when it drew nigh a conclu-
eion. This day sailed tlic Ladi/ lVanhiii!itoii, .1. Kendnck, Ivsq., oommandcr,
for China. Sept. 29th. A party of tho people during this time had lx;en
employed getting the ship as snug as possible. Sails were unbent, top-gallant
ami top-sail yards were unrigged and stowed below. All tho si)aru spars and
lumber were landed, and we began to land the frame of our sloop. Sept. 30th.
She was delivered of her twelve months' burden, and C'o/Mm6(a'-< young adven-
ture emigrated into its scenes of discovery.

Oct. 3J. Moored in Adventure Cove. We laid the keel of tho slo«)p
Ailventnre, every person busily employed. Mr Smith in the pinnace after logs
for plank. Oct. 7tli. Nothing reniurkablo occurred till the 7tii, the car))eii-
ters, sawyers, smiths, etc., working diligently, when in the evening alxnit II
o'clock, it being foggy as ever, I was suddenly awakened by tho re|Kjrt of a
musket, and tho cry that the cove was full of Indian canoes. With tlii.s
alarming news I sprang out of bed (for I now dwelt on shore), armed myself
and my small party, consisting of 7 persona, and marched down tho beach, re-
solving to oppose their landing, and if wc were disappointed in this, wc couhl
easily retreat to our port, which was well prepared for fighting ot close
quarters. But, wonderful to tell, these mighty war-equipped savages turned
out to be none other than some rocks, which the tide ebbing low hod left dry.
These seen through the fog might easily, by the apprehension of the watch,
bo conjectured to bo canoes. I did not chido the sentinel for a false alarm,
for it were better to be alarmed when no tlanger is nigh than once to let it
overtake us unprepared. Our work still jogging on in a sti^ady, regular
course, the 2 whip-saws kept constantly at work sawing plank, for it was our

724

HASWELLS JOUUN.tLS 1791-2.

miafortune to And those of oak wo had brought from Buaton moat Iwdly
daniagdd, and so rotten aa to render thorn quitu unserviceablu.

Oct. 12th. I was viiited by Wickananiih and one or tyfo oi hia brotheni.
They gaud with much admiration at our houne and veaacl, and exprewied
mucii wonder. Indeed, wo are bo forward with our work tliut I could wiiih
Capt. Kendrick had stayed till this time and mca our Hiluatioii, for he told liic
ofHcora, during our cruise to the sdiithward, that ho ilid not supposo it would
ever bo put in execution, aa lie diil not think there vvua u porsuu on board us
uapnblo of conducting the busiucsti of building the sloop. Now ht> would hoo
dH with ft comfortable dwelling housu, containing our iimith's forg<; and shop,
uouvcnieut for hia wuik, carncntor'u ultoj) with ttc-nchus, etc., und several good
lodging-rooms and cibins, the whole well armed, 2 cannon mounted outsido
aiulone inside of the houso through a port, and in cvury direction loop-holes
for our small arms und pititols, of which wu have a tolerable plenty, and our
party ia augmented to lU in all. He would find the sloop's frame completely
set up, and the carpenters l)egun to plank her bottom. This I am conli ^
we have executed ns quick und pcrlia))s as well us he himself would have
done. I am daily visited by some one or other of the chiefs, who express
great udminstion nt our artisans. The sawing of plank, the smith work, and
the doxtorvty with which our iieoplc cut down and hew trees strike them with
wonder. They almost always when they come sell a few skins, and goner-
ally bring a few wild geese and ducks for sale. The fowl, indeed, now are so
plenty that our sportsmen seldom return without "20 or 30 <lucks and goose . .

Oct. 2.3d. of the renmindor of this month there were but 2 dnys that our
builders could work out of doors, tlio rest of the vime being intolerably rainy
and disagreeable weather ... Nov. Gth. The days have become so short,
scarcely exceeding 8 hours, of which the sun ia obscured from us by the
height of the trees 7, that our work Imngs heavily. Indeed, in the very
rainy times the c.iriicnters, who without urging are naturally diligent, are
employed in ''° j houso building a boat, the armorers repairing arms, the
joiners plani ^ the beams and carlings . . .

Dec. 10th. The natives moved from their winter village to Opitsetah.
Parties were frequently out shootiu;.^ game, and generally visited the village,
where they met with very civil treatment.

Jan. 1792. Our carpenters diligently exerted tiiomselves even the worst
weather to forward tho work in their department, and nt the end of the
month wp laid the sloop's beams, but the weatlicr was so bad that it wus tiu
latter end of January before wo began to lay the deck. It was indeed mor-
tifying to find we had littlo more than half enough knees for the deck, and no
more oak plank than would plank hci' bottom. Jan. 27th. Indeed, we had
not enough materials to make her .nn open boat. However, wo were in a
country where there is plenty though iadillercnt timber, and wo found
plenty of good pitch-pine knees. It was Capt. (Jray's intention to haul to a
veiy convenient place in the north port of tho cove, where the ship couu! lie
and discharge on the bank, afloat at all times of tide.

Feb. 2d. In tho morning they began the operation of preparing to lay
the ship on the ground. Tho constant rains retarded the business very much.
We wero now visited very much by the native chiefs and their wives, with :\
strict cordiality of manner and confidence, unusual before. Tho women
would visit me at the house with an air of the greatest freedom and sociabil-
ity, ond the chiefs almost every day visited us (I allowed none of the lower class
to land), and seemed to admire our progress, and were inquisitive to know when
we should launch. Their manner was such that we imagined we had attracted
their sincere regard. All tho winter they hod stayed on board aa long as they
chose, and partook at onr table of such aa we ate and drank. Capt. Gray
had even allowed an inferior, who was very ill, to tarry with hia father and
servant on board many nights for the reeoverv of his h^th, although he was
a very disagreeable companion, and before this event and afterward, for a
considerable time, had visited the sick 3 or 4 timea a week at the village.

n moat 1>adly

hia brotheni.
nil expresne'l

I uouul wiali
for he told liii;
ipoBo it would
111 oa board us

llr W0Ul<l 8C0

or^c and ohop,

I Buvoral gooil

lunted outuide

tion loop-lioloa

ilonty, luid our

.ino completely

am uonti ^

ilf would liuvt)

a, who exprcas

iiith work, aiid

triko them with

ins, and geiicr-

ced, now aru so

if aud geese . .

'S diiya that our

itolerably rainy

come 80 short,

from us by the

cd, in the very

lly diligent, are

liring arms, the

ijo to Opitsetah.
ited the village,

} even the worst
the end of the
1 that it wua tUa
.vas indeed mor-
the deck, and no
Indeed, wc had
ir, wo were in a
, and wo fuuud
tion to haul to a
he ship cou'u! lie

preparing to lay
linoss very much.
air wives, with .i
•e. The women
iom and sociabil-
of the lower cloaa
ive to know when
we had attracted
d oa long as they
ink. Capt. Gray
h hia father and
although he waa
afterward, for a
k at the Tillage,

HAswnhr/s .iouiinai.s 1791 2.

