Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 15.djvu/24



16 JUDGE WILLIAM C. BROWN

Fort Okanogan for the winter of 1812 and 1813. He escorted Mr. Stuart as far as Osoyoos Lake and then returned to pre- pare his post for the winter operations. After spending the fall of 1812 in various trading excursions to nearby points, he left Fort Okanogan, December 2nd, to pay a visit to Mr. John Qarke, at Fort Spokane, which was a post that had just been established by the Astor Company along side of "Spokane House," which was the name of the post as we have heretofore seen, that was established and maintained by the Northwest Company.

Ross got back to his post from Spokane, December 14th, 1812, but nearly lost his own life and the lives of all his men and horses in a big snow storm that they encountered in the Big Bend country. On December 20th, he set out to visit Mr. Stuart at the Kamloops post. Ross calls it "Cumcloups." He arrived there on the last day of the year 1812. Here we find the enterprise and energy of the Northwesters again in evidence. They had established a post alongside Mr. Stuart's establishment. Mr. Ross has this to say of the conditions pre- vailing at Kamloops :

"There was opposition there as well as at Mr. Clarke's place, but without the trickery and maneuvering, M. LaRocque, the Northwest clerk in charge, and Mr. Stuart, were open and candid, and on friendly terms. The field before them was wide enough for both parties, and, what is more, they thought so; consequently they followed a fair and straightforward course of trade ; with Mr. Stuart I remained five days, and in coming home I took a near and unknown route, in order to explore a part of the country I had not seen before."

Mr. Ross evidently returned from Kamloops through by Nicola Lake and struck the Similkameen some place near where Princeton now stands. He came down that river and struck the Okanogan river at the "forks," as he says, and got to Fort Okanogan, January 24th, 1813. On May 13th, 1813, Mr. Stuart arrived at Fort Okanogan from the Kamloops country with a rich catch of fur. They remained at Okanogan ten days, packing, pressing and loading the furs, and then Ross and Stuart with a crew of men set out with the canoes