Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival

by Stark, Peter

  130 piney forests: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for September 6, 1811.

  “There, among others”: Ibid., journal entry for September 4, 1811.

  131 for trout or grayling: Ronda, Astoria & Empire, p. 175.

  132 “Spanish River”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for September 16, 1811.

  133 He posed the question: Irving, Astoria, p. 268. “The vote, as might have been expected, was almost unanimous for embarkation,” writes Irving, who had direct access to several participants.

  134 The voyageurs instead planned to hew canoes: For a hands-out study of the relative merits of dugout canoes hewn from cottonwood trunks, see William W. Bevis, “The Dugout Canoes of Lewis and Clark” at “Discovering Lewis & Clark,” lewis-clark.org, 2014.

  135 clear view of the Tetons’ snowy and rocky peaks: From visit to put-in point as marked by historical marker, near St. Anthony, Idaho, by author, April 2012.

  136 fifteen large and heavily loaded canoes: Irving, Astoria, p. 275.

  “Three bonnie ducks go swimming ’round”: Nute, The Voyageur, p. 131, translation of voyageur song “En Roulant Ma Boule.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  138 They were happy: Irving, Astoria, p. 276.

  139 “I sent my canoe and one other to the rescue”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for October 20, 1811.

  Hunt had split off the first “string” or “leash” of trappers: Irving, Astoria, p. 170. The first leash, splitting off east of the Tetons on the Mad River, was Alexander Carson, Louis St. Michel, Pierre Detayé, and Pierre Delauney. The second leash, splitting off at the canoe-building and put-in spot where Andrew Henry had wintered, was Robinson, Hoback, Reznor, Cass, plus Miller. See Irving, Astoria, p. 171. Thus nine trappers split off altogether.

  An estimated 60–400 million beaver: Steve Boyle and Stephanie Owens, North American Beaver (Castor canadensis): A Technical Conservation Assessment, prepared for USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Species Conservation Project, February 6, 2007, http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/northamericanbeaver.pdf, retrieved October 3, 2013, p. 10. For more details on the beaver’s role in the fur trade and its habits and habitat see also Eric Jay Dolin, Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America (New York: Norton, 2010), pp. 13–23, and Innis, The Fur Trade in Canada, pp. 3–6.

  140 Fur trappers exploited this habit: Kent Klein, “Trapping Techniques of the Mountain Man,” HistoricalTrekking.com, p. 6, retrieved October 3, 2013. Klein assembles excerpts from early explorers’ and trappers’ journals on methods of trapping beaver.

  141 that he would not be going to the Pacific Coast: Irving, Astoria, pp. 273–74.

  “[He] had been in a gloomy and irritable state of mind”: Ibid., p. 171.

  143 “ [H]is fear of us was so great”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for October 26, 1811.

  144 they approached the entrance to a canyon: Ibid., journal entry for October 28, 1811.

  but the steersman didn’t hear him: Irving, Astoria, p. 281.

  145 the basalt boulder: Boulder location described in Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series: “Site of Ramsay Crooks 1811 Canoe Disaster.”

  146 At the clear running fountain: Nute, The Voyageur, p. 106, translation of “A La Claire Fountaine” (The Clear Running Fountain), one of the most popular voyageur boatsongs.

  147 The following day, October 29, their tenth: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for October 29, 1811.

  148 The other three canoes snagged among exposed rocks: Ibid., entries for October 31 and November 1, 1811; Irving, Astoria, p. 283.

  340 miles upstream: Ibid., p. 179.

  burn 6,000 calories daily: Auerbach, Wilderness Medicine, p. 158.

  149 With a pound of bison, elk, deer, or comparable lean game animal: A 3-ounce piece of roasted elk is 124 calories, 1 ounce of roasted venison 46 calories, and 3 ounces of lean bison is 122 calories, according to http://caloriecount.about.com. A pound of elk would thus provide 657 calories and a pound of deer would provide 736 calories. Even without exertion or cold weather, an adult male needs around 2,000 calories per day, which would require an adult male to consume around 3 pounds minimum per person of deer or elk or bison. The Overland Party included 50 people, each of them requiring 3 pounds of wild game meat per day, or 150 pounds per day for the whole party. A large elk provides around 200–300 pounds of boneless meat, and a bison about 500 pounds, so the Overland Party would need to kill a large game animal every three to four days or possibly every day or two, if the animal were smaller.

  elk (200–300 pounds of boneless meat): “The Elk Carcass,” University of Wyoming. See table at http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d45/2rocky/Hunting/elkmeatyield.jpg.

  bison (400–500 pounds of boneless meat): Ag Canada La Combe Research Centre, http://www.canadianbison.ca/producer/Resources/documents/ExpectedMeatYieldfromaBisonBullCarcass.pdf.