721

supplying tliiin with <irug», rice bread, inolasscH, ptc, ao much hail ha
lalHirod to guiii tlittir t^sU'em. . .

Feb. I8th. At diuk 1 niimi on l)oard to supiM-r, and found Tototct'SOOHet-
tie. His brother, TotoochcatcooMC, had not lont? loft tlm Hhip. Tototet'soo-
Rettlu had l>ei-n ilftcutuil this iiftvnionii with a jiiokiit liu had stolen from Ihu
lioiitHWuiii, JMit ('apt. (iraj'.i li imy was suiii that lie would not iiuvo tho
thief punisiiocl. in.d only took i i'lcki't from liini. Thii fellow hud gono but
a little tin.)! boluru (Jttoo, our '' >. iw'n:\i Island lud, iiiformud ('ui>l. tiruy of
11 plot that was laid by thu nativ >> to I'apliii'o tliu ship. lie told Iiirn ToIim)-
I'hcatecoso had )iroiniH<;d to nc.kc him u groat cliiff it he would wot our liro
aruiM, and a suu-ottiT akL iur uii !i iauHkut-b.'>ll lie uouM givi- him, telling
liiin he meant to comi' f .ph tho «i)f)ils m ' IsMird tlu- ship froi-i tlii' bulk,
and kill every piTHon on iHtanl ex 'opt ' i >. ami he must come to him us msin
us the alt'ruy coniuieiiocd. Oiloo k-kcMl him when ho uould coin<'. llu at
first sa' 1 that niu'lit, but uftr' Wi. . "viil the ntUvf tribes that were confeder
ute with him were not read,,, ai 'I it would be '2 or ',1 days tirst. It was not
till supper t'.at I knew uiiytiiin, of liu; niultur, when ('apt. (Iray onlered tins
swivels to l>o loaded, then infornieil mo of tli'i ])lot. We were now situated
alongside of a Ixiiik, whieh igaHcoinniocliousas a wharf tor tlitMiutives to board
us from. Our people had no arms or animuni' '"u. .Ml our great guns wert;
landed on the bank. .\s wo were thus situated, I ■' '^cd (-'apt. (Jray, it-
being the top of high water, to liuul on tli • ground that liili. 'ii;ti gruMi I'v
liigiit, giving for my ica.sons, being away from i:ie bank au'l aground wu.i' '.
i-ender it less ]iracticui>lo to board us, while we eould on shore and on board
give mutual proteolioii to each other in ease they siiuubl muku aa alteiupt,
the ship lying within pistol-shot of tin- fort, and by this nightly opi lulion
facilitate our business. IJontieciucntly, uo .should be able to take everything
off from the bank on the morrow, and by being oil" thu next night to our
anchors, prevent an evil that bad like to have been fatal to us. ('apt. (iruy
was of my opinion, and the sl-p was immediately removed. 1 went on shore
an<l put the fort in iig<»od poUureof defence. I dischurgcd and reloadeil the
c.iiinon, and put tlio small arms in as ^ond order as possible, and on bourtl
they were employed jiropuriug their arms for a smart engagement. As (Japt.
(ii-ay had remained o;i boanl, 1 took llie eunimand of tlic party to grave the
ship. Tho tide had ebbed so that our jieoplo, by being up to waist in water,
scraiied to the bottom of the keol, wlim Mr Smith told us tho nalive,s w , re
coming and close to us. I ordereil Mr \V>il witli all the shin's people imme-
diately on boanl, and with my party went to join tho small duUiehment we
l.!i<l left ill the house to guard it, but I was much surpri.sed to liml A.r Loit,
with several of the shi[>'s people, had >ome up to tlio house. Tlu;so I iiui le-
diately ordered on board, not wishing to leave the ship void of defence, and
taking 3 people with mo, guarded them down. I returiieil, and waited the
attack with everything preparcMl to givi; tliem a warm receplion. I heard
them also whoop. One parly seemed nigh the bank, ami the other.icar tho
small entrance of the harlnir, perhaps to liuve attacked tho fort. No doubt,
when they found tlie ship wa.s removed, they whooped to inform the other
party thn their sclieme was abortive. Thus having their plans frustrated,
they retired, without planning any new mode of attack. The day now broke
and tho tide had ri.so;, but little. Wc. . the principal part of tlio bottoii
tho other having be.'n v -ell scraped. The tide rose early to lloat her, and
they hauled to the Unk, an.l in tlic course of the day everything, except a few
things of small value, wore taken off, and the ship hauled to her berth in tha
harbor, and moored head and stern. All day the carpenters were einployod
preparing to launch tho sloop, and in the afternoon all the trailcincn s tooU
and things of value were removed on boanl tho ship, and wo abandoned the
fort, that our parties being united might lie in greater safety.

Feb 19th. Divi<liug our people into -t watclics, Mr Smith, Mr Waters,
Mr lioit, and myself took chai-e oi them. In the course of tho day 2 canoes
came alongside'of the ship. In one of thc;n was one of the chiefs wives
*nd several other women. In the coursu of the night wo suspected we could

726

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1791 2.

hear people Tralking on the beach and among the trees. Feb. *20tL. At
daylight I caused 4 cannon loaded with canister shot to be iired among the
trees near the sloop, and then I landed with a strongly armed party to pre-
pare for launching, and having placed a guard iu our rear to prevent an am-
buscadn, our business went on with great alacrity. About 11 o'clock Toto-
tecBcosettle, a most notorious villain in the plot, and who had intended to
have murdered us the other night, came alongside with his father to sell his
skins, asking the gentlemen if they would not come down to the village or go
sliooting, perhaps imagining we did not hear them shout, or knew nothing
about tno matter. However, Capt. Gray took the skins from him, and or-
dered him immediately to leave the ship. He was also told that if Lis fatliur
liad not been with him he would liavo been instantly shot. Ho immediately
paddled off with an aspect deeply tinged with terror. Capt. Gray did not
think it advisable to make him a prisoner until some future opportunity,
when the sloop should be off the stocks. The natives of this place and tlie
villages nigh had by barter become possessed of more than 200 stands of
arms and a large quantity of ammunition, and were now become skilled in
tlie use of thorn. This tliey supposed was a force so much superior to oui's,
that in our late condition might insure tliem success, and inviting the adja-
cent tribes to partake of the glory of vanquishing, and profit of sharing tlie
spoils, they embarked, it is reasonable to suppose, with not less than '2,0i)0
fighting men, and had not Totoocheatecose imparted the secret to Ottoo, in all
probability they would have been successful. They had a long story to hido
their intentions — that they were going to attack a village called Highshakt,
and had purchased many muskets and some ammunition for that purpose,
and even been very anxious that I should allow the smiths to make daggers to
kill the Highshakt people with. This name possibly applied to us, or was
fictitious, to delude us. They even told me when one of the chiefs saw a
number. of the sloop's blocks hangmg in the house, that they should have the
Highshakt people's heads hanging in their houses in the same manner in a
little while. An instance was scarce ever known among the most fierce and
savago nations of so much treachery and baseness, after such humane and hos-
pitable treatment. £ven they showed no small share of hospitality and civ-
ilization, for our parties were frequently so detached as to lie much in their
power, and several of our gentlemen, particularly Mr Hoskins, were at the
village daily, and were never treated uncivilly. They wished not the lives-
and clothing of 2 or 3 persons, but rather wished to treat them with a seem-
ing cordiality, until at some unguarded moment they might make the whole a
prey to their perfidy.

