Expeditions to the Interior.--Return of Messrs. John Stuart and D.
M'Kenzie.--Theft committed by the Natives.--War Party against the
Thieves.
On the 3d of January, 1814, two canoes laden with merchandise for the
interior, were despatched under the command of Mr. Alexander Stuart and
Mr. James Keith, with fifteen men under them. Two of the latter were
charged with letters for the posts (of the Northwest Company) east of
the mountains, containing instructions to the persons in superintendence
there, to have in readiness canoes and the requisite provisions for a
large party intending to go east the ensuing spring. I took this
opportunity of advising my friends in Canada of my intention to return
home that season. It was the third attempt I had made to send news of my
existence to my relatives and friends: the first two had miscarried and
this was doomed to meet the same fate.
Messrs. J. Stuart and M'Kenzie, who (as was seen in a previous chapter)
had been sent to notify the gentlemen in the interior of what had taken
place at Astoria, and to transfer the wintering posts to the Northwest
Company, returned to Fort George on the morning of the 6th. They stated
that they had left Messrs. Clarke and D. Stuart behind, with the loaded
canoes, and also that the party had been attacked by the natives above
the falls.
As they were descending the river toward evening, between the first and
second portages, they had espied a large number of Indians congregated
at no great distance in the prairie; which gave them some uneasiness. In
fact, some time after they had encamped, and when all the people (_tout
le monde_) were asleep, except Mr. Stuart, who was on guard, these
savages had stealthily approached the camp, and discharged some arrows,
one of which had penetrated the coverlet of one of the men, who was
lying near the baggage, and had pierced the cartilage of his ear; the
pain made him utter a sharp cry, which alarmed the whole camp and threw
it into an uproar. The natives perceiving it, fled to the woods, howling
and yelling like so many demons. In the morning our people picked up
eight arrows round the camp: they could yet hear the savages yell and
whoop in the woods: but, notwithstanding, the party reached the lower
end of the portage unmolested.
The audacity which these barbarians had displayed in attacking a party
of from forty to forty-five persons, made us suppose that they would,
much more probably, attack the party of Mr. Stuart, which was composed
of but seventeen men. Consequently, I received orders to get ready
forthwith a canoe and firearms, in order to proceed to their relief. The
whole was ready in the short space of two hours, and I embarked
immediately with a guide and eight men. Our instructions were to use all
possible diligence to overtake Messrs. Stewart and Keith, and to convey
them to the upper end of the last portage; or to return with the goods,
if we met too much resistance on the part of the natives. We travelled,
then, all that day, and all the night of the 6th, and on the 7th, till
evening. Finding ourselves then at a little distance from the rapids, I
came to a halt, to put the firearms in order, and let the men take some
repose. About midnight I caused them to re-embark, and ordered the men
to sing as they rowed, that the party whom we wished to overtake might
hear us as we passed, if perchance they were encamped on some one of the
islands of which the river is full in this part. In fact, we had hardly
proceeded five or six miles, when we were hailed by some one apparently
in the middle of the stream. We stopped rowing, and answered, and were
soon joined by our people of the expedition, who were all descending the
river in a canoe. They informed us that they had been attacked the
evening before, and that Mr. Stuart had been wounded. We turned about,
and all proceeded in company toward the fort. In the morning, when we
stopped to breakfast, Mr. Keith gave me the particulars of the affair of
the day preceding.
