Page:California Historical Society Quarterly vol 22.djvu/228

 possible to identify the Indian women whom the trappers married as their companions on the Cahfornia trail.

No births are mentioned by John Work in his daily entries, but circum- stantial evidence coupled with reason indicates that more than one child was added to the census roll of the expedition. The marriage record of Louis Pichette, for instance, supports this theory. French Canadians were noted for their large families. Three small daughters of John and Josette Work- Jane, Sarah, and Letitia— are known to have been among the children of the brigade. In addition, the journal mentions "J- Borland's boy," "N. Finlay, a boy," "C. Groslui's son," "L. Lavalle, a boy," and "the boy Peevish"; the list of sick includes "Pierre" and "Maria," apparently children of J. Cornoyer.

Francis Payette, who was to have joined the party at Fort Nez Perce, was too ill to make the trip. If any member of the brigade assumed his duties as second in command, we are not so informed by the journal. Work evidently acted as his own clerk.

A second census of the brigade after the parties divided, on May 13, 1833, gives the number of men with Work as thirty-three, therefore we know that five of Michel Laframboise' brigade elected to remain longer in Cali- fornia. One of these was probably P. Bernie, who died on September 26. No complete list of the men who accompanied Laframboise is as yet available.

The whole story of the French Canadian trappers who later settled as farmers in the states of Oregon and Washington and in British Columbia re- mains to be written. Sources for their personal records are diverse. In the "List of employees of the Hudson's Bay Company" many of Work's men are indicated as working in the "Columbia District" as early as 1822. The original manuscript lists are in the archives of the Hudson's Bay Company, and photostats are in the library of the Oregon Historical Society. The lists will be referred to hereafter as "H. B. C. List," followed by the years in which the name of the employee appears.

The most recent evaluation of the Canadian residents at French Prairie, Oregon, "Oregon's First White Settlers on French Prairie," appeared in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, XLIII (September 1942), 198-209. It was written by a former governor of Oregon, Oswald West. Previous issues of the Oregon Historical Quarterly are the most prolific source for informa- tion on the French Canadians. Space does not permit the inclusion of all this material here, but most of Work's men are listed individually in the Oregon Historical Quarterly Index, Volumes I to XL, ipoo-ip^p (Portland: Ore- gon Historical Society, 1941). This work hereafter will be referred to as Oregon Index.

Parish records of the first Catholic churches in the Oregon country con- tain interesting entries of the births, marriages and deaths of Canadian resi-