  150 would head in different directions: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for November 1, 1811; Irving, Astoria, p. 284.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  153 “[F]or the greater part nothing that walks the earth”: Robert Stuart, Robert Stuart’s Narratives, in The Discovery of the Oregon Trail, ed. Philip Ashton Rollins (New York: Scribner’s, 1935), p. 112. Stuart is describing on the return journey the stretch of river from thirty miles below Caldron Linn to Caldron Linn, or the stretch known as the “Devil’s Scuttle Hole.” (Today this is known as Murtaugh Canyon.)

  154 “The women fled in such haste”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for November 11, 1811.

  156 Yellowstone hot spot: Joel Achenbach, “When Yellowstone Explodes,” National Geographic, August 2009.

  Today that melted path is known as the Snake River Plain: Mark Anders, “Yellowstone Hotspot Track” (map).

  158 a horse he considered a friend: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for November 27, 1811. “I could eat it only with regret because I had become attached to the poor animal.”

  159 one of the voyageurs, Sardepie: Irving, Astoria, p. 299. In this account of the meeting between Hunt and Crooks parties in the canyon, I’ve relied on both Hunt’s journals as well as Irving’s account, which fills in many details not found in Hunt. Irving, when writing his account, had access to several of the surviving participants, including Crooks. The details he includes of this incident clearly came from some of these interviews with particpants.

  For the first eighteen days: Irving, Astoria (1849), p. 300.

  160 “It was impossible for men in their condition to get through”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for December 6, 1811.

  161 “I spent the night reflecting on our situation”: Ibid., journal entry for December 6, 1811.

  The physical sight of Crooks that day had come as a shock: Irving, Astoria (1849), pp. 299–300.

  162 “sepulchral”: John Franklin, “Franklin’s First Retreat,” in Ring of Ice: True Tales of Adventure, Exploration, and Arctic Life, ed. Peter Stark (New York: Lyons Press, 2000).

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  164 treasured their fine set of “plate”: “The Will of John Jacob Astor,” in Porter, John Jacob Astor, Business Man, vol. 2, pp. 1260–96. Astor made several stipulations about how his “plate” was to be distributed after his death. Other references to his and Sarah’s practices to entertain guests give special importance to their “silver plate.”

  revelry and pot-banging raucousness: Stephen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas, Kindle ed. (New York: Vintage Books, 1997), loc. 1108. Nissenbaum also cites a reference for Washington Irving’s role in shaping our modern Christmas and developing the tradition of Santa Claus, quoting an article by Charles Jones. “Without Washington Irving there would be no Santa Claus. . . . Santa Claus was made
by Washington Irving.” See ibid., loc. 1409, and chapter 2 fn. 20. Nissenbaum quotes from Charles Jones, “Knickerbocker Santa Claus,” New-York Historical Society Quarterly 38 (1954): 356–83 (see 367–71).

  165 details of a contract: Ronda, Astoria & Empire, p. 86.

  166 “Since I had the pleasure of speaking with you”: Astor to Jefferson, March 14, 1812, in Porter, John Jacob Astor, Business Man, vol. 1, p. 508.

  “[A]t all events, I think we must be ahead of them”: Astor to Jefferson, March 12, 1812, in ibid.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  170 “What a prospect!”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for December 6, 1811.

  171 Ramsay Crooks and Le Clerc soon staggered far behind: Irving, Astoria (1849), p. 302, and Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for December 7, 1811.

  small groups and lone travelers pushed ahead: Irving, Astoria (1849), p. 302.

  Crooks and Le Clerc could ferry themselves: Ibid., p. 303.

  “They said that we would all die from starvation”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for December 8, 1811.

  five men remained: Irving, Astoria (1849), p. 303.

  173 managed to buy (Hunt’s account) or grab (Irving’s account): Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for December 10, 1811; Irving, Astoria, p. 305.