Having arrived at the foot of the rapids, they commenced the portage on
the south bank of the river, which is obstructed with boulders, over
which it was necessary to pass the effects. After they had hauled over
the two canoes, and a part of the goods, the natives approached in great
numbers, trying to carry off something unobserved. Mr. Stuart was at the
upper end of the portage (the portage being about six hundred yards in
length), and Mr. Keith accompanied the loaded men. An Indian seized a
bag containing articles of little value, and fled: Mr. Stuart, who saw
the act, pursued the thief, and after some resistance on the latter's
part, succeeded in making him relinquish his booty. Immediately he saw a
number of Indians armed with bows and arrows; approaching him: one of
them bent his bow and took aim; Mr. Stuart, on his part, levelled his
gun at the Indian, warning the latter not to shoot, and at the same
instant received an arrow, which pierced his left shoulder. He then
drew the trigger; but as it had rained all day, the gun missed fire, and
before he could re-prime, another arrow, better aimed than the first,
struck him in the left side and penetrated between two of his ribs, in
the region of the heart, and would have proved fatal, no doubt, but for
a stone-pipe he had fortunately in his side-pocket, and which was broken
by the arrow; at the same moment his gun was discharged, and the Indian
fell dead. Several others then rushed forward to avenge the death of
their compatriot; but two of the men came up with their loads and their
gun (for these portages were made arms in hand), and seeing what was
going forward, one of them threw his pack on the ground, fired on one of
the Indians and brought him down. He got up again, however, and picked
up his weapons, but the other man ran upon him, wrested from him his
war-club, and despatched him by repeated blows on the head with it. The
other savages, seeing the bulk of our people approaching the scene of
combat, retired and crossed the river. In the meantime, Mr. Stuart
extracted the arrows from his body, by the aid of one of the men: the
blood flowed in abundance from the wounds, and he saw that it would be
impossible for him to pursue his journey; he therefore gave orders for
the canoes and goods to be carried back to the lower end of the portage.
Presently they saw a great number of pirogues full of warriors coming
from the opposite side of the river. Our people then considered that
they could do nothing better than to get away as fast as possible; they
contrived to transport over one canoe, on which they all embarked,
abandoning the other and the goods, to the natives. While the barbarians
were plundering these effects, more precious in their estimation than
the apples of gold in the garden of the Hesperides, our party retired
and got out of sight. The retreat was, notwithstanding, so precipitate,
that they left behind an Indian from the Lake of the Two Mountains, who
was in the service of the Company as a hunter. This Indian had persisted
in concealing himself behind the rocks, meaning, he said, to kill some
of those thieves, and did not return in time for the embarkation. Mr.
Keith regretted this brave man's obstinacy, fearing, with good reason,
that he would be discovered and murdered by the natives. We rowed all
that day and night, and reached the factory on the 9th, at sunrise. Our
first care, after having announced the misfortune of our people, was to
dress the wounds of Mr. Stuart, which had been merely bound with a
wretched piece of cotton cloth.
The goods which had been abandoned, were of consequence to the Company,
inasmuch as they could not be replaced. It was dangerous, besides, to
leave the natives in possession of some fifty guns and a considerable
quantity of ammunition, which they might use against us.[S] The
partners, therefore, decided to fit out an expedition immediately to
chastise the robbers, or at least to endeavor to recover the goods. I
went, by their order, to find the principal chiefs of the neighboring
tribes, to explain to them what had taken place, and invite them to
join us, to which they willingly consented. Then, having got ready six
canoes, we re-embarked on the 10th, to the number of sixty-two men, all
armed from head to foot, and provided with a small brass field-piece.
[Footnote S: However, some cases of guns and kegs of powder were thrown
into the falls, before the party retreated.]
We soon reached the lower end of the first rapid: but the essential
thing was wanting to our little force; it was without provisions; our
first care then was to try to procure these. Having arrived opposite a
village, we perceived on the bank about thirty armed savages, who seemed
to await us firmly. As it was not our policy to seem bent on
hostilities, we landed on the opposite bank, and I crossed the river
with five or six men, to enter into parley with them, and try to obtain
provisions. I immediately became aware that the village was abandoned,
the women and children having fled to the woods, taking with them all
the articles of food. The young men, however, offered us dogs, of which
we purchased a score. Then we passed to a second village, where they
were already informed of our coming. Here we bought forty-five dogs and
a horse. With this stock we formed an encampment on an island called
_Strawberry island_.
Seeing ourselves now provided with food for several days, we informed
the natives touching the motives which had brought us, and announced to
them that we were determined to put them all to death and burn their
villages, if they did not bring back in two days the effects stolen on
the 7th. A party was detached to the rapids, where the attack on Mr.