Feb. 2l8t. Our full employ now was to launch the sloop with expedition,
and tills, it is probable, we should have accomplished, had not the ways,
which were bloclced with very buoyant wood, flonted, but when the tide tell
I fully prevented !\ future accident of the same nature. Feb. 22d. At high
water, being perfectly ready, we began to launcli. She ran about .SO feet mid
stopped, for the launching-plank, being green pine, furrowed up before llio
bilge-ways. We were under the mortifying necessity of blocking and shor-
ing the vessel again, to make as good arrangement as possible for auotluT
day's launch, leb. 23d. The morning w;\s exceedingly pleasant. 1 landed
as usual with a strongly armed party, and at high water, about 3 o'clock, .sue-
cessfnlly launched the sloop Adventure . . .

March 14th. We took on board a boat-load of ballast and a number of
bricks. March 19th. Wo completed wooding and watering. March 21st.
Benj. Harding, boatswain of the Columbia, departed this life, aged 31 years,
after lingering a long time of dysentery, and on the following day he wus
buried . . .

April 2d. Early in the moining I received my sailing orders, and weighed^
in company with the Columbia, and by 10 o'clock was safe out of the harbor.
There was a large sea going, and we had the satisfaction to find our vessel
a very good sea boat, outsailing the Columbia. My orders were to proceed
to the northward, but the wind being directly in my teeth, Capt. Gray coa>

HASWELL'S ,IOUnNAr.S 1791-2.

727

'eb. 20tl). At
'ed among the
party to pre-
irevent an am-
o'clock Toto-
id intended ta
;her to sell his
le village or go
knew nothing
him, and or-
lat if his father
[o immediately
Gray did not
•e opportunity,
place and the
200 stands of
;ome skilled in
iperior to ours,
itiug the adja-
of sharing the
less than 2,000
toOttoo, in all
ig story to liido
led Ilighsbakt,
" that purpose,
nake daggers to
d to us, or was
16 chiefs saw a
should have tlie
ne manner in a
most fierce and
umane and hos-
ntality and civ-
e much in their
ns, were at the
id not the lives
!ni with a sceni-
ake the whole a

I'ith expedition,
not the ways,
en the tide fell
22d. At higli
lout 30 feet and
I up before the
iking and shor-
ble for another
lant. 1 landed
t 3 o'clock, suc-

id a number of
. March 21st.
aged 31 years,
ng day he was

3, and weighed,
of the harbor,
find our vessel
ere to proceed
!apt. Gray coa>

cnrred with nic in the opinion that it wouM be best to proceed to Cechaht
Cove, Company's Bay, there put my vessel in complete order for sea, and then
the first fair wind proceed north. 1 dined with Caot. Cray, and on my return
on board made sail. . .At 9 p. m. anchored in Cechalit Love, in 17 fathoms
water over a bottom of mud and clay. April 3d. We liad a number of the
natives ofl", but purchased no skins. There were but 2 brought off, and those
not worth the price required. I kept the carpenters and seamen fully em-
ployed in the equipment of the vessel. April 4th. Carpenters and seamen
employed preparing the vessel for sea. Many of the natives off, but nothing
was purchased of them except a little oil. . .

April 7th. lieing tolerably well prepared for sCd,, ht 10 A. M. we weighed
and came to sjiil. . . At 4 Comi)any'3 bore k. by N., 5 leagues distant, and at 8
p. M. Clioquot bore N. N. e., 8 leagues. I steered a w. by n. course all night.
At the entrance of Xoolka Sound bore .n. n. \v., distiince 8 leagues, and
Point Breakers north, 10 leagues. April 8th. Wo stretched in shore within
3 leagues of Breakers' Point, when we hove about and stood to the southward.
April 9th. Plying to windward in Hope Day. Lat. 49' o .\., and in long.
127" 24' w., Nootka Sound bearing N. \. i;., 12 leagues distant. In the even-
ing Wij came under snug sail, and stood to and fro. April 10th. Made all
sail and stood in for the land. At noon Xootka .Sound bore n. k. by n., 10
leagues, and Ahatsett N. \v. by x., 9 leagues. My latitude was 49" 24' N.
I stood within .3 leagues of the land, and hove about with the wintl at w. n.
w., and stood off shore. . .

April 13th. At 8 a. m. Split Rock bore e. n. e., 1 league disttint. I stood
np into the bay to n. e. of Woody Point, and then eoabted along the .shore.
As it bended it made several deep bays, in which there seemed to bo no liar-
bors. Lat. 50° 10' n., Woody Point bearing s. E. by e., distance about 5
leagues. I hove to and let a small canoe come alongside. I purchased of
them 24 large lish and again made sail. At 2 v. m., seeing several largo
canoes coming off, I hove to. When they came alongside, finding they had no
skins, I immediately matle sail. Tliey came from a largo sound, in which
there are good harbors. I distinguished it by the appellation of Port Lincoln.
I regretted not being able to examine this place, Imt my anxiety to get to
^Va8^ington's Island forbid my losing so good a wind, especially as I knew it
was Capt. Gray's intention to cruise this part of tiie coast on his return from
the southward. Port Liir oln is in latitude 50" 20' .v., and longitude 12S' .'{0'
w. As soon as I left the canoes I steered a west course, meaning to go to tho
westward of tho islands off Capo Ingraham, but finding a strong current and
a heavy swell setting to tho north, I kept west by south, going little nioru
than one knot. . .

