A History of Oregon, 1792-1849

These two missionaries reached the American rendezvous on Green River, in company with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company’s traders, under the direction of Captains Drips and Fitzpatrick. From the American rendezvous Mr. Parker continued his explorations in company with, and under the protection of the Nez Percé Indians, till he reached old Fort Wallawalla, now called Wallula; thence he continued in canoes to Vancouver, while Dr. Whitman returned to the United States to procure associates to establish the Nez Percé mission.

CHAPTER V

Extent and power of Hudson’s Bay Company. – Number of forts. – Location. – Policy. – Murder of Mr. Black. – McKay. – Manner of dealing with Indians. – Commander of fort kills an Indian. – Necessity of such a course. – Hudson’s Bay Company not responsible for what their servants do.

Having briefly traced the operations of the two foreign fur companies in Oregon, a knowledge of the location of their several trading establishments will enable the reader to comprehend their power and influence in the country.

Fort Umpqua was located in the extreme southwestern part of Oregon, near the mouth of the river bearing that name. It was a temporary stockade built of logs, overlooking a small farm in its immediate vicinity, was generally occupied by a clerk and from four to eight Frenchmen.

Fort George (Astoria) already described.

They had a farm and small establishment at the mouth of the Cowlitz, and a more extensive farm some twenty-five miles up that river.

Fort Vancouver, – a stockade, six miles above the mouth of the Multnomah, or Wallamet River. This fort was the general depot for the southwestern department, at which their goods for Indian trade were landed, and their furs and peltries collected and shipped to foreign markets. There was also a trading-house at Champoeg, some thirty-five miles up the Wallamet River.

On the left bank of the Columbia River, near the 46° of north latitude, stood Fort Nez Percés, called Wallawalla, now Wallula, – a stockade, accidentally burned in 1841, and rebuilt with adobes in 1841-2.

On the left bank of the south branch of the Columbia, or Snake River, at the junction of the Boise, was located Fort Boise, built formerly, in 1834, with poles; later, with adobes.

Continuing up Snake River to the junction of the Portneuf, on its left bank we find Fort Hall, built by Captain Wyeth; a stockade in 1834; rebuilt by the Hudson’s Bay Company, with adobes, in 1838.

Thence up the Columbia, Fort Okanagon, at the mouth of Okanagon River, formerly a stockade, latterly a house or hut; and up the Spokan some twenty miles, was the old Spokan Fort, built by Astor’s Company, a stockade with solid bastions.

Continuing up the Columbia to Kettle Falls, and two miles above, on the left bank is Fort Colville, formerly a stockade, still occupied by the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Thence up the Columbia to the mouth of the Kootanie River, near the forty-ninth parallel of latitude, is the trading establishment called Kootanie House. Thence returning south, and ascending the Flathead (Clark’s) and Kootanie rivers, into what is now Montana Territory, is, or was, the hut called Flathead House. Still higher up on the Columbia was a small establishment, called the boat encampment, or Mountain House.

Entering the country by the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, we find Fort Nasqualla, formerly a stockade. Proceeding up Frazer River to near the forty-ninth parallel, upon the left or south bank of the river is Fort Langley, an extensive stockade. Thence up that river about ninety miles, half a mile below the mouth of the Coquehalla, is Fort Hope, a stockade. On the right bank of the Frazer, sixteen miles above, is Fort Yale, a trading-house.

Thence proceeding up the Frazer, and on to the waters of Thompson River, is Fort Kamloops; still further north and east, extending into New Caledonia, are Forts Alexander, William, Garey, and Abercrombie.

On the southeastern part of Vancouver Island is Fort Victoria, formerly a stockade. On the north side of the island is Fort Rupert, a stockade, still in good repair.

On the mainland, near Portland Channel, is Fort Simpson. At the mouth of the Stiken River, on Dundas Island, was formerly Fort Wrangle, a stockade. Recently the establishment has been removed some sixty miles up the Stiken River, and called Fort Stiken.

This, as will be seen, gives the company twenty-three forts and five trading-stations. In addition to these they had trading-parties extending south to California, southeast to Fort Hall and into Utah and Arizona, east into the Blackfoot country (Montana) and the Rocky Mountains, and north into New Caledonia and along the northwestern watershed of the Rocky Mountains.

