England's Trophy

After the departure of the four "brigades" from Astoria, on their various missions, in the spring of 1812, it was decided by the partners that Mr. Hunt should sail in the Beaver for New Archangel "to make an exact commercial survey of the coast," to carry supplies to the Russian post, and complete arrangements with the Russian Governor, returning in October, as the vessel pursued her course to the Sandwich Islands and Canton.

The Beaver set sail in August, and her departure combined with that of the various brigades, left the adventurers at Astoria small in numbers. The fishing season was on, and the Indian tribes which gathered, were not over-respectful toward the poorly garrisoned post. Comcomly, however, was a good friend, having discovered that it was to his interest to ally himself with the whites, and act as an intermediate trader between them and more distant tribes.

The autumn passed, and December and January, 1813, without the return of the Beaver. Grave fears were entertained that she had been wrecked or met with a similar fate to that of the Tonquin. Mr. McDougal had ceased to enjoy his position as commander, and was full of gloomy despondency.

While in this mood, McKenzie returned from his post with ill news. He had found his position in a poor hunting and trapping country, among unfriendly Indians, and had considered abandoning it. Journeying to Mr. Clarke's post for consultation, he met there an unwelcome visitor in Mr. John McTavish. of the Northwest Company. McTavish had with him President Madison's proclamation of war, and told the Astorians he had a fresh supply of goods, with which he expected to carry on a vigorous opposition to the American Company. He brought his news to a climax by informing the partners of the armed ship, Isaac Todd, which was to be sent to the mouth of the Columbia, to take possession of the trade of the river, and that he was ordered to join her there.

McKenzie had deposited his goods in caches, and with his entire party returned to Astoria. McDougal and McKenzie thereupon held a council of discouragement. They decided that the Beaver was lost; that they would get no further help from the United States, since all ports would be blockaded; that they could expect nothing from England but hostility; and they determinded to abandon the factory at Astoria when spring came, and return across the Rockies. There were a few clerks at the council besides the partners, but they had no votes.

When this decision was sent to David Stuart and Clarke, it met with immediate opposition. These two men had been very successful at their posts, and had gathered large quantities of peltries. They considered it cowardly to abandon the undertaking at the first difficulty,—an enterprise that had called for so great an effort, and enormous financial outlay. They made no preparations to join the retreating partners, but instead returned to their new and prosperous posts, with the intention of holding them.

As the time of the spring rendezvous at Astoria approached, Mr. Clarke packed his furs on twenty-eight horses, and started with a portion of his party for the mouth of the Columbia. On his way back to Astoria ho met with a band of Nez Perces Indians, who had greatly troubled him with pilfering on the way out. Mr. Clarke had with him a silver goblet, sent as a present from Mr. Astor to Mr. McKay, the partner who had perished in the ill-fated Tonquin. Since its owner was no more, it had remained in Mr. Clarke's possession, greatly to that gentleman's pleasure, and he was accustomed to drink from it with a lordly air, then lock it up in its case. Forgetting the lock one night, the glittering cup was gone in the morning. It was the climax of much that had gone before, and the thief being discovered, was treated with great severity. In this, as in many other cases, it was afterward feared that the revenge of the Indians followed the punishment of their offences.

On arriving at Astoria, Mr. Clarke found another brigade, which had come in ten days earlier, also laden with numerous packs of beaver. The adventurers were gathering the first fruits of the great enterprise. The returning partners found Mr. McDougal making active preparation for departure on the 1st of July, having notified the men at Astoria nine days previous. The fresh arrivals were indignant at this action, taken without their consent, though their coming was daily expected. McDougal's whole attitude suggested a lack of loyalty to the cause which he represented.

McTavish and his party had arrived a few days before, and were being treated with the utmost hospitality. Without help from the Astorian stores, and the good will of the Indians influenced by McDougal, they would have been compelled to leave the position they had taken, for the Isaac Todd did not appear.

Clarke and Stuart had not brought the horses and provisions McDougal had requested, and in sore disappointment, he was forced to give up his plan for abandoning the fort that year. Meanwhile the influence of their fellow partners began to have its effect on the loyal two, and at length their consent was gained, though reluctantly, to leave the country the following year.

After this decision, the men scattered again to their various posts, in order to purchase horses and provisions, and as many peltries as their means would allow, and also to send provisions for the winter to Astoria. As they now had more clerks than they could use, Eoss Cox, Alexander Ross, and Donald McLellan were freed from their engagement, and went into the service of the Northwest Company.