April 17th. At half-past 7 saw the south end of Washington's Islands,
bearing N. N, e., 4 leagues, and tho south wardmost hummock off tho cane
bore N. F., 5 leagues. We made .i ■' siiil alongshore. Lat. 52" 10' n.. Barrel's
Sound bearing e. by n., distance 4 leagues. At this time a place that had tho
appearance of tho entrance of a harbor bore .v. .n. e., 3 leairues distant. Tliis
place is in latitude 52" 20' N. At G P. M. the .south ward most land in sight
bore E. s. e., and tho northwanlmost s. w. by w. Aptil IHlli. Early in tho
morning we passed several places that had tho appearance of harlwrs or deep
sounds. latitude 53° 5' n., my Icngitudo at this time being 132' 8' w. A
little to tho northward of this station wo had a tiumher come off, and with
them a number of good skins. They were of the Tooscondolth tribe, sui)jeet
to Comsuah. Tho people were very difficult to trade with, and I purchased
but few skins, being anxious while tho civstwardly wind lasts to arrive at tho
west end of the i.sland. Where this tribe dwells is tho strait that diviiles
Washington's Island nearly in the middle. Tho strait forms into a very spacious
harbor, capable of contiiiiiing 100 sail of shipping, commoiliously navigable
from the west side through a gut not a quarter of a mile wide. W'hether it
is navigable from tho east side for large vessels or not I am at present unac-
quainted. The distance across to where we formerly lay on tho cast side I
calculate to ue 20 miles. Tho coast I sailed past all this day is very broken.

728

HASWELL'S JOURNAIJH 1791-2.

and must form many good harbors. The coast generally trended n. w. by w.
by compass, but in about fi3° 2ff the coast turned abruptly to the westward for
a considerable distance, and left a large channel running to the n. e. that fornix
all the west end into a very large isluid . . .

April 19th. This ovenmg we were nieb the s. w. entrance of Tadents vil-
lage and harbor. April 20th. The wind being adverse to our going to tlio
eastward, I stretched to the northward, intending to beat to windr/afd on the
north side until I should find a harbor. We for a considerable tiii.e fancied
we saw a boat. I was much concerned, fearing there was BnmclxMly on this
part of the coast before us, but on nearer approach I found it was the trunk of
u tree with several branches standing above water, that bo:e the appearance
of masts and sails. . .April '22d. At ^ several canoes camd oiF from Tadeuta
village. They liad many skins, of which I purchased few, for they were so
exorbitant in their price as to ask 2 great coats for one skins. This price,
however, I was resolved not to give, being confident I could sell them better
elsewhere. At 7 F. H. the westwardmost part of Washington's Island in
sigiit bore w. by s.

April 23d. Early in the morning I saw a place about 17 leagues to the
eastward of Tadents, where there was the appearapce of a good harbor. I
stretched in under snug sail for it. Sent Mr Wateis to sound the entrance of
the harbor. iTe found exceedingly shoul water all across, c.vcept in one nar-
row cliaimel. Whether this runs through or not i.> uncertain, but I am apt
to think it not navigable for anythinj larger tliaii a boat. . .1 weighed at 3
i*. M. and stood out of the bay. This place is in latitude 54° O" K., and longi-
tude 132° 45' w. The cast cape of the islands, Capo Coolidge, bore w. a. w.,
17 leagues, and is in latitude 54° 15' N., and longitude 134° 13' w. As soon
as I was out of the bay I began to beat to windward for Hancock's River, and
before dark Capo Lookout boro E. N. E., distance 18 leagues. April 24th.
Stood in for tlio harbor . . . April 25th. Many of the natives came on. I pur-
cliased of them some tish and a few otter tails. They brought but 2 skina
for sale, and they asked 2 great coats for each. The natives of this port,
tliough we frequently had great throngs of them alongside, behaved them-
selves with great propriety. They would not, indeed, sell me their skina
witliout an exorbitant price, telling me the captains Douglas, Kendrick, Bar-
nett, Ingraham, Crowell, and Keanna would be hero soon, and they would
give tliem what they asked. Now, there was nothing I had for cargo but
great coata th>\*i these people would take, and those they would gi\e only one
mdiffereut skin apiece for, and demanded 2 great coats for a large good skin.
April 2Uth. As there are many other places on the coast where it is equally
likely to find plenty uf skins, and a long season bcforo ns to find such place.s
out, I rather cliose to keep my goods, and trust fortune for a better market
for them.

April 27th. The natives frequently tell ns that one Jones, a person be-
longing to Captain Crowell's brig, stayed among the natives of Tadents, and
was now at Legonee. Whether this is a device of their own braiu to amuse
or the fact, I know not. April 28th. After doing some necessary jobs about
tlie vessel, and leaving a letter for Capt. Gray with the chief of the port,
Cattar, early in the morning I weighed, intending to go to Comsuah'f, on tlie
east side or the island. April 29th. I ran along the edge of the shoal of
Cape Lookout till half -past 12 in the morning . . . Were soon abreast of Sea Lion
Rocks. At noon, latitude 54° 3G' N., longitude 130° 55' w. At 7 p. m. Cape
Lookout bore w. by n. Tacked to the northward, being pretty nigh the island.
April 30th. It was a perfect hurricane. . .

May 1st. At 1 a. m. Hancock s River bore s. s. w., 3 leagues distant. I
made all sail to the westward. About noon a canoe came oiT and broaght
with them some halibut, and soon after we wore visited by a number of other
natives with skins for sale. Cunnea, the chief of Tadents, came oflf, accom-
panied by his wife (who is the superior olficer). They sold us many skins,
and were very anxious for us to go in to an anchor. They hail such an abun-
dance of skina that it would have l>oen a good cai-go to have purchased them

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1791-2.

729

1 N. w. by w.
e westward for
<. E. that foriiid

of Tadents vil-
r going to tlio
ndr/ard on the
le tin.e faucied
nolxKly on this
'as the trunk of
the appearance
' from Tadeuta
they were so
This price,
11 them better
»n's Island in

leagues to the

;ood harbor. I

the entrance of

;ept in one nar-

n, but I am apt

I weighed at 3

y N., and longi-

, bore w. s. w.,

13' w. As soon

)ck'8 River, and

a. April •24th.

xm& off. I pur-

gbt but 2 skins

GS of this port,

behaved ttiom-

me their skins

Kcndrick, Bar-

nnd they would

d for cargo but

Id gi\e only one

largo good skin.

ore it is equally

Qnd such places

a better market

es, a person bc-
af Tadents, and
brain to amuse
isary jobs about
ief of tlie port,
mauah'f, on tlie
of tlio shoal of
east of Sea Lion
At 7 P. M. Cape
nigh the island.

juea distant. I
jff and brought
lumber of other
lime off, accom-
us many skins,
I suoU an abun-
purchased them

all, but they aaked such a price for them that it would have taken all th«
salable articles I had to have purchased 70 of them. May 2d. In the morn-
ing I stood in for the land, with the wind e. n. e. and a lively breeze. As
the wind was fair, I determined not to touch at Tadents, but make my M-ay
to some cheaper place. Early in the afternoon the wind died, and we lay bo-
Ciilmed about a mile distant from the shore, and 2 leagues to the southward of
Tadents. While we lay in this condition, the chief and her husband came off
and sold me several good skins on the usual terms, and I promised to come to
their village again Ijeforc long. . .