They also had two steamers, the Beaver and Otter, to enter all the bays, harbors, rivers, and inlets along the western coast of our country, from Mexico on the south, to Russian America on the north, employing fifty-five officers and five hundred and thirteen articled men, all bound, under the strictest articles of agreement, to subserve the interests of that company under all circumstances; being strictly forbidden to acquire any personal or real estate outside of their stipulated pay as servants of the company, and were subject to such punishment for deficiency of labor or neglect of duty as the officer in charge might see fit to impose, having no appeal to any source for redress, as the original charter of Charles II., confirmed by act of Parliament in 1821, clearly conferred on the company absolute control over the country they occupied, and all in it.

As a matter of romance and adventure, many statements are made of conflicts with Indians and with wild animals, all terminating favorably to the interests of the company, confirming and strengthening their absolute power over all their opponents; but as they do not properly belong to a work of this character, they will be omitted, except where they may be brought to illustrate a fact, or to prove the principles and policy of the company.

As in the case of Mr. Black, a chief trader at Fort Kamloops, who had offended an Indian, the Indian disguised his resentment, entered the fort as a friend, and while Mr. Black was passing from the room in which the Indian had been received, he was deliberately shot by him, and fell dead. The Indian fled, and the fort was closed against the tribe. Not a single article of trade or supplies was allowed to the tribe till the murderer was given up, and hung by the company’s men, when the fort was opened and trade resumed.

In another case, near the mouth of the Columbia, a trader by the name of McKay was killed in a drunken row with the Indians at a salmon fishery. A friendly Indian gave information at head-quarters, when an expedition was fitted out and sent to the Indian camp. The murderer, with a few other Indians, was found in a canoe, but escaped to shore. They were fired at, and one woman was killed and others wounded. Dr. McLaughlin, being in command of the party, informed the Indians that if the murderer was not soon given up, he would punish the tribe. They soon placed the murderer in the hands of the party, who were satisfied of the guilt of the Indian, and at once hung him, as an example of the punishment that would be inflicted upon murderers of white men belonging to the company.

One other instance of daring and summary punishment is related as having been inflicted by Mr. Douglas, while in charge of a fort in the midst of a powerful tribe of Indians. A principal chief had killed one of the company’s men. Mr. Douglas, learning that he was in a lodge not far from the fort, boasting of his murderous exploit, armed himself, went to the lodge, identified the murdering chief, and shot him dead; then walked deliberately back to the fort.

A compliance with licensed parliamentary stipulations would have required the arrest of the murderers in all these cases, and the testimony and criminals to be sent to Canada for conviction and execution.

These cases illustrate, whether just or otherwise, the absolute manner of dealing with Indians by the company. The following chapter gives us the particulars of an aggravated case of brutal murder of the person in charge of one of their extreme northwestern forts by the men under his charge.

CHAPTER VI

Murder of John McLaughlin, Jr. – Investigation by Sir George Simpson and Sir James Douglas.

Very different was the course pursued by Sir George Simpson and Mr. (now Sir James) Douglas in the case of conspiracy and murder of John McLaughlin, Jr., at Fort Wrangle, near the southern boundary of Russian America.

In this case, Sir George Simpson went into a partial examination of the parties implicated, and reported that Dr. John McLaughlin, Jr., was killed by the men in self-defense. This report, from the known hostility of Sir George to the father and son, was not satisfactory, and Esquire Douglas was dispatched to Fort Wrangle, and procured the following testimony, which, in justice to the murdered man and the now deceased father, we will quote as copied from the original documents by Rev. G. Hines.

Pierre Kanaquassee, one of the men employed in the establishment at the time of the murder, and in whose testimony the gentlemen of the company place the utmost reliance, gives the following narrative, in answer to questions proposed by James Douglas, Esq., the magistrate that examined him: —

Q. Where were you on the night of the murder of the late Mr. John McLaughlin?

A. I was in my room, in the lower part of the main house, where I lived with George Heron, in an apartment in the lower story, immediately under the kitchen. My door opened into the passage which led to the apartment of Mr. John McLaughlin in the second story.

