History of the Oregon Territory and British North-American Fur Trade; with an account of the habits and customs of the principal native tribes

Preface

. I shall not encumber the reader with a tedious detail of my motives in publishing this work ; or of its scheme and plan. This is a kind of egotism, and currying favour with the reader, already carried to great excess. But I shall state a few facts — due to myself to give, and to the reader to know. Having been articled to the Hudson's Bay Company, I left my father's home in London, in their ship, the Ganymede, for their settlements on the Pacific. It is needless for me to give any account of our outward voyage (though I met with some strange adventures) to the Sandwich Islands — at which we stopped for a short time ; and thence to the Columbia river. Having arrived at the western head-quarters of the Company — Fort Van couver ; on the northern shore of the river, ninety miles from its mouth- — I was placed in the fort, in the situation of assistant store-keeper.

After remaining in the fort nearly a year, I was commissioned to proceed northward, in the company's ships, on trading and explo ring expeditions ; threading, in our various courses, the whole of the vast labyrinth of gulphs, sounds, straits, bays, and inlets, that interlace the whole of the Pacific shore, for many hundred miles inland, and along many degrees of latitude. Here I was in the character of trader and interpreter ; and assisted at the erection of several forts, in various parts of the country, never before occupied. I then returned to the Columbia ; and was placed. for some time, in charge of Fort George, near the mouth of the river — now an outpost attached to Vancouver — the famous Astoria, so much vaunted of by the Americans, as their settlement from which they once threatened, to use Washington Irving's phrase, to " sweep the Pacific ;' and spread their internal trade through the Canadas, and the Polar Circles ; and banish the Britishers as traders, if not as residents, from the whole northern continent — a boastful threat, which they have signally failed to execute.

They made, however, every en deavour to realise this most ardent wish of their hearts, but have been completely foiled. In place of being the expellers, they are themselves, in a great measure, the expelled — the result of their own irregular mode of dealing, and cupidity ; which have roused against them the distrust, indignation, and hatred of the natives. Having spent eight years in the Company's service, I was induced, by my father, who had other projects in store for me, to return home. On my return, although I was, from my knowledge of those Americans that traded on the coast, or had squatted in the south-western part of Oregon, or have lately been employed by the company as trappers, prepared to hear any monstrous assumptions of right set forth by the American populace, through their loco foco organs of the press, I did not expect that the respectable portion of the press — much less that their functionaries, and ministers of state, even up to the President — would echo the opinions of the rabble that controls the legislature.

But, to my surprise, I found that the subject was viewed by them through the democratic spectacles. At the opening of Congress, in 1843, the President, without any previous provocation to the declaration ; but from the desire, if not the necessity, too characteristic of American presidents and governments, of pandering to the passions and feelings of the multitude from whom they derive their periodical being — volunteered the an nouncement to the whole world, that the whole territory V is American, and that American it will be preserved and maintained. But this is not merely the averment of the President ; but the whole current of a most vehement debate runs in support of this fraudulent assertion of a claim. Says the President : — " The territory of the United States, commonly called the Oregon territory, lying on the Pacific Ocean, north of the 42nd degree of latitude, to a portion of which Great Britain lays claim, begins to attract the attention of our fellow-citizens ; and the tide of population which has re claimed what was lately an unbroken wilderness in more contiguous regions, is preparing to flow over those vast districts which stretch from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean."

I published, in The Times, and other leading periodi cals, on the appearance of this document, an exposition of the true facts of the case. My statement became the subject of many articles ; and the British people awoke to a true knowledge of their interests, which the Ameri cans wished to wrest from them. I showed, that up to 1814, they never claimed more than the right of joint occupancy — that after the Florida treaty, they took a bolder tone, and claimed exclusive right — that in 1827, they never ventured to claim beyond the 49th degree. But now they take a bolder tone still ; and, on the gamb ling principle of " all or nothing," claim up to the Russian frontier. As there was no work lately published by an English man descriptive of the country, and the relative position of parties : and as the books already published by flying American travellers, who had picked up their accounts piecemeal, in different parts, are strongly tinged by preju dice ; I imagined that a true and dispassionate account of the whole country would tend to place the question on its proper basis.

