Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive

Theses and Dissertations

1968

History of the Upper Snake River Area to 1840

Louis J. Clements Brigham Young University - Provo

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BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Clements, Louis J., "History of the Upper Snake River Area to 1840" (1968). Theses and Dissertations. 4607. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4607

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HISTORYOFHISTORY OF THE UPPER SNAKE RIVERR AREA TO 1840

A thesis presented to the department of history brigham young university

in PartipartialfulpartialpartlalFulfulfillmentlmentament of the requirement for the degree master of arts

byT louis Jjo clements may 1968 PREFACE

sincere appreciation is expressed to all those who assisted with thisthisworkwork the research incentive was supplied by dr leroy R hafen and the upper snake river valley historical society special thanks should go to the members of my comitcommitteetee dr leroy R hafen dr milton V backman and dr eugene E campbell for their suggestions and encouragement in the research of this study appreciation goes to ricks college library staff for their kindness in allowing me the use of their collections of material especially useful in work in idaho history the residents of the upper snake river valley have been quite helpful in supplying information on events and dates special thanks and gratitude are expressed to my wife diane clements for typing this thesis and for giving me the moral support to help me complete this work

illlii TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

PREFACE Q a 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 illliiiliiki111

illustration 0 a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 0 0 59

MAP 0 a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 a 0 0 0 0 0 2

1 I1 PHYSICAL settiniosettingoSETTINGSETTINGo 0 0 0 0 II11 INDIANS OF THE UPPER SNAKE RIVER AREA 10 iliIII111 EARLY explorations OF THE WEST AND THEIR INFLUENCE 15

IV EXPLORERS AND FUR TRADERS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18

V ANDREW HENRY AND mortFORTPORT HENRY 0 115111.11 0 0 a 0 24

VI OVERLAND AND RETURNING ASTORIANS a 10 0 to 0 0 0 35

VII HUDSONS BAY COMPANY VERSUS AMERICAN TRAPPERS 0 48

VIII EAST AND WEST OF THE TETON RANGE 71

IX A BUSINESSMBUSINESS VENTUREE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 a 0 0 0 0 0 11 77

xeX THE DECLINING YEARS OF THE FURmur TRADE 0 0 0 0 0 a 87

XII conclusion 0 0 0 0 0 0 C 0 0 102

bibliography 0 9 0 0 10 0 a a 0 1eae 0 0 0 11 0 10 104

iv CHAPTER I1

PHYSICAL SETTING

the upper snake rivero as far as this study is concerned covers from the eastern borders of the state of idaho west to a line that would divide the state in two nearly equal parts and includes that part of the state of wyoming known as Jackjacksonsjaekjacksongssontssongs holehoieholeoboleo the counties of fremont teton power bonnevillcpe caribou bear lake 9 franklin oneidaonelda 9 bannock bingham

butte jefferson medMadmadisonmedisonisonop clarkclarkaclarkp leahilemhilemhip and custer in idaho and the county of teton in wyoming are tithinvithinwithin this areaareeareaoarcao starting from the eateast at the foot of the teton peaks is a large jacksonsjacksonejackson11 choloe loytoy area called Jackson s holehoieholoe itisit is surrounded by the teton 9 the snake 9 and the gros venireventre ranges of mountains with the continental divide of the rockies forming the eastern edge on the west side of the tetonstemons is pierres holehoieholeoboleo while standing in this basin and gazing eastward father desmet said this valley is situated at the foot of the three tetonstemons sharp peaked mountains of a prodiprodigiousgions heightheightsheightp rising almost perpendi- cularly more than loooo10000lopoo feet and covered with perpetual snow there are five of thenthemtheng but only three can be seen at any great distance ttltilml111 from these mountains one would descend to a broad flat valley through the middle of this valley flows the snake river it dividesdivides the lacintola4intoland into two completely different types of growth fertilepertile farm

lhiramshiramiram martin chittenden and alfred talbot richardson life S letters and travels of father pierre jean desmet Jjo g 1801180118718011873187 vol new po I1 ew york francis P harper 9 19051905y p 228

1 3 land produces right down to the eastern side of the riverrivero but there is a drastic change on the western sidebidesideodideo here sagebrush grows in abundance and lava flows make up the sceneryseenescenesceneryeryeryo nathaniel woethowyetho in 1834l834p while traveling

w through eastern idahoidahop described the lava areas by saying 0 0 0 the country through which we have traveled for these two days past has a strong volcanic appearance the streams occupy what appear to be but the cracclkseracra 1101ecieel01 ks of an over heated surface the rocks are blown up in blubbersblubblubberybers like a smiths cinders some rocks ten feetfeetthroughthrough are but a shell being hollowhollowshollowo A sub- stance abounds like bottle glass of ablabt the same weight not so trans- parent about as brittle the fracture is smooth and glossy with the excep- 142942 tion of the cracks as above 0 0 several large buttes stand out of the surrounding area to present themselves for landmarks rising out of the desert floor of the western part of this area are the sawtoothandsawtooth andthethe salmon river mountains 0 the valley has presented different views to the many people who traveled through itite father desmet in describingindescribing the area from fort hall northeastward up to henrys fork of the snake saidbaidbaldsaidasaidp this is unquestion- ably the most barren of all thezountainthe mountain deserts 0 it abounds in absinthe 9 cactuscactusp and all such plants and herbs as are chiefly found on arid landslandsa we had to resort to fishing for the support of life 9 and our beasts of burden were compelled to fast and pine for scarcely a mouthful of grass could be found during the eight days chichvhichwhich it took uisuin to traverse this wildernesswilderness31133

As contrast to this somewhat harsh look at the valley comes the

go af2fF G young edoedede 0 the correspondence and journals of captain nathaniel Jjo wyethifyethp 183161831 6 11 sources of the hishistoryory of oregonoregonp volvoivolo I1 Eueugeneeugeneaeugenepgenep oregon university pressapressppressv 18991899o18990 pop 161

chittendenjchittendenp Ppo 306 4 view of captain mevillebonnevilleBor as given through washington irvlngsirvingsirving0s penpeno this view was on the snake river plain as viewed from west to east in the wintertimewinterwintertimeotimeo mevillebonnevilleBor saidsaldsaidasaidp far away over the vast plainsplainseplainsp and up the steep sides of the lofty mountains the snowsnop lay spread in dazzling whiteness and whenever the sun emerged in the morning above the giant peakspeaksopearso or burst forth from among clouds in his middaymid day coursecoursey mountain and delldelideildelip glazed rock and frosted tree glowed and sparkled with sur- passing lustrealustreo the tall pines seemed sprinkled with a silver dustadustdustp and the willowswillowwillowspsp studded with minute icicles reflecting the prismatic rayso brought to mind the fairy trees conjured up by the caliphs storytellerstory tellertelierteilertellerdtellerp 4 to adorn his vale of diamonds 0

charles preusspreussepreussp who was traveling with john coC fremont in 1843

A described the area west of fort hall by saying p wild councountrytryltryt how 0090oo old man vulcan has played havoc here 0 0 0 the united states is structured geographically into seventeen specific areas with most states lying only in one of the areasareasoareano however the upper snake river country is covered by four of these areas s 1 the great basinbasinabasinp 2 the middle rockiesrocklrockiespRockiesp 3 the northern rocklessrockiesprocklesqRockiRocklesqesp and 4 the snake river plainblainoplaino each of these fourdour regions stretch beyond the borders of idahoidahop but they do come together within the areaareaoarcao there are several rivers that traverse the upper snake river area ofwhichof which thesnakethe snake is the largest and most important 0 As a power

4 4washingtoncwashingtonwashington irvingirvingsirvingp the adventures of captain mevillebonnevilleBor new yorkyorks Ggo Ppo Putnaputnamsputnamgputnamsrmsa sons I1l868p po 1811810 acharles5charlescharlescheriescherles preusspreussepreussp exploring with fremontofremontvFretremontomontomontv ededo edwin Ggo and elizabeth koK gudde normantnormsnnormannormans university of oklahoma bressopressppresso 1958p1958 ppo 63630 gverdis erdisardis fisher ededoo the idaho encyclopedia celceicaldwelleCaldwello idaho 2 the caxton Priftprintersers ltd op 19j81938o19380 ppo 160160igo 5 river the snake ranks with the greatest in the world 0 its vast volume of water has a total fallgfaligfollycaily from source to mouthmouthpmouthy of more than one milemllemilco it is a very rapid stream varying from one hundred to two hundred yards widedideowideo its bed is gravel and the banksbankspbanksy for the most partpartapartp are of the same materialmaterialematerialomaterialolalolaio occasionally a thin soil covers thisthispthiap but it is only a partial covering even in the slower areasareasoareano

the snake river was first known as the lewis river y with the southern fork taking on the name of the mad river and the northern fork taking the name of henryhenryo later wilson pricepriceshunthuntsHunt was known to refer to 7 the river as canoe river 0 as this was where hemadehamade his trip by water the exact date when the river becameknownbecame known astheagtheas the snake is not knownknownyknownly but it is generally accepted that itcameit came from the large numbers of snake indians that frequented the area around theriverthe riverdiverrivero the snake indians were really shoshonisShoshshoshonisponis but their actions caused the white man to call them by a different namecameonameo father desmet saidosaldosaidsald they are called snakes because in their poverty they are reduced like reptiles to the condition of digging in the ground and seeking nourish Q 8 8 ment from roots 0 however alexander ross saidsaldsaidosaldo ititaroseidarosearose from the characteristics of these indians in quickly concealing themselves when once discoverdiscovereddiscoveredoedo they seem to glide away in the grassgrassygrasso sagebrush and 119 rocks and disappear with all the subtlety of a serpent 0 the snake rivers name coming from these indians could probably have as minymanyminyany different versions of its origin as there were early travelers in the area

7phillipphillip ashton rollins ededoebedoe the DiscodiscoveryverZ of the oregon trail robert stuarts narratives new york edward eberstadt & sons 193501935o1935 Ppo 290 c 1 amiles8miles oregon miles cannon 0 the snake river in history the quarterly off ore historical socleSociesocietyoso tyo XX march 1919o191901919 Ppo 330 91bid9ibid 6 the source of the north henryshenry0shenryks fork of the snake river is some 700020007p000 feet above sea level in the mountains west of yellowstone parkparko it descends rapidly through island parks forest to enter a wide valley near the present day city of ashtonashtouo here it winds in a south westerly direction nearly to the borders of oregohooregon then the river turns northward to continue its journey out of the statestathostatoo the north fork is about seventy miles in length from its head until it joins the south fork just north of rigbyrigbyo idaho 0 the main rivers that make up the warm drainage of the north fork are the buffalo river p fall riverriger 9 and the two forks of the teton river 0 the source of the south fork of the snake river is in the grand teton and yellowstone parks of ifyomingowyomingoWyomingo the river flows southward through the Jacksonjacksonsjacksonejackson22 s hole country for several miles and then turns westward into idahoidahoe the river here is practically impassable and caused many a traveler to choose another routeroutedrouteo the standestanceotancedistancedi traveled by the river from its head until the two forks meet is nearly one hundred and fifty miles 0 its main tributariestributaries are the hoback and grey rivers 0 the snake river as a whole covers a distance of 1000to 000ooo miles anddrains109000and drains 109p000 milesomileno to the larger tributariestributaries of the snake rise out of the rockiesrookies and descend rapidly to the main vallebovalleyo most of them have a general east to west flowflocoflowo A contrast appears on the western side of the valleyvailey here the rivers flow in an easterly direction and generally sink in the lava desert rather than forming tributariestributaries of the inakosnakesnako

the main flowers are the syringsyrisyrlsyringassyringapsyringavngaongapngepav columbine 0 western butterbuttercupbuttercupocupo bitterrootbitterrootsoso prickly peardpeerpearpearo mountain phloxophloxp white dogdogydogg larkspurplarkspurv mountain daisy wild hollyhock fawn lily and white lily snapdragon violetvioletavioletp

lofisherlofisher ppo 60600goo 7 golden rodd yarrow p sunflowersunflowero english harebell p supinesupineo sweet pea sweet williamwilliamo bluebell indian paintbrushpaintbrusho and variousfernsvarious fernsfernsofernao 11 due to the semiarid casteestoastoest to the landlandalandp there is a large group of shrubs and bushes that struggle for existenceexistencesexistenceo some of these are the hawthorn berry 0 chokeeherrychokecherrychokecherryo huckleberry 0 elderberryelderberryp and serviceberryserviceberryo other shrubs would include the greabegreasegreasewoodogreasewoodgwooddwoodo rabbitrabbitbrushrabbitbrushobrush and several 12 varieties of kageosageo there is a great variety of treeslintretreeseslinin the mountainsmountainshmountainmountainspsp valleyvaileyvalleysvalleyspsp and desert areas of eastern idaho and jacksons holehoieholeoboleo in the mountain areas are the evergreenevergreenseverevergreenspgreenssp with firpfir cedar spruced and larchlarchodarcho descent to lower areas brings a variety of willows and trees such as the cotton woodwoodawoodp box eldereiderelderaelderp and aspenasperoaspeno 13 donald mackenzie gives a good description of the animal life of the upper snake river area in 181818180 he seidseld woods and valleyvaileyvalleysvalleyspsp rocks and plainsoplainsyplainsky rivers and ravines alternately met us but altogether it is a delightful countrycouAtry e there ananimals1sas of etwyeawy lasselass rove about undisturbed 0 wherever there was a little blainoplaino the red deer were seen grazing in herds about the rivers and where thretharethore was a sapling the ingenious and industrious beaver was at workworko otters sported in the eddies the wolf and the fox were seen sauntering in quest of prey on the spreading branches of stunted pines sat the raccoon secure 6 the badger sat quickly looking from his mound and in the numberless ravines p among bushes laden with fruit the blackblacky brownbrownabrownp and grizzlybeargrizzly bear was seenseeno the mountain sheep and goatgoategoatp white as snow blowzedbrowzed on the rocks and

merrill D bealobealbeai A history of southeastern idaho caldwell idaho the caxton printersPrinterprinterspsp ltdltdolado 192p1942v Ppo 31u31 12ibid Ppo 3233323303233332 33330 131bid131ibidopbid Ppo 33 8 ridgesridgesp and the bighorn species ran among the lofty cliffcliffsso eagleseagl6seagltes and vultures flew above the rivers 0 0 0 e hordes of wild horses were likewise seen 1114H h

other animals of the area include the mooseemooseomoose 0 lion bobcatbobcatp cougarcougarscougaro coyotecoyotescoyoteo lynxlynxolyndo marten weaselvseaselyweasely minkminko skunk p civetzcivetcivetp squirrelsquirrsquirrelssquirrelpeloeioelp chipchipmunkchipmunkschipmunkomunko and ratsretsraise birds found there are the condoracondorp wean gulle davenpravenravenp crowcroggcrowg owl 9 hawkhawkehawkp woodpeckwoodpeckerwoodpeckerswoodpeckeroeroerg grebe meadow larklarkalarkp magpiemagpiesmagpiep black birdbirdp flickflickeroflickeryero cowbirdscoveovcowbirdpcowbirdqcowbirdp robing bluebirdbluebirdsbluebluebirdpbirdp plowerplowersplowerp curlew sparrosparrowsparrowesparrowpwp lewislewisy snowbird weallowmeallow linnet y crane p muchenmudhen pelican hummingbird 0 snipe p 1 and fisherfishero 15 the climate of the area varies considerably with winters of wind and snow and mild summers as isistypicalisotypicaltypical of mountain areas 0 in general the winters are mildmildamildp as theretheye is an encircling protection of mountains which keep the blizzardsblibil ards ofcanadaof canada otoout with a precipitation level of about eighteen inches and ashertashort erogrogrowing season 0 there is a battle between the different flora for survival peter skene ogden sums up thesnakethe snake river country in a letter written at fort vancouver on the loth of kugustaugustaugusto 1826t826o directed to his superiors at the Hudsohudsinushudsonushudson0anosnus bay Headquarterheadquartersheadquartersoso snake country report 182526 ist the snake country is bounded on the north by the columbia waters on the south by the missourieMissourimissouriepep on west by the spanish territories and the east by the saskatchewan tribestribesotribuso and2nd the principle stream is the south branch of the columbia three miles above fort nez perces establishment and 380 miles from cape disappointment p its length may be calculated at about 500 miles 0 breadth an 18 of a milemllemilejmalej it can be navigated with boats or smaller craft p but from its winding course too great a loss of

141 cecil Wwo mackenziemackenzieeMackenzimackenziepep donald mackenzie eineelbeeingking of the northwest los AngelessAngeleangelestangelessangeleseangelesgsg ivan deachdeachadeachp jrjroajro 1937193p Ppo 1181180 beai15bealbeal p 323323.32300230023332 33oao 9

time would be sustained 0 on the north side 7 minor streams discharge into itpitqinq and on the south 11 total 190igo see chartchartocearto thisthibethis chart has not been tretratracedtzetracedolcedol03 ard3rd the country mountainous with barren plains 0 the soil in general grayishgreyish sandosandsandy its vegetable productions on the lower parts of the south branch three different kinds of roots are abundantabundantoabundanto ath4th animalsls fur bearingbeeringbearingsbearingp beaverrbeaverobeaverg ottersottersp woles & muskratsoMuskratmuskratsgSosg of any other kind none and the latter scarcescarcenscarceo snows ath5th climate variablevariablesvariableovariavarlableo in the mountains cold with perpetual 9 in the lower country heat in the summer season great 0 winter at somegome beasonseasonseasons coldeoldcoid ae 1610 ath6th posts none 0 0 0

igeeo Eeo rich edepedoped peter skene ordensagdensogdens snake countrycoMtzr Journaljournalspjournalsqsp 26 londongdong 7 1824251824 25 and il2318226 londonolondonsLondontdons the hudsonss bay record society 0 a7v01950 ppo 262 T

UPPER SNAKE riveeRIVER CHAPTER II11

INDIANS OF THE UPPER SNAKE RIVER AREA

tribes of occupancy

there were four tribes of indians that made eastern idaho their home during the fur trade eraereo these tribes were the bannacksBannacks snakessnakesp Tutukarikastukarikaspkarikas and lemhislemkislemhiso there were some general characteristics that were common to all of the tribes 0 they had a real pride in themselves and looked down on the white man because he did things that were con rideredsidered by the indians to be work fit for squadssquaws only from childhood upwards men and was the were taught to fight 0 it considered an event of great pride to be viewed as a warrior who was looked upon with envy by the others weakness was not tolerated inthein the white man or in the indians themselvesthemselthemselvesoveso the tribe was organized on a family basis in which the only one who was allowed more than one wife was the chiefchiefochieco A class situation was observed in which the indian knew his positionpositionandand dressed accordingaccordinglyaccordinglyolyoiyo women were treated as slaves and taughttotaughteughtaughtttoto be subservient to their husband and brothertobrothersobrotherso meat was the mainstay of the indians lifeilfelifeelifep although he would

H supplement his diet with berries and roots inthein the summertime 0 he was taught early how to fight and to hunto the buffalo were plentiful and even though indian weapons were primitive the red men devised means of driving the animals towards mass slaughter in natural canyons

10 it11 or they killed with their arrows and spears rabbits elk 9 goats 9 squirrelsquirrelssquirrelspsp deer anteloanteioantelopeantelopesantelopeppedpep bear beaverbeaverrbeaverp and any animal that they could catch or kill made up their dietdieto the IndiansIndiindiansoindians9ansO9 reltreligionreltgiongion was built around superstitionsuperstitionssuperstitione if anything bad occurred it was because of the evil spirits and converslyconverconverselysly if som- ething good happenedhaphappenedopenedo dances were performed to evoke the good spirits for events such as warwarpwarg the hunthuntahuntp or a marriage A religious type of ritual was followed by all children as they approached adolescence to prepare them for adult lifeilfelifeodifeo an elaborate marriage ceremony was performed to ensure a happy and successful union and a death ceremony that would guarantee the departed a rapid and happy entrance to his heavenly world 0 with these general characteristics in mind it may be good now to take the individual tribes and discuss their differences and actual areas of influenceoinfluenced

bannack the name t Bannabannackclelckel is of shoshonishoshoneShoshoni origin bampebamppbampflkampfl meaning 11haizohair andzackandnackandend nack meaning a backward motionmotlonmotionsmotiono the word bennockbannock is sometimes used to denote this tribe 9 but the previous form is preferredpreferpreferredoredonedo the

mg bannacksBannacks were feared by the neighborlneighborsneighboriiig tribeseribestrtbebo they were heartless 9 cruel 9 and bloodthirsty the men were among the best looking of indians y while their women were noted as being the ugliest of the western tribestribesotribuso the bannacksBannacks claimed the area between the Portportneufportneutneufneutneur mountains and raft rivarrivbrriveroriv&ro peter skene ogden in 1826 reportedsomereported some 1500 men with four chiefs in the Portportneufneuf riewrivwriverbiver country he described them as noted

ijohnjohn Eeo beesoreeso idaho Chronchronolomchronologyoolom nomeclaturenomenclature bibliographbibliographyz woW chicaGhicachicagoiroizoszo Bbo conkey company p 1918po1918 Ppo 53 0 12

11 horse thieves 0 the baniqued were said by him to live in constant fear of the saskatchewan tribestribesotribuso these indians made annual trips to taos 2 spanish to trade and steal horseshorsesohorseson osborne russell in the fall of 1834 reported 250 lodges of bannacksBannacks wintering near fort hallhailhalihallobalio 3 by 1860 the figures reported were 10004 bannacksBannacks in position on the oregon and california trails to cause trouble to the travelerstravelersetravelerse

snake the derivation of the snake name has been discussed in the first chapter with regard to its usage as a river namecameonameo the main camping ground of the snake indians was near the junction of the snake river and henryhenrys s forkforko they roamed at will through most of the snake river plain in the fall of 18341834p osborn russell notes that there was a village of snakes camped on blackfootcreekblackfoot creek some twentyfivetwenty five miles 5 northeast of fort hallhalihailhallohelio there were sixty lodges in this villvillagevillagervillageoagboageo james douglasdouglaspdouglasbDouglasp while at fort hall 9 sent a letter to george simpson of the hudsonsHudsons bay company describing the life of the indianindiana douglas saidbaidbaldsaidasaidp panaksPanakpanakspPapanaesnaksSp shoshonesShoshoneshoshonespShoshonesbhonesSp and shoshokosShoshokos living with each other on terms of amitioamityamityo A poor and oppressed race but afterefter obtaining fire arms have risen to occupy respectable position among others equestrian and exceedingly eraticbratic peoplepeopleopeopledst6sta by 1848 it was reported that the

iehliehp ppe 2632630 30sborne30sborneosborne russellbussellrussellarussellpRussellp journal of a trapper boise idaho syms york company incinelneincog 192119219 ppo 14laoiaoiho140

bealabealdbealg ppe 48 0 5russellbrussellrussello Ppo 13 0 6eaeeo Eeo richariehprichq milrumclrumcloughlin9sashli2shlinsn1s fort vancouver letters 182518253838 company 11 V hudsonsHudsons bay seriesserles p volvoivolo toronto the champlain society 1941 p 27980279 80 13 snake indians were a very treacherous tribe people passing through the area had to keep a close watch on them and see that a guard was posted each evening to keep watchwetchwatch7watcha 7 it was soon after this that the two principle chiefs of the snakes died of some unknown disease immediatelylately after their deaths the tribe scattered over the country in small villages no new leader arose who was strong enough to get them Q togethertogetherptogetherp and they rapidly fell into degradation 80

karikastukarikasTu the name tukuarikasTukuarikas comes from tukutukuftukua meaning mountain sheep and it arikaarike meaning 11 eat the common name of sheb11 sheepeaterssheepeaterdSheepeaterspeeters came from this 97 these indians were driven to the mountains by the blackfeetblackfeetp so they existed mainly by eating the bighornbig horn they lived in the rocks and eavescaves of the higher areas dressing in the furs and skins of the mountain sheep their home at one timevastime waswes in the yellowstone national parkparkaparkp but they moved and were mostly known to reside in the salmon river

mountains 0

lemhislemkis these indians received their name from the book of mormon it was given to them by the momonmormon indian missionaries in 1855 at the time lewis and darkclark came to the leahilemhi country in 1805 there were about fjfiveve hundred shoshonisShoshonis occupying the land later bands of shoshonisShoshonis

tukuarikasTukuarikas p and bannacksBannacks gathered in the area east of the salmon river here they all came under the care ofchiefof chief tendoy so extensively did

ajames7jamesjames doD milleraillerymillery early oregon scenes A pioneer narrativenarrativesNarrativettives 1 the quarterly of oregon historical societysocsoe XXXI 1930 61 brussell8russellusselussellplp p 146 grees p 116 14 they intermarry that in 1900 there were no full bloods of the original tribes left

tribes of migration

blackfeet Siksiksikasikatsikal is the indiansindians11 name for the blackfeet sibSississisissillsissellsill means

