Arrival at Fort William.--Description of the Fort.--News from the
River Columbia.
Starving men are early-risers. We set out on the 14th before day, and
effected the portage, which is long and difficult. At the foot of the
rapid we found a sort of _restaurant_ or _cabaret_, kept by a man named
_Boucher_. We treated the men to a little _eau de vie_, and breakfasted
on some detestable sausages, poisoned with salt.
After this wretched repast, we set out again, and passed toward noon,
the _Mountain Portage_. Here the river _Kaministiquia_ flings itself
over a rock of immense height, and forms a fall scarcely less curious to
see than that of Niagara. Below, the succession of falls and rapids is
constant, so that we made no fewer than thirty-six portages in the
course of the day. Nevertheless we pursued our laborious way with good
cheer, and without a murmur from our Canadian boatmen, who kept their
spirits up by singing their _voyageur_ songs. At last, at about nine
o'clock in the evening, we arrived at Fort William.
Fort William is situated on Lake Superior, at the mouth of the
_Kaministiquia_ river, about forty-five miles north of old _Grand
Portage_. It was built in 1805, when the two rival Canadian companies
were united, and was named in honor of Mr. (now the Honorable) William
M'Gillivray, principal agent of the Northwest Company. The proprietors,
perceiving that the old fort of _Grand Portage_ was on the territory
claimed by the American government, resolved to demolish it and build
another on the British territory. No site appeared more advantageous
than the present for the purposes intended; the river is deep, of easy
access, and offers a safe harbor for shipping. It is true they had to
contend with all the difficulties consequent on a low and swampy soil;
but by incredible labor and perseverance they succeeded in draining the
marshes and reducing the loose and yielding soil to solidity.
Fort William has really the appearance of a fort, with its palisade
fifteen feet high, and that of a pretty village, from the number of
edifices it encloses. In the middle of a spacious square rises a large
building elegantly constructed, though of wood, with a long piazza or
portico, raised about five feet from the ground, and surmounted by a
balcony, extending along the whole front. In the centre is a saloon or
hall, sixty feet in length by thirty in width, decorated with several
pieces of painting, and some portraits of the leading partners. It is in
this hall that the agents, partners, clerks, interpreters, and guides,
take their meals together, at different tables. At each extremity of the
apartment are two rooms; two of these are destined for the two principal
agents; the other two to the steward and his department. The kitchen and
servants' rooms are in the basement. On either side of this edifice, is
another of the same extent, but of less elevation; they are each
divided by a corridor running through its length, and contain each, a
dozen pretty bed-rooms. One is destined for the wintering partners, the
other for the clerks. On the east of the square is another building
similar to the last two, and intended for the same use, and a warehouse
where the furs are inspected and repacked for shipment. In the rear of
these, are the lodging-house of the guides, another fur-warehouse, and
finally, a powder magazine. The last is of stone, and has a roof covered
with tin. At the angle is a sort of bastion, or look-out place,
commanding a view of the lake. On the west side is seen a range of
buildings, some of which serve for stores, and others for workshops;
there is one for the equipment of the men, another for the fitting out
of the canoes, one for the retail of goods, another where they sell
liquors, bread, pork, butter, &c., and where a treat is given to the
travellers who arrive. This consists in a white loaf, half a pound of
butter, and a gill of rum. The _voyageurs_ give this tavern the name of
_Cantino salope_. Behind all this is another range, where we find the
counting-house, a fine square building, and well-lighted; another
storehouse of stone, tin-roofed; and a _jail_, not less necessary than
the rest. The _voyageurs_ give it the name of _pot au beurre_--the
butter-tub. Beyond these we discover the shops of the carpenter, the
cooper, the tinsmith, the blacksmith, &c.; and spacious yards and sheds
for the shelter, reparation, and construction of canoes. Near the gate
of the fort, which is on the south, are the quarters of the physician,
and those of the chief clerk. Over the gate is a guard-house.
