The Bastard of Fort Stikine
Page 22
Chapter Two: Reckless Deeds on Distant Shores
33 “I have written my friends”: Dr. McLoughlin’s letter to John Jr., February 1, 1830 in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 190-91.
“I do not know what to do”: Dr. McLoughlin, letter to Simon Fraser, March 19, 1826, in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 177-79.
“purchasing an Ensigncy for him”: Simon Fraser’s letter to Dr. McLoughlin, April 20, 1827, in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 182-84.
34“too infirm to control”: Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 97.
“I do not expect to see”: Sister St. Henry, letter to Simon Fraser, June 17, 1835 (translated from the original French), reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 213.
“he would fall from excesses”: Sister St. Henry, letter to Simon Fraser, May 11, 1835, (translated from the original French), reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 210-11.
“The best thing that can be”: Simon Fraser’s letter to Dr. McLoughlin, April 20, 1827, in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 182-84.
“boys of mixed blood”: Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 109.
McLoughlin Jr. sent to Paris: Ibid., 111.
“young as you were”: Simon Fraser’s letter to McLoughlin Jr., January 12, 1836, in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 218-20.
Dr. McLoughlin learns of McLoughlin Jr.’s departure: From the postscript of John McLoughlin Jr.’s letter to Simon Fraser, October 26, 1831, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 191-92.
“did not know John’s age”: Cited in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 108, paraphrasing Simon Fraser’s letter to Dr. McLoughlin, April 20, 1827.
“I spent the winter very gay”: McLoughlin Jr.’s letter to John Fraser, May 18, 1832, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 192-93.
“I have been to the Kings”: McLoughlin Jr.’s letter to John Fraser, February 24, 1833, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 196-98.
36 “I am received in the first”: McLoughlin Jr.’s letter to John Fraser, February 18, 1833, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 196.
“I have learned to fence”: Ibid.
“I have been attacked and called”: Ibid.
“I shall always endeavour”: McLoughlin Jr.’s letter to John Fraser, August 8, 1833, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 199.
“Ah what can be the cause”: McLoughlin Jr.’s letter to Simon Fraser, February 24, 1833, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 196-98.
“Alas can I ever cease”: Ibid.
“I have passed the examination”: Ibid.
“I do not like to say much”: Ibid.
37 “the gesture angered John”: Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 115.
“very considerable” and “very very rich”: John Fraser, letter to McLoughlin Jr., August 1833, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 201-2, with original emphasis.
Back rent owed by McLoughlin Jr.: I.H. Trudeau, letter to Simon Fraser, April 29, 1835, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 207.
“having been deceived”: Connet Confectioners, letter to Simon Fraser, June 1, 1835, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 211-12.
“all expenses made by your nephew”: Ibid.
38 “I was much affected on Learning”: Dr. McLoughlin’s letter to John Fraser, February 14, 1836, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 220-22.
“Is Junior so destitute of feeling”: Ibid.
“I respect myself too much”: Ibid.
“incorrigible”: Simon Fraser’s letter to McLoughlin Jr., January 12, 1836, in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 218-20.
“I am convinced you are depraved”: Ibid.
“You must know that you are illiterate”: Ibid.
39 “spending freely for a man”: Dr. McLoughlin’s letter to Simon Fraser, February 4, 1837, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 232-35.
“go to Montreal to resume”: Ibid., original emphasis; Dr. McLoughlin refers to the postscript of a letter McLoughlin Jr. had written to Mr. Epps, administrator at the medical school, on November 21, 1835.
“when he made this most impudent”: Dr. McLoughlin’s letter to Simon Fraser, February 4, 1837.
“Conducts himself as a Gentleman”: Ibid.
“any sum…under”: Ibid.
“for my Uncle’s negligence”: McLoughlin Jr., letter to John Fraser, March 25, 1835, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 205.
“squandered”: McLoughlin Jr., letter to John Fraser, June 23, 1835, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 213-14.
“It is certainly very strange”: McLoughlin Jr., letter to Simon Fraser, June 15, 1835, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 212.
40 “Do not disappoint me”: McLoughlin Jr., letter to John Fraser, February 14, 1835, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 204.
“Who is then to pay my”: McLoughlin Jr., letter to John Fraser, June 23, 1835, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 213-14.
“I think my father himself would”: Ibid.
