Astoria

W >> Washington Irving >> Astoria


The Russian government had made representations to that of the United
States of these malpractices on the part of its citizens, and urged to
have this traffic in arms prohibited; but, as it did not infringe
any municipal law, our government could not interfere. Yet, still it
regarded, with solicitude, a traffic which, if persisted in, might give
offence to Russia, at that time almost the only friendly power to us. In
this dilemma the government had applied to Mr. Astor, as one conversant
in this branch of trade, for information that might point out a way
to remedy the evil. This circumstance had suggested to him the idea of
supplying the Russian establishment regularly by means of the annual
ship that should visit the settlement at the mouth of the Columbia (or
Oregon); by this means the casual trading vessels would be excluded
from those parts of the coast where their malpractices were so injurious
to the Russians.

Such is a brief outline of the enterprise projected by Mr. Astor, but
which continually expanded in his mind. Indeed it is due to him to say
that he was not actuated by mere motives of individual profit. He was
already wealthy beyond the ordinary desires of man, but he now aspired
to that honorable fame which is awarded to men of similar scope of mind,
who by their great commercial enterprises have enriched nations, peopled
wildernesses, and extended the bounds of empire. He considered his
projected establishment at the mouth of the Columbia as the emporium
to an immense commerce; as a colony that would form the germ of a wide
civilization; that would, in fact, carry the American population across
the Rocky Mountains and spread it along the shores of the Pacific, as
it already animated the shores of the Atlantic. As Mr. Astor, by the
magnitude of his commercial and financial relations, and the vigor
and scope of his self-taught mind, had elevated himself into the
consideration of government and the communion and correspondence with
leading statesmen, he, at an early period, communicated his schemes
to President Jefferson, soliciting the countenance of government. How
highly they were esteemed by that eminent man, we may judge by the
following passage, written by him some time afterwards.

"I remember well having invited your proposition on this subject,*** and
encouraged it with the assurance of every facility and protection which
the government could properly afford. I considered, as a great public
acquisition, the commencement of a settlement on that point of the
western coast of America, and looked forward with gratification to the
time when its descendants should have spread themselves through the
whole length of that coast, covering it with free and independent
Americans, unconnected with us but by the ties of blood and interest,
and enjoying like us the rights of self-government."

The cabinet joined with Mr. Jefferson in warm approbation of the plan,
and held out assurance of every protection that could, consistently with
general policy, be afforded. Mr. Astor now prepared to carry his scheme
into prompt execution. He had some competition, however, to apprehend
and guard against. The Northwest Company, acting feebly and partially
upon the suggestions of its former agent, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, had
pushed one or two advanced trading posts across the Rocky Mountains,
into a tract of country visited by that enterprising traveller, and
since named New Caledonia. This tract lay about two degrees north of the
Columbia, and intervened between the territories of the United States
and those of Russia. Its length was about five hundred and fifty miles,
and its breadth, from the mountains to the Pacific, from three hundred
to three hundred and fifty geographic miles.

Should the Northwest Company persist in extending their trade in that
quarter, their competition might be of serious detriment to the plans
of Mr. Astor. It is true they would contend with him to a vast
disadvantage, from the checks and restrictions to which they were
subjected. They were straitened on one side by the rivalry of the
Hudson's Bay Company; then they had no good post on the Pacific where
they could receive supplies by sea for their establishments beyond the
mountains; nor, if they had one, could they ship their furs thence to
China, that great mart for peltries; the Chinese trade being comprised
in the monopoly of the East India Company. Their posts beyond the
mountains had to be supplied in yearly expeditions, like caravans,
from Montreal, and the furs conveyed back in the same way, by long,
precarious, and expensive routes, across the continent. Mr. Astor, on
the contrary, would be able to supply his proposed establishment at
the mouth of the Columbia by sea, and to ship the furs collected there
directly to China, so as to undersell the Northwest Company in the great
Chinese market.