Mr. McTavish carried with him, on his return, a letter to be forwarded to Mr. Astor, signed by the four partners, which told of the non-arrival of the annual ship; the probable loss of the Beaver; their scarcity of goods, and their doubt of receiving further supplies; their ignorance of the coast, and the trade of the interior being unequal to the expense; the rivalry of the Northwest Company; and their intention to abandon the undertaking on the 1st day of June of the ensuing year, unless supplies came from Mr. Astor, with orders to continue.

Clarke and Stuart felt this was not a wholly fair statement concerning the interior trade, but were over ruled by the other two partners.

Mr. Astor's anxieties had not decreased in the interim. The second annual ship, the Lark, had sailed in March, 1813, and only two weeks later he had received word that through the influence of the Northwest Company, the British Government had ordered the frigate Phoebe to accompany the Isaac Todd. They were to sail for the mouth of the Columbia, capture the American fortress, and plant there the English flag.

It was at this time that Mr. Astor sent his second letter to the Secretary of State, giving this latest intelligence. The Government was at last awakened to the necessity for protecting this foothold of American interest on the Pacific, and ordered the frigate Adams sent on the service. Mr. Astor immediately fitted out the Enterprise with supplies and reinforcements, to accompany the frigate.

In June, he received a letter from Robert Stuart telling him of his successful return east, and of Mr. Hunt's safe arrival at Astoria, and giving flattering accounts of the whole venture. The relief to Mr. Astor's mind was so great, that—"I felt ready," he said, "to fall upon my knees in a transport of gratitude." There was also word of the safe arrival at the Columbia of the Beaver.

This ray of sunshine preceded a cloud, for just as she was ready to start for Astoria, the Adams was imperatively needed on Lake Ontario; and even the Enterprise, which Mr. Astor decided to risk sending on alone, was held at New York by a blockading British force off the Hook.

The Lark, and the relief she carried, now became Mr. Astor's one hope, and if they had known it, that of Astoria as well.

McDougal seems to have been in constant fear of a rising of the savages against his poorly garrisoned fort. This is given as his reason for an act of diplomacy, in asking the hand of Comcomly's daughter in marriage. A romantic account of the affair harks back to the time when McDougal, exploring the surrounding country, was storm-bound in Comcomly's abode. At this time his daughter, the Indian princess, is said to have charmed him with her efforts for his entertainment.

Comcomly was nothing loath to consider the American commander in the light of a son-in-law, but his motive for such an alliance was not sentimental, but commercial. The conferences were long and intricate, and in the end much American trading goods was exchanged for the hand of the dusky maiden.

There were feasting and dancing at the wedding, and Comcomly became a very frequent visitor at his son-in-law's, making use of the conveniences of civilization freely, especially those of the blacksmith shop, which served the needs of his tribe in many ways.

The honeymoon was hardly over, when Gassacop, a brother of the bride, came running in one day, to say that a ship was at the mouth of the river. Immediately there was immense excitement. Was it the Beaver, or the annual supply ship? Was it the Isaac Todd, or was it an English frigate come to capture the fort? Or possibly, was she simply an independent trader?

Every eye was directed toward the entrance of the river, anxious to know whether they were to welcome a friend, or prepare for war. As the vessel crossed the bar, they recognized the American flag, and with a great shout of joy, the cannon from the fort united in the greeting. At nightfall, Mr. Hunt stepped on shore, and the rejoicing knew no bounds. Few of the Astorians had believed him to be still alive.

The Beaver had landed at New Archangel in about two weeks from the time she started from Astoria, but the negotiations in disposing of the vessel's cargo, and obtaining the returns, took so long that it was October before the bargain was closed. Mr. Hunt was to have been paid for his goods in seal skins, but there were none at the New Archangel fort, so it was necessary to proceed to a seal-catching factory, on the island of St. Paul, in the sea of Kamchatka. It was the 31st of October when they arrived at St. Paul. Here the natives lived in cabins that looked like canoes, the jaw-bone of a whale being used as rafters. Across this were laid pieces of driftwood covered with long grass, the skins of animals, and earth.

Mr. Hunt found shelter here while he overhauled and inspected great heaps of seal skins. When approved, the peltries were conveyed in large boats made of skins to the ship, which stood some little distance out at sea.

While on shore one night, a great gale came up, and in the morning the ship was not to be seen. It was several days before she appeared, her sails much damaged by wind and storm. Mr. Hunt hastened to re-embark, but here found new perplexity.