I.Iay 4th. Late in the evening I saw a place that I supposed would be a
good harbor, and as the wind was light, I lay off it all ni^ht. May 5th. On
tluj morning I stood in, but tlie wind was light, so that it was afternoon be-
fore I entered the sound, a piece of great length, and 60 fathoms of water. I
began to beat to windward, and about 4 P. m. anchored in 60 fathoms water,
being the first bottom I had got, with the best bower, for it blew fresh in
squalls, about 4 miles from the entrance of the sound, and a mile from the
narrows into the largo harbor. I went in the boat, manned and armed, in
search of a better place for the vessel to lie. I entered a cove nearly abreast
of which we had anchored, and found it exactly suiteil to our purpose, being
a most commodious place to get wood and water. I tlieii rowed up into the
otber harbor and found it not so well adapted to our purposes,' but a most ex-
cellent place for a large fleet of shipping to ride. I returned and found the sloop
had drifted a considerable distance. I immediately weighed, and towed into
St Tammonie's Cove, Port Montgomery. We anchored in 12 fathoms water,
mud l)ottom.

May Gth. At 8 a. m. weighed, and ran down the harbor with a lively
breeze at N. w. I think the discovery of this harbor a valuable acquisition for
a vessel that had met with an accident, and wished to repair, clear of the
natives, for I believe this port is only visited casually by strangers from
Coyah's tribe. This place affords great abundance of gootl yellow pine timber
and spars, plenty of water, and good wood that is hard and desirable fuel.
St Tammonie's Harbor is in latitude 52" 25' n. May 7th. I had been informed
by some of Coyah's tribe that there was a ship lying at Barrel's Inlet, and I
liad little reason to doubt them, ns one of the natives had a jacket and trousers
they had purchased of them, on tl'c buttons of which was printed. Long live
the Presicfent, G. W. I had been resolved to touch at Gray's Cove before,
nor would I let this report retard me, for I was anxious to know who it was,
and to get letters from liome. I made sail for Barrel's Inlet, but the wind
growing light it was 2 o'clock before mo were abreast of the outer island, the
wind drew down the sound, and wc began to beat to windward. At .S P. M.
we saw a boat coming towards us. Found her to be the boat belonging to the
Marf/aret of Boston, James Magee, couiinauder. Mr Lamb, the chief oflicer,
was in her. They sailed from Boston the 2.')th of October, 1701, and arrived
on this coast the 24th of April, 1792, touching only at St Jago's on his passage.
Captain Magee was in a very disordered state of health wlien ho made the
land to the southward of Capo Ingraham, when his health was so much im-
paired that ho gave up the conducting of his ship to Mr Lamb, his chief
oflicer. They ran for the south end of this island. Tiiis was tiie first port
they had entered on the coast. They had been lying in tliis port 10 days,
and had col' acted but few skins. Wo beat in and anchored at 7 p. m. a
little above tho Margaret, with the best bower in 8 fathoms water. Sainted
Captain Magee with 3 cheers. As soon as tho vessel came to. I waited on Cap-
tain Magee, and was happy in having news from my native country in this re-
mote clime. Captain Magee comman<led as fine a vessel as ever I saw of her
size, and appeareil exceedingly well fitted for his voyage, and I believe there
was no expense spared. I found on board liere lettcia for Capt Gray and Mr
Hoskins from our owners, an<l letters for the otlier gentlonieu from their
friends. Capt. Magee and his officers put letters in my cliarge, to be fni--
warded to Boston by the first opportunity. Capt. Magee will purchase but
few skins in this port, and those at a very high price. Of course, his stay at

730

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1791-2.

thb port will be short. He talks of going to the northward to Cook River,
but in this respect hia mind will change, or he will be muoh in the wrong.
Finding I should purchase but few skins, on the morning of the 10th I
weighed, and towea out of the ooye. It continued calm untu the 12th, when
the tide came nigh drifting us on the breakers off Cape Haswell. . .

May 15th. Latitude 52° 43' N., and by G in the evening we were abreast
of Comsuah's village. I soon saw several canoes coming off. We hove to and
waited for them to come alon^ide. 1 purchased several skins of tUeui.
May 16th. Early in the mornmg wo stood into Tooscondolth Sound, and
anchored at 11 a. h., bm Unding the place not so well sheltered as a cove not
far distant, I weighed, and iiaving sounded with the boat, anchored in Hope
Gove, in 17 fathoms water, gravel bottom, about noon. On the latter part uf
the day I purchased a number of good skins. . .May 19th. I weighed and
stood out to sea M'ith exceedingly pleasant weather. Latitude 53° 7' n.
This place is not an excellent liarbor, but it will, as an anchoring-place to
trade with the natives, answer very well. It is situated on the north side of
Tooscondolth Sound, and the first cove after passing a barren island. At the
entrance there is a dangerous reef, to avoid which I advise to go to the south-
ward of it. Comsuah has at this time his town at least 4 leagues to the
southward of the place where we lie.

May 20th. Early in the morning several canoes came off to the southward
of Hatche's Island, and I purchased of them several good skins. They were
very anxious for me to go in, but there is a reef to the southward of Hatche's
Island which is very dangerous to pass. I therefore determined to make tlie
best of my way to the northward of the island, and there seek a harbor.
May 21st. I stretched to the northward of Hatche's Island, and the same
people boarded me that were off yesterday. They had been diligently em-
ployed since we parted, for they had 6 otter in their canoe yet warm with
life. I purchased them and stood to the northward. About 3 leagues in a
V. v. E. direction from Hatche's Island is a very deep sound running m to the
8. E., and there is but little doubt that it must contain good harbors, but at
too great a distance for me to go at present. If I can, on my return from the
nortiaward, conveniently, I wiU examine this place thoroughly. This place
lying so close to Hatche's Island, I call it by the same name. May 22d. I
entered Derby Sound, and stood in for Allen Cove. We found no natives
here. I lauded with Mr Waters and we shot several geese. May *i4th.
Employed ballasting, wooding, and watering.

M^ 25th. With a light breeze off the land we weighed, and stood on
sea. It was now my intention to make the best of my way up Brov i ^
Sound, but I was no sooner clear of the land than the wind became directly
adverse to my intention. I stretched over for Cape Lookout, and was abreast
of it at 8 F. M. I shaped my course into Hancock's Straits, iutendiug to go a
little way to the northward on the sea side. May 26th. Ran along shore,
and 6 p. m. were abreast of Tadents. May 27th. Latitude 54° 59' n. May
28th. Abreast of Distress Cove, and the land in sight was a number of large,
high islands. May 29th. I altered my course to the southward. May 30th.
At 8 A. M. Douglas' Island bore e. k. e., distance 3 leagues. Lat. 54° 42' n.
May 3l8t. It was my intention now to visit Sushin, if possible, and with this
determination I shaped ray course for Murderer's Cape. My latitude at noon
was 64° 2* N . . .