1 11109110 biablablackblackablack1cielclelciet and kah means foot 11 they made a habit of burning the country to help in their hunting of game and to cover their tracks their feet became black from walkingthroughwalkingwaiking through the ashes and thusoshusothus they came up with the blackfoot connotation they were hostile to white men and other indians and wandered extensively throughout the northwest their camping grounds were in the mariasmarlasmardasmarkas river valley in montana and from here they made their raids into wyoming and idaho they were the most feared of all the indian tribes lyby thetrappersthe trappers other indians knew they were in for a fight when the blackfeet arrived on the beenesceneseenescaneosceneo there will be many references made toahetoabeto the actions of the blackfeet throughout this thesis

crow the crow indians inhabited the area of the wind river mountains in wyoming and north to the yellowstone river they were proud treach- erousverous insolent and brave when they possessed a superior advantage but when placed in the opposite situation they were equally humble sub missivesmissivep and cowardly they were always prey to the raiding Blickblackfeetfeet and at times would readily join the trappers in expeditions against their common foe they often came to the eastern valleys of idaho to hunt and were a common sight at the trapperstrappers11 rendezvous

loibideoibid p 56560 CHAPTER IMiiiodiio

EARLY explorations OF THE WEST AND THEIR INFLUENCE

earleariearly explorations

the early explorers of the west can be divided into four nation- 1 alities 0 francis drake sailing under the english flag in 1579152915790 plun- dered the spanish of mexico drake 9 his ship laden with loot felt a route around the northern part of america would suit his purpose better than trying to dodge the spanish to the south he explored and named the coast above san francisco 9 giving the british one of their claims to what later became the states of washington oregon and idahoidahoo in 1602 sebatian vizcainoVisscainocalnoeaino 2eailing2 sailing for the spanish made his way along the lower california coastcoasto A strong storm made him take refuge in a protective baybeybayobeyo one of his shipsshipsbecamebecanebecame separated and went on uetheuptheup the coast landing somewhere in oregon this gave the spanish their first real claim to the area in 1724 the russians began their explorations in alaska and southwardsouthsouthwardssouthwardowardo one of peter the greats last acts was to call out of retirement a naval officer named vitus bering bering was sent across the continent of russia tolitotol&totold to build a ship andend commanded to find whether or not a land passage linked asiaasla4sia to north america 0 in two

idavidcdaviddavid lavender land of giants garden city nevnewnow lorkrorkyorkyorks double- day & company incinoinco 1958 Ppo Ilo101 2horaseorase Sso lyman history of oregon vol I1 new yorks the north pacific publishing co9coacoocop 1903t1903 p 200202200 202 015 16 separate voyages he made his way along the coast of asia and then north america 0 although he did not see the columbia river he did go far south along the american coast there may have been others who preceded bering to the strait that bears his name but he is given the official recognition for discovering itito thethespanishspanish were alarmed at the russian advance and the presence of british ships in growing numbers in the pacific areasareasoareano their reaction to this pressure was to pushthepush the settlement of californiacaliforniaocalifornianCaliforniao missions were started andaridazid by 1776 there was a mission at san franciscofiranciscoo in 1741774 juan perebpereaperez sailed north and stopped atatlwhatwhat he named san lorenzo on vancouver islandislando this settlement was later called nootka in 1775 bruno hecetaceceta commendedcommanded en expedition of two ships to the north at the conclusion of this trip a formal declaration of possession of the north- west was made by spain 0 one ship of this expedition got as far north as the southern tip of alaskaalaskaoalaskan the english were on the scene again in 1778 captain james cook was delegated to examine the northwest coast of the americasamerioasoAmerioaboaso he anchored and named nootka sound and island 0 john ledyard was with cook here and being an american was to give somssome claim to his country later ledyard published a journal oftheodtheof the trip that gave a lot of popularity to the area and caused many to become interested in obtaining itito cook on this trip continued around the worldworldoworldon by 1785 interest was growingavthegrowing in the uses of the northwestnorthwestsnorthweste james hanna felt that a tradetredeatradeabrade could be established between the north- westwest and the riches ofchinaof chinechina the next ybaryear john meares aiaaxaim englishman had establisheddoUblished himself as a trader at nootka sound the bestbeat american

kahavenderbavendervenderlavender 9 Ppe 880 17 claim came in 1792 when robert grey made his way into the mouth of the columbia river and named the stream e soon there were ships of many nations traveling up andend down the pacific coastcoasto

influence on the aperuper snakeriversnake river area in the british colonies of eastern america the period from 1600- 1700 was a period of intense struggle for survivalsurvivalsbursurvivalosurvivalo the knowledge that land existed in the northwest so farfarawayawayeway could hardly have caused any

excitement 0 the 1700s1700 brought in a race by many of the countries to find new lands to claimclaimoalaimo since transportation of anydistanceanyeny distance was only undertaken by water 9 there was little cchanceaneeenee snee that anybody would explore the west by landlando each of the early explorers of the pacific coast brought back a new tale of the northwest andvhatand whatwhet could be obtained therethereotherdo As soon as the countries realized thatthet no newnow land areas like mexico and peru rich with gold were to beroundbe found they began to look at the other assets of the landlando the use of harbors to trade with china became an important consideration a the need of the lumber of the northern areas was essential to the spanish building in californiacaliforniaocalifornianCaliforniao then the rich fur areas began to be developdevelopeddevelopedoedo the first overland explorations were a result of the knowledge of the riches of the northwestnorthwestenorthwestoNorthwesto alexanderalexandermackenziemackenzie reached the pacific overland in 179317930 A faster and more efficient system of getting to these riches helped to hurry others 6nanoneong it is conceivable that if the first explorers by water had not comeecomecomeq the exploration and development of the northwest could possibly have been delayed by fifty years CHAPTER IV

EXPLORERS AND FURmurmor TRADERS

lewis and darkclark

meriweather lewis and william darkclark were commissioned by thomas jefferson to explore the louisiana territory he explained to them

M 0 0 the object of your mission is to explore the missouri river & such principal stream of it as by is course & communication with the waters of the pacific ocean may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce tt lewis and clark assembled boats and men by may of 180418040 darkclark left st 2 louis on may 13139 1804 and lewis caught up with him the next day they continued up the missouri river until they arrived at the three forks

of the river in montana 0 at the three forks in montana the following is recorded in

t11 lewislewiss journal p 0 0 0 the Sso Eeo forkofdorkoffork of themissourithe missouri which we called gallitinsGallitins river in honor of albert gallitinsocretarygallitingallatinGalgaigellitin secretary of the trea-

sury 0 0 0 the middle fork we called maddisons river in honor of james maddison the secretary of state andthesand theSthe so wioW fork we called jeffersons river in honor fofefofjof that illustrious peresionagepercsonage thomas jefferson president of the united states MJ they pushe&onpushed on from here because

ireubenreuben gold thwaites ed original journals of the levislewis & 1804180418060l806oo new yorks press darkclark expedition 1804180618060 VII antiquarian ltdltdolado 1959t1959 p 24750247 50 2ibidbibid 160igo abid abidtbid I1 ppo 16 ibidtbid 9.9 IIilg11911 p 280280 18 19 sacajawea was beginning to recognize the area and knew that they were about to cross the mountains and be able to gaze upon the waters of the columbiacolumbiaocolumbianColumbiao lewis working in an advance partyperty made his way up the mountains until on august izy12 1805i805o he waswasp from his position on the leahilemhi pass able to see the waters that would lead thethem to the pacificpacifice for his first impression of idaho lewis states thus far I1 had accomplished one of those great objects on which my mind has been unalterably fixed for many years 9 judge then of the pleasure I1 felt in allaailaaliaallalyingallcaiyinglying my thirst with this pure and ice cold water which issues from the base of a low mountain or hill of gentle ascent for i-a milemllemileo the mountains are high on either hand butileavecbutleavebutI leave this gap at the head of this rivulet through which the road passespasseropasseso here I1 halted a few minutes and rested myself 0 0 after refreshing ourselvesourselveso we proceeded on to the top of the dividing ridge from which I1 discovered immencekimmence ranges of high mountains still to the west of us with their tops partially covered with snowsnowosnowa I1 now defendeddeedecended the mountain about 34 of a mile which I11 found much steeper than on the opposite sidedsidesidep to a handsome bold runing creek of cold cleaiclear waterbaterowatero here I1 first tasted the water of the great columbia riverrivero in a short time they were able to find the main band of sacajaweas people and a group was persuaded to go back into montana to help clark and the main part of the explorers to come over the passpasso clark now set out to explore the possibilities of making canoes to go down the salmon river 0 after talking totheto the indians and gazing upon the turbulence of the river himselhimselffv he came to the decision to take a nezneemeemez perce route over the lolotraillololoio1010 trailtrall this meant traveling one hundred and forty miles by packpaekpackepacko they endured much hardship in leaving idaho as there were early snows and the mountains were extremely highhighohagho the expedition made its way over the mountains and with the help of the nez perce indians were able to make canoes 0 then they proceeded down the clearwater riverbiverriverariverp down a small portion of the snake river 0 and

ideoidoo IIup11 Ppo 339343339 343 20 5 down the columbia until on november 7 9 1805 they sighted the pacific after taking their time to explore the area around the mouth of the columbia and to make friendly overtures to the indians there they set out for home in march of 1806 they retraced their steps for most of the way and found that the return trip through the mountains on lololoio1010 trail was easier than the previous fall they left idaho on june 29 1806 but their influence was felt longer in the friendly relations with the indians and the information of the fur trade that they took back the rest of their trip was downstream on the missouri and was almost uneventful the one unfortunate happening was the killing of a blackfoot indian on the 27th of july the blackfoot was attempting to steal guns from the lewis party and he was shot 6 this incident is blamed for the hostility of the blackfeet from then on to trappers or any whites who came up the missouri

on march 339 1807180 congress grantedlewisgrantegranted lewisdLewis and clark 1600 acres of land each and 320 acres to each of their men the men were each given double pay for their efforts 7 some of the men were still in the wilderness and had a hard time collecting one of these men was john colter

john colter thomas james describes john colter at the age of thirty five as being five foot ten with an open ingenious and pleasing countenance Q of the daniel boone stamp 8 he was a member of the lewis and clark

5ibid9edpidp ililiiIII111 p 210 61bidid V p 22322344 adonald7donalddonald jackson ed letters of the lewis and darkderkclarkclerk expedieppediex tion with related documents 178318517831282 71854185 urbanaurbanaiurbanacUrbanatbanai university of illinois press 1962 p 3778377 8 Q bthomas8thomasthomas james three years among the indians and mexicans philadelphia and new york JBJ B lippincott company 1962 p 29 21 expedition on the return journey colter decided he was not ready to join the calm and easy life of proper civilization in william clarisclaresciaresclarks journal of august 15 1806 the following is recorded colter one of our men expressed a desire to join some trappers who offered to become shearers with chimchlmlchuml and furnish traps ae&c&e the offer faasfwascwasj a very advantagiousadvantageous one to him his services could be dispenseddispenced with from this down and as we were disposed to be of service to any one of our party who had performed their duty as well as had done g we agreed to him priviledgeledge provided colter allow the privi 9 no one of the party would ask or expect a similar permission 1 colter left the expedition to become one of the most talked about explorers of the yellowstone and surrounding areas there is no exact record of the country that he explored but from the descriptions he gave it is felt that he spent most of the time in the area that came to be known as mcolterscoiMCCololtersters hellheliheiihello it is thought by some that the area he discovered was a region of thermal disturbance near the forks of the shoshone river to colter probably spent some time in the island park area of idaho as it borders on the yellowstone country it is known that on his way down the missouri in 1810 he was met by andrew henry and convinced to return to guide their party to the three forks country of montana this he did and almost lost his life in a run from the blackfeet indians his companion was killed and colter was given a chance to ncenoeracewoe for his lifeilfelifeodifeo he was able to hide from the indians and survived he had to sue to get his pay from meriwether lewis and received 37760327603776011377.601137760377.60 and his

9thwaitesthwaites V p 341 lnerrilllNerrill Jjo mattes behind the legend of colters hell the early exploration of yellowstone national parkperkparko the Missismississippisipai valley historical review XXXVI 19491949g 2556255 6

IIiijacksonjackson Ppo 56756256705620 22 land for the expedition of 180418040

david thompson david thompson was one of the most brilliant of all of the fur

traders 0 he was born in london and spent seven years at a charity school therethereotherdo 12 he then came to canada and was apprenticed to the hudsons bay company thompson felt that he was being held back by the hudsons bay company and as soon as his term with them ran out he joined the north west furfor company he was officially designated as the astronomer of the north west fur companioCompcompanycompanyoanyoenyo 13 thompson was a careful scientist and a close observerobserversobserveroobservero through his efforts as an explorer andgeographerand geographer he influenced the 141 later expansion of the hudsons bay company into the oregon country e thompson is described as being entirely different from the ordinary fur trader he was tall and fine looking of a sandy complex-

ion he had large features 9 deep setsttdiousset studious eyes high forehead and

broad shoulders e it was said that thetho intellectual was well set upon the physical 15 there was a lot of talk in british government circles about

beating the americans to the mouth of the columbia 0 the following appeal was given by the north west farfurformorpur compacompwcompany to0 the british government

T C 11 12t elliot 0 david ththompsonson and the columbia riverrivertrivers the quarterguarterquarterlyv of 0oregonregon hihistoricalst0ricalcical SocietysoclesocietySociesocietyotyo XII ig1jq191t 201 13jJ Bbo tyrrell edgedved david thoethorsontsThoRthompsonsontss narrative of his focilexplorfocplexplore ationsactions in western america 178418121784 1812 TorontostorontoitorontosToronloitoilot therhee champlain Sociesocietytyo 1916 p 24

14 Mmo catherine white 9 journals of david thopsonthompson l80818l218081812 missoulamissoulax montana state university press 1951950 p icvixv1xv cxxiii0xxiii 15hubert15hubert howe bancroft historbistorhistory of the northwest coast XXVIII san feancisFrancisfranciscofranciscoifrancescoicoicot aoA L bancroft & company publishers 1884 p 125 23 for financial help in getting to the columbia before the americans

e 0 0 the americans seem to aim at establishments in trade beyond thetherockyrocky mountains and on the river columbia to which they have no pretentious by discovery either lyby water or landdandwandT the right in both casebcabescasesoases clearly belonging to great britian by the discoveries of cook vancouver and mackenzie no establishment of the states on that river or g7gaon the coast of the pacific should therefore be sanctioned 1ib thompson was given the job of getting to the pacific before anyone could follow up on lewis and clarksdarted exploration he spent a lot of time studying the land and the indians and as a result arrived at the mouth of the columbia after fortastoriafort astoria had been built bytsy failing to make the columbia the main object of his activities and lyby going away from the best route and bylay working at the farfur trade as he pro 17 gressedgrossed thompson failed to beat the americans to his destination f the impact of this failure of the british effort to establish early contact can be transferred to the area ot the upper snake riverrivero there would have been a real possibility that this area could have been a part of canada if these early efforts had been a success the hudsons bay company still came into the area and trappedtrappedo but the influx of americans forced them out if thompson hadbeenhad been the first to the mouth of the columbia tharethbrethtere might have been an influx of north west men into the country to make it british

tyrrell p 3046304 6 171bid171bidibid p 2882880 CHAPTER V

ANDREW HENRY AND FORT HENRY

ststo louis missouri furfor company 180818101808 1810

at the beginning of the nineteenth centurycontrary the recognized leader in the business of trading in ststo louislonislouls was manuel lisa he was born in new orleans and was of spanish descent he began his trading career while he was in his teens 9 and throughhisthrough his management was able to get the upper hand in the fur trade going through ststo louis his spanish background enabled him to get governmentgove ent approval for a monopoly of the trade with the indians of the lower missouri when the americans took overstover ststo louis in 1803 lisa was still in control because of the way he was able to trade and make friends with theindiansthe IndiansIndiindiansoanboanso competition was becoming keen in fur tratretradingdingo and with british advancements the smallsmail furtraderfur trader was on the way outautoouto to combat the larger fur companies coming down from the north lisa organ- ized the leading traders of ststo loullouisantoLouilouisloulsSAntointo a company they incorporated under the name of the st louis missouri fur company the members in order of their appearance on the articles of agreement were benjamin wilkinson pierre Choutechouteauaug sr manuel lisa aguste Choutechouteauaut jrajrojro reuben lewis william clark sylvesterlabadiesylvester labadie all of st louis pierre menard and william morison of kaskaskia illinois iandrewcandrewandrew henry of

landrewandrew henry was born in fayette county pennsylvania between the years 1773 to 17781778017280 his parents george henry and margaretyoungtmargaret young

24 25 2 louisianaLouisianatenetaneg missouri and dennis fitzhugh of loulsLouislouisvillevillet kentucky lisa and wilkinson were designated as the factors to trade with the Indianindiansst and clark was to be the company ak6ntinagent in st louis no member could trade on his own account the company fixed the term for staying in indian country at three yearspearsoyearso As associate could return 3 earlier if it was necessarnecessaryyo after the company was organized the next item on the agenda was an expeditionexpeditlonoiono henry was chosen to be the field captain with menard as the company manager A well equipped and well mounted force of three tofourtozourto fourrour hundred men set out from st louis on their way up were industrious farmers of the county andrew was brought up with a very high regard for honesty which marvmervmarymany commented about he was tall and slender and had a acommanding personality 0 his dark hair and almost blue eyes gave hinhim a handsome appearance he was fond of reading and could play the violin well although he was brought up as a christian andrew never became a member of a churchdhurchcharchochurchodhurch 1 he wrote little and was a man of action rather than words there is nothing of his written work to be found other than his signature antheontheon the articles of incorporation of the missouri fur company and a letter which he wrote to francis valle henry moved from pennsylvania bought land in washington county upper louisiana and there became a public minded citizen on december litilg11 1804 he was called to serve on the grand jury for the court of common pleas and quarter sessions ofcyfsteste genevieve district henry married in 1805 but was divorced two years later the great amount of civic and business duties kept andrew away from home a great deal and perhaps contributed to his divorce in 1806 henry made his debut in mining francis azor breton had discovered in 1821782 a rich lead mineimineamine near the present town of petosepotose missouri he assigned his grant the mineral rights of the mine to walter fenwick and andrew henryin1806henry in 1806 henry was thus assured of an income for the rest of his life the ste genevieve academywasAcademy waswes organized in 1808 with twenty one trustees composed of the leading citizens of the town andrew was one of these trustees thus we can see that henry was important in civic affairs and was to be considered an important man in the communitya shiram2hiram martin chittenden the american furpur trade of the farearyaryer west nevfiewnew lorkrorkyork the press of the Pioneerpioneerssp inestincinelne 1935o193519350 itI1 PP 138 Q 3aaaA detailed account of the articles of agreement of the st louis missouri fur company of 1809 canoan be found in richard E oglesbys manuel lisa norman oklahoma university of oklahoma press 1963 appp 202200202208 0 26 the missouri they met john colter4colter coming down and convinced him that it would be to his profit to turn around and guide them to the rich fur bearing streams of the three forks country shortly before the expedition reached the three forks country it was caught in a snow storm and the men suffered from snow blindness they made camp and were blind for two days abaidabandA band of snake indians rode through their camp and seeing their condition could have wiped them out the indians however took pity on them and did the party no heahamhemharmo 5 the party arrived at the threeforksthree forks in april 1810 and I1imme-ed diately set about to build a fortforteforto they chose a site between the jeffer- son and madison riverriversso 60 they werenotwere not sure that the blackfeet would trade with them so henry and menard had brought along enough traps for the men to useuseo this was a new style and method for the obtaining of furs they flew a flag over their fort but when they found the indians to be hostile and very unfriendly they took the flag down and hoisted an indian scalp in its place 7 the region was rich with beaver and there were expectations of trapping three hundred packs of beaver in a single beasonseasonseasonsseasono their happiness was short lived on the12th7the 12th of april as the men set out to examine their traps they were set upon by the blackfeet

4mentionmention has been made in the previous chapter explaining colters presence at this time up the ririver 50glesby50glesbyoglesby manuel lisa p 93 athe6thethe three forks of the headwaters of the missouri were named the jefferson madison and gallatin thus it was between the former two of these rivers that henry and menard made their camp 7 ajames7jamesjames p 44 e 272 and five menman were killed outrightoutrightooutrighto they lost seven horses along with a lot of gunsgunso ammunition traps and furs very disheartening to the 0 trappers was the fact that only two indians were found to be dead 8 it was soon felt that the blackfeet had manifested so determined a hatred and jealousy oftheirof their presence that they could in no way hope to be successful in the prosecution of the fur business A suggestion was made that if the trappers would join with the snake indians to raid the blackfeet they could obtain a prisoner with the prisoner they would try to communicate with the blackfeet to see if they could arrange to trade with thenthemthenothemo word of this plan was sent to st louis to receive approval of the superiors in the company two days after the messenger leftlefty the blackfeet attacked again and more casual ties were sufferedsufsurteredo menard was so discouraged that he left for st Q louis leaving henry in complete charge of the expeditionexpeditionolono 9 A new defense was adopted inorderinunorderorder to protect the trappers and the men at the fortforto they divided into four groups two of which were to remain at the fort while the other two trapped together and protected each other this plan proved quite effective for protection but was very ineffectual in getting any trapping dondone As days went by the indians seemed to have forgotten themthenothemo the trappers began to get careless and go about in twos and threes george drouillard one of the more important trappers left the fort with some of his men against the warning of the others thatthetthel indians were near less than two miles from the fort they were attacked and drouillard and two companions were killed A hasty defense was attempted but proved futile there was a raging wind at the time and the trappers at the

80 80glesbyglesbyoglesby ppo 91 0 9chittendenchittendeup I1ip ppo 142 28 fort could not hear the sounds of the battle being fought so close by and consequently did not go to their aidoaldoakdo 10 this third attack was the straw that broke the camels back for henryhenryo he was discouraged with the constant attacks of the blackfeet the attacks of grizzly bears on the trappers and the shortage of their supplies 0 he wrote a letter to francis vallellvallealvalleveile telling him of the conditions at the three forks fortfortt since you left the fort I1 was toldbytold by charles davis that some days past you expressed some regret at going downdowriedowrio if that is the case & you have any wish to stay you shall havebave the same bargain which manuel gave you last fall & better should you desire ito on the other handhando siefsicasicsic if you have realy a wishitto decenadecend isialusialcsic3 I1 will lyby no means advise you to stabpstaypstaygstagg but would retherrather advice you to go home to your family who I1 know will be extremely glad to see youyoug altho the pleasure of your compancompanyY forforaa year in this wild country would be to me inestimable 12 in the summer of 1810p181 op henry divided the remaining trappers into two groups 0 the smaller group he sent on their way to ststo louis with the furs that they had been able to gather while he led the larger party up the madison river to seek out new and safer lands to trap a they took with them everything that was needed for the extended hunthunto when they left the fort the only thing left was an anvil that was to act as a landmark in the years to cometomcooomco it was still there when people moved into the country to settle but has since been 13 removed 0

10ibidibidoo0.0 apppapoppo 1421431421430142 143143o francis valle was one of the original party which went to the three forks area he had escaped the first battle with the blackfeet near the fort and had then decided to go back down the river to where the indians were more civilized 0 it appears that he and henry were good friends 12 oglesby apppapoppo 969796 9797e 13bradley13 bradley manuscript book 17iiaii1111 montana historical societyso VIII 1917t1917 1351350 29 from this time on until he showed up near the mandan indian villages on the missouri the following year the whereabouts of henry and his party was a topic of discussion among the rocky mountain indian tribes as well as the fur traders in st louisloots 0 lisa had been informinformeded that mr henryhe was in a distressed situation over the rocky mountains and there was concern for his safetysafetye 14 when he finally returned in 181118119 the stories he told caused a slump in the fur business as far as the upper missouri was concerned and caused the trappers to conce- ntrate on the eastern slopes of the rockies and into the southwest 155

fort hehenry established hehenry made his way up the madison river thinking that he had left all of his indian problems behind himhimo he had barely left the blackfeet lands when they met a group of crowscrowso these indiansindiana true

1 to their infamous ways stole some of the trapperstrappers1 horses 0 this was a double blow as the horses were not only used for packs but were 16 considered food in times of need henry continued on up the river until he sighted a low divide to the south he crossed this pass into idaho and discovered the lake that bears his name today 17r at the

14 henry marie brackenridge views of louisiana chieachleachicanotchicagoichicagotChicaChicagotgoigot quadrangle bookshbooksobooksy inc9ineinclneinca 1814 p 233 15 Jjo cecil alter 9 jim bridger norman oklahoma university of oklahoma press 1962 p 11 16 oglesby ppo 116 17toto the northwest of henryss lake in idaho today is a low pass which is the only one in the vicintyvicenty that fits the description mentioned above it bears the name of reynolds pass and there is a highway going over this pass to connect idaho and montana henryhenrytshenryest8ta lake is formed in a natural basin and shares in being the headwaters of the henryhenrys fork of the snake river with large springslocatedsprings located to the east of the lake thus the country today bears the name of the early explorer in many placesplacesoplacedo 30 southeastern end of the lake they foundfoundadounda a river that wound its way through the mountains for some fifty miles until it entered a wide vallebovalleyvaileyvalleyo the trappers scouted the region on their way down the river and found many streams that were abounding in beaver headquarters

1 A were decided upon and several buildings were erected on the southr0south18 side of the river 9 about five miles downstream from the present town of ststo anthony 0 thus in july of 1810the1810 the first american fur post west of the rocky mountains was established 0 present with henry at his fort were john hoback edward robinson po jacobreznorpjacobreznoro P mcbridemcbridcoMcBridco boB jackson 0 Llo10 cathergather 9 and several other 19 experienced mountain menmenomono these men spent the winter trapping in the various streams surrounding the fort and trying to find enough food to exist they were not troubled with indians as there were none around the area in the winter timetimeo fifty miles downstream from henrys fort was the wintering headquarters of the banneckbannack and snake indians if henry had established himself farther downstream the fort may have been able to continue in existenceexistencesexistenceo heavysnowsheavy snows and no source of food caused the trappers to resort to the eating of their horses to stay alive the report being circulated in sto louis was that henryhe was wintering in a delightful countrycoun on a beautiful and navigable stream 20 to top things off for henryhenrye the ststo louismissourilouislouls missouri fur company failed and support for the party dropped off eomplcompletelybeely 0

18thethe actual site of the fort is in disagreement among prominent some western historians 0 have placed it on the north bank of the river at the present site of egin idahoidaho9 when it is actually on the south bank and upstream from egin 9rollins9 ollinsRollins ppo docl 0brackenridge0brackenridge ppo 96 31 the spring of 1811 brought the decision to go back to st louis tempers were short and the trappers were dissatisfied at their lack of success henry divided the men intothreeintinto threeothree groups one party went south to try to make their way out of the mountains and into the spanish settlements 0 this is the group that is sometimes thought to have been the first that may have traveled over south pass the second group went eastward and through the jacksonjacksons hoiehole andtetonandretonand teton mountains area it is thought that henry made his way northeastanddownnortheast and down the yellowstone river to delidelldeildeliverdellverver his forty packs of ftrs7toefurs to manuel lisa near the mandan indian villavillagesvillagesogesegeso 21ii henry made one significantonezignificant stop on his way down the riverdiverrivertdivert at cedar island there he and bismenbesmenhis nenmen kept a promise that lisa had made to the sioux indians the previous year lyby rebuilding the post odi051 which had burned down theyearthe year beforebeforeinforeID 22 ititwasetwaswas henryhenrys opinion that loaded horses 9 or even wagons mightrinmight inrin its present state go in the course of six or eight days from a navigablepointnavigable point on the columbia to one on the waters of the Missomissouriurliuril z3

henryhe 9 tired of the excitementexcitementof of trapping and fighting indians quit the rivers in the fall of 1811 and retired to his mines in missouri although he was not active in the fur busibuslbusinessnesst he was stillst a name noted in the civic activities oftheodtheof the st louis area he served

2lchittendengchittenden Iip1 1441 manuel lisa had not given up onhenryjonhenryon henry and the rest of the party lisa had justjuat won the famousou race with hunt up the missouri and was going up to wilder country to dontisdonti0aemtinue bishisMs search for henryhenryg when andrew appeared on his way downstream 0 gleety220glesbyjglglestyesty p 116 some authorities feel that this act of henrys helped to thwart british plans of getting the sioux to0 join tecumseh and the prophet in their federation against the americans preceding the war of 1812 23brackenridgegbrackenridge p 96960 32 as a peace officer an election judge a juryman and held fraternal positionpositionspositionsoso he enlisted in the ath6th regiment in the war of 1812 here his leadership abilities advanced him to the rank of major in the first battalionbettabattalionsbattalionoBattaliono we have no record of his being in any battles but he served honorably 24 henry was an honorable man in alleil respects of life there is record of his declining to put his money in his cifeswifes name to save himselfselfseif from bankruptcy 0 he preferred to live a poor man rather tbthanthenianien 25 a dishonest one

fort henry today the location of fort henry today is a subject of discussion and argument 0 lately historians place the site of the fort on the south bank of henryhenryss fork of the snake river some seven miles north of redburgrexburgRexburg idaho and about two hundred yards east of the salem farm to market roadroadoboado here in 1937 the salem boy scout troop erected a monument and placed upon it the following wordswordss fort henry the first white settlement west of the rocky mt established 1810 by cap

1 269 henry Wwo hunt presented by saiSalsalemboysalememBoyboy scouts august 19371937 the

