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Fort George report, 1824-1825.
HBCA, B.76/e/1, fos. 1-8d.
Report. Fort George District
Columbia Department 1824/25
Fort George, the principal Depot in this Department is situated on the South side of the Columbia River about seven miles above Point Adams which forms the South Point of the entrance into this River.
This Post was first established in the spring of 1811 by a party of Americans, fitted out by a Mr Astor of New York under the name of the Pacific Fur Company, who remained here only three years when they sold it to the North West Company who has kept possession of it till it was made over to the Honourable Hudson’s Bay Company at the late coalition.
The limits of this District embraces a large extent of Country, being bounded on the North by Pugets Sound and the Country to the Eastward of that Inlet, on the East by the Caskades, and the country bordering that part of the Columbia River, on the South by the Country bordering the head waters of the Willamett River down to the sea and on the West by the Pacific Ocean.
The only Navigable River worthy of notice connected with the Columbia below the Falls is the Willamett which is a fine stream flowing through a rich country, and taking its rise in the Mountains, about three Hundred Miles to the Southward of Fort George. There was a post formerly established on thins River which has been withdrawn after a trial of two years as it was found that the Natives were no beaver hunters, and that the freemen or trappers could be more easily and much cheaper supplied from Fort George than by keeping up an establishment in the Willamett to supply them. This part of the country was once Rich in Beaver but is now getting exhausted, in consequence of the constant resort of our trappers to it, however it still produces from ten to twelve Hundred beavers annually which is collected by Seven freemen and their slaves.
The Columbia is a noble River about seven miles broad near its entrance into the ocean, or from Point George to Point Ellice, the North branch of which takes its rise from the three different sources in the Rocky Mountains. The Canoe River forms the Northern branch of its source, falling into the main stream at the Athabasca portage which is the middle source, taking its rise at the height of land which separates the waters of the Athabascow River from that of the Columbia. The Southern branch of this stream takes its rise to the Southward of the Kootanay Portage which is the longest branch of the three and makes the longest bend before it falls into the middle branch at the Athabascow Portage. This River which is navigable from the sea nearly up to its different sources with boats carrying from 50 to 70 pieces of trading goods of 90 lbs each is computed to be about eleven Hundred miles from Fort George up to the Rocky Mountain Portage and in the course of this distance there are but four great portages where the boats and all their Cargoes have to be taken over land, namely the Caskades, the Dalls, the Shootes, and the Kettle Falls, and the longest of the four is not one mile in length. the road tolerably good except at the Dalls where the path part of the way is over rugged rock, but besides these portages there are several strong places where in some states of the water part of the cargoes have to be carried over a short distance, and the boats towed up with the [illegible]. The water in this River in general is very deep and the current strong particularly in places where the River contracts, and the water issues through narrow channels which is frequently the case when the force of the water rushing from one point of rocks to another forms strong eddies & whirlpools, which are dangerous to strangers unacquainted with the River, but to skilful boatmen after a little experience the Navigation is easy and safe. The River from Fort George up nearly to the Caskades is a fine smooth stream, from half a mile to a mile broad, and is navigable for vessels of 150 Tons burthen to the first rapids below the Caskades or 130 miles from the Sea.