I thought then — and this thought was strengthened by some judicious friends, who had seen the several statements that I published, and bad examined my rough log-book — that if I had given a fair and VI dispassionate view of the Oregon territory ; and of the relative position, and social pretentions of the contending parties ; the British public, being awakened to the sub ject, would be enabled to come to a sound judgment on the whole question. Though 1 have not given the whole amount of my notes, I am persuaded that this book will convey a fairer, and more concentrated impression, than all the American factious books that have been hitherto published on the subject. It is true that this book occasionally portrays some dark features in the American character : but let the reader clearly observe, that in depicting the American character, I quote American authority ; and that in show ing the weakness of their pretensions to the country, I quote historical and diplomatical facts — facts not questionable by the Americans themselves.

In brief, and in simple truth, my object is to give the British public an honest, and, as to leading character istics, a full, account of the Oregon country. 1 had ano ther object in view, which was, to give an account of the British North-American Fur Trade — of which there has been no consecutive account hitherto given. I have given a skeleton map of the Oregon country, and of the whole coast ; contenting myself with the general position of the most important places, as a help to the reader ; without pretending to enter into the minuteness of a full chart or map. CONTENTS.

Chap. I. — Discovery of North America by the English— Importance of the Fur Trade — French Canadian Fur Traders — Coureurs des Bois, or Rangers of the Woods I Chap. II. — Hudson's Bay Company — its incorporation, and its privileges 8 Chap. III. — British-Canadian Fur Trade — Establishment of the North-West Company — its organisation and operations — rivalry between it and the Hudson's Bay Company 14 Chap. IV. — Establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company's settlement, under Lord Selkirk, at Red River — destruction of it by the North-West Company . . .38 Chap. V. — Trappers, or beaver hunters — Voyageurs, or boatmen 47 Chap. VI. — Description of the present settlement at Red River — hunting the Buffalo 63 Chap. VII. — Remarks on the Company's present principles of dealing ; and the mode of traffic ameng many of the Northern tribes 81 Chap. VIII. — The Knisteneaux Indians . . . .88 Chap. IX.— The Chipewyan Indians 101 Chap. X. — Mouth of the Columbia — description of the native tribes — their appearance — habits — Extraordinary custom of compressing the head — Burial of dead — Small-pox — Fever with ague — their mode of doctoring — Fishing customs — Fort George — Mr. Wyeth and the American Fishing Establishment 112 Chap. XI. — Fort Vancouver — its Farm estabUshment — Dr. John M'Loughlin — Bachelor's Hall — Officers' wives — Half-breeds' horsemanship — Trapping parties leaving Vancouver—the Canadian cook and boatswain . .

Vlll CONTENTS. Chat. XII. — Wappatoo Island and Wallamette Settlement— Farnham's Narrative — Missionaries — Settlers — Fanning operations — Catholic priest — Captain Young and the Hudson's Bay Company 167 Chap. XIII.— General outline of the Oregon Territory . 202 Chap. XIV.— Astoria, or Fort George— Formation of the American Fur Trade— Captain Thorn— his tyrannical disposition — the Loss of the Tonquin .... 218 Chap. XV. — Extension of the British to the north of the mouth of the Columbia — Contrast between the British and American mode of trading— Cape Flattery — Native tribes — The country — Settlements at Nasqually and Cowlitze — Frazer's River — Gulf of Georgia — Vancouver's Island— The Coquilth and Newettee tribes — their customs — discovery of a mine of coal . . . .227 Chap. XVI. — Fort M'Loughlin — Voyage from it all along the intricate inlets or canals. — Various tribes — their appearance, and customs — their religious ceremonies — Extraordinary superstition of cannibal fanaticism — Masquerades — Point Day — Interior canals — Sebassa tribe — their customs — old women with slit lips— Kidnapping of slaves 262 Chap. XVII. — Fort Simpson — the surrounding country; and the various tribes — Indian revenge— Queen Charlotte's Island — Customs of the tribe — Indian ingenuity — loss of the schooner Vancouver 278 Chap. XVIII. — Relative claims of Great Britain and America to the Oregon Territory considered .... 296 Chap. XIX. — Flat-heads — their strong devotional feeling — Black-feet — Religious belief — Snakes — Piutes — Strange probationary rites — Conduct of the Americans, as attested by American writers 311 Chap. XX.— Fort Hall— Trappers— Buffalo— Shooting the rapids — Passage from the United States across the Rocky Mountains. 333 Chap. XXI. — Missionaries . . . ... .

HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE OREGON TERRITORY, AND OF THE BRITISH NORTH-AMERICAN FUR TRADE.

Chapter I

Discovery of North America by the English — Importance of the Fur Trade — French Canadian Fur Traders — Coureurs des Bois, or Rangers of the Woods. The discovery of America by Columbus, and the great acquisitions resulting from it to Spain, soon awoke a spirit of adventure in England : and an. Expedition was fitted out from Bristol under the command of Cabot, a merchant there, under the patronage of Henry VII., in 1497. This Expedition discovered Newfoundland, and sailed along the continent from the coast of Labrador to that of Virginia. Thus England was the second nation that visited the New World ; and the nation, the extent and importance of whose possessions have ever been only second to those of any other state Spain, formerly, and the Republic of America at present. Her possessions she has always made every effort to maintain; and there never was a time when she was more imperatively called on to maintain her territories and her commerce in that continent than she is now.

The discoveries of Cabot opened the way for other adventurers during the next century. The French, under Cartier, penetrated as far as the island of Montreal, and, in 1608, founded a colony in that district. In two years after (1610), the English ex plored Hudson's Bay. Both nations soon found that in the cold and repulsive forests and plains of the north there was a source of wealth, if not as imme diately attractive as the gold and silver furnished to the Spaniards in the genial regions of the south, yet as enduring and valuable as an article of commerce — the peltries of its wild animals. This incentive caused the wildest and remotest regions to be ex plored, and the greatest difficulties and dangers to be braved and surmounted ; and has carried in its course more civilization and social improvement than ever followed the track of those adventurers after the wealth of Mexico and Peru.

It was the fur trade which, in fact, gave early sustenance and vitality to the great Canadian pro vinces. The adventurers who had settled on the banks of the St. Lawrence, soon found that in the rich peltries of the interior they had sources of wealth that might almost rival the mines of Mexico and Peru. The Indians, as yet unacquainted with the artificial value given to some descriptions of furs in civilised life, brought quantities of the most precious kinds, and bartered them away for European trinkets and cheap commodities. Immense profits were thus made by the early traders, and the traffic was pursued with avidity. The pursuit of this traffic produced a more extensive knowledge of the country — drew the Indians from their recesses to the haunts of civilised Use — and rendered Montreal the cen tre of an extensive trade.

Hordes of Indians would come down at stated periods, in a squadron of fight canoes, laden with beaver skins, and other spods of their year's hunting— unload their canoes — draw them on shore — form an encampment out side the town — dispose their goods in order, and open a kind of fair with all the grave ceremonial so dear to the Indians. An audience would be demanded of the Governor-general : he would respond to the application, and hold the conference with becoming state, seated in an elbow chair ; whilst the Indians were ranged in semicircles be fore him, seated on the ground, and silently smoking their pipes. Speeches would be made, — presents exchanged, and the audience would break up in general goodhumour. Then the work of traffic would commence with great activity ; and all Montreal would be alive with naked Indians, running from shop to shop, barter ing their commodities for arms, knives, axes, kettles, blankets, and various other articles of use or fancy ; on all of which the merchants realised enormous profits, as there was no money used in this early traffic; every transaction being conducted by bar ter in kind.