Q. What occurred on the night of the murder?

A. I will tell you the whole story, to the best of my recollection.

A few days preceding the murder, five Indians from Tako, with letters from Dr. Kennedy, arrived at the fort about midnight. The watchmen, hearing the knocking, called Mr. John. When he got up, he mustered a few hands to defend the gates, in case of any treacherous attack from the Indians, whom they did not, as yet, know. They were then admitted into the fort, delivered up their arms, according to custom, and were lodged in a small room in the lower story of the main house. A day or two after this, he beat, and put one of these Indians, a native of Nop, in irons, as Peter was told, for having committed some theft in Tako. About eight o’clock of the evening of the 20th of April, Mr. John gave liquor to the Indians, and made them drunk; after which he called the white men, viz., Laperti, Pripe, Lulaire, Heroux, Bellinger, Simon, Fleury, McPherson, Smith, and Antoine Kawanope. During this time, Peter was in his own, which was the adjoining room, lying awake in bed, and overheard all that passed. He heard Mr. John say to McPherson, “Peter is not among us. Where is he?” McPherson replied, that he was in bed, and he was sent for him by Mr. John. Peter, in consequence, went into the room, and saw all the men seated in a ring, on the floor, around a number of bottles standing within the ring, and the Indians lying dead drunk on another part of the floor, Mr. John himself was standing outside of the ring, and McPherson placed himself on the opposite side of the ring; neither of them appeared to be partaking of the festivities of the evening but were looking on, and forcing the people to drink. Antoine Kawanope was seated on his bed, apart from the other men, perfectly sober, as he told Peter afterward. Mr. John had ordered him not to drink, observing, “You are not to drink at this time, as I am going to die to-night, and you will help me in what I am going to do.” On entering the room, Mr. John told Peter to sit down with the other people, and ordered his servant, Fleury, to give him a good dram, which he did, in a tin pan. Peter could not drink the whole, and was threatened by Mr. John with violence if he did not finish it. He succeeded in emptying the pan, by allowing the liquor to run into the bosom of his shirt. Mr. John, in doing this, did not appear to be angry, but in a half-playful mood. Peter remained there about a quarter of an hour, during which time he was careful not to drink too much, as a few hours previously Antoine had called at his room and said, “My uncle, take care of yourself to-night; the master is going to die.” Peter said, “Who is going to kill him?” and Antoine said, “The Bluemen,” meaning the Kanakas, “are going to kill him.” This, Peter thought, was likely to be the case, as the men, some time before Christmas preceding, had agreed among themselves to murder him, and had signed a paper, which McPherson drew up, to that effect. Every one of the men of the place agreed to the commission of this deed, Smith and Heron as well as the others. Peter’s name was signed by McPherson, and he attested it by his cross. This paper was signed in Urbaine’s house, where the men severally repaired by stealth for the purpose, as Mr. John kept so vigilant a watch upon them, that they were afraid he might suspect their intentions if they were there in a body. The same impression made him also remark, in a low tone of voice, to Laperti, on his first entering the room, when he observed Mr. John forcing the people to drink, “I really believe our master feels his end near, as he never used to act in this manner.” As above mentioned, after Peter had been about fifteen minutes in the room where the men were drinking, Mr. John retired, followed by Antoine. Mr. John had not on that occasion drank any thing with the men, neither did he (Peter) ever see him, at any time preceding, drink in their company. He, however, supposed that he must have taken something in his own room, as he appeared flushed and excited, but not sufficiently so as to render his gait in the least unsteady. McPherson also did not taste any thing in the room. As soon as Mr. John was gone, Peter also left the room, and went to bed in his own room.

