CHAPTER XII.
Gloom at Astoria- An Ingenious Stratagem.- The Small-Pox Chief. - Launching of the
Dolly.-An Arrival. - A Canadian Trapper.-A Freeman of the Forest- An Iroquois Hunter.-
Winter on the Columbia.-Festivities of New Year.
THE tidings of the loss of the Tonquin, and the massacre of her crew, struck dismay
into the hearts of the Astorians. They found themselves a mere handful of men, on a
savage coast, surrounded by hostile tribes, who would doubtless be incited and
encouraged to deeds of violence by the late fearful catastrophe. In this juncture Mr.
M'Dougal, we are told, had recourse to a stratagem by which to avail himself of the
ignorance and credulity of the savages, and which certainly does credit to his ingenuity.
The natives of the coast, and, indeed, of all the regions west of the mountains, had an
extreme dread of the small-pox; that terrific scourge having, a few years previously,
appeared among them, and almost swept off entire tribes. Its origin and nature were
wrapped in mystery, and they conceived it an evil inflicted upon them by the Great
Spirit, or brought among them by the white men. The last idea was seized upon by Mr.
M'Dougal. He assembled several of the chieftains whom he believed to be in the
conspiracy. When they were all seated around, he informed them that he had heard of
the treachery of some of their northern brethren towards the Tonquin, and was
determined on vengeance. "The white men among you," said he, "are few in number, it
is true, but they are mighty in medicine. See here," continued he, drawing forth a small
bottle and holding it before their eyes, "in this bottle I hold the small-pox, safely corked
up; I have but to draw the cork, and let loose the pestilence, to sweep man, woman,
and child from the face of the earth."
The chiefs were struck with horror and alarm. They implored him not to uncork the
bottle, since they and all their people were firm friends of the white men, and would
always remain so; but, should the small-pox be once let out, it would run like wildfire
throughout the country, sweeping off the good as well as the bad; and surely he would
not be so unjust as to punish his friends for crimes committed by his enemies.
Mr. M'Dougal pretended to be convinced by their reasoning, and assured them that, so
long as the white people should be unmolested, and the conduct of their Indian
neighbors friendly and hospitable, the phial of wrath should remain sealed up; but, on
the least hostility, the fatal cork should be drawn.
From this time, it is added, he was much dreaded by the natives, as one who held their
fate in his hands, and was called, by way of preeminence, "the Great Small-pox Chief."
All this while, the labors at the infant settlement went on with unremitting assiduity, and,
by the 26th of September, a commodious mansion, spacious enough to accommodate
all hands, was completed. It was built of stone and clay, there being no calcarcous
stone in the neighborhood from which lime for mortar could be procured. The schooner
was also finished, and launched, with the accustomed ceremony, on the second of
October, and took her station below the fort. She was named the Dolly, and was the
first American vessel launched on this coast.
On the 5th of October, in the evening, the little community at Astoria was enlivened by
the unexpected arrival of a detachment from Mr. David Stuart's post on the Oakinagan.
It consisted of two of the clerks and two of the privates. They brought favorable
accounts of the new establishment, but reported that, as Mr. Stuart was apprehensive
there might be a difficulty of subsisting his whole party throughout the winter, he had
sent one half back to Astoria, retaining with him only Ross, Montigny, and two others.
Such is the hardihood of the Indian trader. In the heart of a savage and unknown
country, seven hundred miles from the main body of his fellow-adventurers, Stuart had
dismissed half of his little number, and was prepared with the residue to brave all the
perils of the wilderness, and the rigors of a long and dreary winter.
With the return party came a Canadian creole named Regis Brugiere and an Iroquois
hunter, with his wife and two children. As these two personages belong to certain
classes which have derived their peculiar characteristics from the fur trade, we deem
some few particulars concerning them pertinent to the nature of this work.
Brugiere was of a class of beaver trappers and hunters technically called "Freemen," in
the language of the traders. They are generally Canadians by birth, and of French
descent, who have been employed for a term of years by some fur company, but, their
term being expired, continue to hunt and trap on their own account, trading with the
company like the Indians. Hence they derive their appellation of Freemen, to
distinguish them from the trappers who are bound for a number of years, and receive
wages, or hunt on shares.
Having passed their early youth in the wilderness, separated almost entirely from
civilized man, and in frequent intercourse with the Indians, they relapse, with a facility
common to human nature, into the habitudes of savage life. Though no longer bound
by engagements to continue in the interior, they have become so accustomed to the
freedom of the forest and the prairie, that they look back with repugnance upon the
restraints of civilization. Most of them intermarry with the natives, and, like the latter,
have often a plurality of wives. Wanderers of the wilderness, according to the
vicissitudes of the seasons, the migrations of animals, and the plenty or scarcity of
game, they lead a precarious and unsettled existence; exposed to sun and storm, and
all kinds of hardships, until they resemble Indians in complexion as well as in tastes
and habits. From time to time, they bring the peltries they have collected to the trading
houses of the company in whose employ they have been brought up. Here they traffic
them away for such articles of merchandise or ammunition as they may stand in need
of. At the time when Montreal was the great emporium of the fur trader, one of these
freemen of the wilderness would suddenly return, after an absence of many years,
among his old friends and comrades. He would be greeted as one risen from the dead;
and with the greater welcome, as he returned flush of money. A short time, however,
spent in revelry, would be sufficient to drain his purse and sate him with civilized life,
and he would return with new relish to the unshackled freedom of the forest.