Their wants and caprices being supplied, they would take leave of the Governor — strike their tents — launch their canoes, and ply their way back to the interior. The supply procured from these periodical visits of the natives to Montreal was, it must be recollected, independent of the purchases made by Canadian adventurers in their visits through the interior. A new and anomalous class of men gradually grew out of this primitive state of the trade. These were called Coureurs des bois, or Rangers of the woods, being originally men who had accom panied the natives in their hunting expeditions, and made themselves acquainted with remote tracts, and tribes, and who now became, as it were, pedlars qf the wilderness. These men would set out from Montreal, well stocked with goods suited to the Indian tastes and wants, and with arms and ammunition for self-defence, or for slaying wild animals for sustenance ; and would make their way up the mazy and wandering rivers that interlace the vast forests and wastes of the Canadas, coasting the most remote lakes; and by the attraction of their imported goods, creating new wants and habitudes among the Indians ; and thus spurring them to renewed exertions in the chase, to procure more furs and other commodities.

Sometimes these men would sojourn for months among the natives, assi milating to their tastes and habits with the facility of Frenchmen — adopting in some degree the Indian dress and mode of fife, and not unfrequently tak ing to themselves Indian wives. After a lapse of many months, sometimes a year or more, they would return loaded with merchandise, and then, after disposing of their stock, commence a career of reckless revelry and extravagance ; which not unfrequently ended in their ruin. Those who were able to hold out till the next season, were forced upon a new voyage for subsistence. Many of these Coureurs des bois became so accustomed to the Indian mode of living, and the perfect freedom of the wilderness, that they lost all relish for civilisation, and identified themselves with the savages among whom they dwelt ; or could be distinguished from them only by their superior licentiousness, and by their bolder disregard for all law, order, and moraUty.

Their conduct and example gradu ally corrupted the natives, and impeded the labours of the Catholic Missionaries, who were at this time prosecuting their pious work in the wdds of Canada, with diligence and fervour. To check these abuses, and to protect the fur trade from various irregularities produced by these loose adventurers, an order was issued by the French government, prohibiting all persons, on pain of death, from trading in the interior of the country without a licence; and the use of spirituous liquors, if not abolished, was much restricted. Though this system checked for a time the licentiousness of these " wood rangers," it did not eventually abolish it ; for by degrees, according as the privilege of licensing became extended or relaxed, much of the abuses of the old system was revived and continued in another form.

The merchants holding the licence frequently employed the "Coureurs de bois" to undertake the long voyages at a small per centage, which was sufficient to whet their cupidity, and urge them to fraud and exaction in their dealings with the Indians. At last it was found necessary to establish fortified posts for the protection of the trade, and the restraint of these "rangers of the woods." The most important of these was at the Strait of Michilemackinac, which connects lakes Huron and Michigan. This was a depot for the merchandise, and a rendezvous for the traders. It is unnecessary to pursue further a picture of the French- Canadian traders ; but I may sum up by saying, that the French-Canadian merchant, in those primitive days of Canada, was at his trading-post a kind of commercial patriarch, surrounded with his Indian wives and children, and a numerous train of de pendents living in rude indulgence.

Chapter II

Hudson's Bay Company— its incorporation, and its privileges. This company was incorporated in perpetuity by Royal Charter, granted a.d. 1670, in the twenty second year of the reign of Charles II. The Charter was granted after much consideration of the national and commercial advantages of such a society ; and it was granted to men who had obtained no little distinction at that time. From the large space which this company now deservedly holds in the commercial relations of Great Britain —the great power it has acquired through its liberal and well regulated government, and through the enterprise, zeal, and skill of its functionaries, it may not be uninteresting to detad the names of the original corporators, and the object and terms of the Charter. It was granted to " Prince Rupert, the Duke of Albemarle, the Earl of Craven, Lords Arling ton and Ashley; Sirs John Robinson, Robert Vyner, Peter Colleton, Edward Hungerford, Paul Nerle, John Griffith, and Philip Car teret ; to James Hoyes, John Kirke, Francis Milling-ton, William Prettyman, and John Fenn, Esqrs. ; and to John Portman, citizen and gold smith of the City of London ;" giving them and their successors the sole commerce and trade of all those seas, bays, creeks, rivers, lakes, &c, in whatsoever latitude they shall be, that lie within the entrance of Hudson's Straits ; together with all the lands, trade, fisheries, mines, minerals, &c, on the confines of those seas, bays, lakes, and rivers, if not then possessed by any British subjects, or by the subjects of any other christian prince or state.