He was expected at Astoria, according to the plan marked out by Mr. Astor. The possibility that he might be needed there, and that a large amount of peltries were probably awaiting him, afforded important reasons for sailing straight for that port. The doubt, on the other hand,—whether, with her rent and tattered sails, the Beaver could make the Columbia River at this season, and cross the dangerous bar with her valuable cargo,—was augmented by the risk they were taking in reaching Canton at a time of bad market, both for the sale of peltries, and the purchase of a return cargo.

In this dilemma, Mr. Hunt decided to go directly to the Sandwich Islands, and there await the annual ship from New York, in which to take passage to Astoria, while the Beaver sailed on to China. At Woahoo, the ship was repaired, and set sail for China, January 1st, 1813, leaving Mr. Hunt on the island. Alexander Ross, in his journal, gives the Captain of the ship, not Mr. Hunt, the credit for this unwise decision.

Captain Sowle found Mr. Astor's letter at Canton, "giving him information of the war, and directing him to carry the intelligence to Astoria." In the Captain's reply, he refused to comply with his orders, saying, "he would wait the return of peace, and then come home." With Mr. Hunt on the Sandwich Islands, Captain Sowle and the Beaver at Canton, and the Astorians waiting for both, Mr. Astor's most carefully-laid plans were going awry, while one order after another was disregarded.

Captain Sowle was offered one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the furs, that had cost him twenty-five thousand in trading goods, but refused it; a profit which would have been greatly increased by a return cargo, the knowledge of which would have lifted the downcast Astorians. After this prices went down, and the Captain borrowed money, and laid up his ship to await the return of peace.

Month after month Mr. Hunt waited on the Sandwich Islands. It was not till the following June that he heard of the war with England, from Captain Smith of the Albatross, arrived from China. He now understood the non-arrival of the annual ship, and at once chartered the Albatross to carry him and supplies to Astoria, where he arrived in August, a little over a year after leaving the fort.

Mr. Hunt's surprise was extreme when he learned of the decision to abandon Astoria. He pointed out the success of the late voyage, and the arrangements made with Russia, but soon found that the matter had gone too far for his influence to serve as a counter check. Most discouraging reports of the trade with the interior were also presented to him.

He had from the first been somewhat overwhelmed by the enormous expense involved, and was correspondingly disheartened by the heavy losses. Not fully comprehending the wide area of Mr. Astor's business operations, and his custom of operating with large amounts, the losses seemed ruinous. When brought reluctantly to acquiesce in the partners' decision, his one care was to bring the business to a close, with as little further loss to Mr. Astor as possible.

There was a large quantity of valuable furs to be disposed of, and thirty-two natives of the Sandwich Islands to be conveyed back to their country, and they needed a ship. It was resolved that Mr. Hunt should sail in the Albatross in quest of such a vessel, and should return by January 1st, with a fresh supply of provisions. If Mr. Hunt should not return when expected, certain arrangements should be made with McTavish for a transfer of such men as should be disposed, to the Northwest Company, the latter becoming responsible for the wages due them, on receiving an equivalent in goods. Mr. McDougal proposed that in case of Mr. Hunt's non-arrival, arrangements with Mr. McTavish be left entirely to him.

Mr. Hunt reached the Marquesas safely, but found it impossible to obtain a ship, in the face of the report that the British frigate Phoebe, a store ship and two sloops of war, had set sail for the Pacific, bound, it was supposed, for the Columbia river. In this suspense, Mr. Hunt was held at Marquesas until November 23rd, when he sailed in the Albatross for the Sandwich Islands.

Meanwhile the Lark, so eagerly watched for, had met with storms that had wrecked her, and Mr. Hunt found such of her crew as were saved, at Owyee, where he arrived on December 20th. Orders sent by Mr. Astor on the Lark, was immediately carried out. A brig was purchased for ten thousand dollars, called the Pedler, and Captain Northrop, of the Lark, was put in command. In a month they sailed for Astoria, with the purpose of removing the goods and valuables as quickly as possible, to the allied Russian settlement on the Northeast coast, and so prevent them from falling into the hands of tlie British.

A few weeks after Mr. Hunt set sail in the Albatross, Mr. McKenzie started with two canoes manned by twelve men, for the posts of Stuart and Clarke, to inform them of the new arrangements of the partners. Before he had gone a hundred miles he met a fleet of ten canoes sweeping down stream under British colors, the Canadian oarsmen singing as usual as they rowed.

