Page:The Columbia river , or, Scenes and adventures during a residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky Mountains among various tribes of Indians hitherto unknown (Volume 1).djvu/108

 along the banks of the principal river. Among this tribe they found a young white man in a state of mental derangement. He had, however, lucid intervals, and informed them that his name was Archibald Petton, and that he was a native of Connecticut; that he had ascended the Missouri with Mr. Henry, an American trader, who built the house our people saw at the upper part of Mad River; that about three years ago the place was attacked by the savages, who massacred every man belonging to the establishment with the exception of himself; and that having escaped unperceived, he wandered about for several weeks, until he met the friendly tribe with whom we found him. The dreadful scenes he had witnessed, joined to the sufferings he had gone through, produced a partial derangement of his intellect. His disorder was of an harmless nature: and as it appeared probable that civilized companionship would, in the course of time, restore him to his reason, Mr. M'Kenzie very humanely brought him along with the party.

On arriving at the entrance of Lewis' River, they obtained canoes from the natives in exchange for their horses; and meeting with no obstruction from thence downwards, arrived at Astoria on the 18th of January, 1812. Their