Still, the competition of two rival companies west of the Rocky
Mountains could not but prove detrimental to both, and fraught with
those evils, both to the trade and to the Indians, that had attended
similar rivalries in the Canadas. To prevent any contest of the kind,
therefore, he made known his plan to the agents of the Northwest
Company, and proposed to interest them, to the extent of one third, in
the trade thus to be opened. Some correspondence and negotiation ensued.
The company were aware of the advantages which would be possessed by
Mr. Astor should he be able to carry his scheme into effect; but they
anticipated a monopoly of the trade beyond the mountains by their
establishments in New Caledonia, and were loth to share it with an
individual who had already proved a formidable competitor in the
Atlantic trade. They hoped, too, by a timely move, to secure the mouth
of the Columbia before Mr. Astor would be able to put his plans into
operation; and, that key to the internal trade once in their possession,
the whole country would be at their command. After some negotiation and
delay, therefore, they declined the proposition that had been made to
them, but subsequently despatched a party for the mouth of the Columbia,
to establish a post there before any expedition sent out by Mr. Astor
might arrive.

In the meantime Mr. Astor, finding his overtures rejected, proceeded
fearlessly to execute his enterprise in face of the whole power of the
Northwest Company. His main establishment once planted at the mouth of
the Columbia, he looked with confidence to ultimate success. Being able
to reinforce and supply it amply by sea, he would push his interior
posts in every direction up the rivers and along the coast; supplying
the natives at a lower rate, and thus gradually obliging the Northwest
Company to give up the competition, relinquish New Caledonia, and retire
to the other side of the mountains. He would then have possession of
the trade, not merely of the Columbia and its tributaries, but of the
regions farther north, quite to the Russian possessions. Such was a part
of his brilliant and comprehensive plan.

He now proceeded, with all diligence, to procure proper agents and
coadjutors, habituated to the Indian trade and to the life of the
wilderness. Among the clerks of the Northwest Company were several of
great capacity and experience, who had served out their probationary
terms, but who, either through lack of interest and influence, or a
want of vacancies, had not been promoted. They were consequently much
dissatisfied, and ready for any employment in which their talents and
acquirements might be turned to better account.

Mr. Astor made his overtures to several of these persons, and three
of them entered into his views. One of these, Mr. Alexander M'Kay, had
accompanied Sir Alexander Mackenzie in both of his expeditions to the
northwest coast of America in 1789 and 1793. The other two were Duncan
M'Dougal and Donald M'Kenzie. To these were subsequently added Mr.
Wilson Price Hunt, of New Jersey. As this gentleman was a native born
citizen of the United States, a person of great probity and worth, he
was selected by Mr. Astor to be his chief agent, and to represent him in
the contemplated establishment.

On the 23d of June, 1810, articles of agreement were entered into
between Mr. Astor and those four gentlemen, acting for themselves and
for the several persons who had already agreed to become, or should
thereafter become, associated under the firm of "The Pacific Fur
Company."

According to these articles, Mr. Astor was to be at the head of the
company, and to manage its affairs in New York. He was to furnish
vessels, goods, provisions, arms, ammunition, and all other requisites
for the enterprise at first cost and charges, provided that they did
not, at any time, involve an advance of more than four hundred thousand
dollars.

The stock of the company was to be divided into a hundred equal shares,
with the profits accruing thereon. Fifty shares were to be at the
disposition of Mr. Astor, and the other fifty to be divided among the
partners and their associates.

Mr. Astor was to have the privilege of introducing other persons into
the connection as partners, two of whom, at least, should be conversant
with the Indian trade, and none of them entitled to more than three
shares.

A general meeting of the company was to be held annually at Columbia
River, for the investigation and regulation of its affairs; at which
absent members might be represented, and might vote by proxy under
certain specified conditions.

The association, if successful, was to continue for twenty years; but
the parties had full power to abandon and dissolve it within the first
five years, should it be found unprofitable. For this term Mr. Astor
covenanted to bear all the loss that might be incurred; after which it
was to be borne by all the partners, in proportion to their respective
shares.

The parties of the second part were to execute faithfully such duties as
might be assigned to them by a majority of the company on the northwest
coast, and to repair to such place or places as the majority might
direct.

An agent, appointed for the term of five years, was to reside at the
principal establishment on the northwest coast, and Wilson Price Hunt
was the one chosen for the first term. Should the interests of the
concern at any time require his absence, a person was to be appointed,
in general meeting, to take his place.