In a word, all those countries whose waters run into Hudson's Bay were included in the Char ter. The reason for creating this chartered cor poration is stated to be, that those individuals did at their own cost undertake an expedition to Hudson's Bay, for the discovery and prosecution of a trade in furs, minerals, and other important commodities ; and by such undertaking made such discoveries as may be of great advantage to the kingdom. The management of the corporation (which was invested with the usual corporate privileges, of possessing, and transmitting to their successors, lands, rents, jurisdictions, &c, and were to direct the voyages and exploring excursions, and the sale of merchandise), was centreed in a Governor and Committee of seven. Prince Rupert was the first Governor; and the first Committee consisted of Sirs J. Robinson, Robert Vyuer, and Peter Coleton ; with Messrs. Hoyes, Kirke, Millington, and Port man.

The Governor (or deputy governor for the time being), with the Committee, were to be appointed annually by election from among the members ; and were removable in case of misconduct. The whole of this vast and undefined region was to be reckoned as one of his Majesty's Colonies, and was called Prince Rupert's Land. The Governor and the Company were to be lords proprietors of the same for ever; empowered to make laws for the good government of the territory and the advance ment of trade ; to impose penalties and punishments, provided, however, that they were not un reasonable, and repugnant to the Laws of Eng land. No subject of the British Crown was to be al lowed to trade within the Company's territories without their written and sealed permission, under penalty of a forfeiture of the merchandise embarked : neither was even a royal licence to trade to be given to any one without the Company's consent.

As a proof of the wealth and importance of the Company, even in its infancy, it may be stated, that stock to the amount of one hundred pounds (a large sum in those days, if we consider the relative value of money then and now) formed the qualification for the possession of even a single vote. Individuals were allowed a plurality of votes in proportion to their possession of funded pro perty in the concern. The Company were empowered to appoint district governors, and other officers, to judge in all cases, civil and criminal, according to the Laws of England. They were also empowered to grant lands — give commercial privileges — build towns — employ, for the protection of their trade and territory, armed force — appoint commanders, and erect forts, &c. They were empowered, also, to transport to England all British subjects found trading in their territory, without their permission ; and furthermore all ad mirals, and other officers of the crown, were en joined to lend their aid in assisting the execution of the powers granted to the Company by the Charter.

Such is an outline of the privileges and powers to the greatest commercial association that ever appeared in England, next to the East India Company : an association that has kept on the even tenour of its useful and prosperous course, diffusing wealth at home, and spreading civilisation abroad — ransacking the wildest, the dreariest, and most ungenial regions of the earth to provide comfort and luxury and wealth for the people of England ; and pointing out to the benighted sa vage the means of improvement, comfort, and happiness. Though there were associations formed by French Canadians for the beaver trade so early as 1630, yet the French had no actual or permanent establishments, nor did they claim the right of occupation of any portion of the interior. It appears, from the history of Father Charlevoix and Hennepin, that, for some years after the date of the Charter, the French had no established trading posts even as far as Lake Superior ; neither had they any established possessions in the vicinity of Hudson's Bay.

So that the terms of the grant did not interfere with any previous right of others. Whatever pretensions may have been made by the French subsequently to the Charter to any portion of that extensive region, they were com pletely set aside on the conquest of Canada; and then the jurisdiction and possessions of the Com pany were confirmed, in all their former plenitude. Even after the establishment of American Indepen dence, none of the Hudson's Bay territories, or of the waters running into Hudson's Bay, were included in the lines assigned as the boundaries between the possessions of Great Britain and those of the United States. By the treaty of 1794, which permits the most perfect freedom of inter course and communication between the subjects of both nations throughout their respective do minions, an exception is made of the country within the limits of the Hudson's Bay Company (to be ascertained in conformity with their Char ter), from which the Americans are expressly ex cluded. In fine, the Charter has been sanctioned by various subsequent Acts of Parliament, and by treaties of peace.