June 2d. I directly made the best of our way to Port Tempest, at which
place I anchored at half-past 12, with fresh gales and squalls. Wo found the
natives had dug the corpse of Mr Caswell up, and by the appearance it must
have been done soon after burial. June 3d. Several of the people fancying
they saw a smoke rising from among the trees abreast of the watering-place,
I fired among the trees in that direction . . .June 6th. As we were towing out
a canoe was seen to land, and a native walk away along the beach. 'I'liis,
together with the smoke we saw frequently nigh the watering-place, tempts
me to think we have been watched narrowly by the natives, who keep them-
•elves secret from us in hopes to have us in their power at some unguarded

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1791-2.

moment. The information of my commanding this vessel may, no doubt,
have easily reached tliis place from Washington's Islan.l or from Legonee.
June 7th. It was my intention to lie hero the principal part of the day and
wait the appearance of the natives. Conscious it would not do to spend moro
time in the sound, I was determined to leave it in the afternoon. Aly inten-
tion was now to cruise tlio coast of the continent down to Naspatee, wlicre I
hope to arrive Liic last of tijo month. .At .3 p, m. weighed, and made s,-iil to
tho southward. At 8 Murderer's Cape bore w. s. w., and the cftstw.irdinost
land in sight bore e. s. k. June 8th. Coasting along very nigh tiie land and
seeking villages, but had the misfortune to see not one native to tiio northward
of Hatches Island. .June 11. In the afternoon, being abreast of u largo
rock that looked like tiic haunt of pca-lion.s, I sent the boat, but they saw
none. Tliis rock is situated a few leagues to the westward of Rocky Sound.
In the evening stood to the southward under easy sail. Juno I'ith. To the
H. E. of me lay Barron Hill Ikiy, .and in it I hoped to find a good harbor, but
all this day was calm, and J had it not in my power to seek tliem. I observed
Jit noon in latitude S'J" r>9' .\. About 7 in the evening a canoe camo off, and 1

rurchased 5 skins of them. They informed me there was a largo tribe wliere
was endeavoring to get in.
June 14th. I now resolved to seek farther to the southward, and bore
nway with a strong nortli gale, and at noon I observed in latitude 52' .1.3' n. ,
and longitude 129° 32' w. The islands off Cape Ingraham bore h. by W.,
distance 74 miles. June 15th. I.4ititude 5r 11' n., and longitude I'J'J-.'JO'
w. June 16th. At 8 p. m. Woody Point boro s. by e., distance 77 miles.
June 17th. We soon saw a ship ia'the n. e. quarter. I hauled for her, and
soon discovered it to lie the Columbia. They were just out of Pintard'.s
Sound. For a considerable time after we parted company, they had very dis-
agreeable weather, but latterly they had good success. ' To tiie southward
they spoke his Britannic majesty's ship Di.trorery, George Vancouver, Esq.,
commander, and brig Chatham, Wm Brouton, commander. . .They discovered
a harbor in latitude 40° 53' n. , and longitude 122° 51' w. This is Gray's Har-
bor. Here they were attacked by the natives, and the savages had .a consid-
erable slaughter made among them. They next entered Columbia River,
and went up it about 30 miles, and doubted not it was navigable upwards of
100. Besides sea-otter skins, they purchased a great number of land-furs of
very considerable value. After leaving this they came again to tho north-
ward, and went into Xaspatee. Hero they >vere attacked by tlie natives,
and they were necessitiitocl to kill a great number of them. They next went
up Pintard's Sound. Here again they were formidably attacked, and a con-
siderablo fall of natives ensued. Tho ship during the cruise had collected up-
wards of 700 sea-jtter skins, and 15,000 sKins of various otlier species. Both
our vessels wer- bound to Naspatee, and ancliored there early in the evening.
Jime 18t!i. All hands employed preparing to haul tho sloop on tho groiiud
to grave. Delivered to Capt. Gray 2,S8 sea-otter skins, 142 tails, 23 cootsacka,
and 19 peues...June 24th. Weighed and stood out to sea. At noon we
passed Woody Point. As we outsailed tlie ship, in the afternoon we hovo to,
and waited her coming up. Tho outwardmost inland off Cape Ingraham boro
N. W., and tho eastwardmost land in sight boro e. by s. . .Juno 27th. At 8
A. M. Capt. Gray ordered me ahead. At noon luy latitude, per account, was
62° 8' N., and longitude 129° 43' w. We are now abreast of tlio south entranco
of Loblip Soun(Cand tlic coast is broken into low, craggy islands, and de-
tacked sunken rocks. I was surprised to (ind Capt. (iray standing in for the
land in a place that looked to me very dangerous. However, as ho had or-
dared mo to lead off, I did not follow him. Ho had all sail on liis sliip, steer-
ing sails below and aloft. I had seen as I passed several sunken reefs of rocks,
and as the Columbia p.issed, not looking out j)roperly, she struck. I immedi-
ately made sail to ■windward, hoisted my boat out, and set o(F for the ship.
She fired a gun, but soon swung clear of the rock, and, hoisting her colors,
stood towards me. The ship had been going at tiie rate of 5 knots when she
struck. She a[)peared to have met with no material damage, compofd with

732

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1791-2.

what might have been expected. Much of her sheathing was bruised off, and
before this unfortunate accident she was a perfectly tight vessel, but she now
made 400 strokes of her pump in an hour. I advised Capt. Gray to make the
best of his way to Derby Sound, and there to repair his ship, I keeping way
with him at tlie same time. This he complied with, and making sail, we
stood to the windward, and at 10 we hove to with her head to the s. w., to
wait for daylight. June 28th. At 3 a. m. we bore away for the northward.
June 29tli. At 2 a. h. the officer of the watch informed nie the ship had sud-
denly disappeared, and he feared she had foundered. I immediately hove
about and stood directly towards the place we saw her last. It was my in-
tention to stand to and fro nigh this place the remainder of the day, and then
make the best of my way to Derby Sound, and then wait a week, and if I
should not see her in the course of that time, to cruise the coast and meet at
the rendezvous at the time appointed — St Tammonie's Harbor, Port Montgom-
ery, the last of August. I tear in the night the ship sprung a worse leak,
occasioned by the damage tihe had received on the rocks, and foundered, with-
out having time to make any signal to us, who, when we saw her lust, were
lialf a mile ahca<l; otherwise, I cannot account for so sudden a separation
in such clear, pleasant weather, when we had perfect daylight in less than an
liour after she was first missed, but I hope she may still bo safe. June 30th.
At noon Hatche's Island bore s. by e., distance 3 leagues. At 5 p. m. we en-
tered Derby Sound, and at half-past 6 aucliored in Allen's Cove. I had hoped
the ship might have arrived here before me, but I am disappointed. We
moored head and stern.

