Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival (40 page)

“they would give it to them while plundering”
: Stuart journal entry, July 20, 1812, in ibid., p. 56.

Reed, however, had forgotten to remove
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 348. The accounts of Stuart and Irving regarding the fight at Celilo Falls vary in minor ways, but they are in agreement regarding the overall results.

231
“Our answer was
NO
”
: Stuart journal entry, July 20, 1812, in
Robert Stuart’s Narratives,
p. 59.

232
The group arrived at the Okanagan post
: Ross,
Adventures,
pp. 186–87.

he had tried to convince the tribes
: Ibid., pp. 128–29.

claiming the region for the North West Company
: According to Ronda, Thompson’s proclamation read: “Know hereby that this country is claimed by Great Britain as part of its territories, and that the North West Company of Merchants from Canada, finding the factory for this people inconvenient for them, do hereby intend to erect a factory in this place for the commerce of the country around.” Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 64.

they had 2,500 furs
: Ross,
Adventures,
p. 187. Accounts vary as to the number of furs. McDougall claims one thousand, in the journal entry for May 11, 1812, in Jones,
Annals of Astoria,
p. 89.

233
“Come onshore”
: Ross,
Adventures,
p. 187.

234
They followed it for some days
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 352. Other accounts of the journey of Crooks and Day include Ross,
Adventures,
pp. 187–92; Rollins,
The Discovery of the Oregon Trail,
pp. lxxxvii–lxxxix; and Seton,
Astorian Adventure,
pp. 97–98.

235
according to some accounts, offered them food
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 353; Seton,
Astorian Adventure,
p. 97. Ross’s account does not indicate the Indians fed them, nor does Rollins’s.

“The Indians then closed in upon us”
: Ross,
Adventures,
p. 190.

236
the two were preparing to head all the way back
: Ibid., p. 192.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

237
“great surprise and great joy”
: Franchère,
Narrative,
p. 154.

with an oared boat following behind
: Cox,
Adventures on the Columbia River,
p. 53.

The
Beaver
brought a huge boost of energy
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 359.

238
Astor’s own nephew, George Ehninger
: p. 280.

238
“brightest star”
: Ross,
Adventures,
p. 195.

explorations up the Willamette River
: McDougall journal entry, May 11, 1812, in Jones,
Annals of Astoria,
p. 89.

“Between these high lands”
: Ross,
Adventures,
p. 236.

Astoria jumped with planning and strategy
: Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 240.

239
“A letter from Mr. Nathaniel Woodbury”
: “Account of the Tonquin,”
New York Gazette and General Advertiser,
May 12, 1812.

240 The Child of Nature: Theater listings,
New York Gazette and General Advertiser,
May 11 and 12, 1812.

“What would you have me do?”
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 116.

241
estimated that $20,000 worth of trinkets
: Porter,
John Jacob Astor, Business Man,
pp. 173–81.

242
the hair-trigger McClellan
: Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
pp. 238–39.

“partners dissatisfied with the enterprise”
: Franchère,
Narrative,
p. 160.

There was young Mr. Nicoll
: Seton,
Astorian Adventure,
pp. 98–99.

244
“Our Madman (Pelton) continuing the same”
: McDougall journal entry, June 15, 1812, in Jones,
Annals of Astoria,
p. 97.

McDougall, too, was frequently sick
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 444.

It’s cold, it’s raining:
According to climate-zone.com, Astoria experiences 193 days with more than .01 inches of rainfall in the average year. Days where the skies are “clear” number only 38.

245
in nine canoes and two bateaux
: Seton,
Astorian Adventure,
p. 100. See also Jones,
Annals of Astoria,
pp. 100–101 fn. 38.

Formerly cheerful and popular
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 360.

“now uttered the most incoherent”
: Stuart journal entry, July 1, 1812, in Rollins,
The Discovery of the Oregon Trail,
p. 29.

246
meadowy Deer Island
: Today, Deer Island is a tiny town along U.S. Highway 30 about thirty-three miles from downtown Portland, between Rainier to the north, and St. Helens to the south.

“[T]his gigantic mass appears as a Steeple”
: Stuart journal entry, June 29, 1812, in Rollins,
The Discovery of the Oregon Trail,
p. 60.

247
Day likely was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder:
According to the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
4th ed., Text Revision (Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000), a diagnosis of PTSD requires that “the person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following were present: 1. the person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others. 2. the person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.” It is fair to say that Day’s experiences lost in the wilderness and his encounters with hostile Indians fit at least this part of the diagnostic criteria.

248
Cathlapootle Island
: Stuart journal entry, July 3, 1812, in Rollins,
The Discovery of the Oregon Trail,
p. 31. Rollins indicates it is Bachelor Island on p. 43 fn. 53.

“[H]is insanity amounted to real madness”
: Stuart, journal entry July 3, 1812, in ibid., p. 31.

249
The country on both sides of the river
: Stuart journal entry, July 20, 1812, in ibid., pp. 59–60.

to his “great delight”
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 363. Stuart recounts it in his journal entry of July 21, 1812, in Rollins,
The Discovery of the Oregon Trail,
p. 60.

That night, in celebration
: Stuart journal entry, July 28, 1812, in ibid., p. 62.