Such were the leading conditions of this association; we shall now
proceed to relate the various hardy and eventful expeditions, by sea and
land, to which it gave rise.

* Carver's Travels, Introd. b. iii. Philad. 1796.

**Carver's Travels, p. 360.

*** On this point Mr. Jefferson's memory was in error. The
proposition alluded to was the one, already mentioned, for
the establishment of an American Fur Company in the Atlantic
States. The great enterprise beyond the mountains, that was
to sweep the shores of the Pacific, originated in the mind
of Mr. Astor, and was proposed by him to the government.




CHAPTER IV.

Two Expeditions Set on Foot.--The Tonquin and Her Crew.--
Captain Thorn, His Character.--The Partners and Clerks--
Canadian Voyageurs, Their Habits, Employments, Dress,
Character, Songs--Expedition of a Canadian Boat and Its Crew
by Land and Water.--Arrival at New York.--Preparations for a
Sea Voyage.--Northwest Braggarts.--Underhand Precautions--
Letter of Instructions.

IN prosecuting his great scheme of commerce and colonization, two
expeditions were devised by Mr. Astor, one by sea, the other by
land. The former was to carry out the people, stores, ammunition, and
merchandise, requisite for establishing a fortified trading post at
the mouth of Columbia River. The latter, conducted by Mr. Hunt, was to
proceed up the Missouri, and across the Rocky Mountains, to the same
point; exploring a line of communication across the continent and
noting the places where interior trading posts might be established. The
expedition by sea is the one which comes first under consideration.

A fine ship was provided called the Tonquin, of two hundred and ninety
tons burden, mounting ten guns, with a crew of twenty men. She carried
an assortment of merchandise for trading with the natives of the
seaboard and of the interior, together with the frame of a schooner,
to be employed in the coasting trade. Seeds also were provided for the
cultivation of the soil, and nothing was neglected for the necessary
supply of the establishment. The command of the ship was intrusted to
Jonathan Thorn, of New York, a lieutenant in the United States navy,
on leave of absence. He was a man of courage and firmness, who had
distinguished himself in our Tripolitan war, and, from being accustomed
to naval discipline, was considered by Mr. Astor as well fitted to take
charge of an expedition of the kind. Four of the partners were to embark
in the ship, namely, Messrs. M'Kay, M'Dougal, David Stuart, and his
nephew, Robert Stuart. Mr. M'Dougal was empowered by Mr. Astor to act as
his proxy in the absence of Mr. Hunt, to vote for him and in his name,
on any question that might come before any meeting of the persons
interested in the voyage.

Besides the partners, there were twelve clerks to go out in the ship,
several of them natives of Canada, who had some experience in the Indian
trade. They were bound to the service of the company for five years, at
the rate of one hundred dollars a year, payable at the expiration of
the term, and an annual equipment of clothing to the amount of forty
dollars. In case of ill conduct they were liable to forfeit their wages
and be dismissed; but, should they acquit themselves well, the confident
expectation was held out to them of promotion, and partnership. Their
interests were thus, to some extent, identified with those of the
company.

Several artisans were likewise to sail in the ship, for the supply of
the colony; but the most peculiar and characteristic part of this motley
embarkation consisted of thirteen Canadian "voyageurs," who had enlisted
for five years. As this class of functionaries will continually recur
in the course of the following narrations, and as they form one of those
distinct and strongly marked castes or orders of people, springing up
in this vast continent out of geographical circumstances, or the varied
pursuits, habitudes, and origins of its population, we shall sketch a
few of their characteristics for the information of the reader.

The "voyageurs" form a kind of confraternity in the Canadas, like the
arrieros, or carriers of Spain, and, like them, are employed in long
internal expeditions of travel and traffic: with this difference, that
the arrieros travel by land, the voyageurs by water; the former with
mules and horses, the latter with batteaux and canoes. The voyageurs may
be said to have sprung up out of the fur trade, having originally been
employed by the early French merchants in their trading expeditions
through the labyrinth of rivers and lakes of the boundless interior.
They were coeval with the coureurs des bois, or rangers of the woods,
already noticed, and, like them, in the intervals of their long,
arduous, and laborious expeditions, were prone to pass their time in
idleness and revelry about the trading posts or settlements; squandering
their hard earnings in heedless conviviality, and rivaling their
neighbors, the Indians, in indolent indulgence and an imprudent
disregard of the morrow.