July 2d. We caught halibut, flounders, whiting, tomcod, and twe species
of 6sh I am unacquainted with . . .July Gth. I sliaped our course for Capo Look-
out, intending to go to Hancock's River. July 8th. At daylight we made
sail for Hancock's River. Stood in and anchored at 3 p. M. abreast of the
burial-ground, in 17 fathoms water. Several natives came off, and I purchased
a few skins and Hsh. July 9th. Purchased huckleberries, raspberries, and
the fmest-flavorcd strawberries I ever tasted. I find that there has been a
ship hero, commanded by one Ugon, whom I suppose to be tho French gentle-
man we carried passenger from Macao to Canton in the Columbia's last voy-
age. His chief mate, it seems, is \ ianna. Cant. Douglas' Portuguese captain
in tho Ephagene. Capt. Magee has been at ladents village. July 11th. In
the morning a canoe arrived from Tadents, with information that Adamson
was at that place in a ship. That Rogers was there in a brig, and they also
speak of Bamett and Douglas, speaking highly of their generosity, as is usual
among them. Thus I find the northern coast is thronged with people well
provided with cargoes, there is no doubt. They say Newbury and Treet are
with Capt. Rogers. At about 10 a. m., the tide ebbing with the wind to the
westward, we weighed and beat out, and were followed bv several of the
natives, vociferating strongly in my praise, wishing me well (for I had told
them I should come there no more), saying: 'Others come, kill us, and take
our property by force. You came, bartered with us, and hurt not a man.
You are good. ' Meaning to visit Tadents, I stretched off upon a wind. July
12th. Saw a sloop to the westward. At 1 1 a native came off, who had been
off to China with Capt. Crowell. He informed mo lie returned with Capt.
Crowell, and that Capt. Ingraham and Capt. Coolidge were both on the coast.
I found this fellow a great prejudice to the trade, and I purchased but few
s'-'ns. They were very loath I should speak the sloop which was to windward.
I continued to ply to windward all nigiit, and in the morning stretched into
the bay that forms the n. e. entrance to 'ladents.

July 13th. At noon I spoke the sloop Florinda of Macao, Thomas Colo,
commander. He sailed the 25th of March, and arrived the 12th of July in
latitude 55°. All well on board. The most miserable thing that ever was
formed in imitation of the ark. He had on board him no less than 40 or 50
stout natives, and alongside 12 canoes, all well armed. On tho sloop they had
not a musket on deck, nor any ann except a cutlass, and it was no doubt the
intention of Cuneah to make her his prize. This he might have done without

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1791-2.

•"•lO

the loss of one of tho natives. I c.ive Capt. Cole advice and caution against
them, and lio seemed to take it kindly. In the evening wo parted, ami I
directed my course for Norfolk Sound. July 15th. At '2 v. m. Douglas'
Island bore k. ^ 8., distance 12 leagues. July 17th. I observed in latitudo
66^6' N., and longitude 135° 24' w.. Port Banks bearing n. 4 e., distance 8
leagues. I saw several spermaceti whales, the first that I have scon this voy-
age on the coast.

July 10th. Latitude 50° 12' n., and longitude 135" 45' w. July 21st.
I^Atitude 50° SJy N. The anchoring- place in Norfolk Sound bore N. by w.,
distance 4 miles. . .July 23d. At 10 we bore away, and stood for Port liiinks.
Reached the anchoring-pluco at 4 r. M. I anchored iu tho mouth of Sulniun
River, in 9 fathoms water, about 100 yards from the shore, iu one of tlie
pleasantest situations I ever saw, with plenty of good wood and water witliin
cable's length of us. July 24tli. I went up tho river to the falls, where tho
salmon were incredibly numerous, many of which wo caught. We found a
great abundance of berries, and took otl' a load of wood. I'^xcessively pleasant
weather, but saw no natives. As there were evident signs that tliu natives
aro here frequently, I determined to stop a day or two. . .July 28tli. At half-
past 11 we weighed ayain and beat out. At 3 i*. M. saw a snow to tho
v. cstward standing in. ,Sho fired a gun, a signal to speak us. I answered it,
and stood toward them, It in Capt. Mear from Bengal. He has spoken a
Portuguese snow, Capt. Viana, in distress at Washington's Islands. Tliey
have been far north, for they Iiave a skin cauoe lashed over their stern, and
I noticed Capt. Mear had a pair of Onilascian boots on. He wished nits a
pleaaant voyage, and went into Port Iktnks. I stood to the southward. . .

Aug. 3d. Observed a ship lying nigli tho entrance, which wo soon dis-
covered to bo French. 1 anchored nigh her. Found her to he from Le Oriant
Sound to Kamschatka, with supplies for that settlement. Tho supercargo, a
Russian gentleman, had made this coast in his way, as ho meant to touch at
Onilasco. On their passage to this coast they had touched at Valparaiso,
where they were very politely received. Tiieir next port was Nootka Sound,
where ■ '
sea-otter i

ler, the ^ „ , . ,

had passed tho bar of tlio Iiarbor, and twice in attempting to return to sea had
ri'n their ship on shore. I went on board and piloted them into tiio liavk)i-.
Aug. 4th. In the forenoon I went on iwanl tho French ship, and whilu on
board my cloak, being carelessly left in the boat, was stolen l)y one of tho
natives, and he lied with it on shore. I hailed Mr Waters and ordered iiim
to keep one of tho natives prisoner. This lio did, and one was kept also by
Capt. Magon, but the native who was detained on board the Adventure saw
me retuniing on board, watched a favorable opportunity to make his escape,
which he did, notwithstanding he was fired at. However, tho cloak was soon
returned. From these French gentlemen I received a present of several gal-
lons of liquor, which, having been out some time, was very acceptable.

Aug. Cth. A native wo had wounded came alongside, and I gavo him
shirts for bandages for his wound. Tlie commander of the French siiip was
very anxious I should stay till he could get out, and oiTered to make me any
indemnification that I should wish for the loss of my time. However, this I de-
clined. I gave him proper directions for sailing out, and on the morning of tlie
7th took my leave. He sent mo on board a considerable quantity of new, soft
bread. Aug. 8th. Early in the morning spoke the brig Grace of New York,
R. D. Coolidge, commander, from Macao. We stood into Tadents and an-
chored together, it being my intention to wait a weatwardly wind to join the
Columbia. Tho cove wo anchored in is in the south side of the north island
which forms Tadents Straits, and is certainly a pretty good cove. Aug. 1 2th.
In the morning a Portuguese brig an-ived, commanded by Joseph Andrews
Tobar, from Macao. Unpleasant weatlier, with constant rains and south-
wardly winds. , 1 L .t

Aug. 14th. In the morning Capt. Coolidge weighed and towed out, but

they were very politely receivea. llieir next port was isooiua rtounu,
I they sold a considerable quantity of spirituous liquors and clothin;.; for
ter skins. This ship was commanded by M. Magon, Mr Peter Torck-
le supercargo, and M. Dupaoey, second captain and first pilot. They

HASWELL'S JOURNALS 1791-2.

the weather was so bad it forced him back at 2 p. h. Aug. 2lBt. Early in
the morning we saw two aaila standing in. They proved to be the Hope of
Boston, Job lograham, and the Jackall of Loudon, Stewart, commander.
Captain Ingraham informed me that Capt. Gray was repairing at Nootka
Sound, where had arrived several English ships. Aug. 24th. Hazy. Weighed
in company with the IJope and Orace, and stood out of tlie harbor to the east-
ward. Left riding hero the sloop Jackall and brig Phinex. Aug, 25th.
Made sail for Hancock's River, and were followed by the brigs. . .Aug. 2Cth.
Stood up the river, and anchored in G fathoms water above the island. Aug.
28th. At 2 were safelv out of the harbor. Aug. .30th. Latitude 54" 24' N.
At 8 p. M. the west end of the island bore west.