  “[H]overing like spectres of famine”: Irving, Astoria (1849), p. 305.

  clapped his hands in delight: Ibid., p. 306.

  174 “Thus for twenty days: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for December 16, 1811.

  after about ten to twelve weeks: Peter Stark, Last Breath: Cautionary Tales from the Limits of Human Endurance (New York: Ballantine Books, 2001), p. 112.

  175 “But to remain in this place would be still worse”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for December 19, 1811.

  176 “a gentleman of the mildest disposition”: Bradbury, Travels in the Interior of America, p. 52.

  “I ended by telling the Indians”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for December 19, 1811.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  177 “La maudite riviêre enragée”: Irving, Astoria (1849), p. 310.

  “[They] told me that since we had left”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for December 21–23, 1811.

  Three of these weakened voyageurs: Irving, Astoria, p. 310, and Rollins, The Discovery of the Oregon Trail, p. 325, notes 235 and 236, and account on p. lxxxvii. These three voyageurs who opted to stay behind were Jean Baptiste Turcotte, André LaChapelle, and François Landry. In addition Hunt had left behind the weakened Crooks and Day, plus the voyageur Dubreuil.

  179 make about fifteen miles per day: Irving, Astoria (1849), p. 199, says fourteen miles a day. Hunt’s journal indicates 106 miles in about six days, which would be about seventeen miles per day.

  Carriere, simply lay down: Ibid., p. 311.

  carry both La Bonté and La Bonté’s twenty-five-pound pack: Ibid., p. 312.

  “They . . . had so often given me erroneous reports”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for December 30, 1811.

  180 “Silence and isolation”: Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohiyesa), The Soul of the Indian: An Interpretation (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1911), pp. 28–30.

  181 “His wife rode horseback with her newly born child in her arms”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for December 31, 1811. The location of the Dorion baby birth site was near today’s North Powder, Baker Valley, Oregon, according to Rollins, The Discovery of the Oregon Trail, p. 325 fn. 247.

  then the fork of a creek: Rollins, The Discovery of the Oregon Trail, p. 325 fn. 248, for the probable exact route in various stream drainages of the Blue Mountains.

  182 “[W]e were at a point as high as the mountains”: Hunt, “Voyage of Mr. Hunt and His Companions,” journal entry for January 4, 1812.

  183 They spotted a sprawling Indian encampment: Ibid., journal entry for January 8, 1812.

  “I cannot thank Providence enough”: Ibid.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  187 the ship had logged 21,852 miles: Ross, Adventures, p. 68.

  188 McDougall and David Stuart, in the longboat: Franchère, Narrative, pp. 99–101; see also Irving, Astoria, p. 88, and Ross, Adventures, p. 68.

  “[Comcomly] received them with all imaginable hospitality”: Franchère, Narrative, p. 101.

  189 Upstream, they could see: Ross, Adventures, pp. 70–71.

  “The spring, usually so tardy in this latitude”: Franchère, Narrative, p. 102.

  191 “Much time was often spent in this desultory manner”: Ross, Adventures, p. 73.

  191 “[T]he great pasha”: Ibid., p. 75.

  liquor rations three times a day: See McDougall journal, July 26, 1811, in Robert F. Jones, ed., Annals of Astoria: The Headquarters Log of the Pacific Fur Company on the Columbia River, 1811–1813 (New York: Fordham University Press, 1999), p. 36.

  sixty feet long by twenty-six feet wide: Ross, Adventures, p. 81.

  192 “ ‘You see,’ said [McKay], ‘how unfortunate we are”: Ibid.

  193 “A well-dressed man”: Franchère, Narrative, p. 120.

  194 “I intended to have paid you a visit at Montreal”: Nisbet, Sources of the River, pp. 173–74.

  “[I]n such forests what could we do”: Ibid., p. 178, quoting Thompson journal.

  195 Thompson planted a British flag: Ross, Adventures, p. 128.

  Had he hoped to raise the British flag: See Franchère, Narrative, p. 122 fn. According to Franchère, everyone at Astoria was of the opinion that Thompson intended to arrive first and plant the British flag at the mouth of the Columbia, claiming it for the North West Company, but he was too late. Instead he found the Astorians’ fur post flying the American flag.

  196 “[T]he wintering partners had resolved”: Ibid., p. 121.