It was McTavish and another Northwest partner, with seventy-five men in all, on their way to meet the Phoebe and the Isaac Todd, when they should arrive at the mouth of the Columbia. They had Mr. Clarke with them as a passenger.

Mr. McKenzie's party turned about, and in the night, the two partners of the Pacific Fur Company decided to start before daybreak, and warn their own post of the coming arrivals. When they were ready to move they found they had companions in this advance journey, in a small number from the Northwest party, including McTavish himself.

There was nothing to do but accept the situation, both parties reaching Astoria on October 7th. The Northwest Company encamped near the fort, and hoisted the British colors. Whereupon the young Americans in the fort were for running up the American flag, but were prevented by McDougal. They were astonished at the prohibition, and indignant at the attitude of the Northwesters. The next day McDougal read his men a letter from his uncle, Mr. Angus Shaw, a partner of the Northwest Company, in which the coming of the Phoebe and the Isaac Todd was announced, "to take and destroy everything American on the Northwest coast."

McDougal had not correctly guaged American loyalty. The clerks, who were citizens of the United States, were already deeply indignant at "having their national flag struck by a Canadian commander, and the British flag flowed, as it were, in their faces." They were excited and angry at the taunts of the Northwesters, and were ready to nail their colors to the staff and defy everything British.

The frigate could not get within many miles of them, they said, and they would finish their boats with their cannon. But these youths were not in command, and a calculating head that felt no such patriotic pride, was making preparations to turn over the goods and peltries, both in Astoria and the interior, to Mr. McTavish. The Americans looked on with wrath and scorn. To them McDougal was acting a disloyal part.

The Northwest party had lost their ammunition, and had no trading goods to exchange for food. The Astorians had provisions and the protection of a fort; sixty men with arms, ammunition and boats; and even should the frigate appear, they still could retreat to the interior to some place of concealment with their valuables.

But McDougal was not to be moved by courageous counsels, and on the 16th of October "the furs and merchandise belonging to Mr. Astor were sold to the Northwest Company, for about one-third of their value," those who purchased setting the prices. McDougal took the position "that he made the best bargain for Mr. Astor that circumstances would permit; the frigate being hourly expected, in which case the whole property of that gentleman would be liable to capture."

In spite of these professions, many of those present at the transaction felt that McDougars course, in the face of difficulty and danger, bore no resemblance to the courageous, self-sacrificing and conscientious action of Mr. Hunt, David and Robert Stuart, and others of the Astorians.

Mr. Astor, writing to Mr. Hunt afterward, said, "Had our place and our property been fairly captured, I should have preferred it. I should not feel as if I were disgraced." McDougal, soon after this incident, became a member of the Northwest Company.

On the 30th of November, a sail was sighted off Cape Disappointment, and a ship of war came to anchor in Baker's bay. Since there was no merchant vessel accompanying it, there were grave doubts to which nation it might belong. In this emergency, McDougal showed most unexpected initiative. Two barges were loaded with packages of furs bearing the Northwest mark, and hurried off to Tongue Point, three miles up the river. There McDougal would signal them, and should the ship of war prove to be an American, they would have a good start in getting away into the interior.

McDougal, himself, launched a canoe and started for the ship, telling his men to pass themselves off as American or British as the case might be. The British sloop of war. Raccoon, of twenty-six guns, had brought Mr. John McDonald, a partner of the Northwest Company to Astoria. The Phoebe and the Cherub had been turned off in search of Commodore Porter, who was doing mischief among the British whale ships, and the Isaac Todd had separated from the others in a storm off Cape Horn.

The Raccoon had continued on its way to Astoria, in full expectation of the profit to be gained by the capture of the post. Their disappointment and chagrin was great when they found that through a commercial arrangement, their anticipated booty had become the property of the Northwest Company, which had been instrumental in sending them on this fool's errand. Captain Black is said to have exclaimed at this juncture: "The Yankees are always beforehand with us."

Old Comcomly, with a train of Chinook warriors, came in war-paint to fight beside their white friends. "King George," said Comcomly, "has sent his great canoe to destroy the fort, and make slaves of all the inhabitants. Shall we suffer it? The Americans are the first white men who have fixed themselves in the land. They have treated us like brothers. Their great chief has taken my daughter to be his squaw; we are, therefore, one people."