Numbers of men of this class were scattered throughout the northwest territories. Some
of them retained a little of the thrift and forethought of the civilized man, and became
wealthy among their improvident neighbors; their wealth being chiefly displayed in large
bands of horses, which covered the prairies in the vicinity of their abodes. Most of
them, however, were prone to assimilate to the red man in their heedlessness of the
future.
Such was Regis Brugiere, a freeman and rover of the wilderness. Having been brought
up in the service of the Northwest Company, he had followed in the train of one of its
expeditions across the Rocky Mountains, and undertaken to trap for the trading post
established on the Spokan River. In the course of his hunting excursions he had either
accidentally, or designedly, found his way to the post of Mr. Stuart, and had been
prevailed upon to ascend the Columbia, and "try his luck" at Astoria.
Ignace Shonowane, the Iroquois hunter, was a specimen of a different class. He was
one of those aboriginals of Canada who had partially conformed to the habits of
civilization and the doctrines of Christianity, under the influence of the French colonists
and the Catholic priests; who seem generally to have been more successful in
conciliating, taming, and converting the savages, than their English and Protestant
rivals. These half-civilized Indians retained some of the good, and many of the evil
qualities of their original stock. They were first-rate hunters, and dexterous in the
management of the canoe. They could undergo great privations, and were admirable
for the service of the rivers, lakes, and forests, provided they could be kept sober, and
in proper subordination; but once inflamed with liquor, to which they were madly
addicted, all the dormant passions inherent in their nature were prone to break forth,
and to hurry them into the most vindictive and bloody acts of violence.
Though they generally professed the Roman Catholic religion, yet it was mixed,
occasionally, with some of their ancient superstitions; and they retained much of the
Indian belief in charms and omens. Numbers of these men were employed by the
Northwest Company as trappers, hunters, and canoe men, but on lower terms than
were allowed to white men. Ignace Shonowane had, in this way, followed the enterprise
of the company to the banks of the Spokan, being, probably, one of the first of his tribe
that had traversed the Rocky Mountains.
Such were some of the motley populace of the wilderness, incident to the fur trade, who
were gradually attracted to the new settlement of Astoria.
The month of October now began to give indications of approaching winter. Hitherto,
the colonists had been well pleased with the climate. The summer had been temperate,
the mercury never rising above eighty degrees. Westerly winds had prevailed during
the spring and the early part of the summer, and been succeeded by fresh breezes
from the northwest. In the month of October the southerly winds set in, bringing with
them frequent rain.
The Indians now began to quit the borders of the ocean, and to retire to their winter
quarters in the sheltered bosom of the forests, or along the small rivers and brooks.
The rainy season, which commences in October, continues, with little intermission, until
April; and though the winters are generally mild, the mercury seldom sinking below the
freezing point, yet the tempests of wind and rain are terrible. The sun is sometimes
obscured for weeks, the brooks swell into roaring torrents, and the country is
threatened with a deluge.
The departure of the Indians to their winter quarters gradually rendered provisions
scanty, and obliged the colonists to send out foraging expeditions in the Dolly. Still the
little handful of adventurers kept up their spirits in their lonely fort at Astoria, looking
forward to the time when they should be animated and reinforced by the party under
Mr. Hunt, that was to come to them across the Rocky Mountains.
The year gradually wore way. The rain, which had poured down almost incessantly
since the first of October, cleared up towards the evening of the 31st of December, and
the morning of the first of January ushered in a day of sunshine.
The hereditary French holiday spirit of the French voyageurs is hardly to be depressed
by any adversities; and they can manage to get up a fete in the most squalid situations,
and under the most untoward circumstances. An extra allowance of rum, and a little
flour to make cakes and puddings, constitute a "regale;" and they forget all their toils
and troubles in the song and dance.
On the present occasion, the partners endeavored to celebrate the new year with some
effect. At sunrise the drums beat to arms, the colors were hoisted, with three rounds of
small arms and three discharges of cannon. The day was devoted to games of agility
and strength, and other amusements; and grog was temperately distributed, together
with bread, butter, and cheese. The best dinner their circumstances could afford was
served up at midday. At sunset the colors were lowered, with another discharge of
artillery. The night was spent in dancing; and, though there was a lack of female
partners to excite their gallantry, the voyageurs kept up the ball with true French spirit,
until three o'clock in the morning. So passed the new year festival of 1812 at the infant
colony of Astoria.