24 24merrillerrillMerrill Ddo beal and merle woW wells history of idaho new york lewis historical pub cocoo ainooinooinov 1951959 I1 ppa 88880 25 chittenden I1 Ppo 2502500 26 this inscription was copied onmyconmyon my omown author visit to the site of the fortrortfortocorto there are two errors on themonumentthe monument the first is in the line saying the first white settlement tfestt49stpfest of the rocky mt according towto woW Jje ghent in his book theearltheeartthe early farpiryir west lieutenant pinch of the british north west fur companyhadcompany had established a fort on the columbia prior to henryshe Is fortfortefortomorte the second error comes in the line saying established 1810 by cap henry W hunt wilson price hunt was not at the fort until the year following henryhenrys building and occupation of it his name should not be connected with henritehenrytehenry as helping to establish henrys fortforto 33 marker has been placed at the edge of a ten foot excavation indicating the site of the fortforto the present site is about one hundred yards from the river suggesting that the course of the river has changed since thebuildingthe building of the fortfortocorto many of the springs and marshlands which were near the fort in earlier times have dried up 9 probably because of the great amount of water drawn from the river for irrigation purposes the trees which may have served as a windbreak for the fort have been felled and the land to the south is farmed extensively 0 thus the once primitive wilderness now bears the marks of the modern farmer in 1927 frank miller of ststesto lathanthanthmyanthemymyy7idahoidaho interviewed william mcminn who homesteadhomesteaderhomesteadeded this area in 1881018811 mcminn had found a gun barrel an axe and a piece of homemade chaitchain on his ground as well as several piles of lava rocks arranged in a semicirclesemi circlecircleocircled mcminn later dug into this area and came up with ashes and a number of stones on one of the stones was inscribed bovogovgovo camp lall1811 H wells another stone read 21 al the cook but nothing to cook 0 merrill Ddo beal while a professor at ricks college became interested in the problem and with the help of several of his history students began an excavation of the sitesitcocitco in dr bealsbeads words we discovered broken lines of charcoal roughly conforming to a tenbytendenbyby ten foot roomsroom with considerable ashes upon a base at a five foot depth we also found the top of a gallon crock but the prize find was a river worn basalt rock bearing the inscription fort hehenryheney 1811 by captcapto hunt sitsig12828 in 1917 a young man by the name of hazen Aao hawkes was working

beai27bealbeal and wells I1 p 93930 281bidibid 3344L on the cleaning of a canal near conant creek about fifteen miles east of sealsbeals diggings 9 when he and his companions spotted some fox cubs near a dendeno As they were digging to find the cubs they uncovered a

B stone bearing the names of Aae henryhenryg 9 Jjo hoback P mcbride jackson 1810 and L cathercatherocachero A few years laterhawkeslater Hawkeshawkes1 wife discovered another stone bearing the inscription henryhenry1810isloo1810igloo this rock was broken in such a manner that the letter preceding henryss name cannot be clearly

a11 campo11 campe upon distinguished 0 but it is thought to be ankanaan or cempcamp the dis- covery of this rock was formed the opinionthatopinion thatthet the site of henrys fort may have been near conant creekcreeke the original rock was lost for some time but was found again by hawkes in 1952 since then he has discovered a meadow in this same area bearing marks of having once been a campcampecampo 29 there is little actual proof to substantiate the claim of fort hehenry being situated in the conant creek area it is suspected that the camp was one the five men used as a trappingbasetrapping base in their excursions from the main post as the whole of the upper snake river valley was explored and trapped during this timetimco the rocks however add to the story of idaho and the saga of the mountain menmenomono

29 29ashtonashton herald 9 ashton idaho 190619561906195691906 195691956 golden anniversary edition section eeE CHAPTER VI

OVERLAND AND returningastoriansRETURNING ASTORIANS

wilson price hunt

1 john jacob astor was born in baden germany on july 17 9 1631763 he came to america in 1831783 and immediately became a successful business manmano he got into the early fur business and when it became a rich industry astor had large investments bringing in huge profitsprofitse in 1809 astor obtained a charter from the state of new york incorporating the parpur american farfur company 0 the company had a capital of one million dollars and had the privilege of raising it to two millionmilmiimillianomillionoliono astor conceived a grand plan for fur trade and profitprofits upon hearing the news of the furs that could be obtained fromthefronfrom the northwest he set up the following schemeschemedschemeo A main trading post was to be estab- lished at the mouth of the columbiarivercolumbia Riverrivero interior posts were to be built to trade with the indiansIndiindiansoanso coastal vessels would trade up and down the west coast with indians andtrappersandend trappers an annual ship would come from the east to supply the posts andtoandioand to carry their furs to chinaichina3chinao3 this would assure control of the northwest for the americans and thomas jefferson supported this plan

lWashingtonwashingtonlwashingtoncwashington irvingirvingsirvingp astoria or anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the rocky mountains ed edgeley Wwo todd normaninormantnorman university of oklahoma press 191964 p 161716 17

2ibidbibidbid ppo 19201920019 20200 31bid3lbidoo Ppo 303230 32

35 36 astor chose wilson price hunt of new jersey to lead out in fulfilling these plans as he was a gentlegentiegentlemanmanmap of great possibility and worthdorthowortho hunt was also a native born citizen of the united states which would give loyalty to their cause hunt is described as a man scrupu- lously upright andfaithfuland faithful in his dealings amicablecabiecableeabie in his disposition and of most accommodating mandersomannersmannersomannerso4 two expeditions were outfitted one waswes to go overland by way of the missouri river and the other togoto go by iseasea around cape horn hunt was in charge of the land expeditionexpeditionglong which left montreal in july

1810 0 the party proceeded up the ottawa river acrossacroaeroeeross lake huron and lake michigan and doundowndomn the mississippi rivertoerivertoriver to arrive in ststo louis on september 3 1810 5 in ststo louis a rivalry developed withmanuelwith Manuel lisa and his missouri furpur company as they were planning a trip up the missouri to trap and neither group trusted the other hunt wintered on the missouri four hundred and fifty miles abovestabove slosto louisloulslouise he spent some time trying to get more hunters andtrapperstoand trappers to give him larger numbersnumbersonumberso when he joined the main group in march 1811 he had with him mr john bradbury of the linnaean society of liverpool and mr thomas

6 i nuttall a collector of american plants 0 on the lathl8th18th of march john colter came into campcampecampo he was immediately asked to return to guide

them to the coast 0 colter had justacq4redjust acquired a new bride and was hesi-

tant to go back into the wilderness 0 he informed them of the dangers of the indians and then proceeded on down the riverrivererivero on april 21 1811 the party known as the MOverlandoverland AstorianastoriansastorianoastoriansvAstoriansorlansorlenssv

bidolbibidbidop ppo 123 bidolbidop ppo 125131125 131 0 61bidbid p 139 37 7 numbering nearly sixty 9 began to ascend themissourithe Missourimissourio manuel lisa was trying to catch hunts party as he thought they would be able to pass through indian country better together but hunt felt that lisa might get the indians to turn on himahimvhim so he pressed on this developed into one of the greatest races ever performed on the river 0 lisa event- ually caught up to hunt and then hunt was persuaded by edward robinson john hoback and jacob beenreenreznor to go overlandoverlandooverlando 8 these men had been with henry and knew from firstfirsthandhand experience tho dangers that were on the upper missourimissaurioourio

on the 18th of july the party started overland 0 they had eighty two horses heavily laden withwithindiangoodsindian goods 9 beaver traps 9 almunammunitionammunammun ionlon and indian corncorno each partner was mounted and pierre dorion a guide whom hunt had obtained in ststo louis 0 had a horse for 9 his children and equipment 0 they traveled up the grand riverrivero crossed the little missouri moved up the powder river crossed the big horn skirted the wind river y and moved down the hoback river into jackson hole when they came in sight of the teton peaks hunt named them the pilot knobsknobbknobloknobso 10 at first they thought they could make canoes and go down the mad snake river 0 the stream looked navigable but indians john told them it was impassable 0 darbardaybay was sent to explore and returned with the news that it was impossible to travel even along the side of the river a huntcrossedhunt crossed the river and made his way over teton pass into pierrotpierres holehoiehoicoboico here they turned northwestward and moved across the low hills to henryhenrys s fortforto since it was snowing fort henry proved to be

7 qlbidoo81bidog 9 ibidIbibidooidoo ppo 1551741551551740174174o p 175177175 177 0 idoaidooibididop p 2152150 ioibidibidoo ppo 2572570 38 a useful rest station for the hunt party when they reached that spot 11 on october ath8th e when they saw the comparatively smooth flowing henrys fork they decided to make the rest of the trip in canoes down this stream 0 when they were ready to leave 9 there were a few who were given equipment and the charge to trap around the area edward robinson john hobackhobackp jacob relmerreamerreamor martin cabscabbbasspcasscassp and joseph miller were chosen to stay and trapocrapo edward robinsrobinsonong a kentucky woodsman then in his sixty seventh hearpyearyearp was a veteran indian fighter in his native state

and hadbad been alpedoscalpelscalpedscscalpedo 0 he wore a handkerchief bound around his head to protect it from the sunsuno 121 the rest verewere veteran trappertrapperssv and the

general feeling was that this group would meet with much success e

on the 19th of october 9 hunts partyleftpartyperty left fort henry and headed downstream in canoescanoesecanouse hunt describes the river as running smoothly and 13 wide with occasional rapids 0 their first troubletroubie came at the cataract at idaho fallsfailsfalisfallsofaluso here two of their canoesfilledcanoes filled with water andaandandq although the crews were savedsayedbayedsavedpsavedg one of the canoes and its contents were lostlostobosto shortly after thisochisothispthiap archibaldpeltonarchibald peltonpeiton wasfoundwebwaswes foundfoundoboundo he had been with andrew henry at the montana fort and hadescapedhad escaped from an indian battle therethereotherdo he told hunt that the blackfeet had killed all the men with henryhe and that he alone had esestapedescabedoescapedescapedoeseaescaescetapedpedo he had spent the thre years

ilphllipIlphilipPhllip ashton rollins edped the DiscOdiscoverydiscovoryVOrYvery of the oregon trailtrelltrailstrellstrelis robert stuarts narratives new rorkyork edward eberstadt and sons 193591935 P 2890 12milesmiles cannoncannouscannoup the snake river in historyhistory11 the quarterlyQuarterly of oregon historical soriezsociezsoclesoeleSociesocietyotyntyo XX 191901919o1919p 707 irvingsIrvinirvingpgp ppo 27121o210270 39 14 previous wandering the snake river plain with the snake indiansIndiindiansoanso by the 28th of october the party arrived at the now famed caldron linn 15 here one of the boats struck a rock and antonleantonieantonia clappineclappingClappine drowned 0 the river here and right below proved to be un- 16 navigable 0 hunt sent out explorirgexploring parties to see if they could proceed lyby waterweterwaterematere the groups came back with the news that it would be impossible to continue their trip by waterbaterowatero it was decided that each partner would take men and set out to find food and a way to the

mr Mu columbia e leilanlelianLellanclellanmlellanmulellanMLellaneilanelian was to takethreetaktake threeethree menman and set out westward 0 mr crooks was to take eighteen men and continue along the south side of the river 0 mr hunthunto with eighteen men pierre dorion and his

amro family would move down the north side of the river 0 mromr mckensie was to take four men and set out to the north to see if they could 17 find friendly indians and foodfiodofoodo the main concern of the groups was to find enough food to stay alicevalivevalive 0 as most of the supplies were eitherelther lost in the rapids or would be cached 0 hunt states all their remaining stock of provisions consisted of forty pounds of indian corncorny twenty pounds of grease about five pounds of portable louppsoupsoupp and a sufficient quantity of dried meat to allow each man a pittance of five pounds and a quarquarternquarterpterp to be

mwD ft reserved for emergenciemergenciesemergencies6emergenciesoeso6 0 0 0

14 14gabrielgabriel franchereFranfrancherepcherep FranchfancheresFanfrancheretschereserets Vvoyagedvoyageo adedo Jjo Vvo hunting newnewnow york redfield publishers 18541854p ppo 149500149 500 athis5thisthis name was given by some scotchman probably ramsey crooks Mao ayup or donaldmackensieodonalddoneld mackensiemaokensiekensiekensle as the word isfromis from the scotch 9 1nanlyup meaning a t pool of water in a perturbed state p as at thetho foot of a waterfallwaterfallswaterfallowaterweterfallofeilo caldroncaldrion linn is located in southern idaho approximately twenty miles east of twin falls idahoidahoo 16 irvingsirvingIrvinirvingpgp ppo 2767276276772767077oao 17jbidibidop po 28062802806066oao 18bid9ibidop ppo 2852850 40

A cache was to be prepared to placepiece the materials that would be of no use in a trip downriverdownriverodownriverrivero the following is a description of the main cache hunt prepared and is a general description of most caches

0 0 0 they choose a dry situationsituationssituationp then describing a circle of some twenty inches diameter 9 remove the sod as gently and carefully as possible the hole is then sunk a foot deep or moreomore 9 perpendicu larlybarlylarlyolarryo is then worked gradually wider as decdecendsdecendydecendspends till it it it outp becomes six or seven feet deep 0 0 0 As the earth is dug outouta it is handed up in a vessel 9 and carefully laid upon a skin or cloth away 0 e 0 in which it is carried 9 and usually thrown into the river till all is stowed away when the hole is nearly fullfulitulip a hide is laid on topp and the earth is thrown upon thisthispthiap and beaten down on until with the addition of the sod first removed 9 the whole is a level with the groundgroundy and there remains not the slightest shower every appearance of an excavationexcavationsexcavationo the first effaces ever15 sign of what has been done and such a cache is safe for yearbyearspearsoyearso 7 the groups split up and wentwezit their waysgaysowayso all of them suffered great hardship and starvation before they finally arrivedatarriarrlarrivedvedatat the mouth of the columbia 0 the steep canyons of the snake caused some of them extreme suffering for thirst as they could see the water but could riotnot reach ititeito they had made their split in the early part of november 9 and some of them made it to the Columbicolumbiabycolumbiaabyby the latter part of januaryJanuaryo hunt and his group arrived at the fortrortforttheywerethey werbwere supposed to build on n february 15p islo1812 20 the last group sufferbuffersufferedthesufferedbufferededthethe most and didnt arrive until the lith of mayo hunt had traveled about two thousand seventy three miles since leaving the missouri riverrivero 21 fort astoriaastorianAstoriastoriapap which had been builtbulit byastorsby astorsactors ocean expeditionsexpeditionp consisted of four longionglongo low huts at this timetimcotimeo gabriel francherePrancherecherb made the official welcome to hunts party antheontheon the tatht8th18th of february 0 it had

19reuben19Reuben gold thwaites edgedv brackenrldgebrackenridgeBrackenbrackenridgesridgesgs journal upmp the missourimissouriemjssourie 18111811p and francherepranchere0s0 s vpy41voyage0 to the northwest coastcoasto 1811 1814 early western traveltravelo 17481646174817 1646w9wa volo VI clevelandclevelandohioohio the arthur H darkclark Compcompanyanyoenyop 1904igoa1904p Ppo 272n 23n273n

irvingsIrvinirvingpgp po 3201320 1 0 stuertstuart Ppo 308308 0 41

been almost a year since the tonquinT had arrived by water and the con-

ststructionruction had begun 0 the spot which had been selected for the fort tl commanded was on a handsome eminence called point george 0 it a view of the columbia in front was bounded on the right by a long high cape and rocky peninsula covered with timber 9 and on its left dis 00oo appointappointmentsappointmentomento with the bar and its terrific chain of breakerbreekerbreakersso 22 there were fifteen of the astoriansastorianoAstorians who remained in oregon to become permanent settlerssettlersettlersobettlerso and three morewhomore who might have done so except for their untimely deathsdeathso A recordofrecordonrecordrecordofof these men can be found in the

twenty fourth volume of the Washinwashingtonglon historical soesoosociety 0 hunt returned to ststo louis where the following is recorded in 1817 mrmpoampo hunt purchased from heirs of labbadielabbadioLabbadie a tractoftractortract of several thousand acres of land lying on the water of the gravois creek about eight miles south- on yieyle west of saint louis 0 this land tolie buiabui3bbuiltaui la millo made a farm and

other improvements p and the place was long well known in this locality as hunts millmillo 23

robert stuart robert stuart was born in Perthperthshireperthshirepshire scotland on february 18lapl8p l85o185017851785. his ratherfatherfatherafathero johnjohnojohnp was a schoolmaster and his mother was mary buchananbuchenanbuchananobuchanannBuchanano roberttsrobertas character was greatly influenced by the presbyter 24ph ian church of which he was a member 0 stuart left scotland in 1807180

because of the urging of his uncle 0 david stuart p of the north west fur

robs22rossross cixocoxocox the columbia river 0 ededo edgar Ilo110 stewart and jane K stewart normantnormannormans university of oklahoma press 1957919529 ppo 69 e

23t Cco ll1111 oregon to elliot 0 wilson price huntohonto the quarterly of historical socibocisocietyosocleSocie tyo9 XXXII 1931019310193lo1931o 131131e 24rollinsRollinrollinspsp ppo xxxv xxxvio 42 company 0 he worked for the fur company until 1810 when he was offered a partnership in the pacific fur companioCompcompanycompanyoanyoenyo stuart was on the tonquin when it left the east coast of america to make its way around the cape horn to meet the verlandoverlandhoverlandmoverlandMO astorianastoriandastorianoAstoriand at the mouth of the columbia riverbiverrivero after landing at the chosen sitebitesitcocitco stuart spent his time in the west from marchmerchmarchamarchp 1811 to the last of june 9 1812 p helping to build fort astoria and exploringexploringo when wilson price hunt arrived at fort astoriaastorianastoriaoAstorlaoiaolag it was decided that an express should be sent backeastwardbackbaek eastward to let the company know what was going onono in the pacificfurpacific fur company records the following is recordrecordersrecordedsrecordedgediedsedg resolved that it being necessary to send an express to new york mrmroamro and all the papers and other things being prepareprepareddgy robert stuart is hereby instructed to have and to take charge of themo with which he isAs to go as directly to NYnoyo as circumstances will mroamromr admit 9 and there to be governed by the directions of astor as to the time of his returning to the northwest coast it is also resolved that john day benjamin jones 9 francois leclercleclere and andree vallee accompany mrmre stuart as far as ststo louis where he is to pay them the balance due each by means of drafts drawn by our Wwo P 255 hunt on john jacob astoraitoroastoro june 27 p 181218120 269 stuart left astoria on june 29290 18129 under salute of cannoncannone the six men accompanying stuart were benjbenjaminn joneso francois leclaricleclariceleclarickClariCyleclaricyLeClaric andre valleveileveliecallepvallep ramsay crookscrookspcrooksy robertmcclellanrobert McClellanmcclellaupMcClellaUp and john daydayodeyo john day exhibited symptoms ofmentalof mental disorder on theistthe ist of july and had to be sent back to the fort on the ard3rd of julyljulyajulyohulyo friendly indians informed stuart ofaof a shorter route to the snake river country to the south of hunts westward pathpatho the decision was made to take the new route 9 and thepartythe party came across northeastern

steliasteila25stella25stella Mmo drumm more about astoriansoastorians1Astorianso the quarterly of oreg-oregonon historical socibocisociety 0 XXIV 1923p1923 3353350

26rollinsvollinollinspsp Ppo 3 43 oregon to enter idaho in mid augustaugusto 27f

upon arriving at the snake river 9 they proceeded upstream on the right bank of the river on august 20th they met john hoback edward robinson jacob reznorreanorreenor and joseph millermillero this group of four hd left hunshunts party at fort henry the year before and had since been trapping southeastern idahoidahoo they had traveled two hundred miles south and two hundred miles east to the upper green river 0 here they were robbed twice by a band of arapaho indiansIndiindiansoanseanso these indians took all their horseshorsesp clothingclothingp and equipmentequipequipmentsequipmentomento they thentraveledthen traveled nine hundred fifty miles westward suffering from hunger thirst and fatiguefatigueofatigued they met the stuart group almost naked with nothingbutnothing but news of good trapping areas 28 the four trappers joined stuartstuartastuartp andtheand the party now numbered tenteneteno they moved on up river through southernbouthern idaho 0 on august 29 e 1812 p they arrived at caldron linn to fin&thathunt1sfind that hunts large and carefully hidden cache had beencompletelybeen completely ransacked 0 apparently wolves had started the uncovering 9 leading indians to investigate 9 and all was gone but a few booksbooksobooksh 29 later stuart learned that it was andre lachapelle francois landrylandryp and jeanbabtistejeanbaptistejean babtiste Turcotturcottetevteg three members who oregon of hunts original party 0 had tired in sterneasterneR left hunt and returned with indians to raid the cachecacheocached 30

the next day reznorreanor robinson 9 and hoback were outfitted for a

271bidibidoov ppo 80 0 28 28kennethkenneth Aao spaulding edepadedop on the oregon trailiroberttrailtrall robert stuarts journey of discovery normannormam university of oklahoma press p 1953o195301953 p 8182818981 8289 29rollins29 ollinsoRollinsollinso p 111112111 112 301bid9ibid p 80 44 two year hunthunto their intention was to trap the henryhenrys s fort areaarea3131 mr miller had had enough of the indian country and preferred to stay with stuartstuartastuartp bringing the bartyspartys number of sevenseveno stuart continued upstream on the snake until they came to the Portportneufneuf riverbiverrivero they ascended the Portportneufneuf crossed over to bear river ascended this stream and then moved into western wyomingifyominge they were traveling in unknown country now and theirapprehensiontheir apprehension of indian trouble grewgrow on the 13th of septeeSeptemseptemberiber they turned due north from the

i directdirectiodirectiondirectipnion they had been travtrevtravelingelingo0 this decision came because miller had trapped and traveled the countrycpuntryepuntry to the north and was influenced by the observation of indian smoke coming from the direction they were 32 headedheadedo at this point stuart departedfromdeparted fronfrom what later became the oregon trailtralltrailstralio he was only 110 miles from southpasssouthpawssouth Passpabspasso he was about to begin QO a detour thatthatpthaap by his reckoning added over400over hooboo400 miles to their triptripo 33 miller appears to have been wrong 0 altheyastheyas they would have reached country he was familiar with if they had continued their previous course 0 temporarily uncertain as to their whereaboutwhereaboutsso they decided to go to teton pass where they could followhuntvsfollow hunts trail to the easteesteasto on september 19th019thq as they descended greys river near the snake was river 9 indians attacked and stole alltheirallaliail their horseshorsesohorseson stuart impressed enough byy the indian method of stealing horses to record it as follows this method of stealing horses is deserving of being more

elthe3lthe31the three trappers who had turned down repeated offers to return to civilizationcivilizationwere were killed this same bearoyearyearo they trapped and worked theirwaytheir way towards the boise areaareeareaoarcao here they were joined by some who were working under john reedbeedreedo they were attattackedaeked by indiansindi ans and all killed except dorions wife and two chilchiichildrendreno who were away from the party during the indian attackattacksattacko 32 33jbid 32spaulding32spauldingpspaulding p 979897 98 0 ibidep ppo 98n 45 minutely described one of the party rode past our camp and placed himself on a conspicuous knob in the direction they wanted to run them off when the others who nereweremerewe e hidden behind our camp seeing him preparedprepareprepaprepareprep rose the warwarwhoopwhoop yellyeliyeiicelipyelip which is the most horribly discordant howling imaginableinableanable being in imitationinimitation of the different beasts of prey at this diabolical noise the animals naturally rose their heads to see what the matter was at that instant he who had placed himselfselfseif in advanceedvanceadvancedadvancep put spurs to his steed 9 and ours seeing stame him gallop off in apparent fright 9 started all in the 0ame direction as if a legion of inferinternalsnalsnais were in pursuit of themo in this manner a dozen or two of those fellows have sometimes succeeded in running off every horse belonging to war partiespartipertipertlpartiespesp of perhaps 5 or 500 men for once those creatures take fright nothing short of broken necks can stop their progress 0 with their horses gone stuart feltitfeltiefeltfeit it would be wise to make a raft to go down the snake river to a place where they could obtain horses from friendly Indiindiansoanso stuart recorded the finding of large quantities of beaver and fish as they descendeddescenddescendedoedo on september 2729 35 they emerged from the canyon and left the river35river 0 they proceeded to

elinsbollins3ollinsllins p 134513450134 55oao batjat3at35at this point it seems fit to comment on the two editions that have been published of robert stuarts journalsjourjournalonalo mr rollinsrollins11 edition was published in 1935 and has extensive and detailed footnotefootnotesfootnotesoso mrmroamro spauldings edition was published in 1953 andandlandi has some new information especially in the introductionintroductionsintroductiono howeverpHoweverp in mr a spauldingsSpauldings treatment of stuarts travels in southeastern idaho there are some errorserrorso for example 0 stuart9stuartastuart2s s journal entry of 8spfciiter 23rd describes the river as w 4 miles NWmewogewo brought us to a part of the river where mou- ntains on the right and autcutout bluffs on the left mademedee us apprehensiveapprehen-sive of rapids M mrmroamro spaulding describes this treaareaurea as followfollowsso stuarts party was due west from the location of aconuconuconp idaho and somewhat north of the middle of the great bend made by the river in this area the actual course of the river west of ucaocon Is through rich irrigated farm land of the snake river plain abouttwentyabout twenty miles from where it leaves the mountain areaareaoarcao mr spaulding also makes ubeuse of landmarks which are little known in the snake river valleyvelleyveiley for example 9 on september 28th p stuart camped on the forks of moody creek 9 some tenton miles from redburgrexburgrexburgpRexburg idaho mromramro spaulding states that they were samp samp camped fourteen miles west of samsang idaho 0 sam idaho 9 was a post office in teton basinbasino 9 which has since been abandoned there is a mountain range lying between sam and thostuartthetho stuart campcampecampo mrmroamro spaulding uses suburbs of idaho falls to base1isbase his placing of stuarts camp my instead of using the well known lnlandmarkdmark of the city itself 0 conclusion can only be that even though mrmroamro rollinsrollins99 edition is thirtythirtytwotwo years old nowdowpnowp it is the most accurate as far as eastern idaho is concerned 46 walk northeastward across low hillshills36lillsjohillsjo36 till they camped at the forks of moody creekcreekocreedo by september 30th the party was camped on canyon creek at the site of the hot springs thereotherdo stuart describes the springs as being oily to touchtouchy foaming like soapsuds and smelling at a distdistancedistancesdistanceoanceo the principal spring was very hot and sulphursulphuricsulphuricoicoieoleo the column of smoke that 3739 issued from the spring area could be seen for two milesmilesomileno it was at these springs that robert mcclellan left the groupgroupogroppo they were preparing to go over the mountains to Pierplerpierrotspierreaspierre0sredsrotsrods hole to avoid being seen byindiansby indians 0 mcclellan was absolutely fearless and was regarded as a great trapper e he was reckless and impetuous 0 he swore he would rather face all the blackfeet in the country than encounter the difficulties of the mountainsmountainsomountainshmountainso 38 so while the rest of the party moved eastward to go over the range of mountains 0 mcclellan moved north- ward to go around the mountainsmountainsomountainshmountainso the stuart group moved into Pierplerpierrepierretsredsrotsrodssholeshoieholehoie and on their way towards teton pass were able to kill some elk and a bearbearo they crossed