  “This is more than probable”: Ross, Adventures, p. 86.

  198 In a frenzied six days of work: Franchère, Narrative, pp. 123–24.

  199 “[W]ithout wholly convincing us”: Ibid., pp. 124–25.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  201 Captain Thorn carried on his ship: Franchère, Narrative, p. 117.

  Joseachal, who spoke the Coastal dialects: Jones, Annals of Astoria, p. 59. The interpreter’s identity remains a topic of some question. He is variously described as Lamazee (and other spellings of the same), Jack Ramsay, and Joseachal. See Robert F. Jones, “The Identity of the Tonquin’s Interpreter,” Oregon Historical Quarterly 98, no. 3 (Fall 1997): 311–12.

  202 Indians of Newetee: Irving, Astoria, p. 107.

  Captain Thorn made an offer: McDougall journal, August 11, 1811, and June 18, 1813, in Jones, Annals of Astoria, pp. 41, 194.

  Nookamis wanted five blankets: McDougall journal, June 18, 1813, in ibid., p. 194.

  203 “pestering” him to trade: Ibid.

  McKay and Joseachal returned: Irving, Astoria, p. 109.

  “You pretend to know a great deal”: Ross, Adventures, p. 162.

  204 through the giant mouths: Description from John Meares in Valerie Sherer Mathes, “Wickaninnish, a Clayoquot Chief, as Recorded by Early Travelers,” Pacific Northwest Quarterly 70, no. 3 (July 1979): 111.

  205 bald eagle or a human face: Ross, Adventures, p. 98.

  ritualized purification: For a general description, see ibid., pp. 311–12.

  206 on the Chinese market: Dolin, Fur, Fortune, and Empire, pp. 138–43.

  207 The Aleuts: Letter to the editor, “Russian and American Settlements on the North West Coast of America,” North American Review, c. 1, vol. 2 (1815): 301–3.

  by force or threat of violence: James R. Gibson, Otter Skins, Boston Ships, and China Goods: The Maritime Fur Trade of the Northwest Coast, 1785–1841 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1992), pp. 163–64.

>   another unfortunate incident: Franchère, Narrative, pp. 126–27.

  208 “If you find them kind”: Irving, Astoria, p. 52.

  209 “a parcel of lazy, thieving Indians”: Ross Cox, Adventures on the Columbia River, Including the Narrative of a Residence of Six Years on the Western Side of the Rocky Mountains, Among Various Tribes of Indians Hitherto Unknown: Together with a Journey Across the American Continent (New York: J. & J. Harper, 1832), p. 63.

  one blanket and one knife: Alfred Seton, Astorian Adventure: The Journal of Alfred Seton, 1811–1815, ed. Robert F. Jones (New York: Fordham University Press, 1993), p. 92.

  With a smile of contempt: Ross, Adventures, p. 163.

  “would be more than a match”: Cox, Adventures on the Columbia River, p. 64.

  210 a Clayoquot chief on deck: Ibid.

  Who first fell to the deck differs with various accounts: The account that follows is based partly on testimony and, to a lesser degree, partly on conjecture and reconstruction. Accounts of the battle aboard the Tonquin appear in the following sources: Seton, McDougall, Irving, Franchère, Cox, Ross, and a Missouri Gazette article of May 15, 1813. This last account is not based on the testimony of the interpreter, Joseachal, but on some earlier unknown source. Howay gives a discussion of the different sources. Howay, “The Loss of the Tonquin,” Washington Historical Quarterly 13, no. 2 (April 1922): 83–92. There were also clearly a number of accounts of the incident, which is still remembered today in Clayoquot Sound, from the Indians themselves who made their way to the Astorians. The account I use here generally follows Irving’s version, supplemented with these other accounts, as Irving had most complete access to both interviews with Astorians and the records of McDougall, Seton, and others.

  bending over a bale of blankets: Franchère, Narrative, p. 183.

  a pair of pistols: Ross, Adventures, p. 162.

  211 the only weapon he carried: Ibid., p. 164.

  “Covered with wounds, and exhausted from the loss of blood”: Cox, Adventures on the Columbia River, p. 65.

  212 they seized with calloused hands: Franchère, Narrative, p. 184.

  There were five or six survivors: Irving, Astoria, pp. 111–12; Franchère, Narrative, p. 184.