Chapter III

British-Canadian Fur Trade— Establishment of the North- West Company — its organisation and operations — rivalry between it and the Hudson's Bay Company. For a long series of years the French Canadian traders found active competitors in the British ; and on the conquest of that country, in 1762, they became nearly extinct, the Hudson's Bay Company, and other British traders, monopolising almost the whole fur commerce of North America. In a few years the Canadian trade began to revive, but under British merchants and under a different system. The old French system of licences was abolished, as inconsistent with the principles of free trade ; and spirituous liquors were allowed as an article of barter, from a knowledge of the un governable propensity of the Indians to that luxury, which they would make any sacrifice of property to obtain.

Various expeditions were fitted out by separate individuals, and sometimes by separate rival partners, who pursued their own interests without fear or scruple, and seemed to have only two objects in view, — their own advantage and the injury of their competitors. The consequences were, licentiousness, feuds, and excesses of every kind in those regions so far distant from the reach of all legal restraint. The Indians, too, by intoxica tion, and the vicious example and incentives of the Coureurs des bois, and other agents, became quarrelsome, knavish, and reckless. At last, the natives, who were engaged by different contending parties to attack each other, threatened to make common cause and extirpate the traders. These accumulated evds, the result of excessive competition, brought the trade to the lowest ebb, and to save it from ruin several eminent merchants formed a junction, to carry it on in partnership, in 1783.

This plan seemed to work well ; and similar associations were subsequently formed with success. At last there was an amalgamation of all in one grand association; and this was formed in 1805, the famous North-West Company, which for many years exercised so much power, and threatened the destruction of the Hudson's Bay Company, which had been chartered since 1670. The management of this Company was vested in partners, who had various trading posts established far and wide through the interior. Several of the partners resided in Montreal and Quebec to manage the affairs of the Company ; they were called agents, and were persons of great importance : the other partners took their stations at the interior posts, where they remained throughout the winter, to superintend the intercourse with the various tribes of Indians, and were called ivintering partners.

The goods destined for this wide and wandering traffic with the Indians were stored in the Company's warehouses in Montreal, and thence conveyed by boats up the numerous rivers and lakes that intersect this vast region, and by portages, or land-carriage ways.* Though this Company was at first but a spontaneous association of merchants, yet when it became regularly organised, admission into it became extremely difficult. A candidate had to undergo a long probation, and to rise slowly by his merits. He began at an early age as clerk, and served an apprenticeship of seven * It must be observed, that portage means a land carriage way, when, in consequence of the impracticability of the rivers, from cataracts, or other obstructions, canoes, goods, and all must be borne overland, \intil another navigable part be reached. years, for which, besides his clothing, equipment, and expenses, he received £100.

His probation was generally passed in the interior trading posts, subject to all the uncertainties and hardships in cidental to a life in so wild a region. When he had served his apprenticeship, he received a salary commensurate with his deserts, and was eligible to a partnership in the Company, though years, perhaps his life, may have passed away before he attained that object of his toils and ambition. Most of the clerks were young men of good families from Scotland, — thrifty, hardy, bold, and persevering, and generaDy well calculated for the difficult duties they were required to discharge. The principal partners, or agents, who resided in Montreal and Quebec, formed a kind of commercial aristocracy. From early associations, and a community of pursuit and interest, the partners were closely banded together; and their union, energy, and wealth, gave them great influence with the government, which often procured immunity for crimes committed by their officials and servants.

They held a general meeting every summer at Fort Wdliam, near the grand portage, at the north-western extremity of Lake Superior. Here they discussed and arranged the affairs of the pre- B ceding year, and laid down the plans of operation for the next. Here too the clerks, and principal servants, assembled to receive their instructions; and a succession of festivities was kept up for several days. No system could be better devised to infuse activity into every department, and spread the influence of the Company ; and some idea may be formed of the extensive range which their operations embraced, from the circumstance that, in the plenitude of their power, they employed no less than 2000 voyageurs, or boatmen, at average wages of forty pounds a year each. They ex tended the Fur trade into regions previously un explored, and opened new and extensive markets for the commercial industry, enterprise, and manu facturing industry of the Empire, and so took for mal and permanent possession of districts not oc cupied by the subjects of any other power, among which the most important was Columbia.