36thisJ this low hill area is known as the rexburgredburg benchbencho it rises sharply out of the valley to fornfarmformfbrm a bench of rolling hillshillsohillbo the bench is approximately ten miles wide from east to west and fifteen to twenty miles long north to southsouthoboutho this area today is dry farmed and raises large quantities of wheatwheato 0 since wells have provided water for sprinklingsprinksprinklingolingo there are large quantities of potatoes raised there alsoaisoallooalsoo 37merritt37merritt neibaur is the present owner of green canyon hot springs which has utilized the water from the springs that stuart describes to provide modern recreationrecreationsrecreationo the springs today are covered with a concreteeoneconeeonarete protection for sanitary purposespurposesopurposeso they issue forth at a temperature of one hundred fifteen degrees and a volume of one hundred thirty to one hundred fifty gallons per minute 0 the water is very clear and contains solveddidisolveddissolved minerals of limeolimeilmecimeo magnesimagnestmagnesiumsmagnesiumoum and a trace of iron at the time of the earthquake in yellowstone parkopark in 19591959p the volume of water increased and became cloudy for a timetimcotimeo this leads to the theory that the springs are connected with the thermal activity in the park 38drumm38J drumm the quarterly of oregon historical society XXIV 3450934549345 49 47 the pass and found themselves once again at the snake riverrivero they also found mcclellan here near starvationstarvationo one of the canadians of the group was suffering enough that he suggested a drawing of lots so that they could have something to eateato stuart used his authority as leader 395 and the gun he carried to discourage this suggestion 0

they traveled a little eastward and then turned south 0 they were able to trade for a horse and some supplies from indians but were green still in bad shape when they began to descend the river 0 it was on october 22 that they reached the vicinity of south passpasso 40 shortly after this they were able to get enough supplies to get them the rest of the way to ststo louis 0

stuart and his party arrived in ststo0 louis on april 30 1813018139 after following the later oregon traileralitrailmostmost of the wayweywayoweyo this is where stuart achieved his fameocameo he travelednearlytraveled nearly five thousand miles and 411 most of it was later made into thewellshewellthe wellweilweli known trail 0 after his exper i lenceteneedenee in the mountains and the rivwslivorsrivors of tltheither west42west stuart was heralded by the press as followfollowsfollowsgsgi the narrative of this event will evidence to the world that a journey to the western sea will not be considered within a few years of much greater importance than a trip to new york 0 0 0 by information received from these gentlemen a journey across the

3939rollins39rollinspRollins ppo 1567156 7 40therethere is some controversy as to who was the discoverer of south pass this question is discussed extensively by charles Llo10 camp in the california historical society Quarterquarterlylyoiyolyn tvyavyIV apppapoppo 12690126 9oao 41rollins41rollins ppo 240 42on emma now n july 21 p 1813l8l3p stuart married elizabeth sullivan in nevnew york he continued to work at the fur trade until he retired from the company in 1834 0 then he moved to detroit where he became active in real estate he was elected as director of the state bank of michigan 18489 and was active in communitycommmity affairsaffairsoaffaaffeirso stuart died on october 28 p 1848 p in michigan 48 continent of north america might be performed with a wagon p there being no obstruction in the whole roeroute that any person would dare to call a mountain in addition to its being the most direct route to go from this place to the mouth of tivthe columbia 443

43drumm43 Drummdnunmp the quarterly of oregon historical societyoSocietyo XXIV p 1923p1923 3363360 CHAPTER vilVIIdiioviio

HODSONS BAIbay COMPANY VERSUS AMERICAN TRAPPERS

early snake river country fur trade

the war of 1812 caused a significant change in the fur trade the british sent a frigate to accompany an armed north west company ship to seize astoria from the pacific fur companioCompcompanycompanyoanyoenyo the north west company had already been active on thetheupperupper columbia and they now extended operations to include the iholebholevhole northwest 0 in 1816 they decided to open the snake river to fur trade and selected donald mckenzie for the undertakingundertakingsundertakingo 1 mckenaiesmckenniesmakenzie2smakenMcKenelesaieszies first expeditions werwerewerequ&teequiquite successful these trips were into the nez perce area and covered the years from octoberoctobersoctoberp 181618160 to juncajuncpjune 181818180 2 his third expeditiontionvaswaswes made up of fifty five men one hundred ninety five horseshorsesp andaraayaaye three hundred transotrapstrapso they left fort neznee perce in septemberseptembersseptemberp 1818l8l8p and went across the blue mou- ntains to trap the boise river countrycouncountryotryo from here they followed the snake river upstream and eventually got asfaras far as the bear river 0 mckenziesMcKenzies aims in this expedition verelverewerelwere I1 to see the principal snake chiefs with whom he hd not yet made peace p 2 to examine thehe country andendaraare 3 to ascertain the state of navinavigationnaylgatimofof the snake river with a

lw to atkinatkinoarkino snake river furforporpur trade 1816241816 24 w the quarterlytarlt2rl of oregon XXXV historlhistoryhistoraolHistoriolrAol socibocisociety n 1934193p 2962960 atkinsatkinp the quartelquarterlyX of oregon historical sociezsocleSociesoriezsocietyotyo XXXVV 193401934o1934p 1978197 8 49 50 view to further operations 3 frofrom bear river the party turned north- ward to skirt the rocky mountains until they reached the headwaters of

the snake 0 then they returned to ttfteefte boiseriverBoise liveralverRiver and from there on up to fort nez perce there were approximately seventy five men in the next expedition

of mckenzie into the snake country 0 his principle aim on this expedition was to talk to the indiansIndiindianspansp whichhelhadwhich he hadhed not done beforebeforcebeforco he was met

by men at the skan naughbaugh boise river withsupplieswith supplies 0 and while there

was harrharrasserharrassedassed lyby indians 0 the expedition moved on to the bear river p vhoremckenziewhere mckenzie took ten renwithmenwithnenmen with him to seek out the indians while the rest trappedtraptrippedotrappedopedo everything turned outouti quite successfulsuccessfullysuccessfullyolyoiyo the indians

were friendly and the trapping was boedogoodgoedoD it took one hundred fifty foursour horses to haul the furs back to fortnezfortcortnezmort nebnez pedeecerceoperceperceo4 mckenziesmckenaiesmekenMcKenmenenaieszieselesdiesbleswies last

trip into the snake counCountcountjpyiryjpy was quiteroutinequite routine 0 hotnot much has been rorecordedcorded about itito there were seventy five nenmen in the expedition which lasted from july 44pap 1820 to july 10 18210 5 the northnorth west company and the rudsonhudson 11 s bay company merged on april 55eae 182i1821p bringing a real change to theoregonthe oregon councountryccountryotryctryo the

hudsons bay had not been in the area g andend the north west company was

only able to show a profit because bfof the snake country expeditions 0 KenziemckenzieMdkenzle was promoted and moved outoueautyouty leaving no one with real experience to go into the trapping areaareaoarcao one of mckenziesMcKenzies bwymwymen michel bourdon took over the leadership of the snake country1country tradetradeothadeo the expeditions of the next few years were torn withdesertionswith desertions and indian problemproblemsproblemsoso finan mcdonald led the expedition of 1823 into the snake country

A new path had been developed to getgot them to the fur country fasterfaster 0

3 abidog 3lbidoibid9 ppo 2992990 idoa41bididop p 3023020 ibidog Ppo 3033030 51 they would go into montana and from there cross the leahilemhi pass to enter idaho from the northnorthodortho mcdonald had trouble with the blackfeetblackfoot in montana and they followed him into idaho 0 here the trappers became fed up with the problem and attacked the indians 0 the result was six white men killedkilledykilleby including michel bourdon and sixty eight indiansIndiindiansoanso 6 mcdonald trapped on over to henryghenry2shenrykss fork and then returned to his home base with four thousand furfurss and was thoroughlydisguatedthoroughly disgusted with the snake countrycouncountryotryo tt he states 9 I1 got safe home from the snake cimtrecuntrecimore thank 0 0 0 and when 7 that cuntreauntre willwi31 see me agane the beaverkillbeaverwillbeaverbeeverBeaverwillwill have gould skinskinoakino 0 0 A new system was adopted bytheby the hudson9hudson2s s bay company to see if conditions could be improved in thethezsnakwsnake expeditionexpeditionsexpeditionsoso they assigned a man for a three year period to be in chargeehargwofof the expeditions the first man chosen for this job was alexander Mmo rossrosso in a letter from governor simpson of the hudsonsHudhudsongssonssongs bay 7 home office to the chief factors of the columbia river district 0 he varnedwarnedwanned the snake country expedition has been fitted oratunderoraorumt undertunder mromramro ross who should be cautioned against Qq 0 was 12 opening a road for the amerlAmeriamericanscanso thithis slettletterietter dated july 9 18231823p just previous to rosssgrosss expedition of theahe spring of 182418240 ross made his way through diepdiepsnawdeep snawsnow into idaho over the leahilemhi pass and then set about to the task of acquiring fursfursotorsoturso he decided to seek new territory rather than to follow the same routes thatthaitheithet had been followed lyby those prior to hiohlohim hespecthespenthe spent a lot of time searching in

6rarR harvey fleming edoo minutes of the council northern depart- ment of buysbqpertert land 182118311821 18311 tha pdblilpublicationsationsactions of the rudsonhudsonhudsons s bay j s record society 9 volo ililiiIII111 london champlain society for hudsons bay record societysocietyp 190igo1940 po 24n24no

bleflamingoykeFleflemingomingo Ppo 53n53no frrederickcfrederick8frederickfsrederick merkmarkmerkpmerep fur trade and bazirebapire9lmjare w harvard historical press series volvoivolo XXXI cambridge harvard university p 1931p1931 ppo 198 52 the salmon river mountains for beaver but found little 0 he moved on southsouthwardverdvardwerd and was able to find some fur when he got to the south fork of the boise river he met with a lot of success here and worked the area thoroughthoroughlylytlys moving up the snake river to the raft river and then returning to the salmon country at the salmon river he was joined by jedediah smith of the rocky mountain furfor companycampany 9 smith accompanied him across the leahilemhi pass and all the way back to thwflathoadthe flathead post it was thought by many that smith was there to sayonspyonspy on the aadsonhudsonhadsonhudsonss bay operation and ross was reprimanded for allowing smith to travel with him

peter skene ogden peter skene ogden was born about 18941794179 in quebec hihiss father was the honorable isaac ogdenogdeneogden9 a judge of the admiralty court of quebec and his mother was sarah hanson ogdenogdeneogdeno to ogden started his fur career as a clerk with the north west company in 1809 or 1810 he worked his way rapidly to the station of partner in the company but inthein the merger of hudsons bay and the north vestwest fur interests in 1821 ogden was left out afteraftermuchmuchmueh persuasion he was abletogeableabie togeto get reinstated in 1823 and assigned to the oregon country ogdens first assignment was to fill thetho g&p6fgapgep of farfur trade in the snake country the snake river expedition of 1824251824 25 was one of the bestbestequippedequipped to ever go into the country there were two gentlemen leaders two interpretinterpreterinterpreterspinterpretersoersosp seventy one menman and lads eighty guns

aiegdaleale L morganmorganamorganp jedediah smith new york thethobobbsbobbsmerrillbobbs merrillmorrill company ineinclneinep 1953 Ppo 130 lot C elliotteElliotelliottpiottlotttp peter skene ogdenjournalsogden journals the quarterly of oregon historical societysocaetabet XI 1910 2292290 53 three hundred sixty four beaver traps p and three hundred seventy two horseshorsesohorseson 11 on december 2020p 1824vl824p he left the flathead post to head for the rich trapping areas to the south 0 nine days later seven Americaamericansnag9 headed lyby jedediah snithsmithsmithp attached themselves to agdensogdens partypartyoparayo this was the same group that had gone to the post with rossrosa and it was feltthatreltfeltreit thatthet smith wanted to follow the hudsonsHudsons bay trappers to where the rich beaver areas were known to bebeo they entered ldahoonfebruaryidaho on february 11lip 1825018259 12 through the same leahilemhi pass that levislewis andclarktraversedand darkmark traversed on their way to the pacific they camped that day on the leahilemhi river and then proceeded south- east towards the headwaters of the stream 0 soon theydiseovbredthey discovered hostile indians following them looking for a chance to stealstealastealo heavy guards discouraged the indians snow made their movement slowsiow and the faster americans left ogdeneogdengogden0ss group to hueryhuedy on to ahethe henryg s fork trapping 0 ogden made his way down days river little lost river p having crossed a range of mountains p and moved over the plains to the snake river near the present day town of blackfootblaekfootoBlaekfooto 13 ogden trapped the blackfooblackfoot river to the headwaters of the port neuf14 neuf and moved slowly down that twfur producing streamsirstrearnearm 0 by april 26 p I1 they were working the bear river 0 theyfollowedthey followed the bear river into

federickfrederick merko snake country expeditionexpeditionsexpeditionp w the quarterlygaarterly oregon XXXV of historical socsoosocleSociesocietyotyo0 xxxt1934v193p 978o978092809288 obiden12ibid0ibiden p 2222282228o22280222202222828 131bid131ibidopbid po 293229320293302933229 32320 14thethe Portportneufneuf river received its name from that of a trapper who camped there 0 the identity has not been established y but there was a joseph PortnePortportnenfportneufneufnf who was in thethowhewho colmbiacolmbtacolombia district in the hudsonsHudsons bay outfit of 1824182425182425025250 15wrbear river was discovered in 1819 lyby michel bourdonbourdonpbourdony who was being employed bylay the hudsons bay company in the snake councountryotryo it was so named because of the number of bear in the vicinivicinityvicinityotyo 54 cache vallebovalleyvaileyvalleyo 16 howsownow ogden was in mexican territory having crossed the forty second parallel 0 in this territterritorymT ogden faced his greatest challengelengetenge when the american free menizen7zetmet in an attempt to getgot his supplies and fursfursotursotorso

may getrunerGe on 23 p 1825 0 johnson gardnergerdnertruner confronted ogden charging him with being on american soilsoilo ogden called gardners bluff and the pro- blem resolved into an invitation by ttheehekheheihesvinminmimerleansorleansamericans to have the men of the Hudhudsonhudsontssontssongs bay company quit andloinandend loinooindoinjoin the irokrouptroupgroup that offered better profit for theiratheirvtheir orkoirorkoarko the next daytdaytwolveday wolvetwelve btof ogden9sogden2s party leftleftaleftp tabingtaking their furs with themthemo the day after ogdensogdeneogden9 s group was reduced 18 to fortyrorty oneonceoneeonco ogden novnow felt that his numbers hadibeenhadhed been so reduced that he would be unable to continue 0 theymardhadtheythay marched northward to enter the snake river valley near present day pocatelloopocatallooPocatellOotAlloO ththay then ascended the snake and hehenryIss forkforko they turned north again to pass through the sansigsands 9 to camas creekcreekocreedo they moved up beawbeaterbeaver creek to cross the continental

16therehere is some question in ogdenagdensogdenss jppurnaljrpurnaljr urnal as to who discoverdiscovered the great saltlakesaltsait Lakelakeojakeo ogden doesnt 7 sentionmention seeing ito although sanesome of his sensonmen probedprobablyV diddide according to agdensogdens journal charles mckay bawsavsaw the lake from a mountain on the 12throf12th of ftyi1825maymey 1825 0 A later letter gives evidence that ogden did see the iskelakelakeojakeo however 9 jim bridger is sivenovengiven the credit for discover&agdipeoverlikethe the grettgreakgreetgreat salt lakelekel&ke as he followed the bear riverbiver to the salt lake in the fall ofof1824l82o18201824 alter po 489048 9oao i 17 17accordingaccording to ogden 9 the freemen eiapsoepsompemployedloyed in the snake riverbiver expedition were the very scum of thetho country and generally outcasts from the service for misconduct are the most unruly and troublesome gang to deal with in this or perhaps any oherolther part of the world n Flgingmingflmingelmingfleming p xxxiiioT yittiTITTI a Q omonewn infi8feo9 eo0 richbich ededeo peter skene otostebOtoSteB a snake Ccountry journals 1824 1825 1822518242182 252 and 18218252657 26 9 the publications ofineofofiðeeheene hudsons bay record hudsongssongs buy society 0 vol zihzinXIIIXIH london the Hudhudson baybey record society 195091950 ppo 234523450234 55oao 19just enstaustjnst to the wistwiskwiakwestweat of ststo anthonanthonyAnthoranthomyqt9 idahooidaho p there is a large area of sand dunes 9 there are lava beds vithaneccasionalwith an occasional crater and saeesanesonesamesome fifteen to twenty miles of sand dulaesdulcesdonesoduneso 55 divide at monida pass having reached montana they proceeded to trap for beaver in the valleys to the northwestnorthnorthwestenorthwestowesto byey september they were back at the pass and moved into idahoidahoo ogden now moved down the west side of the snake river valley trapping the streams there 0 they trapped the riviere malade or sickly rivers 20 by october lathl9th19th they had reached the boiebolebolteboije river and from there worked their way over to fort nez percsperesperce kallakailawalla wallawaliaballaowallao ogdens second expedition took hinhim into oregonoreganooregono he had fifty

somme men with him when they set out in november 9 1825 0 after spending sambsamescree time in oregon teyomy moved eastward into idaho by march lathl4th14th they were near the caldron linn in southern idaho 0 they found indiansindiana who had an american flagflageriago ogden was hesitant in meeting with americans for fear he would lose some more nenmennenomeno when he did meet the americans two of 21 his men deserted and one of the americans catteeasecasecamme to hinhimhinohimo this occurred near present day american falls ogden 4 trapped in southern and western idaho and then followed his trail back through oregon to near where he started ogdens third expedition oftlytouchedonlyoftly touched idahos western border when he came to the snake river most of the trip was spent in oregon and in northern californiacaliforniaocalifornianCaliforniao he returnedreturnedonreturnedonon this trip to fort vancouverVancovancouverouvero 22 agdensogdens later liftilfelife was spent in and around fort Vancovancouvervancouverouvero in

3

zkhesethese two rivers are the present day big and little wood rivers 0 donald mckenzirmckenziomakmaeMcKmckenzieenzioennio named the river malad because the meat of the beaver there made his men sicksicko poisoning of beaverbekverbdhiver flesh came from their feed- on 111 86 88880 ing the roots of the hhemlockock richrichy ogdtosogd6ns journals 9 ililiiiiiiiiip 86888688.86880 21 po 146 66 richaRichrichp ordesjeensjeans journals 9 ililiiIIIUI111 p 14666 22 K Ggo davies ed peter skene ordesordensogdens snake countrcountry journal 1826271826 27 a volvoivolo XXIII of the publicationsicatleaticationslonsions of the hudson a bay record ocleoclociocieocistyocietyostyetytyo 32 vols london the hudsons bay record society 1961 apogpoppop 13340133 40 56

1841847 he was instrumental in negotiating for the return of five nennengmenmeng eight women 9 and thirtyfourthirty four children who were being held captive by indians 0 they were the captives who survived the whitman massacredmassacreMassamassacreocreo ap ogden died in the oregon country on september 2p27v 1854 9 and was buried at oregon city oregon 23J the snake expeditions rownow werehandledwere handled by john workworko he had come west with peter skene ogden in 1823 to the fort at the mouth of the columbiacolumbiaocolumbianColumbiaobleo he hadworkedhad worked principally with the forts of the upper columbiaColumbiao and then took ogdens place as chief trader of the snake country 0

there were many americans coming into the snake country p so the hudsonsHudsons bay company continuedtheirpolicycontinued their policy of making a fur desert perce of the areaaceaareaoarcao work left fort nez pereb on august 22 p 1830 9 with an expedition of thirty seven menmenymeng fourhiredfour hired servantsservanservantryservantsytsy one slavesiaveslavecslaveg two 24ajl2jl youthsyouthso twenty nine women 9 and fortyfiveforty five chilchildrenschildrenodreno his intent was to follow the same path as ogdentsearlierogdeneogden1 s earlier trips and to denude the area 9 of fur bearing animalsanianimalsomalsomaiso they had a slight brush with the blackfeet when twenty indians attacked one of the parties of fowfourrowrourrog trappers 0 killing two of the menmenomono

25 w at the sickly river malade riverbiverriver25 work records 0 0 little but reeds growing the beaver feed on the roots 0 whether this causes the

23tedted Jjo warner peter skene ogden and the fur trade of the great northwest unpublished mastersthesismastersmesters thesis y history department p Brigbrighamharoharmhamm young university junobjunopjunejung 1958 to coC elliot edgedped journal of john work overingcoveringC snake country expedition of 183031l83031s1830 31 first half the quarter1quarterlyQuarterquartern1 of freronoreronorepon historical socsocietypxiiiJIII 1912 364 25thethe malad river is in the southern part of idaho it is only three or four miles in length except during the spring runoffrunoffsrunoffo it flows down a picturesque gorge to empty into the snake riverrivero 57 sickening quality of the flesh or therthedthereotsjrthe reotebeote several of the people are sick from eating the beaver 0 hemlock isiselse also found the roots of which 26az cause the flesh to bb poisonous 0 60 0 work met twenty americans on the loth of october and feared that he was going to be followed as hadthehadtkehad the hudsonsHudsons bay people in the pastpestpastopesto the increasing numbers of americans are noted lyby worko he tells of seeing two hundred men andendaraanaarm one hundred hunters in a party under companyo crooks and companioCompcompanyanyoenyo he also statesstatesthatthatchetkhet arzmrz0 fontenelle is at the snake river with a group of mebmobmommeno 27 work moved his expedition up the Portportnoffportneufportnoufpoetneuf riverriverariverp worked the bannock river 9 and later moved down the raft river to the snake 0 here they turned southward to skirt thetnorthep&ofthet north eadbadeyd of the great salt lakelakeojakeo they went on over to the humboldt ryver andworked&n&vorked there for a month 0 work moved into eastern oregon andrackandbackandandrbacktobaekbackbeek to fort neenez cerceoperceperceo where he arrived on july 2020ff 1831 0 he had traveled one thousand miles and aft9ft reported a scarcity of beaver in the areaharea0areao28228z work was the last of the snake brigade leaders 9 as the hudsonsbayhadson4abay turned their efforts at this time to building and maintaining fortstoforestoforts to enable thenthem to trade with the free trappers and the indiansIndiindiansoansoenso

ashleyhenryashley henry expeditions

there is perhaps 9 no class of men on the face of the earth who lead a life of more continued exertionsexert10niexertiony perllperil and excitementexcitementiexcitementi and who are aoramorelmora enamored of their occupations than the free trappers of

2 oregon 6eiliotelliot 9 the quarterlyrterjz of oret6noretan historical socleSociesocietyotyo XIII p 366836680366 808

27jbidooibidop Ppo 3683680

coC o elliotot edooed journal of john norksworks snake country expedition0 of 1830311830 3131s second halfhelfhalfo the ququarterlytorlytonlytoniy of oreoregonon historical Xyiv societypsocsoo 0 XIVXTVTV 191301913o1913p 3143140 58ro0 the westwesto no toiltoilatoilp no dangerdangersdangerp no privation can turn the trapper from his pursuitpursuitspursuitopursuito his passionate excitement at times resembles a maniamanlamaniemaniaomancao in vain may the most vigilant and cruel savages beset his path in vain may rocks and precipicesprecipiced y and wintry torrents oppose his progress let but a single track of a beaver meet his elopeyeeyop and he forgets all dangers and defies all difficulties 0 0 0 he is to be found with his traps swung on his back clambering the most frightful precipiceprecipicesprecipicedprecipicespsp searching by routes inaccessible to the horse 0 and never before trodden by white man for springs and lakes unknown to his comrades y and where he may meet with hithishie favorite ganecameogamegameo 299 A man who has spent the greatest part of his life with danger and adventure cannot be content to spendthisspend his days in the everyday dreary life of the common manmano so it was no surprise to many of the citizens of ststo louis to see the following notice in the march 66pap

1822 0 issue of the missouri republicans to enterprising young men the subscriber wishes to engage one hundred men to ascend the river missouri to its sources 0 there to be employed for oneoneg two 9 or three yearspearsoyearso for particularparticularsso enquire of major andrew henry e near the lead mines 0 in the county of washington who will ascend with and command the party or iheahehe subscriber at ststo louisloulslouiso william hoH Ashleyashley30ashley3o30 there is some question as to whether henry was ashlessishashleysashley2sAshleys partner or just an employee 0 also under question is the name of the rocky mountain fur company and whether it applied to the ashley organization there is no documentary evidence yet uncovered that henry was other than an employee or that the name of the rocky mountain fur company was used before 1830 p when it was adopted by the organization of fitz 311 patrickpatriokpatricko bridgerbridgersbridgerpBridgerp Mmo Ggo subletteSubletsublettopteptop gervaisservaisp and faebofabbo many historians

29washington29washington irvingirvingsirvingp the adventures of captain mevillebonnevilleborBoi new yorkyorks Ggo Ppo putmans sons 11868o18680 ppo 414241 42 daie30daledale Llo10 morgan edooedepededop the west of william Hho ashleyA denver colorado the old west publishing company p 1964 p ppo lo101 31wwo Jjo ghentghentsghentp the early far west new yorkyorks tudor publishing cocoop 1936 ppo 2062060 WN MY ocycoy 61 psswisavwnq anelantsanesR BO oisiepcid6ep browlbrown andend cached21cached21 shseung3sheatingip anaasumnasonaasrjozroozisaicatsa asga birg addpicids gtrlisa131duvi eteaetemrsga C csliseu ff thetha cmted iilcacbcd birdhirdngosbirtiagshird ngo mdd &2keflkefine itsiteife cited chccsschce1t tickingstisfctsgsTicbickingskings ccificursccisecuss QUALHQUAUl obooeei g aws tiz stalenstarenstaron shouldchould hillheilheii ilswound or olloilstrikes a yms iws 1aaaflaefineaqwq triduerisespridu unco buildsbritiz1h caulsosseniaCaUlentacata soss qbjsctnadinadjcctact ofaljpersaorof albiomalgiom 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ARTICLE and&nd R rv V ly additional11 0RA T 0 Ccaam EX v A 411 sitosiroAITO ry en INTO united staten ot liiisa13 AVEVE satesaterolteba lato cogstsiasl ha a Q the slies t aesa LAW sa gaargawr order t zivegleegive aqhq drydey paslicapashica a0 tloirbloirtliair 032030tslb qobprsr bej ofsglbauyf asawsa keetareetake&ta 2& &2siaso t essssq eoaaet e sifthsig ssessra to eisheashstamEash itamstam &ls9 laiib6a eicsss I1 off peacepeaco ander assayasray bmumtbosweo&tthogho miimidS S ilsabilsan legbeg 0 tim714S tf poerbtpatputpatvarospatverosverosverog apaupaupon 0a footiamthetcotiesgllie ulitesituirtm160iberalttlscralg 60 feel that henry was a partner in the organization even though there is no evidence uncoveredunaunoovered so far to prove one way or anotheroanother 0 associated with henry and ashley in their trading and trapping enterprises were many men of prominence in rocky mountain histhistoryhistoryooryo they were menman such as jedediah smith p jim bridger jim beckwourthbeckwourthoBeckwourth david Jackjacksonsofi 0 william sublette louis vasquez edward rose 9 hugh glassglasspglassb and thomas fitzpatrick the most significant group of continental explorers ever brought together w3232