“Will you be so kind”: McLoughlin Jr.’s letter to John Fraser, August 28, 1835, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 217.
“make a little money”: Ibid.
“such heavy debts”: Foster, “Killing Mr. John,” 155. Although this is a highly credible source, Foster offers no citation to support the claim, and I could find no independent source to verify it.
“John has written me”: Dr. McLoughlin, letter to Dr. Simon Fraser, February 16, 1836, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 224.
McLoughlin Jr.’s physical resemblance to father: Dr. McLoughlin’s letter to the Governor and Committee of the Hudson’s Bay Company, November 20, 1844, reprinted in E.E. Rich, ed., The Letters of John McLoughlin from Fort Vancouver to the Governor and Committee, Third Series, 1844–46, vol. VII (London: Hudson’s Bay Record Society, 1944), 48-93.
“concerned about the increasingly limited”: Foster, “Killing Mr. John,” 155.
41 “made it my study”: George Simpson, letter to Andrew Colvile, May 20, 1822, cited in Galbraith, The Little Emperor, 63.
“I am convinced”: Ibid.
“racist attitude toward non-whites”: Raffan, Emperor of the North, 191.
“an enlightened Indian”: George Simpson, letter to Andrew Colville, May 20, 1822, in Galbraith, The Little Emperor, 63.
“a little too much addicted”: Cited in John S. Galbraith, “The little emperor,” The Beaver 40, no. 3 (1960): 22.
“prone to act on them”: Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 124.
“thoughtless, dissipated and depraved”: Cited in Williams, Hudson’s Bay Miscellany, 154.
“They look upon me”: Cited in Newman, Caesars of the Wilderness, 199.
“qualified to cheat an Indian”: Entry for Donald McIntosh, Simpson’s Character Book, 188.
“bits of brown”: Cited in Raffan, Emperor of the North, 229.
“his bit of circulating copper”: Cited in Williams, Hudson’s Bay Miscellany, 158.
“Japan helpmate”: Cited in Galbraith, The Little Emperor, 69.
“washerwoman”: Raffan, Emperor of the North, 202.
42 “Father of the Fur Trade”: Newman, Caesars of the Wilderness, 259.
“rather imposing mien”: Malcolm McLeod, ed., Peace River: A Canoe Voyage from Hudson’s Bay to Pacific by Sir George Simpson in 1828 — Journal of the Late Chief Factor Archibald McDonald (Hon. Hudson’s Bay Company), Who Accompanied Him (Edmonton: M.G. Hurtig, 1971), 27.
“red-headed magpie”: Newman, Caesars of the Wilderness, 221.
Simpson’s salary: Raffan, Emperor of the North, 289.
“a gorgeous cloak of red Scottish”: Morrison, The Eagle & the Fort, 60.
“unsung, unlettered and uncouth”: Peter C. Newman, Empire of the Bay: An Illustrated History of the Hudson’s Bay Company (Markham, ON: Penguin, 1989), 112 (hereafter Empire of the Bay).
“penchant for speed”: Galbraith, The Little Emperor, 31.
43 Simpso
n’s speed records: Raffan, Emperor of the North, establishes this fact beyond any shadow of doubt.
“moccasin telegraph”: Ibid, 94.
“little to commend”: Cited in Raffan, Emperor of the North, 186.
“had the exact same complaints”: Ibid., 191.
“his caprice, his favouritism”: John McLean, Notes of a Twenty-Five Years’ Service in the Hudson’s Bay Territory, Volumes I and II, 1849, ed. William Stewart Wallace (Toronto: Champlain Society, 1932), 389 (hereafter Notes of a Twenty-Five Years’ Service).
Simpson’s edicts were final: Those signed to the HBC realized the walls had ears, and one misstep could prove fatal: “the clerk knows that if he is heard to utter a word of disapprobation, it is carried to the ears of his sovereign lord and his prospects of advancement are marred for ever” (McLean, Notes of a Twenty-Five Years’ Service, 386).
“know better” and “their assent”: Ibid., 334.
Monday, April 25, 1842 — Nightfall
45 Simpson’s personal bagpiper: Raffan, Emperor of the North, 237.
“don his beaver topper”: Newman, Empire of the Bay, 140.
“The stillness that prevailed”: George Simpson, letter to McLoughlin Sr., April 27, 1842, E 13/1, folio 79-80, HBCA.
“filled with apprehension”: Ibid.