CHAPTER TWENTY

252
But Astor had also met James Madison
: Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
pp. 45–46.

Perhaps Astor’s best connection
: Porter,
John Jacob Astor, Business Man,
p. 146, and Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
pp. 258–59.

253
he asked those Canadians
: Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 99.

What would happen if war broke out
: Franchère,
Narrative,
pp. 28–29.

Astor knew nothing at the time
: Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 99.

254
posts being established to the north of these
: Ibid., p. 241.

This was the post headed by Donald Mackenzie
: Ibid., pp. 240, 264.

255
“ ‘Such a life,’ they said”
: Ross,
Adventures,
p. 219.

256
McTavish delivered it with officious delight
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 445.

the
Isaac Todd
, had sailed
: Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 264.

“We had a famous horse pye”
: Seton,
Astorian Adventure,
p. 109.

257
Returning to New York
: Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 251.

Captain Sowle was to turn
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 430; Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 251.

No marine insurer would want to touch this vessel
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 431.

258
“remarkable,” as Irving described
: Ibid.

promised him some sort of military protection
: Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 45.

the wintering partners at their July meeting
: Ibid., p. 252.

They voted to send emissaries from Montreal
: Ibid.

259
There McTavish and his group
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 449. See also
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography,
s.v. “McTavish, George.”

The stakes had climbed still higher
: See Irving,
Astoria,
p. 431, for an accounting of Astor’s uncertainty during this time.

But no direct word of Hunt’s fate
: Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 258.

He summoned two of his best sea captains
: Ibid., pp. 252–54.

260
“
the very idea is like a dagger to my heart”
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 432. Ronda speculates that Irving may have engaged in poetic license here, but that certainly he captured Astor’s true sentiment. Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 262.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

261
In the misty dusk of January 16
: McDougall journal entry, January 16, 1813, in Jones,
Annals of Astoria,
pp. 145–46.

“The months of October, November, and December”
: Franchère,
Narrative,
p. 165.

262
“he gave way to the most abject despondency”
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 444.

264
“[I]t becomes very interesting to know”
: Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 260.

265
a U.S. frigate could be sent to cruise the waters off Canton
: Ibid., p. 261.

“Madison and others in his administration”
: Ibid.

they summoned partners David Stuart and John Clarke
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 446.

with heavy packs of furs
: Franchère indicates the parties arrived with 140 packs of furs. Franchère,
Narrative,
p. 170. Ross states Clarke left the Spokane post with “thirty-two horses loaded with furs.” Ross,
Adventures,
p. 214.

266
He took a silver goblet from his traveling wine case
: Ross,
Adventures,
pp. 214–15, and Cox,
Adventures on the Columbia River,
p. 107.

“[You’re] a greater man now than ever before”
: Ross,
Adventures,
p. 215.

Different accounts of the execution vary in detail, but generally agree.

267
“Mr. Clarke,” wrote Alfred Seton
: Seton,
Astorian Adventure,
p. 115.

Thinking they would be pleased
: Irving,
Astoria,
p. 452.

268
“Taking the hint, we lost no time”
: Ross,
Adventures,
p. 226.

269
“ ‘Gentlemen,’ said he, ‘why do you hesitate so long’ ”
: Ibid., p. 244.

271
McTavish and the North West Company
: For the deal struck between McTavish and the Astorians, see Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
pp. 281–82.

a “market-sharing agreement”
: Jones,
Annals of Astoria,
p. 198 fn. 89.

273
He now conjured up another insurance policy
: McDougall journal entry, July 20, 1813, in Jones,
Annals of Astoria,
p. 203; see also fn. 98.

knowing his father-in-law would protect him
: Seton,
Astorian Adventure
, p. 116.

on the fresh, sunny morning of August 20
: McDougall journal entry, August 20, 1813, in Jones,
Annals of Astoria,
pp. 210–11. For the arrival of the ship, see also Franchère,
Narrative,
p. 173; Ross,
Adventures,
p. 251; and Irving,
Astoria,
pp. 463–64.

274
A year earlier, Hunt had climbed aboard the
Beaver: Irving,
Astoria,
pp. 465–68.

275
“He is continually giving”
: Ibid., pp. 466–67. Ronda indicates Irving had access to Hunt’s journal, though it is now lost. Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 283.

276
“insufferable ennui . . . in the midst of deep mud”
: Franchère,
Narrative,
p. 164.

277
The partners wouldn’t budge
: Ibid., p. 179. Ronda analyzes this meeting in
Astoria & Empire,
pp. 285–286.

277
he would return soon with another ship
: Franchère,
Narrative,
p. 179, and Irving,
Astoria,
pp. 474–75.

Astor’s ship, the fast-sailing
Lark: Porter,
John Jacob Astor, Business Man,
pp. 552–54.

278
a tremendous gale blew
: Ibid., pp. 552–54; Irving,
Astoria,
p. 477; Ross,
Adventures,
p. 261; Seton,
Astorian Adventure,
p. 202; and Cox,
Adventures on the Columbia River,
pp. 135–36.

279
the South Pacific’s beautiful Marquesas Islands
: Ronda,
Astoria & Empire,
p. 297.