Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 13.djvu/371



Readers of the Quarterly will recall the publication of the Journals of Peter Skene Ogden in Volumes 10 and 11, record- ing the explorations and fur trapping experiences of that ener- getic H. B. Co. fur trader in Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Nevada between the Cascade Mountains and the main range of the Rockies during the years 1825 to 1829 inclusive.

There is abundant indirect evidence that in the late summer of 1829, Mr. Ogden led his company of trappers to the south- ward from Fort Walla Walla, through Eastern Oregon and along the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Range and into Southern California, and that merely a detached party visited the Snake Country of Southern Idaho. But there is no record available and it is necessary to pass by the experiences of that year's journey with the hope that the original journal will be found at some future time. Upon the return of Mr. Ogden in the early summer of 1830 it was found that by orders from Gov. Simpson he had been transferred to the trade along the Coast in company with Mr. Finlayson, and the command of the Snake Country Brigade had been assigned to Mr. John Work, a very worthy successor. Mr. Work was of Irish descent and his name is properly spelled Wark. In this Quarterly (Vol. 10, page 296 et seq.), has already appeared an account of a journey made by him in the spring of 1830 from Fort Colvile to Fort Vancouver and a brief mention of his career.

Mr. Work's journals for at least two expeditions are avail- able for use in this Quarterly, and that for only the first part of the expedition of 1830-31 is now given. This is another of