Sept. 1 St. Stood to the southward for Port Montgomery. Sept 3d. Early
in the morning we saw a sail to the windward, which by signal we found to
be tlie Columbia. I saluted Capt. Gray with 7 guns, which lie returned with
an equal number. Capt. Gray sent his 1)oat and I went on board the Colum-
bia, and piloted her safely into Fort Montgomery. The wind dying, tlie
sloop was not able to get in to-day. The ship had been well repaired at
Nootka, but still continued to leak considerably, to remedy which it was
necessary to calk the upper streaks of her sheathing, and all her upper works.
After parting with us on the 29th of June, they doubled their leak. They
fothered it, and by that means stopped it in a great measure. They fell in
with Capt. Magee, and with him went to Naspateo, where they laid tlie ship
on shore, and found the damage she had received could not be repaired with-
out putting in a new stem and part of a new keel. This would take a con-
siderable time. They sheathed over the wound, and from thence proceeded
to Clioquot, but not finding it convenient to repair there, they sailed to Nootka
Sound, and were received with every mark of respect by the Spanish gover-
nor, who rendered them every ossistaiice in his power. As soon as the repairs
of the ship were completed, she made the best of her way for this port, where
we have been fortunate enough to fall in with her.

Sept. 4th. In the morning early I met the sloop at the entrance of the
harbor, and we soon anchored alongside of the Columbia. Sept. 1.3th. We
came to sail in company with the Columbia, and were soon out of the harbor.
Sept. 14th. Latitude 51° 48' N. . .Sept. 16th. At about 6 P. M. we passed
Port Lincoln. Sept. 20th. In the morning we found ourselves off Ahatset.
Made all sail, and at dusk in the evening North Point bore e. by s. At 8
p. M. I spoke the Columbia, and we hove to to wait for dayliglit. At daylight
we made sail for Nootka Sound, with at first a light, but tifterwards a lively
breeze. We soon saw a snow standing to the southwai'd. She tacked and
stood to the westward for us, and our ship bore away for her. As Capt. Gray
had directed me to go into the sound before him, I continued my course, nnd
at half-past 1 p. m. anchored in Friendly Cove. I hauled into a snug berth
and moored. The Columbia soon after anchored. Cant. Gray informed me
it was Don Quadra that was in the snow, bound to the Straits of Juan de
Fuca, and from thence to St Blass. Tliis gentleman told Capt. Gray he should
stop 4 days at de Fuca's Straits to purchase the sloop if we would follow him
thither. This Capt. Gray complied with, and as soon as he anchored Capt.
Gray informed me it was his intention to sail for Juan de Fuca's Straits in the
morning. Sept. 21st. We went on shore and paid our respects to the Spanish
commandant, who politely offered everything that lay in his power to assist
us. We then went on board Capt. Vancouver's ship. lie received us with
every mark of respect and attention. We mutually informed each other of
our discoveries. Capt. Vancouver told me it was his intention to visit Colum-
bia's River. On his arrival at Friendly Cove he expected the whole of it was
to be delivered up to him, and for it to become a British port, instead of which
the Spanish governor would only deliver the ground usually occupied by Mr
John Mears. This small spot was refused by Capt. Vancouver, and the two
comnumdera thought it best to refer the business to their royal masters, and
until the business it will remain a Spanish port. We found here, besides hia

HrtSVVELL'S JOURNALS 1791-2.

738

majesty's ships Dlneovfry, Chatham, and Dfdnliis, store-ship, a Spanisli Bhip,
the Atargret of Boston, the Jarkall of London, and the Phinex of Macao.

Sept. 'J2d. At dayliglit in the morning I wcished and sailed out of the
port, in company with tlie Calumhin. We were fouowed with a lively breeze,
i'asscd Brcalcers' Point at 11 a. m., and Clioquot at 5 p. M., and all ui^ht
Btecrcd s. E. 8ept. 'J13d. In tlie morning wu saw Cape Flattery beanns
E. s. i:., 8 leagues, and wo saw 2 sail in shore. The one was the Spanish
•now and the other a small sloop. Sept. 'JGth. At '2 r. m. saw the shipping
at anclior in Ncab. At 3 the Colnmb<.a\i pinnace came off to assist in. At
11 anchored. Found riding hero the .Spanish shin Primraia, and Spanish
snow Acteva, Don Quadra, the ship Columbia, and brig llo/te, Jos Ingraham.

.Sept. 27th. At sunrise nn the morning 1 saluted the .Spanish snow with
gim», which she returned with an equal number. I had the honor of a visit
from Don Quadra, and saluted him with 9 guns coming and going, lu the
afternoon Capt. Ingraham sailed in company with the Princesxa, Lieut
Fidalgo, who was going to supersede Lieut Camannio, the present comman-
der, at Nootka Sound. Sept. 2Sth. In the morning Capt.. Gray concluded
his bargain with Conmiodore Qua<lra for the sloop, for which ho received 75
Bca-otter skins of a superior quality, and in the afternoon, taking all the pro-
visions out of her, I delivered her up to Don Arrow, first lieutenant of the
Spanish snow, and repaired on board the Colnmhia with all my crew. As it
was necessary to cut a large quantity of wood, and a number of spars to lost
ns to Boston, Capt. Gray concluded to go over to Port Poverty, where it
ivould be much more convenient, and much less danger of the natives. Ac-
cordingly, early in the morning Capt. Gray took his leave of Don Quadra, and
wo M-eighed and sailoil, saluting the Spanish fla^ with 13 guns, which was
returned by both ship and sloop. Sept. 29th. VVe hod a very favorable pas-
sage across the straits, and anchored m Poverty Cove at dusk in the evening,
a little within the chops of the harbor. Sept. .30th. Sent a strong party on
shore wooding and catting spars. Took off a boat-load of wood.

Oct. 3d. At 6 A. M. we weighed and sailed out of Port Poverty for the
Sandwich Isbuada.