As the applicants came henry andend ashley placed them into classeclassessvp under competent instructorinstructorsSp for screening iniftint regard to capabilitiescapabilitieso there was evidenceevidencesevidenevidencepcepeeg howeverhoweverphoweverpverg that sheer eagerness for adventure was being offered in lieu of the desired military obedienceobediencesobedienceo learninglearningslearningp and ability which major henry knew wer6essentialswer6wera essentials 0 the new style fur business was for the company to serserasensenasennA out its owntrappersown trappers instead of relying upon the indians to do the trapping and the company to do the trading 0 thusthuspthump the greenhornegreenhornsgreenhorns had to aearwtheleasmgleasm the art of trapping to bring in the needed fursfursafursp as well as learning1earningyearning to defend themselves and exist in the wild countrycountry33countryo333 nearly twice the one hundred needed signed upupp and many were turned awatawiyjaway the wenmen were green p batbut under expert guidance turned into fair traptrappersoperso knowledge of the terms thatthal werbverewere offered to the new trappers comes from a letter of correapondencebetweeftcorrespondence between two of the competitors of henry and ashleyashleyo thomas hemsteadhemsteadp writing to his partner joshua Pilpilcherplipilcherpcherocherp saidsaldsaidasaidp 1t I am told the ashlbyashlfeyashaby henry hunters and trappers are to

ciarence32clarence32clarence Aao vandiveervandiveeroVandiveero the furforporpur trade andnd earleariearly westernstern enioreulor atlon clevelandsClevclevelandsrelands the arther ho clarkclerk Comcompanypetypatypeny 19291929p po 2020 33jjo cecil alteraltero jim bridger kormankormennormannormananormanp okiaOklaoklahomasoklahomaghomas university of oklahoma presspressy 1962 ppo I1401 61 have one half of the fur they makemakeimaker the company to furnish them with guns powder 9 leadleado etc they only erbereare to helpheip build the fort and 11 34 much defend it in case of necessity 0 these ternsterms seemed to offer more to the trapper thanthailtharl had contracts between trapper andmanagementand management of previous years and helped to set a trendatrendahrend that was built up through the years from the ststo louis enquireraireruirer came thefollowingthe following description of the men who were about to go up riverriverandstartand startstert their careers as mountain men a the party is composed of youngmenyoungs men manyziofmenymany of whom have relinquished the most respectable employments and circles of society for this arduous but truly meritorious undertakingundertaking35undertakingo3535 the expedition was outfitted with two newnow keelboatskeelboats which cost 305003000 a piece they were sixty five feet longiong and fifteen feet wide the cargo and cabin superstructures were nearly six feet highhighehighp allowing for a lot of needed cargo spaceospacco the loading capacity p when drawing the recommended twentyfivetwenty five to thirty inches of waterweterwalterpwaterp was twentyfivetwenty five tons equal to that of an entire trainoftrainortrain of dagonsvagonswagons 336 they were setting out with enough supplies to last asmallsmailasdallasmall anayennyannyarmoy of men the several years that they would be in the mounmountainstaina 0 theyvereThtheyeyverewere also to supply some of the forts that verewere located in the areas oftheirof their trapping on april 11lib 1822 the first licenseforlicense for ashley to trade on the upper missouri was recordedrecordedorecordedo andandaaliallaillibeftsealidensedense of the same tenor and 37 date was granted to major andrew hanryhanhyhanby with all of the smaller details out of the way 9 henry spread the tenfootten foot sail on the twenty foot mast of the lead keel bostbosti and a brisk wind started the expedition

36 34ibidoIbidon Ppo 130 aidoobidoo ppo 14iho140 ibid 3737chittenden37chittendenpChittenden I1ip ppo 261262261 2622620 62 on its way an itemitera in the missouri intelligencer issue of march 25 y states two keel batsbabs belonging to general ashley left ststo louis on the ninth folfoiforsoisor yellowstoncoyellowYellowsstonetoncotoneo 8011389138 this presents some question as to the actual departure date 9 but has been explained as several parties leaving at differentatdifferent times to join farther up the riverrivero

the source of the missouriwasMissourmissouriiwaswaswes the three forks country 9 which henry had been driven out of before blybytheytthe blackfeetp this time ashley and he felt that they had enough mtom6nman andendevid geas to take eardcardcadeeadecare of that menace henry split the party at the mandan indian villages and they proceeded westward in two groups p one bylandby lendland and the other by the riverrivero 0 for protection from the indians a 9temstemetemsystem of guard duty was developed A captain appointed guards and then called out every twenty minutes to be sweawesureage they were awake it was the duty of the captain to check if anyone failed to replyorepayo if a guard waswes found asleep he was fined five dollars and forced to vlvlkwikwalkwelkweikk forsor three days the usualdsualiisual time 39 of guard duty was two and one halhaihalfehourshours 0 39eveneven with this type of preoprepprecautionaution a large band of assiniboine indians attacked thoftthomm and got away with thirty five hcrseshorseshorsesohorseson this loss caused 4eaepryepry to decide not to try to get all the way to three forksthaforks thetthatt yearbutyearoutyear but to winter near the mouth of the yellowstone and goongo on in7theinythein the springspringe upon arriving at the uthofsouthofaouthofaomouthfmouthy oftheodthethe yellowstoneyellowstonep a shelter was constructed between the two ririversoneriversongriversversoneone milemlle above their conflueheeconfluenceo word was received at thisitimethis time that the missourimissiouri furcompanyfur company was also going up the river with their gpaltheg&althe threeforksThree Forks areaarcaoareao henry decided

38adonald3donald38donaldDonald mckay frosty note on general ashlpzashleyo the overland pass frost trail a and south berrebarrebarreabarrep mass barrebaerebeere gazetteGazettgazettesgazettepep i96091960 ppo 19ige190 charies39charles39charles larpenteurlarpenteurp ortzforty years a fur tratraderderaer on the hyperuyperU missourimissourio ededo elliottiottlott coues minneapolis p minnestoaninnesMinneminnestoasMinnestoatstoatoas ross & haineshainesp inc 1962 p 18 63 to take a small exploring party oftvvntyof twenty one men up the missouri to see if a spot could be found closer to three forks in which they could vinterwinterkinterowintero he also sent men out to tratrapP the sroundingsurrounding areasareadyareasy bringing them into the jacksons hole councountrytryo0 the missouri company fort was up the yellowstone at the mouth of the big horn river 0 hehenry found the placeplage he vaslookingvasveswaswes looking for near the mouth of thenuoselshellthe musselshellMusselshelishellsheil river 0 this placed his camp at nearly thesamethe sameseme distancefromdistance fronfrom the three forks as the missourimlsMismibsaarisaurisouri trappers werecereowereo fotramlifowallloghogbog huts connected by an 40ihajhn enclosing palisade became the home of the trappers for this winterkinterowintero

henry was not content to remain idle forahewholefor the wholewhoie winter 0 he chose eleven men and they setpet out totogo90go up the missouri to the three forks to scout and prepare for themalthe mainmalnn grgroupoup to follow in the spring 0 they had been in the area a short tifteitizeexplbtingtifter expltmhirg and were excited about the large number of beaver that webvotewerbweewere therethare 0 4A short distance above the great falls of the missouri a large group blackfeetofblackfeetof attacked the party so savage was the attack ttaitt&itt1four4arefourrour hitrehftre killed and others were wounded was l823p this attack in april 0 18230 and it so disheartenhearteneddisdishearteneidisheartenerdisheartenedei the group that henry decided he was through witlilthewith1the blackfeeto he went back down the river to the main grbupgrteppgraupgraepp andend then allailaliali of them retreated 1 yellowstone 41 K company to the mouth of the Yellowstoneo0 ththe erivrival missouri fur had reached and trapped the sources ofthemis46iriof the missouri river 0 but on their return were attacked by the blackfetblackfeetblackfbetblaekBlackBlackffetbethet on the 31st of may below the mountains on the yellowstone rivero the leaders immelel and jonesojonas and five other men were killedk and alltheirallaliail their equipment and furs were lostlostobosto 42h henry and his party of trappers spentthespent the next few months going down river to rescue ashley from an arikara indian attack 0 winning an

40 41 42 alteraalteroAlteralterp p 1923019 230 abideibidibide 9 p 23423 4 frost Ppo 19190igo 64 43 attack by mandan indians y baringhaving one of his nenynengmenynenmen hugh glass hauledmauled 44 by a grizzly bear and then returning to the yellowstone country 0

irhe3rhe43the story of hugh glass became a legend among the mountain men he had been in many scrapes before and had always been able to come many on out of them alive 9 so thoughtthavhethought that he had a charmed lifeilfelifceliace the trip to the yellowstone with henry he had been detailed to hunthunto As he came through a dense thicket a large bear came out to attack himhimo he shot it but one shot was not enough to stop the raging bear it began to claw and rip at glass 0 his shots and the beards growls brought the rest of the trappers who quickly disposed of thebearthebeauthe beerbearbeare glass was a mangledad6d picture of humanity henry offered eighty dollars to any two wio wilwll men who wouldvii remainremain behind until glass didiedod orreeovor recoverederedned 0 As it was supposed that he wouldmouldmouid die soon bridger and fitzgerald volunteered to stay andereazaeze the rest made their way rapidly totheirto their festinationdestination4estination days passed vithwith no change in glass butbutl the twovithtwo vithwith hinhim were becoming worried about prowling indians in the areaareaoarcaoarga fitzgerald was the exper- ienced trapper and talked 13ridgerbridger intoabandonininto abandoidngg the near lifeless glass e ththeyy left and rejoined henryinhentyhenry in thetheithewkhew tellowstonetollowstoneTellowTollowyellowstonestone camp glass 7 had not beenheen aoxpletelycompletely unconsciousunconscious7&ndknewand knew that he had been deserted 0 he draggedhedragged himselfforhimself for daysuntildays until he found a friewbfriendlyy indian campcampecempe thoydoctorodtherthey doctored hinhitahim and soon he was ochisonhison his wayupwayweylayup up river with venvengancevengencegance glowing1nglowing in his eyesoyesdeyesoeyeso according to trapper code glass could kinkiuklukill bothboth bridger andend fitzgeraldandfitzgerald andnotand not tebe held accountable inthein the eyes of the lavolawelawo glass caughtupcaughcaughttupup to bridgebridgesA attheat the yellowstone campcampo but henry stepped1hstepped in andaraarm pledthepiedpled the easecaseeese of the young mannmano hegyhogyhewyhenryhonry stated that he shouldntshouldn1 be killedb6causekilled because of amistakeofa mistake of ywthoyquthayoutha glass was symp- athetic with bridger and this act saved the lifooflife of one of the greatest of all mountain men glass then wiat downriverdownftverdownriver to find fitzgerald who had joined the aarmyermy as the only way he could protect himself 0 after an intervieiinterviewavithivithwith the ecommanderer who casoverwasoverwabwas over fitzgerfetzgerfitzgeralda1d glass decided tbatitthat it would not be the right tim6toki11fitz&eratime to kill fitzgeraldlu 0 he returned to thetho mountains andaasandvasandend waswes killed lyby indians before he could ever get to fitzgerald frost p 86n 8n87nan 44aocordingaccording to Websterwebsters1 s dictionary abeara bearbeer is a heavybeavy mammalmemmel thatthetthathaslonghas longiong shaggy hair and a rudimentary tail and walks on the olesoiessoles eP of its feet withthewith the heelsheelstouchingtouching the ground 0 Ursidaursidae is the latin term denoting the bear family e ursus horribilihorribildfHorribili is the latin name for the grizzly bear meaning CT horrible bearbearabearebeera silversliver hlfhiptipp is another name for the grizzly the long black hairs have atipa tip of white which gives them a silvery color lewis and darkclark in their journals refer often to the white bearbealobearobearm as it aboundeditabounded in large numbers in the rockiesrookies in the early 1800s1800 the grizzly is about six feet in length and averages about five hundred pounds in weight from the days of the earliest explorers of the rocky mountain regions grizzly bears have born the undisputed title of americaamericas fiercest and most dangerous big game animal in early days having little fear of the prprimitivetive weapons of the indians they were bold and indifferent to the presence of man and no higher badge of supreme courage and prowess could be gained than a necklace of grizzly 65

in the fall of 1824 p henry made his last trip down the missouri river to bring the cargo of furs to ststo louis and to end his career as 45 a mountain man and fur trader 0 the catch that he brought in this time was perhaps the largest of any that he had ever been in charge ofofo for henry the desire for adventure and excitement had been fulfilled with this last trip y and he decided that it was time for him to retire 0 he

clawsclawso 0 the journals of many of the trappers tell stories of their narrow escapes frofrom the attacks of grizzly bears and describe them quite ap weyso w vividly 0 in the book Astoriastoriaastorianastoriap washington irving waysweys 0 0 0 his speed exceeds that of a man but is inferior to that of a horse 0 in attacking he rears himself on his hindlegshind legs and springs the length of his bodaobodyoll1181 henry marie brackenridgeBrackenridbrackenridgepgep in his book views of louisianaolouisiananLouisianao written in w louisiana 1814l8l4p warns the traveler by saying 0 0 0 0 the african lion or the tyger of bengal are not more terrible or fierce 0 he is the enemy of man and literally thirsts for human blood 0 0 0 0 he is three times the size of a common brown bear and six times that of an european oneoneo andrew hehenry knew from personal experience of the troublesthetroubltroublesesthethe grizzly could cause 0 while camped at the three forks fort in montanamontananmontanapMontanap a shout at the gate brought the men running to see if the trapper there was being pursued bytheby the blackfeet or a grigrillygrizlygrizzgrizzlyozlyblylyoiyo later henry mentioned the attacks of the bears asbeingas being part of the cause for his leaving three forks for the warmer and more hospitable area south 0 one classic example of a grizzly beersbears permenttempermenttemtemperament is recorded years among in the journal of thomas james 9 called three the indiansindiana and mexicansmexicansomezimezlMexicanso james and his party had killed one bear and were searching 1 for another e james states Iip with my dog 9 entered a narrow path and had gone some distance when I1 saw the dog ahead suddenly brittlebristle upapoapy barkberkbarapbarkp and walk lightly as if scenting danger 0 I1 called to the men to come upupoupp and watchedthewetchwatchwatchededthethe dogdogo he soon foundthefound the bear guarding a dead elk which he and hisbis dead companion had killed and covered with leaves 0 As soonoon as he saw thedoethethedogdog he plunged at himanddimandhim and came furiously toward memop drivingthedriving the dog before him and snorting and raging like a mad bullbulibuilbullo I1 leveledlevoledmymy dunandgunandgun and snapped y and then ran with thebearthebeauthe bearbeer at my heels and his hot breath upon meneomeo I1 reached the river bank and turned short metmgtmgt wymy my up a path in which I1 wetmet companions coming to c11ollcallo011 they 9 however 9 seeing memo running werepanicwere paniapanic stricken and toaktotheirtook to their heels also 9 thus were we allailali in full retreat from bruin who crossed the river and fled through the willows on the other side 0 0 0 because grizzliergrizzliesgrizzlies are so destructive to eattieeattlecattlercattlep coltscoltsp sheepsheepocheepo and pigspigsp they have been hunted down and killed in most ofot the united states 0 there arestillaavestillaarare still a ffewev in the forests and mountains of idaho and especially in andestillaaround Tellowyellowstonestone parkperkparkoperko 45acabiaccordingding to chittenden in his bookobook Tthhb 46ricamericanan fur trade of the far westo henry left ststo louis on october 21 0 1824 on his issilastlasilestiest expedition up the river 0 then he statestbatstates thatwhatwhet no one knows what came of himafterhinhim afterarterartey this trip or houhow long he was in the mountains 0 66 went to spend the remainder of his days at his honehome in washington countycountyo missourimissourio

ashley and his men spent the next years trapping different areas 9

songs0 such as the green rivero JacksonJackjacksonejackson0jacksongs s hole the snake river valley p and bear river but unlike the brigades of before the aenmen split up into amiasmallsmeil groups 0 ashley states 9 the beaver is a shy and astute animal andisand is best captured by units of not more than three or four men trapping different strestreamsstreamsoamso thereforeThereforthereforcpcp for the purpose of trapping the parties which hadhed traveled together during the past year brokebroko up into small groupsgroupso11469146114914 on march 88pap 1826l826p ashley left sto louis withawith a party of twentyfivetwenty fleenenfleefivefivamennenmen for his last trip to the mountains 0 they traveled along the valleys of the platte north piatteplatteplattcp and sweet- water rivers to crosaroascroas southpasssouthpawssouth bassppassp arriving at the valley of the green river to be informedthattheinformed that the rendezvous of that year was to be held at the weber river 0 bybyarticlesarticles of agreement signed on the 18th of duywy

1826 near the grand lake west of the rocky mountains 0 which was probably cache valleyvaileyvalleysvalleyp9 ashley relinquished his interest in the business to three of his lieutenlieutenantlieutenantsolieutenantspantsoSp jedediah Sso smith david Zbo jackson and william lo10L sublettersubletteoSubletteo he agreed to supply the new firm with merchandise and to market their furso47

jedediah smith according to jedediah smithssmithes chief biographbiographerbiographersbiographerperp w during his eight years in the westawestwestp jedediah smith made the effective discovery of south pass he was the first man to reach california overland frontfrome thy american frontier 0 the first to crosseross the sierra nevadathesevadanevada the first to

46 frostafrostoFrostfrostp Ppo 38380 47ibidopibidoo ppo 3043ao3o 67 travel the length and width of the great basinbasinabasinp the first to reach oregon by a journey up the california coast 0 he saw more of the west than any man of his time and was familiar with it framfromtram the missouri 48 river to the pacific from mexico to canadascanadao we have already noted that smith was active in finding the rich fur areas that the hudson8hudson0s s bay trappers were working 0 in 1824251824 25 he had camecome by way of green riverbiverrivero through the bear river valley and across the snake river plain near the three buttes to join up i withrossvitwitwithhRossrosso in4829in 1829 he had made his trip through the whole of the west andaasandwasand wasupbasupup at fort vancouver promising drdro mcloughlin that he would abandon the snake country in return for his kindness 0 in accordance withwiththispthisochiso the three partners sold their business on august 44pap 1830l830p to thomisthomas fitz patrickpatlckp milton sublettesublettersubletteoSubletteoteg james bridgetbridger henry faebbaebfaebp and baptist6 49 gervaisGergervaisegervaisovaiSo these men called their company the rocky mountain fur compancampanycompanyy 0 this company was active in the fur trade and trapping of the snake river vallebovalleyvaileyvalleyo jim bridger was known to favor an area in southerninaouthern idaho to the east of fort hallhalihailhallohailo it was a good beaver area andeeandheand he spent many of his hunts in the mountains therethereotherdo there were amny different companies working the rivers nowdowpnowp and it seemed that a new system of gettingthefursgetting the furs to market was needed 0 the naturalresultnatural resultresuit of that had been the organization of the rendezvousrendezvouso

rendezvous gs rendezvousrfinde zimszvms 9 according to Websterwebsters dictionary 9 is a place set for a meetingmeetings a meeting by appointment and a retreataretreatpretreat or refugerefugeo to

48morgan48Morganorgano ppo 70

49harrison49harrlsonHarrison edep harris on clifford dale ededop9 the aehiffashleysmlthsiathsigth ekexplorationsyrationslolorationsloratious glendale Californicaliforniacaliforniancaliforniagag arthur Hho clark coo 19411941p ppo 2882880 68 the trapper it meant a week or two of vacation and enjoyment among a large group of his fellow trapperstraptrappersoperso william hoH ashley is given credit for the beginning of the annual rendezvous in 1825 at henryshenrygs fork of the green river 0 instead of depending on the savages to furnish their fursfurso henry and ashley deter- mined to employ white men in the actual task of trappintrappingtrappingstrappingggg and for the regularly established post to substitutesubstituteosubstituted in large measure the annual 50 rendezvousrendezvouso the trapper was to supplant the tradertraderstradero this system was rapidly adopted by the other furfor companiescompanierocompaniesocompaniesoleso from the middle of june to the middle of september all trapping was suspended because at that time the beavers are shedding their fur

and the skins are of little value 0 this tinetirneatimetirnep thentheng became the trappers holiday when he was free for fun and frolic and ready for a saturnalia among the mountainsomountainshmountainso 51 an annual gathering place vaswas appointedappointappointedpedpedg and here the scattered bands of trappers assembled at the appointed time to receive pay for the seasons work and to purchase supplies for the ensuing abaroybaroyear here plans for the coming year were studied out and arrangements for any contem- plated enterprise were completedcompletedocomplecompietedo these meetings were held at various placesplacesp but Pierrepierresgs hole became the bestbeat known because of the indian battle that transpired there and the number of men who kept journals of the rendezvous of 183218320 52 the trappers had 4a real feeling of release when they arrived at

the rendezvous 0 after nearly a year of being on their toes at all times to ward off aaan indian attack it was a real joy to beinbe in the presence

51 50ibid0libidop po 6o60ao67p irvingsIrvinIrvingirvingpgp Ccaptainn bonnevillebonnevillep po 229 0 andlvandiveerandiveerandiveer po 2392390 69 of so many others and much too large a group to worry about hostile indianaIndiindiansoanso for example 9 nathaniel wyeth recorded the following figures in his journal of the people who were present at the pierres hole rendezvous of 18321832s 120 lodges of friendly nez perceperccpperccy 80 lodges of flatheadsFlatmlatmiatflatheadspheadsheadSp 90 trappers under mrmroamro dripps of the firm of dripps & fonten 53 elleeileelieallepellep and 100 men of the rocky atomtmto fur company 0 there were many free traders present who did not depend upon the companies for support but did their own trading with the indians and then traded with the companies 0 liiiiiall was not strictly business for the trapper at these timestimesotimeson it has been recorded in journals that the events usually began with racing and samesome exhibits of personal strength which were regarded with admiring wonder by any newcomers to the mountains 0 soon all the manlier sports degenerated into the baser exhibitions of scrazyscrapyocrazy drunkdrunksdrunk1 conditionconditconditionsconditionoionolono the vessel in which the trapper received and carried about his supply of alcohol was one of the small camp kettles 0 wPassingpassing rounel this clumsy goblet very freely it was not long before a goodly number were 54ch in the condition just named and ready for any mad adventure whatever 0 at the 1825 rendezvous at henryhenrys s fork of the green river general ashley records that he picked up 8829 pounds of beaver worth in ststo louis from 45000 to 5000050p000o 55 this system was so effective that peter skene ogdenogdon wrote tohistoptohishis superiors ofthehudsontof the hudson1ss bay

53f53po Ggo young edooed the correcorrespondencesronspondencespondence and journals of captain nathaniel Jjo wethwyethg 1831618316e1831 6 sources of the history of oregon Vvolo I1 eugeneeugeneaeugenep oregon university presspressy 1899p1899 ppo 1591590 ch caricadi54carlcarl Ppo russel wildernessrendezvouswilderness rendezvous period of the american furpur tradertrade the karwarquarterlyterly of oregon historical sosocleSociesocietyotyo XLII l94lp1941 22 c 5 morganmorgano ppo 1721720 70 company complainingcomplainingp in the expedition to the snake country two thirds of aymy time is lost in traveling to and from headquarters 0 far different is the mode by which the americans conduct their trapping expeditions their trappers remain five and six years in their hunting grounds and their equipersequipers meet them annually to secure their furs and to give them their suppliessupplieso although great the expense and danger they must encounter in reaching the missouri still they find it to their advan- tage to conduct their business this waywayo there is a wide difference in the prices they pay for their furs and sell their goods as compared 56 to usaubaus a difference of 200 perpercentcento there were fifteen rendezvous as follows 1825 henryhenrys s fork of the green river 1826l826p weber river great salt lake 1827 bear lake popo 1828 bear lake 1829 p first in july the agie river second in kugustaugustaugusta at Pierrepierresgs hole 18301830p wind river at the mouth of popo agieagio 1831 powder river 1832 pierrePlerplerrespierrespierresreb s hole 183318330 fort bonneville on green green river 1834 p hams fork of the green river 1835 river 1836 horse creek of the green river 18371832183791838918329 green river 1838 wind river 57.57 1839 horse creek of the green river57 11840p840 on the green riverriverariverp near 58eg the mouth of hbrsehdrsehdree creek 0 the most extensive of these meetings in eastern idaho was the rendezvous of 1832 in pierres hoieholehalooholoo this will be discussed at length in the next chapterchapterschapterochaptero

oregon 1 russellarussellpussellRussellp the quarterly of historl2alzohistorical society 0 XLII 57ibidibid 58leroyleroy Hho harenhafenhafenp themountainthe mountain men and the fur trade of the far H cocoop 19650 1 po 176 0 westiwesto glendale Califorcaliforniacalifornialcaliforniannial arthur darkclark 1965o1965 0 I P CHAPTER VIIIyino

A ehstEAST& T AND WEST OF THE TETON RANGE

jacksons hole

on the eastern side of the teton range of the rockies lies an area surrounded by mountains called jacksons holehoieholeoboleo this basin was named after david jackson of the fur company of smith p jackson 0 and sublettesublettersubletteoSubletteo there were no large gatherings of furfor trappers in jacksons hole due to the nearness of more favorable meeting places such as green pierrespierretsPierplerretsrots hole to the west 9 the river to the southsouthasouthp and the wind river to theth eastbastoeasto however p this area was traversed much by the early trapperstraptrappersoperso john coltergoitercolterlicotterli is given credit as being the first white man into the jacksons holeholb area because of a map that was made in 1814 showing colters travelsotravtraversotravisl&oelsobiso 2 there have been some attempts to discredit this map as there is evidence that the places colter told about fit other localities betterobetter0bertero 3 john hobackhobackp jacob rezner and john robinson were the next

see coltercolteroboltero chapter ivaiv9IV ppe 19211921019 21021

Cce ge rharleschariescharlescharlescharies paullin 0 atlas of the historical geographyaphz of tthehe XV putted statstaxstatesstytes washingtonsesw&zhingtons carnegie institute 1932 0 volvoivoloyoloyoio p plate 32a32ao 3 gerald C bagley in his thesis entitledentitleentitledpdp daniel Tto pottspottsspottso chronicler of the fur trade 182218281822 1828 and the earliest confirmed EMpexplorerlorer of yellowstone park unpublished masters thesis history departmentdepartmentsdepartmentp brigham young university 0 19641964p discusses the question of who discovered the yellowstone area in detaildetallo

71 72 visitors to Jackjacksonosjackson9ssonOssongs holeoboleo they came eastward over the teton pass in 1811811 ip having spent the winter at andrew henryhenrys s fort on the north fork of the snake river 0 they made their way eastward andretandmetand netmet wilson price hunt coming up themissour missourii river 0 the three kentuckiansKentuckians were then persuadedpursuaded to guide hunt westward bringing the party through the jackson areaardeaeareae with this start the jacksonjackson9s hole area became a regular part of the route traveled by fur trapperstraptrappersoperso it was a natural junction area connecting idaho 9 wyomingifyomingp and MontmontanaanaD0 perhaps 1832 was the year of the nostmost fur trapper travel in this country as many passed through the basin on their way to the pierres hole rendezvousrendezvouso

pierres hole rendezvous the first rendezvous in pierresPierrots hole was in 182918290 the general trapper rendezvous that year was held at the popo agieagleagio river in jillyji4lyjulyohulyo but the rocky mountain fur company went on to Pierplerpierretsretsrots hole to meet their men in kugustaugustaugusto this meeting was overshadowed by the reports that

p accompanied the later rendezvous therethereotherdo the pierrelpPierrpierreelp hole rendeeRendezrendezvourendezvousvous of 1832 received more publicity than abyany of the other meetings of the trappers in the era of their activity there were not less than nine participants who wrote at full length regarding their experiences at this gatheringgatheringsgathegatheringoringo the rendezvous had been setgetgot for east of the rocky mountainsmountainshMountainmountainspsp but due to pressure from the ameri- can company was changed an fur 9 it to getgot it into area less controlled