It would be an easy matter, he said, to kill all King George's men who tried to land. The ships could not get within six miles of the fort. Those who came in small boats they would shoot down under cover of the woods as they set foot on land.

But McDougal assured his bewildered father-in-law that their war-like assistance was not needed, and advised them to go home and wash off the war-paint, and return and help receive the visitors courteously. On the 12th of December, 1813, Captain Black "took a British Union Jack and caused it to be run up to the top of the flag staff; breaking a bottle of Maderia, and taking possession of the establishment and country in the name of his Britannic Majesty, He changed the name of Astoria to Fort George."

Comcomly and his Indians were present, still failing to understand the situation. The old chief no longer swelled witn pride over his white son-in-law, but said his daughter had made a mistake; "instead of getting a great warrior for a husband, she had married herself to a squaw."'

The Pedler anchored in the Columbia River in Feb ruary. When Mr. Hunt learned of McDougal's commercial bargain, he expressed his indignation in the strongest terms, and immediately made an effort to get some of the furs back. This, McDougal told him, would be possible at an advance of fifty per cent. This overture, in connection with the discovery that McDougal had secretly been a partner of the Northwest Company since December 23rd, at the same time continuing to act as Mr. Astor's agent, though two partners of the American Fur Company were present, did not allay Mr. Hunt's anger.

In contrast to the action of McDougal, Ross Cox's and Alexander Ross's enconiums of Mr. Hunt,—which testify to his being "a conscientious and upright man, a friend to all and beloved by all,"—stand in strong relief.

Mr. Hunt's main thought now was to obtain the papers of the Pacific Fur Company, and bring the whole business to a close. This he accomplished by April, sending the bills and drafts to Mr. Astor by some of his associates, who were about to make the land journey to New York; having been given the opportunity by Mr. Hunt to accompany him by sea, or go home by land. Among the men who crossed the Rockies were Clark, McKenzie and David Stuart of the partners, and Gabriel Franchére, one of the clerks who wrote a journal of the whole venture.

Mr. Hunt embarked on the Pedler with three of the clerks. Franchére gives an added fact learned from Mr. Seton, who was one of the clerks who sailed with Mr. Hunt. "They sailed from the Columbia to the Russian establishment at Norfolk Sound, and while there Mr. Seton learned from Captain Pigot, of the English signal ship—'Forester', that after despatching the Lark from New York, fearing that she might be intercepted by the British, Mr. Astor sent orders to his correspondent in England, "to purchase and fit out a British bottom, and despatch her to the Columbia to relieve the establishment." Franchére comments: "This shows the solicitude and perseverence of Mr. Astor." All the travelers arrived in time at their destination, bearing their stories to the President of the Pacific Fur Company.

Mr. Hunt subsequently returned to St. Louis, and became Governor of the State of Missouri.

After peace was restored in 1814, Astoria, with the surrounding country, reverted to the United States. A law passed in 1815 prohibited "all traffic of British traders within the territory of the United States." This seemed to be the opportune time for Mr. Astor to revive his favorite enterprise, but the Northwest Company was now in full possession of the Columbia, and any effort to dislodge them, would have brought about a bloody contest.

Mr. Astor, therefore, did not think it wise to revive the undertaking without the protection of the American flag. He accordingly "made an informal overture to Mr. Madison, the President of the United States, through Mr. Gallatin, offering to renew his great venture and to re-establish Astoria, provided it would be protected by the American flag, and made a military post; stating that the whole force required would not exceed a Lieutenant's command."

The application was favorably received, but nothing was ever done about it, and the pivotal moment for American re-occupation of Astoria was allowed to pass.

Koch, in writing the "Story of Astoria" in the Magazine of American History says: "Of course Mr. Astor expected his venture to be a profitable one; but he seems to have been of the same class of merchants as those who founded the British empire in India. The grandeur of the undertaking appears to have moved him far more than its prospective profits."

The plan which circled world-wide about Astoria, has been called, "One of the grandest and most comprehensive ever formed by the mind of man." That it failed did not mean the death of its beneficial effects. The great scheme pushed the questions of boundaries and international rights; and brought within American interest and influence the newly purchased land beyond the Mississippi, whose unexplored rivers and plains went by the name of Louisiana. The question of dominion over the vast territory beyond the Rocky Mountains, after threatening to disturb our peaceful relations with Great Britain, was eventually settled by mutual concessions, and Mr. Astor had the supreme satisfaction, before the end of his life, of knowing that "the flag of his country waved over Astoria."