Peter was informed by Antoine that Mr. John, on leaving the room where the men were drinking, went up-stairs to his own apartment, and he heard him say to his wife, “I am going to die to-night.” And he and his wife both began to cry. Mr. John soon rallied, and observed, “Very well; if I die, I must fall like a man.” He then told Antoine to load his rifles and pistols, and ordered him also to arm himself with his own gun. He and Antoine then went out, and Peter thinks he heard the report of more than fifteen shots. Antoine afterward told Peter that Mr. John fired at Laperti, but missed him, and afterward ordered Antoine to fire at Laperti. Antoine refused to do so, until his own life was threatened by Mr. John, when he fired in the direction, without aiming at Laperti. He also told the Kanakas to kill the Canadians, and it was in part they who fired the shots that he (Peter) had heard. Peter then got up and placed himself behind his door, and saw Mr. John come in and go up-stairs with Antoine, when he took the opportunity of going out, armed with his gun and a stout bludgeon, and found the men standing here and there on the gallery watching an opportunity to shoot Mr. John. Laperti’s position on the gallery was fronting the door of the main house, toward which he had his gun pointed; when Peter saw him, he was on his knees, the small end of the gun resting on the top rail of the gallery, in readiness to fire. Laperti exclaimed, on seeing Peter, “I must kill him now, as he has fired two shots at me.” Peter objected to this, and proposed to take and tie him. Nobody answered him. At that moment, Smith came up to Laperti and told him to hide himself or he would certainly be killed. Laperti said, “Where can I hide myself?” and Smith said, “Come with me and I will show you a place in the bastion where you can hide yourself,” and they went off together in the direction of the bastion at the corner of Urbaine’s house. Peter, after a few minutes’ stay on the gallery, returned to his house, as he had previously agreed upon with George Hebram, who was lying sick in bed, and who had entreated him not to leave him alone. At the door of the main house, he met Mr. John coming out, followed by Antoine, who was carrying a lamp. Mr. John said to Peter, “Have you seen Laperti?” Peter answered, “No, I have not seen him;” and then Mr. John said, “Have you seen Urbaine?” And Peter again answered that he had not. The minute before this, as he (Peter) was returning from the gallery, he had seen Urbaine standing at the corner of the main house, next to Urbaine’s own dwelling, in company with Simon. Urbaine said, “I don’t know what to do; I have no gun, and do not know where to hide myself.” Simon said, “I have a gun, if he comes I will shoot him, and will be safe.” Mr. John, after Peter passed him, said to Antoine, “Make haste, and come with the lamp,” and proceeded with a firm step to Urbaine’s house, as Peter, who continued watching at the door, saw.

After he saw them go to Urbaine’s house, he proceeded toward his own room, and he and Antoine called out, “Fire! fire!” The report of several shots, probably five, immediately followed, and he heard Antoine exclaiming, “Stop! stop! stop! He is dead now.” Antoine afterward related to Peter, that on reaching Urbaine’s house, Mr. John ordered him to go round by one corner, while he went round by the other, directing Antoine to shoot any of the Canadians he might meet. Mr. John then proceeded in a stooping position, looking very intently before him, when a shot was fired from the corner of the house toward which he was going, which caused his death, the ball having entered at the upper part of the breast-bone, a little below the gullet, and come out a little below the shoulder, having broken the spine in its passage. Peter was also told by one of the Kanakas, that as soon as Mr. John fell, Urbaine sprung forward from the corner of the house within a few paces of the body, and put his foot savagely on his neck, as if to complete the act, should the ball have failed in causing death. The Kanakas immediately asked Urbaine who had killed the master. Urbaine replied, “It is none of your business who has killed him!” Peter, who during this time had removed to his house, seeing Heron go out without his gun, went out round the body, and said, “My friend, we have now done what we long intended to do; let us now carry the body back to the house.” Urbaine, Laperti, Bellinger, and other white men who were present replied, “When we kill a dog, we let him lie where we kill him.” And Antoine told him they had previously given him the same reply to a similar proposition from him. Peter then approached the body, and, with one hand under the neck, raised the head and trunk, when a deep expiration followed, which was the last sign of animation. He had previously perceived no signs of life, nor did he hear any one say that any appeared after the deceased fell. The white men being unwilling to assist him, he carried the body, with the aid of the Kanakas, into the main house, where he had it stripped, washed clean, decently dressed, and laid out. In doing so he received no help from any but the Kanakas. The wounds made by the balls were very large, both openings being circular, and severally three inches in diameter. The body bled profusely, there being a deep pool of blood found around it, which was washed away afterward by the Kanakas. Peter never heard that he spoke or moved after he fell. There was a perpendicular cut on the forehead, skin-deep, in a line with the nose, which Peter thinks was caused by his falling on the barrel of his rifle, though Urbaine said that he had received it from an Indian with his dog. It was, as Peter supposes, about eleven o’clock, P. M., when he had done washing and laying out the body; the watches had not then been changed, therefore he thinks it could not be midnight. The people continued coming and going during the night, to see the body, and Peter proposed praying over the body, as is customary in Canada; but they objected, saying they did not wish to pray for him. He did sit up with the body all night, having soon after gone, first to Urbaine’s and then to Lulaire’s house, who each gave him a dram, which he took, saying, “There is no need of drinking now; they might drink their fill now.” He soon afterward went to bed.