Wwo porpur company bly one company 0 Aao ferris of the american furfor saidseidseldsaidasaidp pierres hole has been selected as a pleasant place for a generalgeneralrendezvousrendezvous by

pur company mrmroamro the rocky mountain fur p vanderburgVandervanderburgovanderburgeburgo and ourselves 0 it receives its name from an iroquois chieftanchieftainchiefohleftantano who first discovered it 73 4 and who was killed in 1827182 on the sourcesource of the jefferson river 0 rev- erend samuel parker described the areaarbasareatareas pierretspierregsctpierrotsPierre gs hole is an extensive level country 0 of rich soilsoilasoilp well watered by branches of the lewis henrys fork river y and is less frosty than any part we have passed this side of the rocky chain of mountains 0 the valley is well covered with grassgrassagrassp but is deficient in woodland having only a scanty supply of 5 cottonwood and willows scatteredalongscattered along the strstreamsearnsearms 0 for a descrip- tion of the way the landisland is formed 9 osborn russell stated p this valley lies north and south in an oblong form about thirty miles long and ten widelwide9widcp surrounded 0 except on the north by wild and rugged mountains the east range resembles mountains piled on mountains and capped with three spiral peaks which pierce the cloudscloudiocloudso 0 0 the snake indians called n6na 6 them the hoary headed Fathersofathersmathersmethers 0 ap william sublette arrived at the rendezvous on july 88p 1832 0 nathaniel wyeth had accompanied him part of the way and was on his first trip to the west wyeth recorded upon his arrival the presence of one hundred twenty lodges of the nesinesnezness perceperccpperccy eighty lodges of fiatflatheadsFlatflatheadspheadsheadSp a company of ninety trappers under mrmroamro dripps of dripps and fontenelle of the american furpur Compacompanycompanypnyp and one hundred men of the rocky mountain fur 7n company under milton sublette and mrmroamro frappocrappo the principal activities of a rendezvous have already been recorrecordedodedo after the general business of the gathering had been taken care of and the areas of the next yearsyearns hunt discussed p the groups began to break upo on july 14 0 wyeth and

4russellrussellarussellpRussellp the quarterly of 0oregon storicalhistoricalstorical socleSociesocietynsoesoo tyntyo yllixliipXLII 18180

ssamuel5samuelsamuel parker y journal of an ebcplorinebmloring tour lthaIithacanIthaithacapthadacapeapcag new yorkyorks andrusandruseandrusp woodruff and gauntlettgauntletp 1844l844p ppo 940ghogao 6 soungpyoungg russellrussellarussellpRussellp journalJourjournalsjournalojounnalonaio Ppo 21210 youngp 1591590 74 milton sublette left the ampcamp headed southward 0 towards the erdendere of the valley they observed a long line of people coming down the mountain 0 upon closer observationobservatioh they discovered thethem to be indians g instead of the group of trappers they had been expectingexpectingoexpectingo the indians were blackfeet and numbered some one hundredhundreds fifty men 9 women 0 and children 0 the indians had one chief advance with a pipe of peace 0 antonine goddin and a flathead indian rode forward from the trapperstrappers8trappers989 sidesideodideo when they gotclosegot close enough the trapper and flathead shot the blackfootblackELackfoot chief and then fled to the safety of the trapper party 0 the blackfeet at once set about to fight 0 they felt they were fighting a small group of men and were surprised when many riders soon appeared p having been summoned by a messenger from sublettesublettooSubletteotoo the blackfeet made themselves a fort of branches thrown up in front of a deep woodwoodo from behind this they had some protection p but the trappers were fighting from a relatively open positpositionspositionoiono william sublette arrived and imdiatelyimmdiatelyimmediately suggested attacking the fort through a sw&mposwamp they moved up close to the fort and then began firing into itito As reinforcements arrived they caused the black- feet much alaralarm but the indians continued their defense of the swampy positionpositiouo at pauses in the battlebattiebattledbattlep the indians of the two sides would talk to each other to throw insults and tauntstauntso the blackfeet at one time told of a much larger group of blackfeet just over the mountains that would avenge them if they were all killed 0 this was interpreted by the nez perce indians to mean that a larger group of indians was attacking the main gathering of the trappers to the northnorthodortho immediately many of the trappers left to help their partners 0 night came before they could return p and on investigation the next day it was found that 75 theindiana indians had made a complete retreatrbtretretreatsretreatoreato the blackfootblaekfootBlaekfoot losses amounted to twenty six men and the trappers lost thirteen men seven of them being neeneznoz cerceoperespercsperceperceo william sublette was wounded but not too seriously and wethwyeth had a professional doctor in his company who quickly took 8 care of himo the descriptions recorded of the battle were very vividodivido each part was described in detail and each person saw it quite differently the descriptions run frofrom the battle scene taking place in a swamp to having taken place on a mountainmountainemountainomountaino reverend parker after reading a description of the battle said with those who have seen the field of battiebattlebattleobattled the glowing description drawn out in long detaildetailsdetaily loses its interest for aithoalthoalthoughalthoughiughII1 saw it yetiyet I1 did notsienotseenot see dense woodswoodsiwoodsp nor a Q swamp of any magnitude anywhere nearo 19

of the importance of the pierres hole rendezvous p hiram martin chittendenstatedchittenden stated the rendezvous in pierres hole was one ofaheofofaheythe most important of those singular gatherings ever held in the mountains and it marked the turning point in the rocky mountaintrademountain trade 0 A great change was beginning to come over the businessbusinessobusinesso the field was no longer to therockythe rockybocky mountain forfurpur company alonealoneo 0 the powerful opposition of the american furforporpur company had evidently camecome to stayoetayo wyeth had entered the country and although his present condition amounted to nothnothingingo there was no telling what amana man of his energy might not yet accomplishtaccomplisho finally there was captain bonneville backed by hewnew york capitalists invading the mountains with a formidable partyoparayo 10 today there is little left of the battleground that would coin- cide witfithewith the descriptions given in journalsjournalsojournelsoalsoeiso if it verowerewero not for the efforts of benjbenjaminn Wwo driggs the site of the battle might now have

ajohn8johnjohn Eeo sunder bill sublettesublettemountainmountain man normantnormannormans university of oklahoma press 1959o195901959 ppo 1081080 fparker9parker 10 ppo 96 0 10chittendenchittenden Ppo 299 0 76 been a part of history that could not be recoveredrecoveredorecover edo he studied the records and talked with many who had been shown the site tyby actual par- ticipants in thithe battlebattiebattleobattled mrmroamro driggs places the battleground in theth open country near the main highway between present didriggsday driggs and victVietvietcirvictdrovicturoclrcir there has never been a monument or marker placed on the battlefield although a state historical marker is onahedonaheon the highway near the site of the rendezvousrendezvouso CHAPTER Mixocixo

A BUSINESS VENVENTUREE

nathaniel wethwath

nathaniel Jjo Wwyetheth made his first appearance in the west in 1832 when he camegame to the rendezvous in pierres holeholbhoibo from there he had gone across idaho to fort vancouver 0 he had explored the willamette valley and knewknow of the possibilities of the people being able to settle theretherbthereotherdo on his return in 1833 he had been filled with thoughts of the possibilities of starting a salmon industry at the mouth of the colum blabiablaebiao he had a history of being a successful businessman in the eastpeasop and it vaswas not hard fforroror him to get people interested in backing him for a business effort in the oregon counconncountry 0 especially since he had returned east with one hundred sixty nine packs of beaver and the promise of being able to supply some of the fur companies at the next years rendezvousrendezvouso he organized the columbia river fishingandfishing and trading company to adopt astors earlier plan of trading on the pacificpacifico

on april 28 p 1834 p nathaniel wrathwrethwyeth left independence with fifty eight menmenomono two of these werbwere botanists p two were missionaries p and the rest were assorted traptrappersiptrappersopersipperso mostmofitmoat of the men were under contract to wyeth but osborne russell p one of the party p records that six of 1 the men were independent trappers 0 they came up the kansas river p the

lrussellbrusselllRrussellaussellrussellpRussellp journalJournjournalsjournalpaloaioalp ppo 70

77 78 blue riverrivero up the north plattepiatteplattepplatted and across to green riverrivero they arrived at the green river rendezvous on the 19th of junejuneo 2 the exact details of the agreement between wyeth and the rocky mountain fur company have not been found but after his arrival they refused to honor the contract for supplies weth had brought themthemethemo 33 william sublette had arrived at the rendezvous before ifyethpwyethg presenting his claim to the rocky mountain menman fordebtsfor debts owed to himhiffio they had been forced to trade with sublette and hadhed few furs left when wyeth arrived apparently he did leave some of his supplies with them but not as many

amro amro as he planned 0 mrmro russell said p eerheremrHerhereeMrmro wyeth didisposedposed of a part of 4 his goods to the rocky mountain furcompanyfurmur company 0 0 0

As a result e wyeth hadahad a real surplus of supplies 0 he knew that there were a lot of fur parties both of the hudsons bay and the american companies in the snake river valley 0 with this knowledge in mind he moved from the rendezvous to find a suitable place to build a fort that would allow him to make some profit from the supplies that he had in his train 0 beaver prices in philadelphia had sagged from six dollars a pound in 1831 to two dollars and sixtysixtytwotwo cents a pound in 183451834.5 this may have also helped wyeth to decide that the real money was to be made in supplying the men rather than trying to get into the trapping businessbusinessobusbubinesso

they moved from the rendezvous at hams fork of green river p passed bear lake and turned northwestnorthwesttoto the snake river valley 0 while going through the bear river valley russell described it thus

the river 0 which was about twenty yards widewidekwidep ran through large

soungp oungp ppo 221 0 31bid3lbidop Ppo 2210 russellaRusselrussellplp journalJourjournalsjournalonalonaio ppo 990

clavender5lavenderlavender Ppo 4184180 79 fertile bottoms bordered by rolling ridges which gradually ascended on each side of the river to the high ranges of dark and lofty mountains upon whose tops ttheehehe swwxemainedsnewsnow remained nearly the year roundroundo 60 they also had occasion to pass the sodasode springs area 9 which gave rise to the following comment by rassell this place which looked so lonelylonelyp visited only by the rambling trapper or solitary savage will doubtless at no distant daydayo be a resort for thousands of the gay and fashionable world as well as invalids and spectatorspectatorsspectators07so077 upon arriving in the snake rivetriver valley wyeth setset about to find a spot to erect a fortforto his journal entry of july 14lapl4p l83o18301834 statesstatesystateny went down the river about 3 miles and found a location for a fort and Q succeeded and killed a buffaloebuffaloe near the spotspoto 8 this does notvot seenseem like an appropriate statementwhenstatement when the importance of the fort tbto the later travelarabelaravel in that section is considered p butatthatbut at thatthet time wyeth felt that the fort was going to be just awaya waywey to getgot rid of his suppliessupplieso wyeth left fort hall in kugustaugust 1834i834p and proceeded to follow the snake river downstream 9 butonbut on the north sideodideo he finally crossed the river to contiecontlecontinue his journey to walla walla p where he arrived on september 2ndo9 A good portion of his men had left him at fort hall to becomebacome independent trappers 0 russellrussellarussellpRussellp for one 9 seemed very happy to be out of the company 0 he thus expretotdexpressed his feelings the time for which myself and all of arbmrb0 wyethsmenverewyeths nenmen verewere engaged had recently now 1 was independentof and no be eliedeliadexpired 0 so that I independent of the world longer to

8 termed a Ogreegreenhornogreenhornnhorn 0 at least I1 determined not to be so green as to

8 brussell6russellrussell journalJourjournalsjournalonaionalonain ppo 990 bibidebidoibido youngo Ppo 227 0 gwyethwyeth moved down the columbia river to build fort william at the mouth of the wiwillametteette river 0 here he was a direct challenge to tiettetoletave british traders and they soon undercut his businessbusinessp causing him to sell out to themthemo this ended wrethswyethswyetts ventures in the west as a fur trapper or businessman 80 bind myself to an arbitrary rocky mountain chieftain to be kicked over 10 hill and dale at his pleasure 0 these men roamed at will over the country trapping and then meeting at the rendezvous to sell their furs to one of the companies therethereotherdo

fort hall

wyethswyaths party wasted no time in getting the fort built 0 on the 18th of julyauly russell described the fort building lyby saying we commenced the fort 9 which was a stockade eighty feet square 9 built of cottonwood trees set on endaendvend 9 sunk two and onehalfone half feet in the ground and standing about fifteen feet above 9 with two bastions eight feet square at the opposite anglesangiesangleloangleso antheontheon the ath4th of august the fort was completed e 0 the structurewasstructure waswes named fort hall in honor of henry messrso msp and hallheliheiihallphalap senior partner of henry hailohelikallheii tucker 9 williamswilliamseWilliawilliamsp nathaniel woethowyetho 12 on with wyeth at fort hellhallheli wsilwerendwebweswas brend jason leelecoleeo july 27 0

M 1834 a sunday 0 he conducted a religious service 0 lee said 9 0 0 0 the first formal protestant religiousobservancereligious observance to be held in the vast irteriorinterioriilfterior lying west of thethiethib rocky mountains 133 the next day they had a funeral service for one of thementhe mehnenmen who had been killed the previous day in a horse raceracco mr 0 lee described the position of the fort as ffollowallowsollowsfollowssss this fort is in latlato 43043 14141 no but lonlono is not yet ascer

113 russell bournajournajournals ppo 43430 113bidobido ppo 11 0 12eeo Eeo rich edepededop MeLoughmcloughlinmeloughlingslingss fort vancouver letters 1182 tt Compernyenny V 3828 0 first series n hudsonhudson8 s bay comparincompariycompgfiyariy series volvoivolo toronto the champlain society p 1941 p ppe 125 0 13cornelius13cornelius jo brosnanpbrosnanq jason leeleeo prophet of the hewnew ororegon new yorks the macmillan company p 1932po1932 ppo 64064 0 81 tainedbained it is on levislewislewisalewis1 fork in an unpleasant situation being surrounded with sand which is sometimes driven before the wind in as great quantity as snow in the easteasto 14 the rudsonhudsonhudsons bay people were worried about the presence of an americanamerleane ican trading post so close to their own interests 0 mcloughlin of the hudsons bay Compacompanycompanypnyp received word from headquarters that he must endeavor to put weth out of business by steady weilwellweli regulated opp-

osition 0 he was convinced however that wyethswyetts whole enterprise was unsound and that there was nonoedno need to go to the expense of actively opposing it 15 mcloughlinsmcloughlink forecastaboutforecast about wyeth soon came true before long wyeth was having a hard time finding enough supplies to keep his enter- prise going he wrote a letter onmayconmayon may5maya5 1836 to mcloughlin presenting the following proposalproposals wyeth would obtain supplies from the hudson s bay company asking for a guarantee of the parpurpurchasechase of his farsfursfurso in return wyeth would be willing to abandon fort hall and draw a line ofaof6demarcationofdemarcationof I1 where he would only work the upperayper waters of the snake 0 MeLoughmeloughlipmeloughlizjlip thought that this was fair and proposed the idea to

1 his superiors 0 simpson wrote onvu behalf of himselfself and the council of the northernBorsorthern department in juneaunejume 1836 this anweranswer we think it betterbettarbettor to oppose him ewyetwifbethyeth vigorously allow him to do his worst and to decline entering into any arrangement with him than afford M an opportunitopportunityopportunit to secure affirmawfirma firm footing inthein the country by temporistomporistemporisingtemporizingtemtempoporisrising Measuremeasuresso i f this was a shook to mcloughlinmcloughlinpmcloughlink as it was a roversalversaireversal ofof the compcompany1scompanescompanysanys policy tothattijieto that timeo vindication of mcloughunsMcLoughlinMcLoughUns1 s policy came in 1837

14j&sonjason leetleegleeleb diary afofpf reverend jason leevleeglee the quarterly rfof oregon historical society miXVII 1916 242 V lrich mcloughlinsmclmalmcloughlinkis letters 0 0 eviievilavii eviiixviiicviiio 16ebidoibidibido p cixaix exiiicxiiio abide17ibidibide 82 with the Hudhudsongshudsonsongs bay purchase of fort hallhailhalihallohailo captain thing of fort hall attempted to raise a garden in the 1836 year of transition at the fortforto he raised peas 9 onions and corn that proved to be a real treat to the people passing throughthrouthroughogho one of the highlights of reverend Hho hoH spauldings trip to the west was his stop at the fortrortforto he statesstatesostateson herbherhere turnips have been raised but some too frosty for farningarmingfarming 0 scmwtizbertimbertimbey on a small spot and apparently several thousand acres of good soilo thisathis is a dangerous situation in the vicinity of the blackfeetlblackfeetp9 a bloodthirstyblood thirsty indian tribeptribegtriberg frequently at the gates of the fortforty have destroyed many lives and stolen hundreds 1118991818 of horses 0

wyeth p lyby 18371837918329 was in badbed financial straitsstraistralstraitsotsetso he approacheda cachedoached the hudson9hudson2s s bay company again p thistmramr timevithtime with an offer to sell the fort to them drodr mcloughlin explainexplains the offer in a letter to the company dated october 31 p 18371837s As mentioned in the 15th paragraph of mine of 19th march last to the governor and council at yorkyorko mr mcleod left this on lathl8th18th april with an outfitsoutfito and proceeded to the american rendezvouserendezvousesRendezvouse outfit green which he reached on 28th june on river 0 a branch of the rio colorado about 200 miles Sso Eeo of4saltof saltsait lakelakeojakeo on the lathl8th18th july frowfrom swo the americans arrived fro ststo louis 9 when he was informed through mr wyeths4 mrmroamro captain thing 0 ifyeths clerkthttclerk that wyeth had given over the businessbusinessobusinesso and given him the power to sell outoutnouan but states nothing regarding the proposal he made to touryour honorshonorsosonorso and he writes captain thing he would find further iwtrwtionsinstrmtions at vancouver 0 captain thing offered mrmroamro mdleodatmcleod at once to sell to the hudsons bay cimpacampacomponycompunyny mrmroamro goods aco&a all wyeth aa at a looploo100 p cent on boston prices 9 fort hall 1000looodollars1000dollarsDollars traps 12 M bao horses 40 bao and his trappers advances at their valuationvaluationin in thebooksthe books mrmre mcleod very properlyproperly4ouldwould not accept these terms as too highhighehighp and captain thing immediatelyiatelysoldsoldeold his traps and horses to fountinellefountenellefountene3leFountenelle & drips eluciencluciencelucien fontenelle and andrew dridripsPs of theantheamthe eric4nericonamerican Fpurur company3company3 at those prices p and hroughLinbrough1throughlinbroughlin doundomn his furs hereherbhercehercp and according to the

18nlettersletters of hoH hoH spaulding to william and edward porter and oregon wives the quartorlquarterlyQuartorl of prqg9n historicalHistorical society 0 XIII 19129 3730 83

&a offer you badenademade hishinhim 9 I1 purchased his goods aaacoaeo valuing them at our importation of fl36p36 and taking the boston prime cost for such articles as you offered and pattingputting no value on useless articles however to give us a claim on these last 9 when the accounts were made out 9 I1 gave him fifty dollars for them beaver aj4j4 dollars ppe ab1bibo the rocky mountain price on conditions that he would take five hundred dollars for fort hall and his outstanding debts 9 to be paid bylayidy bills on england the dollar to be valued at 42 0 but if these terms did not suit himohimhimp I1 offered hishiehinhim a passage for his effects and furs to oahubahuoahup on his paying freight he accepted the offers I1 made him and sold us allarallaliailallmrmroamro wethwyeth fursafursfursp goods ac&cacoaeo as you see bylay the accompanying account p and for which I1 will draw on the terms stated when we have closed his accounts 0 and he leaves this for oahubahuoahu1919 the total price paid to wyeth by thehudsonsthe hudson1 s bay company for fort hall came to eight thousandthousandsthouthousandysandosandy one hundredhondred seventy nine dollars and ninety eight centscentrocentso 20 the hudsons bay company vaste&nowestedwasted no time in taking over the fortrortforto suggestions were even made at this time to send men down the colorado to trapcleartrap clearelear to californiacaliforniaocalifornianCaliforniao now that the company had a stronghold in the country they wanted to getgot asa nuchnuehmuchsamehsamah out of itasitatasas possible 0 the snake country was not producihgtheproducing the desired number of fursfurso the emphasiss s of the trade was moving away to areas not so infested with trappertrappersso Roprocuringcuringeuring provisions becebecanebecame hardherdmardmerd at the fort and they started

1 living in a hand to mouth condition 0 attempts to grow grain failed 21 because of the dryness of the ereaareaareaoarcao on november 1lo10 1839 p a party of twelve men smarting from an attack ortheof the sioux in the browns hole green river country came to fort hall and stole several horses from

19rich19richp mcloughlinsmcloughlink letters 0 0 LLon v0vaV p 208920890208 99oao 2011 company w 20fortfort hall under the hudsonsbayhudsonshudson8 s baybey 0 the quarterly of ororegon historical socsoesociety XLI 1940l940p 35n35no 21eE E rich edoleddiedoied mclowthlinsmcloaghlins fort vancouver letters 1839-1 company 44 0 second series hudsonsHudsons bay series volvoivolevoie VI toronto the champlainC n societysocleSociesocietyotyo 19431943p ppo 22462242246066oao 84 the Hudhudson0shudsongssongs bay companioCompcompanycompanyoanyoenyo 22 relations between the two groups never provedoimprovedimimprovedo in a letter dated october 3131p 1842 p from drdro mcloughlin to governor deaydepy the following is decrecrecordedad narcisse raymond left fort hall in spring of 1842 to visit green river area to trade and collectco1lectdebtsdebts from americans working theretherbthereotherdo he left his trade goods under one man and went to the ineriamericansimeriamericansoAmericanso he was warned by the american leader to return to his goods for fear they would be takenlakentakeno 0 he thought the american just wanted to W get rid of him and stayed 0 henbenwhen he did return his packs and all 252 5 were boneogonegoneo 50 pounds worth 0 in 184231842 3 fort hall bought 250029500 beaver skinsskinsoshinso in 184561845 6 the fort bought lp1 6wbeaver600goo beaver skins andaanandend da few other bringing the total 24 value of three thousand pounds 0 things were not going as well as the company wished p but they were abletoablertoebleableebie to maintain the impression that as long altheyaatheyas they wer6thereverewere there the country was to be regarded as being british 0 in 1843 p theodore talbot came to the fort and recorded that giafisfht the bourgeois offorthauofFortof fort hallhaliHaU 9 a CaptAicoptainc&ptaincaptainrcaptainenRro giafitGiagrantofithit talked of the countcountry oc as belonging to the britishbritishoBritisho 25 fort hall became an important place in the immigrationgration towards the oregon and california councountrytryo As early as 1844 the records kept at the fort showed that one thousandpeoplethousand people had come through headed for oregon and another two redheadedhundredheadedhundredhund headed for californiacaliforniaocalifornianCaliforniao726 peter

2219eo willard smithp w journal of Eeo willard smith while with the fur tradtraderss y vasquez and sublettesublettcoSubletteotco in the rocky mountain region 1839- oregoregon 1840 the quarterlyar of konxon historical society59p ety 0 XIV 191301913 0 2260 23rich23 Richricho mclaumcl2umcloughlin8sEhehlingsbehlingslings letters 0 0 00oo VI 0 ppo 82 0

24 oregon XLV 0 thethy guarterQuArterquarter1quarterlyquartern1 of historical society 0 xlvp 38380 chariescharlea25charles25charles Hho carey edepededop the journals of theodore talbotttalboto 1843 and 1849521849 52 portlandportlandp oregon metropolitan presspressapressp 19311931o19310 ppo 4o4740ao 2626e eo edep E rich edoped mclnghunssmcloughlinsmcloughlink fort vancouver letters 1844461844 46 0 third series hudsonhudsoshudsonsHudsossobsons bay compancompanyy serlesseriesp volvoivolpvoip VII Torontostoronto the champlain society 19441944o19440 Ppo 340 85 burnettburnetto leading a group of immigrantsgrants stopped at fort hall in 1843 0 he thus described itittits the fort was situated on the south bank of the snake riverriverariverp in a wide fertile valley covered with luxuriant grass and watered bysy numerous springs and small streams 0 this valley had once been a great resort for buffaloes y and their skulls were scattered around 272 in every directdirectionlanoionolono0 barnettburnettbornett had more to say as he described the sagebrush area to the west of forthallforehallfort hallohailo he said the road was rocky and rough p except in the dry vallayveileyvalleys90 and these were covered with a thick growth of sage or wormwoodod which waswes from two to three feet highhighehighp andaraareane offered a great obstruction toU the first five or six wagons passing

0 0 waswes through itito the soil 0 very soft on the surfsurfaceaeeace 0 and easily ftcftq worked up into a most disagreedisagreeableabledustableabie dustadustdustp as fine as ashes or flour w1128

another important visitorvasjosephvisitor waswes joseph burke p a famed english botanist who spent the winter ofof18441844451844 45 at fort hallhalihailhallohailo he was on a trip collecting specimens ofplantslof plants E andandiandlabdi animalsan 1sas of north america for 2029 the earl of derby and the royal botanicbotaniegardensgardens of london 0 hundonsHundons bay companylscompanys official policy was to help immigrantsgrants only to the extent of being paidpeidpeld and polite 0 they did not go to the extent of affording accessories to themthettochetto they continued to operate the fort after the 1846 oregon boundaryqutstionboundary question was settledsettiesettlesettledpdp and it was not until 1856 that they abandonabandonededt achebuheabeahefche fort because of the lack of trade and indian unrest 0 in the treaty of july lp1 1863 for the finalfinai settlement of the claims of thethehudsonshudson0& bay and puget sound agricultural

27peterpeter ho burnettaburnettvburnettpBurnettvtp recollections and opinions of an old V pioneer the quarterly of oregon historical society 0 lgon1904p1904 6076ao6o 28 ibidibidoo Vvp 77

MeLough V po richarichp mclouahlinsmeloughlinslinss letters 0 0 000oo9 viiipv 595900 86

Ccompaniesas fort hall was one of the posts for which the hudsons bay company claimed paypaymentspaymentomento 30

fort hall tody is cotercovekcoverooreredeka by- ththea waters of the american falls reservoirreservoirsreservoiroreservoiro the exact site of the fort has been determined by the unearthing of old wagon parts and relicsrelies by ezra melMeimeinkermeiokermdricerooker it is about ten miles northeast of the nadahnodah of the PortnePortportnenfportneufneufnf river 0 in the spring when the water in the reservoir is high the road to the fort and its monument are under waterbaterowatero

