Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 25.djvu/344

 Francis Benj. Pillett, and Donald McGillis, clerks, and a few of the men, accompanied by a guide, set out for the Willamette, which the Indians had told them abounded in beaver. On this trip they were accompanied by Mr. Regis Brugiere, who had arrived overland from Canada, and who expected to follow his vocation of trapping.

How long this party remained up the Willamette we cannot tell, as there is no mention of their coming back, or of the results of their trip. All we know, however, is that Robert Stuart and McGillis were back in Astoria prior to March 30, 1812. They evidently had a successful trip, and made reports that warranted a further exploration of the Willamette, for on April 1, 1812, Donald