Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/185



THE CENTKjNNIAL history of OlfEGOX 107

ciuiisr (if riiipiiT ! Had Thompson got tliroiifili in 1Sl(l. (irral lirilain wdiild have iiiailc war (in llic I'liitcd States bcfori' Kivin^' np the iiuinlli of tlic Colniidiia river.

l'.ul ndt willislaiidiiit; tliis 1 lii'calened opposilion I'l'dni the Xdrlliwest ('(Uii pany. it was decided llial S1uai1 willi liis pai'tv slumld l;(i up llie Cdlniiiliia and eslalilisii Iradinji' posts llie same as if 'I'lionipsoii had made im appearance. And accordingly on the 2:5(1 ot .lnl\. isll, David Stuart, with foMr clerks— I'cMct. l\(iss. .Montigny and .MeljclJan, with Idiir hoatmen, sailed out oi' the [)ort ol' Astoria and np the Coliimhia aeeompanied hy Thompson and his crew, all in their light canecs and under sail, making a i)art\' ol' thirteen men, with Indian goods. |)r(i \isi(ins. arms and canoes, and Iteing the tirst small germ of the ])ri'sent vast cmn mcrce (in the great Columbia ri\'er. Stuart and Thompson kept company with each dtiiei' until they passed the Dalles, when Sttiart dropped behind Thompson and prdcecded more lcisurel\- that he might more earerully examine the eountr\. l'ro( ding u]i the ( 'olumhia to the mouth of W'hat the Indians called the Okano- gan river. .Stnart here sto])]ied and built a fort out of drift wood logs gathered out of the river, and as a eomineneement erected a log house sixteen by twenty feet in size, and here stored his goods. From this point he sent back Pellet and .M( Lilian to Astoria ; and taking ^lontigny and two boatmen made a winter expe- dition t(i the north, leaving Alexander Ross entirely alone to spend the winter by himself as best he could. Here is courage and heroic character for history. Ross lived alone for 188 days and traded with the Indians that winter until his stock of goods was exhausted; and the net gain of his trading was 1,550 beaver skins worth in China .'til 1.250. 00 and costing his company only $165.00 in Indian goods. This was tile first expedition of white men into the Okanogan country. The As- torians were by no means idle: for the sum of their explorations in their first year in Oregon amounted to over ten thousand miles of travel. Hut their very activi- ties incurred opposition. The Chinooks that had been so friendly fell away and tired of the novelty; and besides that they disliked to hunt beaver and otter and give their skins for goods that it seemed they might take by force. So they con- cocted a plan to nuirder all the Astorians and take their goods. Indians had Clime over from Xootka and told about killing all the white men. .McDougall's royal fathei'-in-law, Concomly, absented himself from the fort; all the Indians dis- appeared in the forests; no lieaver were brought in and no fish were caught. There was a Judas in the Indian camp, and for a red shirt he gave the grand scheme away. The white men strengthened their defenses and mounted their ea'nnons. and kept guards on watch at night. But to put an end to the uprising -McDougal devised a stratagem. He sent word to the Indians that he had a great secret to tell them, something nobody knew of, and it was for their benefit alone. He knew the mortal terror the Indians had of the small-pox, and resolved to make the most of it. The Indians came by their chiefs and were admitted to the grand council chamber. Here McDougal craftily let out the .secret which the.v had been concdcting td kill the white men, saying: "White men read the stars, and Ilea)' the news in the winds, and it is dangerous to think though the white men are few they can he easily killed. .\nd although Indians killed twenty white men at Nootka, dead white man blew up the ship and killed two hundred In- ili;nis."' Then taking it I' rum the interior nf his vest with great cereiiiiiny he exhib- ited a little bottle saxing with a shuihler: "Vou have all heard uf the awftil