9 0 0 0 Vvp po 125c ericho3richo mclaghlinmclvghlinmcloxyhlinss letterletterss on 9 P 125 CHAPTER xoX

THE DECLINING YEARS OF rheTHE FORFURmor TRADE

christopher carson

kit christopher carson has received more fame from his being a guide to the army and to wagon trains than from his activities in the fur trade 9 batbut he did spend some years gaining experience in eastern idaho that was to help him later 0 in 183118319 carson was working with fitzpatrickfitspatrickp of the rocky mountain fur company 0 he trapped up the sweetwater river into jacksons hole and then moved across the snake

1 river valley to the head of thesalmonthewhe salmonsaimon 0 in the spring of 183218329 he vasveswaswes trapping the bear river he movedovermovedoveroterover to the green river and then moved south to go on to the arkansasriverarkansas riverbiver 0 by 1834l834p carson was baekbackbeek in thesnakethe snake river valley hewinteredhe wintered at the forks of the snake riarrivrriver nearneer thewhe buttes 2 some sixty miles above fort hallhalihailhallohailo carson spent the spring of 1836 trapping on the snake and green rivers in september he set out on a circular trip that took him through the yellowstone park country p along the big horn river into the three forks country of thetha missouri rivero and back across the moun

christopher carson kit carsoncarsons9 autobiogeaaxautobiographyo ed milo milton s quaife chicago RRro ro DdormedoimeheyDoimenelleyneileyHeyney andend sons cocol 1935 appp0 p 222422 24 Zthese two buttes arejustarearegustjust north of the junction of henryshenrygs fork with the south fork of the snake river and are known as the menan buttes they are about twelve miles west of rexburgredburg and were used as andmarkslandmarksandendnarksmarks for travelerstraveltravelersoerboerso

87 88 tainsbains to the snake river 9 where he wintered 0 in 1836 he made his way into the great basin area of utalutaiutaho313 in the latter part of 183618369 carson had all of his horses stolen from him while he was at fort eailhallhallo he went from there to take part green in the horse creek or river rendezvous 0 then he joined up with fontenellefontePontenellenelieneile to go into the yellowstone treaarea by 1839 he was an exper- ienced traveler and knew the countrylv63country allowllowilowiio1 this year he spent in the vicinity of fort hall Q trapping the snake river 9 over in the salmonsaimon goose country p down to the snake again tworkingworkingtworking raft river and creek 0 after returning to fort eailhallhally removedhemovedhe novedmoved northward to go into the three anyone forks country again 0 it is no wonder that whenever wanted an experienced guide to take them to creasanareasanarbasareas in the west they would often ask for carson or at least bonsuconsuconsult1 him on the country to be traveled he spent time moving around and gettingacquaintedgetting acquainted with the land he was working e this was a valuable asset tohirtohimto him when the army came to make explorationexplorationsexplorationsoso these later experiences will be taken up with the entrance of john Cco fremont into the westweste

captain mevillebonnevilleBor

benjamin Llo10 Eeo bonneville was educated at the west point academy e his military service took him to thefrontierthe frontier where he came in contact with the farfur traders and trappers of the mountainsmountainsomountainshmountainso here he formed his plans to explore the west and to enter into the trading business 0 he was able to obtain a leave of absence from the army with the under standing that he would collectinformationcollect information about the indians and the country he had some strong backers in his venture financially p and he

3c&rson3carsonp p 41441 4 0789 had enough spirit for all concernedconcerconcernedonedo

on may 1ip 1832 p captainbonnevillecaptaincaptein bonneville took his departure from fort osage on the missouri rivero toigototgoto go inlandn to the wildernesswilderwildernessonesbonesso most of the one hundred ten men that were with him wedewereexlperiencedwere experienced hunters and 4 trapperstraptrappersoperso instead of taking the usualusua1meansneansmeans of transportation with mulesmoles and packhorsespackhorses they took wagons w0 bonneville felt this would save time in packing and unpacking a each evening stopstopoostopo bonneville was headed frfor pierres hole to join in the rendezvous for the yareyaro he crossed the kansas riverhiver ventwentment to the forks of the forkap crossedto green plattedplattcpplattev e ascended it to ramieslarlaramiesLa as forkforkp aadandandahd crossed to rivero he was joined there on july 26 y by toowaomr- fontenelleelle of the americanamericanlean furfor company 5 the two groups were stillst111atat the green river when news came of the battle with the blackfeetblackfootblackBlaekfeet at Pierpierretspieepleeretsrots holehoiehoicoboico both camps hastily constructed breastworks astheywereas they were told that the blackfeetblackBlaekfeetreet were headed their wayweywayoweyo theblackfeetthe BlackfeetBlaekfeetreet came to both camps under flag of truce p and after observing the defenses bfthebathef the americans were deterred from any fight

they broke camp on august22kugustaugust 22 p and set out for their original destination 0 they knew theywouldthey would be tookoo late to do any trading at the rendezvous because the wagons hahadhed slowed them down too muchmucho they had

Boh to abandonaheabanebanebenabandondonAhethe wagons at this tinetimetimco0 bormevillebohnevillebonnevillebotmevilleBotbonneville went through jacksons hole and over teton passpasso heishelshe As one ortheoftheodtheof the on the spot recorders of the battle there even though he was a manthmpnth too late to describe the events from his own sightsightodighto they moved through Pierplerpierretspierrotspierrousretsrotsreusrous hole 9 down the

arvingrving captainca bormevillebonnevillenbarBonneBormevillevillen ppo 43430 51bid51bidido po 45824582o4582045 82 90 60 teton river 0 across the snakespake river 9 passed mud lakelakcp up birch creekcreekecreekp to the headwaters of1enhiof leianileiahi river 0 here they met some friendly nez perce who offered to share their meager food supplysupplyo bonneville moved on down the river to the salmon river proper p where he made his winter 7 quarters on september twenty sixth 0 they built a temporary fortification and bonneville divided the menmenomono twenty were to stay attheat the home base and the rest were divided into three brigades to do trapping in the areaoarcao it was a bad winter and food became scarce 0 bonneville states p now and then there was a scanty meal of fish or wild fowlsfowlrowlfowlp occasionally an anteantelopelopel but frequently the craviclavingscravingsngs of hunger had to be appeased with rootsrootsp or the 8Q flesh of wolves and muskratmuskratsmuskratsoSo the nez perce that wi&eredlvithwintered with bonneville continually amazed him with their religious principles 0 they would not hunt on their sabbath daydayo they had a religious ceremcaremceremony1 ony before they went out to hunthunto they were always able to exibitexibia great faith 0 he commented p they arcoarevareg certainly more like a nation of saints than a horde of savages 1 9 nevillesbonnevillesbonneville0sBon fort on the salmon river was a full realization of his wisheswisheso he was here leadingleadingsleading& a huntershuntarshunhunttArs6r9s life in the wildernesswilderwildernessonesso many of his trapping parties vereharrassedwere harrharrasserharrassedassed lyby the blackfeetblackfeeto but no deaths were recorded in the time they spent in their winter quarterquartersso they were visited by a party of pendsoreillepends oreille indians who informed them of the advances of the Hudhudson0hudsongssongss bay company to the west of themthemo 10 this

athis6thisthis lakeisbakeislakeleke is in west central jefferson countycountyo it once covered two thousand four hundred sixty acres but it is slowlydisappeardisappearing disappearingoingo it has no surface outlet and cacamata beekoeekclwakflowsflows into itito irvingsIrvinirvingpgp cacaptainn bonnevillebonnevillep Ppo 1231251231250123 1251250 sibicsibid8ibidSibid ppo 12729 91bid91bidid p 12930 1oibidibid pop 13081301308088oao 91 probably influenced bonnerillebonnevillebonaievilleBonnerille to visit the companycompanys s post later onono bonneville finally sent about fifty of his men to winter on the snake river as the lack of game and grass caused by the large numbers of indians was getting criticalcriticcriticaloaloaio he elected to remain with the indians and told his men that they would getgot together on the green river the next summedsummet at the rendezvous therethereotherdo wiemieone of ebestthebertthebestththe best studies of the nez perce indians is recorrecordeddedI by bonneville as he spent the rest of the winter moving with this tribb early in the newnow yeartheydecidedyearrthey decided to move to the snake riverrivero they set out from the salmon riverriverariverp down birch creekcreekecreekp and finding the snow too deep crossed the range of mountains to the south of them to 11 follow the big lost river out ontothesnakeonto the snake river plain 0 by the middle of january 18339 they found indians1ndians near the snake river who informed them of two other parties of whites in the areaareaoarcao one of the groups was led by an old friendfriendafriendomathiewthiepmathiemathieamathiewmathiepMathieo who had left bonneville at green riverrivero 122 after a three weeks restonrest on the snake riverrivero the party returned to their salmon river fort andtheand the cachecachess of furs they had left therethereeatheree for the spring hunt they movedsouthmoved south tolottotlox trap on the malade river near present day goodinggoodings600goodingoGoodingo As theycamethey came to the lost river they discovered milton sublette with twenty two veteran trappers also headed for the 13 malade river 0 both groups trapped the area togethertogether p and then bonn- eville returned as he had told hihis strappetrappers that they would rendezvous at their salmon headquarters inthein the swaerbummersumnersummer of 183318330 with his whole party together again bonneville set out for the green river rendezvous 0 they left the salmon country in the middle of

12 ebidoibidibido Ppo 170801701708008oao800 ebidoIbidibido ppo 18889188890188 89890 131bid131ibidopbid p 198 92 june retracing their earlier steps across the snake river plain and through pierresPierpiedpledretsrots hole to arrive at their destination on the 13th of julyjulyohulyo the next season bonneville sent out walker with forty men to explore and trap on a renteroute teto californiacalifornlao bonnevillebonnevilleo himselfhimselhimselfpfp spent the season in the crow country around the wind river mountains in wyoming they were to rendezvous at the bear lake the next bearoyearo for the next few months he trappedaroundtrapped around the wyomingItyveoyoeoming and southern idaho areas quite extensively until refoundhefoundhe found himself at the green river in the middle of octoberoctobersoctoberoOctobero from here he betoutsetoutset out westward and northnorthwardnorthwardsnorthwardowardo he explored and trapped the bearlikebearlakebear lakelawe area 9 moved past the soda springs 0 and came to the snake river orceoniceonceonee again 0 he went to see some of his men in the salmon river area and then tpenttimespontltime with the bannock indians on the snake river plainsplainseplainso it wasinweswas in ivareathivareaththis area that he wintered againagaizoagaino by the end of december 183318330 bonneville was restless and decided to visit the hudson8sHudhudsongssongs bay areastoareostoareasaneas to makehimselfmake himself acquainted with the 14 country and the indians 0 he left inthein thekhe winter and expected to rejoin the main party of his men near their Portportneufneuf winter encampment 0 he made way on alside his west the leftleftsideleftllefel sidelside of the snake river 0 and his progress was slow because of the snow and lavaformationsolavaiavalave formations 0 they arrived at fort ap 15 walla walla on march 44p 1834 p butbutsbuls wererefusedwere refused supplies therethereotherdo having made some observation 9 they left16fttwotwo days after arriving to return to the Portportneufneuf areaareaoarcao here he found his men gneagnegone and had about a month of search before finding the groudangroupangroup in the bear river vallebovalleyvaileyvalleyo on the 13th of june thuytheywhey nelmet the walker party that had been sent out the previous bearoyearyearo bonneville says that walker had been instructed to explore the great salt lake but had gone on to california and then

ebidoibido po 3153150 151bid151ibidopbid po 37095370 95 93 returnedreturnreturnedoedo 16 in the fall of 1834 he decided to try the hudson0sHudhudsongssongs bay company agaizoagaino at fort walla walla he was received politely but again denied supplies 0 and rather than starrestarve they returned to their ownwn grox1pagroups inan the snake river plainsplainseplainso bonneville spent the winter on the bear riverrivero on the 22nd of juneojune 183518350 bonneville raised the camp to head for the wind river arbaareaarbeo 0 he joined hishiahla men there on the ath4th of july and then turned eastward to end his mountain career 0 he arrived at the frontier on august 22 p 183518350 to become a member of civilized life again 17

when asked of his accomplishmentacetmplialmeritsaccomplishmentspsp bonneville statedstatedp 0 elI1 was the first to take wagons through the south pass 7085 feetsfeetfeetp and green 181 R the first to recognize river as the colorado of the westwesto 0 0 0t he made valuable contributions to the knowledge of the indians oftheodtheof the g west and to the workings of the hudson bay campanycompany 0

OT on Boi comments p 0 his later life mevillebonnevillebor lentsmentsco 0 0 when the law passed removing all retired officers frmframfr6m duty I1 came here wortsmithmortForfortfortsmithsnithsmithtSmith arkansas p and opened a farmtarragononlandslandslends I1 purchased frfro the united

nowp my states in 1837 p where I1 am nowtdowp 1nmyin my old age 9 a ffarmerfermerarmerarmor 0 family with 199 me a a 0 bonneville retired from the furtradefur trade during the transition period from a profitable business vherefortunewhere fortune could be made to a caticoticoricommonon business that needed a lot of hard work to be able to make a

igi161bid161ibidopbid ppo 4024020 171bidou171bidouibidoo Ppo 514 18 captain boB lo10 eo bonnevillebonnevillep N captain Bonnevillebonneviuesbonnevillegsgs letter the montana historical society quarterlyQuarterlyn I1 1910p1910 106log1060logo ebidoibido ppo 109log1090logo 94 profitprofito on september 10looiop 1842l842p the american forfurporpuryur company suspended pay- one ments 9 being some three hundred thousand dollars in debtdeatodebto of its great competitors gave it a somewhat dubious farewell by stating 9 the american fur company 0 0 0 has explodeexplodeddc0 disappeared p overwhelmed with 20 the most miserable bankruptcy 0 0 0 they have met their just desert 0 there were many others who gave up thebusinessthe business as it became too compli- cated to riakemakebiake a profileprofito

john co fremontelementelemont johncjohn co fremont was the second of the official representatives of the united states Governgovernmertgovernmentneutmertneww to comeintocome into idaho p lewis and clark having preceded himhimo his father in law was the influential senator thomas hoH bentonbentono using his influence benton was able to get fremont advanced in the army and also patput in hargecharge of an exploring party to select sites for military posts along the oregon trailtralltrailotrallotralio in the spring of 18420 fremont was on a boat going to the upper 4 missouri when he chanced to neetmeet eltkitnit carsonocarosonocarsopo 21 carson was engaged as a guide to help the group throughthethrough the areas that he had traveled 0 thomas fitzpatrick was also hired asasaesa guideaguidepaguileoaguideo and with these two experienced nannenmenman it seemed that fremont was off to averyayerya veryyery good start 0 on june 44pap 1842 frembntleftfemontbemont lettiettleft kansas city and made a trip to the

21 wind river mountains and back to near oxahaopaahaoqaahao Z he was to explore the country between the missouri and the rocky mountains 0 it was implied that a road was to be opened forfororegonoregon emigratemigranemigr&tidfc ab9090.90 wllis3 thebhewheW military presence that would help to convince others that the country belonged totheto the americansamerlAmericanso0 on this expedition fremont was to getgot his

2olavender p po 2carsonscarsoncarson ppo 6 6 lavender p 419 0 6665665 2 charles pruesspruessepruessp exploring with brefremontFremontomontgp ppo xxiiixviiixxiiio 95 first look at the rockyrooky mountains that he had heard so much about 0 he stated 9 the whole range stood forth in bold relief against the surround- ing sky a succession of stupendous masses all clothed in pure white mantles and linked together forming a rigid and impentrableimpentimpenetrablerable barrier of cliffs piledonpilemonpiledplied on cliffscliffsp eachineach in eager rivalrivalshipqrivalshippshipp ambitiously pointing towards the highest heavensheeheaheavensovenso the cooingcamingcoming sun soon casteastoastoest his golden veil upon them and we turned awayitoaway to seek relief from the dazzling refulgence of his reflected raysraysi912in 23

Frefremontsfremontisfremontiamontis second expedition lasted from may 3030vn 1843 p to july

151599 1844 0 he left from near kansas citycityocilyo moved up the republican river 9 24 crossed the south platte riverrivert 0 moved up the north platte river and followed what was generally calledthecalled the oregon trail in later years shortly after entering idaho he was attacked bosnakebysnakeby snake indiansIndiindiansoanso the war party was described with guns and naked swordsswordsp lances and bows and arrows indians entirely nakednakedanakedp and warriors fully dressed for war with the long red streamers of their war bonnets reaching nearly to the ground all mingled together in bravery for savage varwarwarfarefarerare 25 after the indianss were quieted down a peaceful atmosphere embremergedemeremergedogedo the americans had been thought tobeto be hostile because of their armed manner of approachapproachoapproacho fremont spent some time in the vicinity of soda springs where his assistant described the springs p at beer springs p a stepeesteppe volcanic 26 eruption burnt out cratercrater7craterocravero7 lava 9 cracked earth 0 0 40

charies23charles23charles hoH carey edeoedooad the journals of theodore talbottalbotttalbota I18431 and 184921849521849 522 Portportlandslands oregon metropolitan press 1931o193101931v Ppo 19190igo 24pruessopruess ppo 818681 86 5 25johnjohn C fremont p report of the exploring expedition to the rockyR mountains in the year 184218420 and to oregon and north california in the years 184344184384 44 washingtonwashingtons USbesobosopeso government printing officeofficesofficen s45lfr45o Ppo 1341340 26prguss26ppeusso ppo 86860 iv96L carson went ahead of the main group to arrange for supplies that would be needed at fort hallhailhalihallphalap and it was only because of emontsfremontsfremonteFr fore- sight in sendings ng him that they were able to getgot as many supplies as they wanted 0 the numbers of immigrantsgrants antheontheon the trail had grown to such numbers that the forts along the way were having a hard time trying to supply them all 9 even though they were charging very high prices 0 fremont took time out from his trip into the snake river valley to go to see the great salt lakelakeojakeo heletthelefthe left soda springs on august 25th to go to salt lake and then came back arriving at fort hall on the twenty second of septemberseptembersseptemberoseptenSeptembero 27 the rest of fremontbemontsBebemontemontss trip was partly to fulfill hishie assignment andA partly to explore the wholewhoie of the westwesto he left fort hall to follow the snake river to fort boisebliscoboisco from hete the party left the river and crossed the blue mountains tofortdofort walla wallawaliakallbowallbo they then proceeded 28Q down vancouver 184318430 0 the columbia river to artiveatarrive at fotfott november 7799 fremont turned southward after leaving fort vancouver to make his way through oregon into nevadaneveda 0 down the east side of the sierras 9 across them into california near lake tahoeteboetaboo down central california back east to the mohave rivero through1asthrough las vegasvegassvegasp northeast through utahnutahputahq

east at utah lake across colorado topuebloto pueblo 9 lyby bents fort to arrive back at kansas city on july 159 1844 0

emontsfiremontsfremont2sFir third expedition was the turning point in his career 0

the two other chroniclers of the events of FremontfremontisfremontiaFremontIs8 s trip disagree as to the date at whihwhichwhidh he arrived at fort hallheiiheilhallo both accounts are written by men who were with fremont on his tripkriptripo one account by charles preussprouss says they arrived on september 22nd22ndo the other account 9 latbylay theodore talbot states that they arrived on september 18thlathol8tho it is possible that they arrived in two separate partiespartipertipertlpartiespesp and this would account for the differencedifferencco 28 preussePreuspreussprousspreusspsp Ppo 9010290 102 97 he went back to californiacalifornia and became involved in the california revoltrevolts he considered himself to be the conqueror of california and became the first civil governor of that norlyacquirednewlyacquirednewly Acquired territory 0 he also disobeyed orders that came to him from hisbis superiorsuperiors so he was taken to washington as a prisoner and faced a court martial for his trouble in california 29 A fourth expeditionexpeditionwas waswes undertaken by fremont in 1848 this time he was not being employed brehebytheby the government but was being backed by his fetherfatherrether inlawiin nllawlew and some otheriothermother capitalists who believed in the scheme he proposed 0 the purpose vastofindvestovastowestowaswes to find a route for a railroad to the pacific coast 30 they seset toout tout cross the rocky mountains in midwinter 9 and soon found that theyahey could not progress unlessessass they turned southward they gave up theadertheadeathe ideaidee of the railroad trail and made their way down to the rio gradegraadewfaerewhere theyahey turned westward to follow the gila river route into losangeleslowangeleslos1angelese1 fremont vasveswaswes in idaho at latinelatimea tinetime when there were few of the organized companies still working at findingfijiding the beaver the pressures of low prices and no large beaverbeever areasahadareas hadhed combined to drive them out there were still a few of thethatthetthek independent trappers around but it was becoming increasingly hard forthewtofolb them to aake a livingalivingalfving y and many of them were finding it easier to grow somevegetablessome vegetables and raise livestock to supplement their meager incoincomesomeso the absencea of the large company brigades had caused a change inthein the attitude of the indians towards the independent trapper now the4trapperthe strepperstrapper wabwebvaswas bettertoffbetter offtofftorf to be a manbermember of the tribe or he could easily be robbed 0 contempt for the white man was beginning to develop which was increased with the coming of the missionaries and the advance of settlersofsettlers into idaho

29 29bid293mdbid Ppo xivxxv 30jbidibidooIbidoo ppo xavixxvi xxvii CHAPTER XIxio

THE beginnings OF MISSIONS

protestant missions

in 1831 a nez perce and flathead delegation arrived in ststo louis mangs to learn more of the white mans religion 0 their own religious beliefs were in some respects very close to the christian beliefs of some of the trappers 0 the missionarypressmissionary press of the day picked up the cry and called for volunteers to go to the indianss to answer their macedonian calleailcallo the response was immediatelate and successful 0 in 1834183 p jason lee and other methodists set out for the dagond6gonoregon countrycountryoCountryo presbyteriansPresbyterians came out the next bearoyearo soon therethede wasawasweswabaweba a regular stream of missionaries coming into the northwestnorthwestenorthwestoNorthwesto in 1835 two men were accepted blby the american missionary board to go to the indians of the columbia adeaaraaarea to preachpreachopreachy they were samuel parker and marcus whitman 0 theytravel6dthey traveled with the american fur company 1 as far vastwestwast as the green riverivet rendezvous 0 here they split as whitman could see the need to return aheandaraane plead for more missionaries parker went on to start work with the indians and to getgot a better survey of

C my their needs parker stated 9 chyicmyi leadingloading object was to become acquaint- ed with the situation of the remote indian tribes and their disposition in regard to teachers of christianity yet a careful attention vaswas given

myronon reilsreliseells marcus whitmann pathfinder and patriot seattieattiesattlesettlesseattleSe the alice harriman company 9 1909 0 ppo 28280 98 99 totheto the geography of the country vithlitsvithwith itslits productions the clclimateto and seasons animalsinalslakesinal slakes9 lakes riversriversoriversp and smaller fountains forests and prairesphairespraipralprairespresp mountains and valleys itsitsmineralmineral and geological structure 2 and all the various aspects of its physical conditconditionionolono0 with thisthiathib type of goal in mind it is no wonderwe that there is much description and detail in Parkerparkersgs own account of his travelstraveistravelsotravtraversokreyereyelsobiso parker left the rendezvous to ttaveltfavelstavel north into jackson holeoboleo from here he crossed the teton pass to tnter6nteranter Pierpierreplerpierrottpierrotsretsrotss hole he visitvisiteded the site of the indian battle there and makes caucommentsments about it that were discussed previously 0 from Pierplerpierretsretsrots hole they went northwestward to the snake river vallebovalleyvaileyvalleyo they crossed henryfshenrykshenry s fork of the snake and headed towards the salmon river arbaareadareajarea vherehwwaswhere helashewashewes to meet with the heehezneznee perce 35 indians 0 he wintered with these indians1ndialis near fort vancouver and then departed by boat to go back east viatzviatmvlavia theche sandwich hawhewhavilanhawiianhawaiianHavHawiianlienllen islandsislandsoIslandso upon arriving in the east he madeamademedemedea a favorable report which influenced others to make plans to come tothecotheto thewhe oregon countryoCountryo 4 on august 2927 1835l835p henryiffenryh ho Saulspauldingding was chosen tyby the american missionary board to be a missionary to the indiansIndiindiansoanso he teamed up with marcus whitman and theirth6ir wives to lead an expedition to the indians 0 they left in the ealyearlyeely summer of 1836 p traveling with wagons thy arrived at the green river rendezvous on the ath6th of july there they could not be convincedbeconvinced tb abandon their waganwaggnwagpnswagonssandand took them on to fortfort hallhailhalihallo here they changed the wagons into cartscarisocartso then they pro

amaelamuelazaelsamuel parkeroparcero journal of an exploring tour lthaithacaithacanIthaithacapeapcapcag new york andrusandruseandrusp woodruff 9 and gauntlettGauntletgauntlettptp isopo1w4p viiovaioiviio 3 ibid7idoo po 11231123011 23230 clifford merrill drurydruryp hanh2nhenryu harmon Sspaulding caldwell idaho thecaxtonthe caxton printer g ltdltdopladop 1936 9 ppo 65 lootoo100 cooderceededcooded to fort boise where they were forced to abandon themthemo 5 the reverend spaulding was impressed with their labors with

w the indians and wrote to one of his friends the following 0 and all america with her gold and happiness could not purchase a place for me in the states 9 if I1 mastmust leave these poor heathen standing thick around pleading with their own tonguestongutonguespesp actually for the breadbroad of 6 eternal lifeilfelifcolefco amro in 1838 reverend and mrs 0 elkamheiteanahEiteelkeerkeenahanah walkerwaikerwalkerrwalkerp mrmro and mrs william

gray reverend and mrsarsomrso cashingcushing rollsbells p and reverend and mrsarsomrso Aao Bbo smith went to the oregon countrycoun to reinforce the missionaries that were 7 already there 0 after this there were missionaries with almost every group of immigrantsrants that caneeanecame through the fort hall supply ationostationstationsststationo

catholic missions it was natural for the roman catholic missions to extend them- selves to the indians of the northwestnorthwestonorthwesteNorthwesto they were already strong to the north of idaho and most of the hudsonhudsonsHudsonss bay men were catholic on march 2p27ap 184018400 jesuit fatherpierrofather Pierropierrepierre Jjo desmet left ststo louis to travel 8 westward with andrew dripps of the american fur CompanyCompanyo0 at the rendez- vous at green river that hearpyearyearp he was metmatmot lyby tenton flathead indians who green were to guide him to their country 0 thaythey went north of the river to meet the main body of fiatFlatflatheadsheedsheads at pierres holehoiehoicoboico there were some sixteen hundred Flatflatheadsheads there and father desmet performed his first religious exercise in the northwestnorthwestenorthwestoNorthvestowesto they moved out of Pierpierrespierretsplerretsrots hole

5eellseells 9 ppo 3o3034ao 61 61lettersletters of Hho hoH spaulding to william and edward porter and 11 wives 0 the quarterly of oregon historical soclesoeleSociesocietyoso tyo XII 1912 37132137103210

dzuryodruryo ppo 19419o190igo 8chittende8chittender Iip1 Ppo 31323132031 32320 lotlolloi101 to the snake river 0 which they traveled upstream to its source 0 they