“a scene which no pen”: Ibid.
46 “hurried into eternity”: Ibid.
“to make me believe”: Thomas McPherson’s letter to John Work, Esquire, April 21, 1842, B.223/b/29, folio 21d, HBCA; also in E13/1, folio 82-83, HBCA.
“superficial investigation”: Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 48.
Chapter Three: The Honourable Company
47 “left behind a legacy of alcoholism”: Newman, Caesars of the Wilderness, 5.
“a man of intense loyalties”: The quotation is attributed to historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, cited in Newman, Empire of the Bay, 33.
48 The use of liquor and trade goods to curry favour: noted in Raffan, Emperor of the North, 74. The rumour of mixing poison in tobacco is reported in Rosanna Seaborn, “Old-time company tactics,” The Beaver, Outfit 292 (Spring 1962): 52-53.
“proud of having so many”: Roberts, “Recollections of George B. Roberts,” 21.
“scourged the poor Indians dreadfully”: Ibid., 13.
Outbreaks coincide with ship arrivals: Ibid.
“all the Indians”: Ibid., 21.
“Between you and me I have”: McLoughlin Sr., letter to Simon Fraser, October 5, 1818, reprinted in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 169-71.
HBC and NWC almost bankrupt: Raffan, Emperor of the North, 61.
“sheer manpower” and “ability to make”: Newman, Empire of the Bay, 16.
Wintering partner: A wintering partner (or “winterer”) was a shareholder in the NWC who participated in a pelt-sharing program that equally divided profits among all participants. The partners were required to spend two out of every three winters in-country, actively trapping, in order to remain eligible for profit sharing.
49 “one of real affection”: Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 46.
McLoughlin’s transformation from employee to shareholder: is described in Williams, Hudson’s Bay Miscellany, 153. The employee participatory scheme awarded chief factors two shares each, while chief traders held a single share. Company regulations stipulated that only chief traders were eligible for promotion to factors, while any salaried clerk could be made a trader. The Company had no compulsory retirement, and a “dead man’s shoes” offered the only real prospect for promotion to chief factor (ibid., 164).
Fort George not to Dr. McLoughlin’s liking: McLoughlin Sr.’s letter to Simon Fraser, March 15, 1825, in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 175-77.
“the country was not worth a war”: Roberts, “Recollections of George B. Roberts,” 49.
“with unorthodox methods”: Newman, Empire of the Bay, 141.
“too firmly in his own incorruptibility”: Newman, Caesars of the Wilderness, 285.
“very Zealous in the discharge”: Simpson’s Character Book, 176.
“I always heard that my Father”: Harvey, “The Life of John McLoughlin,” 20.
“were afraid of him”: Ibid.
“a very bustling active man”: Simpson’s Character Book, 176.
50 “a disagreeable man”: Ibid.
“an island of luxury”: Morrison, The Eagle & the Fort, 61.
“the New York of the Pacific”: Attributed to Whitman, cited in Morrison, The Eagle & the Fort, 85.
“There was no society”: Harvey, “The Life of John McLoughlin,” 5.
“One thing occurs to me”: Roberts, “Recollections of George B. Roberts,” 40.
“that this country should not be inhabited”: Thornton, “Oregon History,” 5.
Beaver skins a finite resource: Even with its monopoly, the fortunes of the Hudson’s Bay Company in Rupert’s Land were on the wane. Over-trapping had depleted the stock near Montreal, and the Company had no choice but to move west into uncharted territory. Worse still, the market for Castor canadensis had bottomed out. “Once considered the world’s most valuable fur” (Newman, Empire of the Bay, 14), the beaver had fallen out of favour. A beaver hat was de rigueur, the only means a rakish man had to combat the elements. But fashion is fickle, and the Company needed to change with the times. They ordered their trappers to expand operations to include bear, deer, mink, and marten. This in turn changed the trading culture, which had operated for decades with the beaver skin as its de facto currency. The HBC had built their trade empire on trade, and a beaver pelt could be exchanged for a blanket or gun or a predetermined allotment of tobacco, sugar, or liquor. Diversification meant the skins of other animals, such as the highly prized ermine, had to be converted into units known as “made beaver” (Raffan, Emperor of the North, 214).
McLoughlin Sr. never drank spirits: Roberts, “Recollections of George B. Roberts,” 45-46.