The South branch of the Columbia commonly called Lewis & Clarkes River falls into the North branch above Walla Walla or Fort Nez Perices, this branch also takes its rise from the Rocky Mountains from two different sources. The north branch of this stream takes its rise near the head waters of the Missouri and is called by the Natives the Salmon River. The south branch taking its rise in the same ridge of Mountains farther to the Southward and is commonly called the Snake River. Their [sic] being a ridge of mountains or height of land between the sources of these two branches they embrace a large extent of Country between them before they join near the blue Mountains about 140 Miles to the Eastward of Walla Walla. There are a great number of smaller streams which falls into these two branches, particularly that to the Southward which are well stored with Beaver, which are the principal sources from whence our freemen or trappers draw their returns. This branch of the Columbia River which nature has pointed out to be the most direct road into the Snake Country is also Navigable for boats to a considerable distance, but owing to the difficulty of procuring provisions, and the hostile inclinations of numerous tribes of ill disposed Natives the attempts that have been made to carry on the trapping expeditions by this route have not succeeded so well as by the circuitous way of carrying it on by Spokene & the Flat head posts. It is hoped however that a shorter & more easy road will be found out by Mr Ogden next season between the Snake River & the Willamett which will obviate every difficulty that has hitherto presented itself in attempting to prosecute the trapping business by Lewis & Clarkes River & which will do away with the circuitous & expensive route by Spoke[ne] and the Flat head post and will open a safe and direct route into the heart of the Snake Country by which the trappers can bring their hunts to the Depot without any expense at a season they cannot be better employed, get their supplies, and return again to their occupations by the time the Beaver will be in season for hunting. This route will also lead to the discovering of a part of the Country which is but very little known but by the report of the Natives who represent the Country lying between the Willamett & the Snake Country to be rich in beaver even as far to the Southward as we have any accounts of.
The means of transport from Fort George to the Posts in the interior has hitherto been by boats of a peculiar construction. They are made in imitation of bark canoes, & have been much improved upon since the first invention by Mr David Thompson. The boats now even carry from 40 to 50 pieces, and are navigated by 8 Men each. They are wrought by paddles instead of oars, and are carried over the portages on mens shoulders, but it requires the crews of two boats to carry one[.] The reason assigned for using paddles instead of oars is that the current is very strong in some parts of the River where these craft by the means of paddles are enabled to keep close in shore where the current is less felt than they could do if oars were used instead of paddles. It requires six or seven boats annually to carry up the outfits and take down the returns and as the number of men required to man these craft are more than what is wanted Inland the surplus is generally sent back to Fort George (after the transport business is over) where they pass the winter, provisions being more plentiful & easier procured on the Seacoast than Inland. These supernumeries are called extra men and as they are kept entirely for the service of the interior their board and wages is charged to the different posts Inland which require their services. These extra men might have been required at one time to protect the property passing up and down the River when the Natives along the communication were less known than they are at present, and were more inclined to annoy the whites, but now if I may judge from what I have seen of them I should think the craft would be perfectly safe without being at the enormous expense of keeping up a standing regiment of Iroquois to escort them up & down the River.
The country from the Sea coast upwards to the Caskades or first portage is mountainous on both sides the River & is thickly covered with woods chiefly of the pine or spruce kinds also Cedar, Oak, Ash, Poplar, and Alden besides a variety of willows, and underwood of different kinds. The spruce & Cedar grow to a large size & so close together that the forrest [sic] in many parts is almost impenitrable [sic], amongst the smaller trees are found a good many bearing fruit of different kinds, such as wild cherries Currants, the service berry, Goose berries &c. This part of the country also produces a great variety of shrubs & plants, producing fruit & roots of different kinds from which the Natives draw a very considerable part of their food. The soil is either rocky or deep clay. This latter in many parts is covered with fine black mould, mixed with sand & gravel particularly on some low points along the River which in some years of high water has been overflowed. I should suppose it is a proof of the excellency of the soil that every thing which the ground produces here grows much more luxuriantly than it does on the East side of the Mountains although vegetation is much slower in its progress.
The principal fur bearing animals that this part of the Country produces are the Beaver and land otter, although but few of these animals are found near to Fort George, as the Country round it is so difficult of access, and the Natives are so indolent that none are looked for. The few places that were accessible have been ruined by the humen [sic] with their traps. Sea otters are also numerous along this coast and about the mouth of the River at certain seasons, they are generally seen in the most tempestuous weather, and are very shy and difficult to be got at the Natives here are not disposed to hunt them although good encouragement is held out to them. This part of the country also produces Red & Fallow Deer in abundance, but the Natives are too indolent & too independent to devote much of their time or attention to the hunting of these animals.