As the river is deep at its entrance, the company has had a wharf
constructed, extending the whole length of the fort, for the discharge
of the vessels which it keeps on Lake Superior, whether to transport its
furs from Fort William to the _Saut Ste. Marie_, or merchandise and
provisions from _Saut Ste. Marie_ to Fort William. The land behind the
fort and on both sides of it, is cleared and under tillage. We saw
barley, peas, and oats, which had a very fine appearance. At the end of
the clearing is the burying-ground. There are also, on the opposite bank
of the river, a certain number of log-houses, all inhabited by old
Canadian _voyageurs_, worn out in the service of the company, without
having enriched themselves. Married to women of the country, and
incumbered with large families of half-breed children, these men prefer
to cultivate a little Indian corn and potatoes, and to fish, for a
subsistence, rather than return to their native districts, to give their
relatives and former acquaintance certain proofs of their misconduct or
their imprudence.
Fort William is the grand depôt of the Northwest Company for their
interior posts, and the general _rendezvous_ of the partners. The agents
from Montreal and the wintering partners assemble here every summer, to
receive the returns of the respective outfits, prepare for the
operations of the ensuing season, and discuss the general interests of
their association. The greater part of them were assembled at the time
of our arrival. The wintering hands who are to return with their
employers, pass also a great part of the summer here; they form a great
encampment on the west side of the fort, outside the palisades. Those
who engage at Montreal to go no further than Fort William or _Rainy
lake_, and who do not _winter_, occupy yet another space, on the east
side. The winterers, or _hivernants_, give to these last the name of
_mangeurs de lard_, or pork-eaters. They are also called
_comers-and-goers_. One perceives an astonishing difference between
these two camps, which are composed sometimes of three or four hundred
men each; that of the pork-eaters is always dirty and disorderly, while
that of the winterers is clean and neat.
To clear its land and improve its property, the company inserts a clause
in the engagement of all who enter its service as canoe-men, that they
shall work for a certain number of days during their stay at Fort
William. It is thus that it has cleared and drained the environs of the
fort, and has erected so many fine buildings. But when a hand has once
worked the stipulated number of days, he is for ever after exempt, even
if he remain in the service twenty or thirty years, and should come down
to the fort every summer.
They received us very courteously at Fort William, and I perceived by
the reception given to myself in particular, that thanks to the Chinook
dialect of which I was sufficiently master, they would not have asked
better than to give me employment, on advantageous terms. But I felt a
great deal more eagerness to arrive in Montreal, than desire to return
to the River Columbia.
A few days after we reached Fort William, Mr. Keith made his appearance
there from Fort George, or Astoria, with the news of the arrival of the
"Isaac Todd" in the Columbia river. This vessel, which was a dull
sailer, had been kept back a long time by contrary winds in doubling
Cape Horn, and had never been able to rejoin the vessels-of-war, her
consorts, from which she was then separated. When she reached the
_rendezvous_ at the island of Juan Fernandez, finding that the three
ships-of-war had sailed, the captain and passengers, as they were short
of provisions, determined to range the coast. Entering the harbor of
_Monterey_,[AI] on the coast of California, in order to obtain
provisions, they learned that there was an English vessel-of-war in
distress, in the bay of _San Francisco_.[AJ] They repaired thither
accordingly, and found, to their great surprise, that it was the sloop
_Raccoon_. This vessel, in getting out of the River Columbia, had
touched on the bar, with such violence, that a part of her false keel
was carried away; and she had with difficulty made San Francisco, with
seven feet of water in the hold, although her crew had been constantly
at the pumps. Captain Black, finding it impossible to repair his ship,
had decided to abandon her, and to cross the continent to the Gulf of
Mexico, thence to reach some of the British West India islands. However,
on the arrival of the Isaac Todd, means were found to careen the vessel
and repair the damage. The Isaac Todd then pursued her voyage and
entered the Columbia on the 17th of April, thirteen months after her
departure from England.
[Footnote AI: A Spanish mission or presidency, in about the 36th degree
of latitude.]
[Footnote AJ: Another Spanish presidency, in about the 38th degree of
latitude, and the first European establishment to be met with south of
the Columbia. [These now obsolete notes are interesting as indicative of
the period when they were written.--ED.]]