He inquired of Martineau, who also lived in the same room, if he had fired at the deceased. He replied, that he had fired twice. He then asked him if it was he that had killed him, and he said, “I do not know if it was me or not.” He (Peter) put the same question to several of the other men whom he saw afterward; they all said that they had not shot him, and Martineau afterward said that he had not directed his gun at him, but had fired in the air.

The following morning he asked Antoine Kawanope if he knew who had killed the deceased. He replied, “I know who killed him, but I am not going to tell you, or any one else. When the governor comes, I will tell him.” He asked Antoine why he would not tell; he said he was afraid it might cause more quarrels, and lead to other murders. He then advised Antoine not to conceal it from him, as he would tell no one. Antoine then said, he thought it was Urbaine who had done the deed. Peter observed that Urbaine had no gun. Antoine replied, “I think it was Urbaine, because as soon as the deceased fell, Urbaine rushed out from his lurking-place at the corner of the house, where, I was informed by the people, he always kept his gun secreted, with the intention of shooting the deceased.” Peter says Laperti, Urbaine, and Simon were all concealed in the corner whence the shot came, and he thinks it to be one of the three who fired it. Urbaine always denied having committed the murder, and said, “I am going to the Russian fort for trial, and will be either banished or hung. I will let the thing go to the end, and will then inform upon the murderers.”

Simon always said that he was never in the corner from whence the shot was fired, and knew nothing about the matter; but Peter thinks that he must have been there, as he saw him, as before related, at the corner of the main house, when he promised to protect Urbaine; and from the situation of the fort, he must have passed that spot with Urbaine, as there was no other passage from the place where they had been standing. Laperti also said he never fired at all. When Peter, as before related, went upon the gallery after the first firing had ceased, while Mr. John and Antoine had gone into the house, he saw all the men on the gallery, except Pripe, Lulaire, and McPherson, and he asked each of them, respectively, if they were going to shoot the master that night, and they all answered (as well as himself), they would do so at the first chance, except Pehou, a Kanaka, who would not consent to the murder. Smith was then without a gun.

Before the Christmas preceding, Peter put the question to Smith, how he should like to see him kill Mr. John? He replied, “I should like it very well; I would have no objection, because his conduct is so very bad that he can never expect to be protected by the company.” Peter Manifree says that Mr. John appeared to be aware of the plot formed by the men against his life; as he supposes, through the information of Fleury, his servant, who was aware of every thing that passed among them. Mr. John had often said to the men, “Kill me, if you can. If you kill me, you will not kill a woman – you will kill a man.” And he kept Antoine as a sentinel to watch his room. One evening George Heron proposed taking his life, and said if he could find a man to go with him, he would be the first to shoot him. Peter refused to go, and Heron watched a great part of the night in the passage leading to Mr. John’s room, holding his gun pointed toward its door, with the object of shooting Mr. John if he appeared, as he usually did at night when going to visit the watchmen; but he did not go out that night, or Peter thinks that he would have been shot by Heron. The following morning Peter asked Antoine if he would defend Mr. John were he attacked by the people. Antoine said he would not, and would be the first man to seize or shoot him, should any attempt be made against his life or liberty. He put the same question to McPherson; but McPherson said, “No, do not kill him till the governor comes, by and by, and then we shall have redress.”

Peter also says that all the unmarried men were in the habit of secretly going out of the fort at night, contrary to order, to visit the Indian camp, and that one evening, when he wished to go out, he met George Heron on the gallery, who showed him where a rope was slung to the picket, by which he might let himself down to the ground outside of the fort, saying, “This is the way I and others get out, and you may do the same without fear of detection.” On the morning after the murder he went into Urbaine’s and Lulaire’s house and got a dram in each of them, out of two bottles of rum which he saw there. He said, “Now Mr. John is dead, I shall go out of the fort and spend the day with my wife.” Urbaine replied, “No: no one shall go out of the fort. We keep the keys, and we shall keep the gates shut.” Peter was angry at this, and said to Antoine, “When Mr. John was alive, he kept us prisoners, and would not allow us to run after women; and now that we have killed him, the Canadians wish to keep us as close as he did. I see we must raise the devil again with these Canadians, before we can get our liberty.”