When Canada passed under British domination, and the old French trading
houses were broken up, the voyageurs, like the coureurs des bois, were
for a time disheartened and disconsolate, and with difficulty could
reconcile themselves to the service of the new-comers, so different in
habits, manners, and language from their former employers. By degrees,
however, they became accustomed to the change, and at length came to
consider the British fur traders, and especially the members of the
Northwest Company, as the legitimate lords of creation.

The dress of these people is generally half civilized, half savage.
They wear a capot or surcoat, made of a blanket, a striped cotton shirt,
cloth trousers, or leathern leggins, moccasins of deer-skin, and a
belt of variegated worsted, from which are suspended the knife,
tobacco-pouch, and other implements. Their language is of the same
piebald character, being a French patois, embroidered with Indian and
English words and phrases.

The lives of the voyageurs are passed in wild and extensive rovings, in
the service of individuals, but more especially of the fur traders.
They are generally of French descent, and inherit much of the gayety and
lightness of heart of their ancestors, being full of anecdote and song,
and ever ready for the dance. They inherit, too, a fund of civility and
complaisance; and, instead of that hardness and grossness which men in
laborious life are apt to indulge towards each other, they are mutually
obliging and accommodating; interchanging kind offices, yielding each
other assistance and comfort in every emergency, and using the familiar
appellations of "cousin" and "brother" when there is in fact no
relationship. Their natural good-will is probably heightened by a
community of adventure and hardship in their precarious and wandering
life.

No men are more submissive to their leaders and employers, more capable
of enduring hardship, or more good-humored under privations. Never are
they so happy as when on long and rough expeditions, toiling up rivers
or coasting lakes; encamping at night on the borders, gossiping round
their fires, and bivouacking in the open air. They are dextrous boatmen,
vigorous and adroit with the oar and paddle, and will row from
morning until night without a murmur. The steersman often sings an old
traditionary French song, with some regular burden in which they all
join, keeping time with their oars; if at any time they flag in spirits
or relax in exertion, it is but necessary to strike up a song of the
kind to put them all in fresh spirits and activity. The Canadian waters
are vocal with these little French chansons, that have been echoed from
mouth to mouth and transmitted from father to son, from the earliest
days of the colony; and it has a pleasing effect, in a still golden
summer evening, to see a batteau gliding across the bosom of a lake and
dipping its oars to the cadence of these quaint old ditties, or sweeping
along in full chorus on a bright sunny morning, down the transparent
current of one of the Canada rivers.

But we are talking of things that are fast fading away! The march of
mechanical invention is driving everything poetical before it. The
steamboats, which are fast dispelling the wildness and romance of our
lakes and rivers, and aiding to subdue the world into commonplace, are
proving as fatal to the race of the Canadian voyageurs as they have been
to that of the boatmen of the Mississippi. Their glory is departed. They
are no longer the lords of our internal seas, and the great navigators
of the wilderness. Some of them may still occasionally be seen coasting
the lower lakes with their frail barks, and pitching their camps
and lighting their fires upon the shores; but their range is fast
contracting to those remote waters and shallow and obstructed rivers
unvisited by the steamboat. In the course of years they will gradually
disappear; their songs will die away like the echoes they once awakened,
and the Canadian voyageurs will become a forgotten race, or remembered,
like their associates, the Indians, among the poetical images of past
times, and as themes for local and romantic associations.