The Climate near the sea coast is mild and healthy and the weather during seven or eight Months of the Year is delightful say from the beginning of April till the middle of November, high winds are not prevalent during this period, there are few or no misketoes [sic], and during the months of June & July the excessive heat at noon is generally tempered by a sea breeze which sets on every evening. In the Month of November the rainy season commences and generally continues till April & sometimes we experience a shower of 48 hours without ceasing in the course of this time. In the Summer the Thermometer is seldom higher than 80° & in Winter it is seldom at the freezing point. Vegetation goes on the whole year round and this last Season we had peas in blossom the 1st of January.
The advantages of this Department in a commercial point of view are many compared with other Districts in the Country as the principal Depot is situated at the Mouth of a fine River which is navigable for vessels of considerable burthen to within one Hundred yards of the Fort. The country round the Depot abounds with Animals of the Deer tribes, and the River teems with excellent fish, from which sources aboundance [sic] of food can be procured for any number of people required at the place at a very cheap rate. the communication between the Depot and the Posts in the interior receiving supplies from it is so short & easy, that the Trade may be carried in at a cheap rate and as the country round this Depot is yet best little exhausted and abounding in many parts with animals of the most valuable fur bearing kind, the trade may be much extended, and the manner of conducting it improved.
The greatest disadvantage attending this Department in my opinion is its being so remote from Head Quarters that the real state of the Country has been hitherto but little known to the majority of them who had the power of promoting its wellfare [sic]. the frequent changes of Gentlemen to & from the Columbia and a want of unanimity of opinion among them on many points relative to the improvement of the Trade has led to contradictory reports at head quarters which has operated much against the prosperity of the Department and it is owing to this cause I presume in a great measure that we see so very little done in the way of extension or improvement from the time this part of the Country was first established. Another disadvantage effecting the Trade of this District arises from a considerable quantity of untradable goods laying on hand at Fort George which had been valued at a high price & which together with its accumulating interest had swelled the Inventories to a great amount with a false capital which operates against the profits of the Department but as the greater part of these unsaleable articles have now got injured by keeping, it is my opinion they would scarcely pay the charges attendant on sending them to an European Market and I should therefore propose the endeavouring to get rid of them in this country by selling them for what they could bring, as the most profitable way of disposing of them and by this means I have no doubt the principal part of them may be got rid of to better advantage than they would be elsewhere.
There are but three permanent Posts in the Interior of the Columbia established from Fort George viz Fort Nez Percies, Okanakan & Spokane and the farthest of these is not more distant from the Depot than 20 days work in loaded boats against a strong currant. That is to the Forks of Spokane River from where the goods have to be carried to the Fort two or three days overland on horseback[.] from Spokane there is a temporary Post established during winter on the Flat head Lands and some seasons a small Post is established on the Kootanay lands. Thompson River, or Camaloops is established every fall from Okanakan and in the spring the people who winter at the former place return to Okanakan with their furs when the Summer Post is kept up. From Fort Nez Percies no outpost has yet been established although it is perhaps better situated for extending its Trade than any other permanent post in the Department.
An attempt was made from Fort George to establish a Post in the Umptqua Country the winter before last – but the returns from that Quarter was so little as not to induce us to send back again.
At Fort George the principal means of subsistence is drawn from the River, which in the summer season abounds with Salmon & Sturgeon which are purchased from the Natives at a cheap rate, the Salmon are salted down and kept for winter use and the Sturgeon which are very large& excellent here are served out fresh. these with potatoes which are raised at Fort George in great abundance render us very independent on the score of provisions, as any quantity may be procured, besides these we purchase a good many swans Geese & ducks from the Natives during the winter and if we were to give encouragement for it might get a good deal of venison as Deere are numerous near the Fort. but these provisions are not calculated for the voyage, nor for the supply of Posts in the Interior where it has hitherto been thought necessary to send provisions for the support of those who wintered Inland, and in consequence a quantity of Beef, Pork, Flour, Indian Corn, Pease, Beans and Grease or Tallow has been indented for from America or Europe to supply the demand. The provisions sent annually from Fort George to the interior including that for the voyage forms more than half of the boats cargoes which is a considerable drawback on the profits and independent of the cost it requires a greater number of men to transport it. The following is a list of the provisions sent into the Interior summer 1824 including the expenditure on the voyage 772 lbs Beef 990 lbs Pork 244 lbs butter 10328 lbs Flour 92 lbs Rice 1258 lbs Sugar 1985 lbs tallow 54 gallons Molasses 20 bushels Indian corn & meal 20 bushels Beans 53 bushels Pease 69 lbs of Tea & 12 lbs Chocolate.