51 “a convert to Catholicism”: Galbraith, The Little Emperor, 77.
“they kept Sundays”: Harvey, “The Life of John McLoughlin,” 7.
“a British subject”: Thornton, “Oregon History,” 5.
“a gentleman of large heart”: Ibid.
“neither more enlightened”: McLean, Notes of a Twenty-Five Years’ Service, 315.
“as ignorant of Christianity”: Ibid. Not everyone agreed. While George Roberts recognized the Company did a “disservice” to their aboriginal charges by “Baptising indiscriminately,” he stopped short of saying the HBC leaders “were all the vilest of the ill” (“Recollections of George B. Roberts,” 17).
“The Indians came and asked”: Harvey, “The Life of John McLoughlin,” 4.
52 “the HBC settled such incidents”: Foster, “Killing Mr. John,” 147.
“as matters of corporate discipline”: Ibid.
McLoughlin Sr.’s rule was absolute: Harvey, “The Life of John McLoughlin,” 7.
“It is strange”: Roberts, “Recollections of George B. Roberts,” 9-10.
“You see the Co.’s chiefs”: Ibid., 14, original emphasis.
“My father’s method”: See Harvey, “The Life of John McLoughlin,” 12, for both the quotation and the accompanying story.
“the punishment was always”: Ibid., 14-15.
53 Selkirk’s land grant: Newman, Empire of the Bay, 117.
Selkirk’s only visit to Red River: Newman, Caesars of the Wilderness, 138.
54 “overburden of self-importance”: Newman, Empire of the Bay, 122.
“a stern proclamation”: Ibid., 123.
Walked into an ambush: One of the more colourful second-hand accounts of the Seven Oaks attack can be found in McLean, Notes of a Twenty-Five Years’ Service, 369-72.
“damned rascal”: Cited in Newman, Empire of the Bay, 123.
Grant shot Semple: George Simpson, in his Character Book (210), absolved Grant — whom the HBC later hired and employed for years — of all wrongdoing in the massacre, writing that Grant was �
��a generous Warm hearted Man who would not have been guilty of the Crimes laid to his charge had he not been drawn into them by designing Men.”
“the dead were stripped”: Newman, Empire of the Bay, 124.
55 “like a kilted messiah”: Cited in ibid., 125.
“piddling lord”: Cited in Newman, Caesars of the Wilderness, 178.
“receiving, relieving, comforting”: Cited in Morrison, The Eagle & the Fort, 27.
Burning documents in the stove: Newman, Caesars of the Wilderness, 179.
Sent to Canada for trial: There is some disagreement as to where the trial was held. Newman (Caesars of the Wilderness, 170-80) contends it took place in Montreal while Morrison (The Eagle & the Fort, 29) reports the trial was held in York, the capital of Upper Canada (now Toronto).
“was taken lifeless”: Cited in Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 41, although the original source is unclear.
“a haunting fear of death”: Ibid., 43.
McLoughlin Sr. never at Seven Oaks: Morrison claims the doctor was in a canoe, en route to Red River, when the massacre occurred (The Eagle & the Fort, 26).
56 Jury deliberated forty-five minutes: Ibid., 29.
“not guilty”: Barker, The McLoughlin Empire, 39.
Traders kill twenty-three men: Newman, Caesars of the Wilderness, 287. However, Dorothy Nafus Morrison, whose two biographies paint McLoughlin Sr. in a near mythic light, takes exception to the claim. In The Eagle & the Fort (59), she writes: “But when one of his expeditions killed a large number of innocent natives, he was so angry that he blocked the promotion of its leader.”
“placate the Company’s death squads”: Newman, Caesars of the Wilderness, 287.
“a skin for a skin”: Raffan, Emperor of the North, 5.
57 “a tour de force”: Williams, Hudson’s Bay Miscellany, 166, with original emphasis. Williams was quick to point out, in Simpson’s defence, that the book was written during a period of great emotional turmoil surrounding the death of Simpson’s son (ibid., 156) and should be viewed accordingly.
Victims identified by number: Ibid., 156. The book was not even officially listed in the HBC archives until 1923, and Simpson’s exercise in character assassination remained a historical curiosity until 1935, when archivist Leveson Gower discovered the key to the coding system among George’s private papers. The cracking of the number code and a discussion of its significance can be found in the introduction to Simpson’s Character Book in Williams, Hudson’s Bay Miscellany.