An instance of the buoyant temperament and the professional pride of
these people was furnished in the gay and braggart style in which they
arrived at New York to join the enterprise. They were determined to
regale and astonish the people of the "States" with the sight of a
Canadian boat and a Canadian crew. They accordingly fitted up a large
but light bark canoe, such as is used in the fur trade; transported
it in a wagon from the banks of the St. Lawrence to the shores of Lake
Champlain; traversed the lake in it, from end to end; hoisted it again
in a wagon and wheeled it off to Lansingburgh, and there launched it
upon the waters of the Hudson. Down this river they plied their course
merrily on a fine summer's day, making its banks resound for the first
time with their old French boat songs; passing by the villages with
whoop and halloo, so as to make the honest Dutch farmers mistake them
for a crew of savages. In this way they swept, in full song and with
regular flourish of the paddle, round New York, in a still summer
evening, to the wonder and admiration of its inhabitants, who had never
before witnessed on their waters, a nautical apparition of the kind.

Such was the variegated band of adventurers about to embark in the
Tonquin on this ardous and doubtful enterprise. While yet in port and
on dry land, in the bustle of preparation and the excitement of novelty,
all was sunshine and promise. The Canadians, especially, who, with their
constitutional vivacity, have a considerable dash of the gascon, were
buoyant and boastful, and great brag arts as to the future; while all
those who had been in the service of the Northwest Company, and engaged
in the Indian trade, plumed themselves upon their hardihood and their
capacity to endure privations. If Mr. Astor ventured to hint at the
difficulties they might have to encounter, they treated them with scorn.
They were "northwesters;" men seasoned to hardships, who cared for
neither wind nor weather. They could live hard, lie hard, sleep hard,
eat dogs!--in a word they were ready to do and suffer anything for the
good of the enterprise. With all this profession of zeal and devotion,
Mr. Astor was not overconfident of the stability and firm faith of these
mercurial beings. He had received information, also, that an armed brig
from Halifax, probably at the instigation of the Northwest Company, was
hovering on the coast, watching for the Tonquin, with the purpose of
impressing the Canadians on board of her, as British subjects, and thus
interrupting the voyage. It was a time of doubt and anxiety, when
the relations between the United States and Great Britain were daily
assuming a more precarious aspect and verging towards that war which
shortly ensued. As a precautionary measure, therefore, he required
that the voyageurs, as they were about to enter into the service of
an American association, and to reside within the limits of the United
States, should take the oaths of naturalization as American citizens.
To this they readily agreed, and shortly afterward assured him that they
had actually done so. It was not until after they had sailed that he
discovered that they had entirely deceived him in the matter.

The confidence of Mr. Astor was abused in another quarter. Two of the
partners, both of them Scotchmen, and recently in the service of the
Northwest Company, had misgivings as to an enterprise which might clash
with the interests and establishments protected by the British flag.
They privately waited upon the British minister, Mr. Jackson, then
in New York, laid open to him the whole scheme of Mr. Astor, though
intrusted to them in confidence, and dependent, in a great measure, upon
secrecy at the outset for its success, and inquired whether they, as
British subjects, could lawfully engage in it. The reply satisfied their
scruples, while the information they imparted excited the surprise
and admiration of Mr. Jackson, that a private individual should have
conceived and set on foot at his own risk and expense so great an
enterprise.

This step on the part of those gentlemen was not known to Mr. Astor
until some time afterwards, or it might have modified the trust and
confidence reposed in them.

To guard against any interruption to the voyage by the armed brig, said
to be off the harbor, Mr. Astor applied to Commodore Rodgers, at that
time commanding at New York, to give the Tonquin safe convoy off
the coast. The commodore having received from a high official source
assurance of the deep interest which the government took in the
enterprise, sent directions to Captain Hull, at that time cruising
off the harbor, in the frigate Constitution, to afford the Tonquin the
required protection when she should put to sea.

Before the day of embarkation, Mr. Astor addressed a letter of
instruction to the four partners who were to sail in the ship. In this
he enjoined them, in the most earnest manner, to cultivate harmony and
unanimity, and recommended that all differences of opinions on points
connected with the objects and interests of the voyage should be
discussed by the whole, and decided by a majority of votes. He,
moreover, gave them especial caution as to their conduct on arriving at
their destined port; exhorting them to be careful to make a favorable
impression upon the wild people among whom their lot and the fortunes
of the enterprise would be cast. "If you find them kind," said he, "as
I hope you will, be so to them. If otherwise, act with caution and
forebearance, and convince them that you come as friends."