Stuart had taken place. We found the villages all deserted. Crossing to
the north bank, we found a few natives, of whom we made inquiries
respecting the Nipissingue Indian, who had been left behind, but they
assured us that they had seen nothing of him.[T]
[Footnote T: This Indian returned some time after to the factory, but in
a pitiable condition. After the departure of the canoe, he had concealed
himself behind a rock, and so passed the night. At daybreak, fearing to
be discovered, he gained the woods and directed his steps toward the
fort, across a mountainous region. He arrived at length at the bank of a
little stream, which he was at first unable to cross. Hunger, in the
meantime, began to urge him; he might have appeased it with game, of
which he saw plenty, but unfortunately he had lost the flint of his gun.
At last, with a raft of sticks, he crossed the river, and arrived at a
village, the inhabitants of which disarmed him, and made him prisoner.
Our people hearing where he was, sent to seek him, and gave some
blankets for his ransom.]
Not having succeeded in recovering, above the rapids, any part of the
lost goods, the inhabitants all protesting that it was not they, but the
villages below, which had perpetrated the robbery, we descended the
river again, and re-encamped on _Strawberry island_. As the intention of
the partners was to intimidate the natives, without (if possible)
shedding blood, we made a display of our numbers, and from time to time
fired off our little field-piece, to let them see that we could reach
them from one side of the river to the other. The Indian _Coalpo_ and
his wife, who had accompanied us, advised us to make prisoner one of the
chiefs. We succeeded in this design, without incurring any danger.
Having invited one of the natives to come and smoke with us, he came
accordingly: a little after, came another; at last, one of the chiefs,
and he one of the most considered among them, also came. Being notified
secretly of his character by _Coalpo_, who was concealed in the tent,
we seized him forthwith, tied him to a stake, and placed a guard over
him with a naked sword, as if ready to cut his head off on the least
attempt being made by his people for his liberation. The other Indians
were then suffered to depart with the news for his tribe, that unless
the goods were brought to us in twenty-four hours, their chief would be
put to death. Our stratagem succeeded: soon after we heard wailing and
lamentation in the village, and they presently brought us part of the
guns, some brass kettles, and a variety of smaller articles, protesting
that this was all their share of the plunder. Keeping our chief as a
hostage, we passed to the other village, and succeeded in recovering the
rest of the guns, and about a third of the other goods.
Although they had been the aggressors, yet as they had had two men
killed and we had not lost any on our side, we thought it our duty to
conform to the usage of the country, and abandon to them the remainder
of the stolen effects, to cover, according to their expression, the
bodies of their two slain compatriots. Besides, we began to find
ourselves short of provisions, and it would not have been easy to get at
our enemies to punish them, if they had taken refuge in the woods,
according to their custom when they feel themselves the weaker party. So
we released our prisoner, and gave him a flag, telling him that when he
presented it unfurled, we should regard it as a sign of peace and
friendship: but if, when we were passing the portage, any one of the
natives should have the misfortune to come near the baggage, we would
kill him on the spot. We re-embarked on the 19th, and on the 22d reached
the fort, where we made a report of our martial expedition. We found Mr.
Stuart very ill of his wounds, especially of the one in the side, which
was so much swelled that we had every reason to think the arrow had been
poisoned.
If we did not do the savages as much harm as we might have done, it was
not from timidity but from humanity, and in order not to shed human
blood uselessly. For after all, what good would it have done us to have
slaughtered some of these barbarians, whose crime was not the effect of
depravity and wickedness, but of an ardent and irresistible desire to
ameliorate their condition? It must be allowed also that the interest,
well-understood, of the partners of the Northwest Company, was opposed
to too strongly marked acts of hostility on their part: it behooved them
exceedingly not to make irreconciliable enemies of the populations
neighboring on the portages of the Columbia, which they would so often
be obliged to pass and repass in future. It is also probable that the
other natives on the banks, as well as of the river as of the sea, would
not have seen with indifference, their countrymen too signally or too
rigorously punished by strangers; and that they would have made common
cause with the former to resist the latter, and perhaps even to drive
them from the country.
I must not omit to state that all the firearms surrendered by the
Indians on this occasion, were found loaded with ball, and primed, with
a little piece of cotton laid over the priming to keep the powder dry.
This shows how soon they would acquire the use of guns, and how careful
traders should be in intercourse with strange Indians, not to teach them
their use.