A arrived at henrykshenry9shenry s lake on july 22922.922 0 stone was later found near henrys lake with an engraving that saidasaidsaldsaidp sanctus ignatius PatPatrontisronasronuspatronas 1110911010 montiumMontimontiumoum die juill 23 p isoo18001840 from henrys lake the party went on over to the three forks country where desmet became convinced that more missionaries were needed 0 he returned to the east to procure more helpheip on his second trip west father desmet followed a different oregon pathpatho he left ststo louis on april30april 30 p 1841l84lp and followed the trail to fort hallhalihailhallohailo then they turned northenortheastnortheahtahtast to pass the buttes near the junction of henrykshenry2shenry s and south forks of the snake riverriveerivero they turned north here and followed almost exactly the present oregon short line railroad route north to dear lodge vallebovalleyvaileyvalleyo this group brought several missionaries and they opened the way formanyoffor many of the catholic fathers tohelptohulpto heiphelp the indiansIndiindiansoanso

salmon river mission the mormon approach to indians was a unique oneoonco the indians wereware considered to be human beings who were in a state of barbarism who could be civilizedcivilisledsed with patience p kindness p and labor 0 with this in mind the leaders of the church setoutset out to win the friendship of the redmanredmauoyedman missionaries were called to settleinsettlesettiesettgettleinleinin indian districts to raise cattle plant crops 0 and establish schools 0 thath6th salmon river area was one of these districtdistrictsso0 the actual missionvasmissionwasvaswas located on the leahilemhi river a few miles upstream from the salmon riverliveoriveorivey the missionaries here were able to exist in harmonyinharmony with the indians forarorafor a few years until the general indian unrest forced thethem outautoouto

91bid91 c 9lbidoobid Ppo 33 0 ebidoibido bidol11ibid9bidop Ppo 39 I1

CHAPTER XII 0

conclusion

the era of the fur trade in the upper snake river area lasted for sozesome fifty yearspearsoyearso in the earlier period there was a large harvest to be mademadeomedeo but as is often the caseeascpeasop the good thing did not lastlasto when the companies moved in the beaver began to disappear by the 1830s1830 the heights had been reached and the downward trend in the fur business beganbegano by the 18400s1840 most of the companies had broken upupp leaving only a few of the independent trappers to carry on their trade with anyone who happened bylyoiyo j A good description oftheodthe trapjrteittatraperpt6rpter in general is given lyby merrill D beal and merle Wwo wells intheirin their book histhistory of idaho surely the idaho trappers verewere a reckless brbreeded of manmenaenomeno coming from almost everywhere p they enacted a saga that reads like an epoch from a long forgotten ageageo they exploited the indians and married themthemi they loved wild life and destroyed iti they tamed the wilder- sonesome it ness and departed therefrteotherefromb 9 likejohnlikeilke john calcqlcolterobolteroor tturned into prosaic farmerstarmersfermeryfarmery others became guides 0 only to lag superfluously upon the stagestages some turnedtoturned to tradetrades sometogovernmentsome to government appoint- ments as indian agentsagentso A few lingered on as trapperstraptrappersypersy sighing for thethegoldengoldengoiden days that were gone foreverfoforeverorevero trappers ofbf the great west they had given their ailandallail and there werwerea no regretreregretsoeretscretsso their levity medley madeo 1 andvalorpand valor 0 their hardships and pleasure 0 what a it afterfortafterafterformAfterFortfort hall was given back to the americansAmericamericanspansp many of the hudsonsHudsovilsrigs bay company men tatherfather thathanehanwhan return to the service of the company 9 moved up the valley to take up farming land where they would be able to end their days in the land where they were happyhappyehappyo

ibeal eaieal and wellswelisweilswellso ppo 204 0 102 103 in the canyon of the south fork of the snake riverriverariverp just before it enters the snake river plain and some fifteen bilesnilesmiles up there are some indian writings on the wallwailwaiivanwan of a steep rockroekrook bankbanko just a wllmilmllemile above this bank are some caveseaves in the side of a steep cliff 0 several years ago as people were exploring the caveseaves in this cliff p a relatively important find was discoverdiscovereddiscoveredoedeedo they had lowered themselves on ropes cayes to investigate one of the larger eavescaves 0 As they entered it they dis- covered a skeleton of a man andareara a flintlock firesirefirearmarmo 2 there has been no evidence uncovered to provevhotheprove who the person was in the cave or to show exactly how he got there 0 ititm&yhavemay have been that he was being pursued by indiansis and foundthisfound this means of eapeoeapen it may have been a favorite resting spot of relative safety in the course of the fur mens travels e hono matter what the answer it is relatively safe to assume that the man was one of the corps of trappers who omittedccomittedacc his life to the upper snake riverareariverriverareyAreaareaoarcao

h zcarlacarlarl P russell statsstausstates p the flintlock firearm and all its appurtenancesari prevailed through the greater part of the era of the mountain man it was not until l8t64816 ahaahkthlchtchi the percussion system of detonation was perfectedperfeetedp and eveneyen for marymerymany years thereafter there was z a reluctreluctanceanoe among many of the men on the westernvestern frontier to abandon pe guns the flintlock carl P russell p on the early frontiers berkeley and los angelesAngeless university of california press 195791957 p219po 219 bibliography

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Vvo FancherfanchercrtfranchereoFrancheredereoCrtcnt gabrielgabrielo fancheresFanfrancheregszvqffagecheres voyagedvoyageo0 edited by Jjo huntingtonhuntingtonoHuntingtono newnow yorkayorkg redfield Publisherpublishersppublishersqsp 18540 frostfrosto donald mckaymikayomckayomcyay notes on general ashimo barremassachusettsBarrebarrei massachusetts barre gazette 196019600

104 105 irvinggirvingpirvingq washingtonwashingtonowashingtondWashingtonetono astoria or anecdoteskneadAheadotes of an enterprise beyond the roakro2krockyy zountainsmountainsmomitainsoMomitainseinso edited bylay edgeley woW toddtoddocoddo normantnormamnormans university of oklahoma press 196419640 irvingg washingtonowashingtondWashingtono the adventures of caj2ltcaptain bonnevillebonnevilleo newnow yorkyorki Ggo Ppo putmansputmansPatputmans sonsasonssonsp 1waw18680 Jackjacksinojacksonosono donald adedo letters of the lewis and clark expeditionex itionaition with related Documentdocumentsdocumentsoso 17831840178312831281 1854 urbanaurbenaurbanas university of illinois pressapressppress 196219620 amangamong janesjamesjameso 9 thomasthomase three years imongam2ng the indians and mexicansmexicansoMexicanso philadelphia and nevnewnow york jo bo lippineottlippincottlippinott1companyy1 ccmpanycompany 196219620 larpenterlarpentewlarpenteurv charleschariescharleso fortyj6arsforty aarsyars a furtraderfurpur trader on the upper missourimissooriomissourioMissouriooriourlo 2 vols edited lyby elliottcoasselliott codesocoueso minneapolisminneapoliso minnesota ross & haines incaoincooinco 1962 lewisleviso william S adedo and paul C phillips edad the journal of john work cleveland s the arthurarthoranthoranthurarthun hoHD clark compaiyoCompacompecompanyqiwoiyoryo 1923 0 luttigluttigp john Cco Joijournalaoijotarnal of a fur trading expedition on the udderappeuppeupper missouri moM drunin newnow 18121318121312 13 0 edited by stella druna torkyork argosy anticuarantiquar ian ltdltdooladoo 196419640 morgan dale lo10L adedo the west of william H ashleyashleyo denverdelverodenvero colorado the old west publishing company 196419640

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symssyrossymms russellrusselibusrussell p osborne journal of a tratrapper 0 boiseboischboiscp idaho symsyorkyork company 9 incinoincopincog 1921 0 Spauldinspauldingspauldingpgp kenneth Aao edeededo on the oregon trailltrallitrailstralis robert stuarts journejourney of discdisodiscoveryove e normantnormentnormans university of oklahoma press y 1953 0 thwaites reuben gold ededo brackenridyesbrackenridgegBrackenridyesges journal up the missourioMissourig 1811 and franchereslyanchereLYanmyanchere I1 S voyage to the northwest coastcoasto 181118141811181401811 18141814o voivolvoloyoio VI of early western traveit4jztravelstraveis p 1748i86o1846 cleveland ohio the arthur Hho clark company p 190419040 thwaites reuben gold edo original journals of the lewis & clark expeditionexpeditionsexpeditionnExpeditionnlonn 1804180418060l806o1806t 7volskvolsbolsovolso newnow yorkyorkayorkg antiquarian press ltdvltdolado 19591959a tyrrell J boB edo david ththompsonW sonssonvs narrative of his explorationsorations in western america 1781812178418121784 1812 0 volvoivolo XII of the publications C of the champlainainaln societyso 0 torontoTorontos the champlainChaanplain socleSociesocietytyo0 1916

mo white p catherine ed journals of david thompson 1808l808l8l2o180818121808181201812 missoulamissoulao montana montana Sstalbstatestaeba university press 1950 e youngo Ffo G edad ththee correspondence and journals of captain nathaniel Jjo wyethwyethp 183161831601831 660 volo I1 of the sources of the history of oregoncoreganooregono eugeneo oregonsoregong university pressapressppress 189918990

books 0 secondary sources gero nonnantnorman press 1962.19620 alterkiteralteraalterp cecil jim BridbridizerobridgersBridibridgerocerozeroeero university of oklahoma 9 1962 go R go baileyballey 0 robert river of noreturnno return 0 lewistonleid stoepstonp idaho ro bailey printing cozpawCozCompacompanypcompscampacompavpawnyp 1971947 0 bancroft hubert H history of the northwest coast 0 volvoivolo II11ho san francisco Aao Lle bancroft & co10clepcoep 184418440 bealo merrill do histpryffistoryhistory of southeastern idaho 0 caldwelllcaldwe31CaldweCaldwelcaldwellp31lp idahoidahos the caxton printersPrinprintersoterso ltd op 192o19201942

D woW new beal Merrilmerrill1 do and merle wehwellsowenso history of idaho 0 volvoivolo Iio1 yorkyorks lewis historical pubbubopubo cocoo incoincopincog 195919590

y A Ma newnow yorks & p berry don joriZmajority of scoundrels 0 harper brothers 1961 e

blair walter and franklin Jje meinemainemelne 1 half horsehorseohorsek half alligatorsalligatoro chicagochicagosChicagotcagos the university of chicago presspressa 195619560 brosnan cornelius Jjo jason leelebleenlebnleem prprophet0 t of the newnow orordonooreonoc newnow yorks the mamacmillan1 an Compacompanycompecompanypnyp 193219320 pue chittendenchittendenjchittendenp hiram martin 0 the americanfuramerican fueFurpur trade of the far westwesto new york the press of the pioneersPioneerpioneerspSp incincaoincoo 193519350 107

sono Chittendenchittendenffchittendenjchittendengff hiram martin and alfred talbot richardsonriehardrichardsonbrichardsonoRichard lifelifeodifeo letters and travels of father pierrepierrejeanpierrejoanjeanjoan desmetdesmettdesmeto Sso Jjoo 1801187180118711801 18718218711873 0 newnow po 4 volsbolsovolso yorkyorks francis P harper 0 1905 0 driggsdriggso denjamin woW history of teton vallvalivailvaileyvalley idahooahoako caldwellcaldwelllCaldwelcaldwellplp idaho the caxton printersPrinprintersytersy ltd 09 19192606 spauldingho druryodzuryo clifford berrillomerrilloMermenmerrrillo hetahenahebahenrthenry harmon spigdimSpaulspauldingodingo caldwell 9 idahldahidaho0 the caxton printersPrinterprinterspsp ltd op 193619360 eellseelis ifyronemyron marcus whitmanwhitmannWhitaannmann pathfinder and Patriopatriottp seattle the alice harrmanHarrlaenlaanimen cochoocooo 190919090 ghentghentsghentp W Jjo the earuearly far kesteestwestwesto new york tudor publishing cocoo 193619360 greenbiegreenbiep sydney e furs to furrowspgrroirgo caidceldCaldcaldvellcaldwellcaldwelllcaldwellpCaldwelvelllp idaho s the caxton Prinprintersterso ltdltdopladop 193919390 hafen leroy R edad the mountain men and the furfor trade of the far west biographical sketches of the nrticiparltsrrtioipaitbs txseholarsby scholars of the subjectrbdeetjeet and with introductions byX the editor 0 jqaff3ule californiacaliforniagorning1 the arthur Hho clark co op 1965 0 hafen leroy R and carl coke risterriarteroRiarteroarteno western america 0 englewood cliffs prentice hallhailhali incoinsopineop I119410 hafenhafenohareno leroy R and wo Jjo chentoghentghento broken handhandihands the life storlstorzstory of thomas fifitzpatriekeFitzpattrickriekerickerieko denverdenyerdenterp coloradocolorados11 the old west publishing cocoo 1931 0 harris burton john colter his years in the rockiesrockiesobooRocrookiesokleso newmew york charles Scribnerscribnersscrihnersscribnerlsls sons and london charles scribners sons ltdltdolado 1952 hebardhebardp grace raymond and Eeo Aao bainisstoolelrininstool the bozemabogeaanbogeman trtrailtrallailallali 0 cleve- land the arthur hoH darkclark cooco 19220

R houck louis A history of missoMiasomissouriuriourlo0 volo Ilo110 Chichicagocagotcagos ro roR donnelleyDonneUey & sons co 1908 0 garden newmew yorki lavender 0 daviddavidedavido the fist in the wilderness 0 city rorktorkiyork doubleday & company incoincaoincoo 196419640 mew lavender 0 daviddavido 0 landlendjand of giants 0 gardengardengardon city newnow york doubleday & company incinelneincopincog 1958 0

Sso oregon yoloyoio mw york lynlyiaan horase history of 0 16161volo I1lo10 themorth north pacific publishing coomcoop 190319030 mackenziemaakenziemaokenssieoMaamaomeokensiekenslekenzie cecil woW donald mickenziemackenzie ting of the NorthnorthwestenorthwestoMorthmorthwestowesto los s angeles ivan deach jrjroparop publisher 9 193719370 0 mattesmatteiomatteso merril Jjo fur traders and trappers of the old westwesto apnoponpnope yellowstone library and museum assasso adondndo 108 merkmark frederick furfor trade and priaeepriveebgpireo volyolyoivoleyoio XXXI of the harvard historical series cambridge harvard university prespros 1931 morgan daledaiee L jedediah snithsmithsmiths neirheirnewnow york the bobbsmerrillbobbs merrill company inc 1953 nevinsnevinsp allanalianan fremont PathPathapathaarkerpathmarkerarkererkermarkermerker of the west new york Ddo appleton century cocompanympalv 0 1939

oglesby richard edward manuelmannelmenuelmennel lisa norman g oklahoma university of oklahoma press 1931963 Paulpaullinlint charles C atlas of theteemee historical gogeography2aaply4 of ththea united states washington carnegie institute 9 193219320

phillips paul chrisler the murfurformorpur trade 101 2 vols norman university of oklahoma press 191o19101 porter maemacmee reed and odessa davenport scotsman in buckskin new york hastings house 9 publishers 1963 russell carl P guns on theathemthey early frontierfrontiers so berkeley and los angeles university of california presspressapressp 1957 sabin edwin L kit carson dusdubpasdtetsn 18q218091868e1868& new york the press of the Pioneplonepioneerserbeerbberse inc0incinelneinca 1935 Sullisullivanvengvang maurice S jedediahsmithjedediah smith trader and trail breaker new yorks press of the pioneersPionepioneersyploneersy incincaincp 19360 sunder john E bill sublettesubieSubieble mountain manmenmanemano norman university of oklahoma press 1959

sunder john E the fur trade on the atlerptleruiper missouri 1840184018651865 e normantnormannormans universityuniversityof of oklahoma press 1965 terrellterrell john uptonuptono furs bsyabsy astoror new1n6w yorksyorkayorkg william morrow & company 1963

vandiveer clarence aoA the fur trade andendaiidabid early western exploration cleveland g the arthur H clarkcompanyoclarkclerk company p 19291929. vestal stanley joe meekmeeko the memerry mountain manmanemano Caldwelcaldwelllt idaho the caxton printers ltd 1952

vestal stanley 0 mountain meittmeftii bostonbostoni houghton mifflin co 1937

articles and periodicals ca primary sources ball john john balls letter the historical society of montanaMontanaltanai I1 1876 104 109

B eo M bonnevillebonnevilloi captcapto bo L E captain bonnevillesbobevbomevllielile131a s letter i the historical society of montana I1 18769 106 bradley manuscript book II11 the historical soclesociesociety of montana VIII 191791917 135 burnettburnetto peter haH wRe01 collectionsrecollections and opinions of an old pioneer the ororegon o V 1904 64 9& quarfterlquarterly of historical society0 649898

C 11 camp charles L ededo t the chronicles of george yount california historical quarterlyquart v II11 19232419231923249249 3 diary of reverend jason lee the9uarter1the quarterly of oregon historical sreieereiesociety 0 XVII 1916 240

T coC onus oregon elliot david thompsonsThomps journal 9 the quarterlyter3vterly of historical societysoo 9 XXVI 1925o192519250 126129 ir elliotliot toT C edooedjpedeped journal of johnworkjohn Work the lbquarterlyrter& of ororegon X historical societysocsoo 9 1909019091909o 2962960 elliot T coC ed journal of john work covering snake coutcoutnrycoutney expedition of 1830311830 31c31 first hairhalfhalfoheiro the garquarterlyterly of oregon historical socsociety yillXIIIXZII 1912019129 363 elliot T C edeedoedtedo journalofJourjournalnalofof john worsworks snake country expedition of 1830311830 3131p second halfhalshaisif the quarterly of 0oregon storicalhistoricalstorical &societycleamcledm XIV 19139 2802800 oregon fort hall under the hudsonhudsonss bay company p the quarterly of giaglastoricalhistorical sociezqsoclesocietynSocietzotyotyn XLI 1940idl940g1940igho ID 380 iteithH H spaulding to williaawilliam patopwtoporter octoberoatober2 2gag 1836 11 the quarterly of ororegon historical soelsoeieynSoeiso eyoeyn XIII 1912v1912 373 journal of E willard smith while with thefurthe furpur tradersTraderstderso vasquez and sublettersublettebSubletsublettegteBteg in the rockybocky mountain regionregionsregionp 183918401839 1840 p the quarterquarterly1Y of ororegon historicalhistoriaalsoaitjx0xivsociety yivXIV 191301913o1913p 373 letters of hoH H spaulding tto william & edward porter & wives the quarquer oregon soo n 3710 quarterly of historical societysoc Q XIII 191291912 371 lindslpymargaretlindsley margaret hawkes carved racksroeksr6cks in drummondDruamond area indicated henry party may have camped there 146 years agoagog ashton herald ashton idaho 0 19061956190649561906 1956 golden anniversary edition miller david E ed william kittsons joynaljownaljournal covering peter skene ogdenagdensogdenss l8241825182418251824 i825 snake country expedition the utah historical quarterly XXII 1954 125

11 D g 11 miller 9 james early oregon scenesscones A pioneer narrative 9 the quartellquarterlquarterlyv of ororegon historical society XXX 1930 216 110 moore adella BreckenridgbreckenridgebreckenridgcoCo 11aaaA rock is found congressional record april 19351935o19350 a242oa2742

articles and periodicals secondary sources atkinalkinatkinsatkinp Wwo Tto snake river farfurpar trade 1816241816 2424p 11 the quartellquarterlquarterlyQuarterlteri of ororegon historical sociesoclesocietyottyo XXXV 19341930193o c952950 barry p Jje reilsonoNeilneilsonosono astorian whoho became permanent the washington historical quarterlvnqgmterlyq XXIV 1933v1933 2210 barryjharryjelarryj nellnelineilsonnellsonreilsonoNeilneilsonosonesono fort reed and fort boiseboisekboisep 1814351814 35 0 the quarterlyterl oregon n XXXIV 60610golgi60 61gioglo of historical societySoelezcieZ 19331933009333l933o 6061gogl 0 barrybadrybedrybarrupbarryp J nellnelineilsonnellsonreilsonoNeilneilsonosono Mamadamedaroedarmedamme dorian of the astorianoastoriansAstorians the quarterly off oregon historical sociersociejsoclesocietynSocietyotyn XXX 1929019299 22272272027292290279099oao barry 0 Jjo reilsonoNeilneilsonosono the of the astoriansastorianoastoriansoAstoriAstorlansoriansorlensensoanso the quarterly of oregon trail historical sg2letsocietyz9za0 xiii19129yihyinXIIIXIH 191291912 p 22722o220 cannoncannonecannonp miles 0 the snake river in history the quarterly of oregon historical sociersocleSociesocietyntyn XX 191901919o1919v 330 drumadrummdrummo stellasteliasteilaste Mmo more about AstoriaaslastoriansastorianoAstastorianaporiansorlansnawnap the quarterly of oregon historical society 0 XXIV 1923v1923 335335903354949 elliototoozo to co david thompson and the columbia river the Qquarterly of oregoregonon historical socleSocieocietyi7societyoS tyo XII agiogi19llp1 1952051952050195 2052050 ellioteuiotp Tto coC earliest travelers on the oregon trail the quartquarterly iforoforof oregonon historical socleSociesociezqsocietyntyetyn XIII 1912v1912p 750250 elliotellioteelliotp T ceC wilson price hwitp the quarterly of oregon historical Ssociety v XXXII 193101930p1301931o 130130303o34ao mattesmattesemattesp merrill J behind the legend of colterscoaterscolteruscoiColtersterus heuhenhellheiiheil the early ftplorationftplorationesxploration of yellowstone national parkopark ll11 the mitsissmitsiasmississippi Vvaileyvalley historical review jijujljuXXXVI 1991949 j 255 ak7k merkomarkomerk frederick 0 snakeshakestaake councountry expeditioneacpeditionp the quarterlytaraztarjz of oregon historical socieyvxxxvsoclesocietynSocietyn XXXV 19349 91930

01 beesoreesoreesp john Eeo idaho its meaningmeanix origin iani applicationapplicationsapplicationo the aumqumQ oregon historical so XVIII 19170 83 0 barteruarterty of historic society 0 191701917o attssellftussellpaxiAttaxtssell carl Ppo wilderness rendezvous period of the american fur oregon trade 0 the quarterly of historical sosociety 0 XLII 19419 lo10 ililitIII111

unpublished material baglerbegierbagleybegley gerald Cco daniel T pottsspottsppotts chronicler of the fur trade 1822- 1828 and the earliest confirmed explorer of yellowstone parkparko unpublished mestermastermastersmesters s thesis p elghambighambrigham young universityuniversityo 1964 0 bennetbennetobennato lynn milladomillaymillayo mckenmokenmakenzogmekenzicpMaKenzeozog mcdonaldmcdoneldmcdMaDorldorid & ross in snake country 0 unpublished masters theslithesis p university of california berkley p 192519250 dayton dellop the mountain rwdeworira6zvqu0 unpublished mastedmastermasters s thesis university of california berBorberkleykleykieykiby 1921942 0 dedo jongjangyjongy thelmethelmatheime bonhanbonhambonhaale an historical narrative of the explorations made by fur trappers in that portion of the oregon country 41 V whishwhi6hwhichi6h laierlateru1uaer became the stateskate of idahiidahlidahobo0 npldblishedunpublished mastermasters s thesis p Brighbrighamyounguniversitybrighaaaaaaaan yoxmguniversityo 195719570 0 warner tidtedthateatva jjo peter skene ogden and the furpur trade of the great northwest 0 unpublished mastermalterusmasterusMasteruss thesis y brigham young universityuniversityo 195819580a ABSTRACT

the upper snaksnake hirerriverhiver area was a center of much fur trade activity during the first half of the i800o180w s it has many streams and they had abundant quantities of the furst1vttfuraforaforb thetthat were being sought lyby the large parties of men who came into the country e the early explorers of the pacific coast hastened the etplorationexploration As and development of the interiwinterirointerinterinoiro0 thythey movedalongnovedmoved along the shores they recorded the possibilities of ththe richerniches that were there and helped to form the opinions in each country of how valuable it would be to own the northwestnorthkorthwerteKorthwerte this desire t6ta get agadaagadda god claim on the land brought the explorers by land first alexander mkelnziemdkdnzie ambanecambcameoame across canada to the pacific by 1804 the united stastatesas was making its bid by sending lewis erdandend darkclarkgark to explore the misswrimissourlmissoura riverbiver and to make their vaywaywey to the pacific 0 giving the americans a real claim on the country 0 the reports brought lekmekbgekbyby theethesetheme explorers caused visions of wealth to be gained from the large amounts of fwfutfur that verewere reported 0 manuel lisa commissioned andrew hedyhewyhennry to search fforroror furfuro henry left st louis in 1810 airiendandermi found the blackfeetBlaekfeet indians of the upper missouri very unhospitableunhospitablcn he movedoixthward southward into eastern idaho p and there pur constructed the first americawfurAmericanamericanparPar Postlpotestwest of the rocky mountains 0 the next spring they returned to tell newsnows that webvasweswas so disappointing that fur trade activities of thatheth6 american stayed east of the rockiesrookies for ten years 0 wilson price hunt came overland in 1811 with a group to establish 2 a post at the nouthmouthmonth of the columbia river and experienced great difficul- ties in crossing idaho robert stuatStuarstuartstwarttf returning from the west coast ijiaijin 181218129 spent considerable time in the upper snake river area as he vaswaswes following the route that later became known as the ororegoneg en trail the north west fur company and later the Hudsonhudsons11 s bay company made good use of the americansamericans88 absenabsencesabsenceoabsencebcebceoceu they sent fur brigades into the snake country and reaped a harvest of fursfursotorsoturso theathe1the americans soon awoke and moved into the areainadreainarea in the early 1820s1820 many of the men who made a name in the furforsorsur trade orasaororaseas a mountain man worked in the fur trade in this area

the americans and brittbeittbelttbritishshneverigotI1 nevers got along very well A rivalry grewgrow between them that lastedlastedrtbroughoutthrwghmrt the fur trade era in 1834 nathanielNathamiel wethwyeth showed what was to become a later triandtriendbriend by building fort hall in a position that later helped many immigrants on to their goals the glories of the fur trade andthesndand the aitementexcitementex of the west brought men like captain bonneville to the uppersrikkeupperUpperS rilkerikkesnake river areaareearcaoareao he spent three years in the wilderness traveling videlywidely to obtain furs and to enjoy the life he was followed byloyidy john clC T emont on an official exploring and map making trip for the Govertgoveriteentgovertmentgovernmentgovernment 1I by 1840 there vaswas a retirotlrealreel dealitedealatedecline in the fur activity the big companiescompliesllesmies had moved out of the tradetradedtradep leaving only independent trappers to work the beaver tradetredetradeothadeo mitsionariesweremissionariealwere coming in seemingly large numbernumberssp9 and the country was taking on a civilized look soon groups of immigrantsgrants came into the country supplanting the old fur interest APPROVEDAPPROVSD

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71 e bowlbomizv zvml K memberbembmemb er udvisorycoirsiaitteeadaiadvisory committeeMl VJ T chaimanchairman major deppentdecentdepentDe e