The number of Men attached to Fort George this last season amounted to Thirty Seven including officers besides eight express Men, Nine Men belonging to the Governors light Canoe and Twenty Extra Men. The three latter classes we do not consider as belonging to Fort George. The expenses of the light Canoe & express Men are divided amongst the different Posts in the Department but the expense of the Extra Men are charged solely to the Inland Posts as they are kept purposely for their accommodation being merely sent here to pass the winter provisions being cheaper & more easily procured than they can be Inland. Attached to the above number of officers & men there are 37 Women 35 Children & 11 Slaves harboured about the Fort but no provision is served out of the Store to Women or Children except to those of the Officers, an account of which is regularly kept. Annexed is a List of the Servants attached to Fort George 1824/25 with their wives & families.
The following is a List of the different tribes of Natives along the Columbia River from its entrance into the Ocean up to the first Falls commonly called the Caskades, with the probable amount of Souls in each village…
The above Tribes are mostly stationary for nine months of the Year, that is from the month of March till November when they are occupied in procuring Salmon & Sturgeon which during those months are caught in abundance, that is either the one kind or the other. And during the three winter months part of them remove to the Northward where they live on venison, roots, & fish, the latter being found in some of the small Rivers all the Year round. Their houses are built of wood which they split out of the cedar tree, and are very commodious and well calculated to shelter them from the inclemency of the weather during the rainy season. Nature has been particularly kind to the natives of this part of the country by placing them in a mild climate and a soil that provides every necessary of life in abundance, which is so easily obtained that it does not require much exertion on their parts to procure it. The free, or independent part of this community who are distinguished by flat heads have Slaves, who fish and do all the drudgery about the villages. Their Slaves are poor wretches that have been taken in war and are bought & sold among them like horses. These Tribes almost go naked and in consequence of their wants being so few & easily supplied they are the most indolent set of human beings in the face of the Earth. They are great gamblers and carry on a traffic with each other by exchanging the produce of one part of the country for that of another, and in their dealings amongst themselves as well as with the whites they show a great deal of cunning & artifice and never fail to take the advantage of each other when they can, they are selfish & mercenary to a great degree, and there being no laws to regulate them the strongest prey upon the weakest part of the community, often seizing their effects on the slightest pretences when they find they can do it with impunity. They are far from being that brave or war like nation that Strangers have supposed them to be, but like all other savages are treacherous & revengeful, however they are so avaricious that any insult offered to them may be atoned for by a small present even the murder of a near relation, or the debauching a mans wife may be compounded for with these tribes for the paltry consideration of a few Blankets. brought up in pride and insolence from their infancy they are no hunters. The furs they bring to the Fort, are bought from other tribes, who purchase them from their neighbours, and in this way they pass through several hands before they reach us, each tribe making a profit on them whose hands they pass through. These tribes will never become hunters till they are made to feel the want of foreign articles amongst them which cannot take place in a hurry, as notwithstanding the long time that white people has been among them they are but little improved in their conditions, nor are their wants in any way increased so as to create in them excitement to industry.
No material change of System has taken place in the Columbia with regard to Trade since the Coalition, as they have never been in the habits of getting credits, a pernicious custom which it is a great pity should ever be introduced among them
The general returns of the Columbia Department has been gradually increasing for these several Years past although no extension of posts have taken place which is a proof that the Country is rich in fur bearing animals[.] The returns of Fort George this season is about 300 beaver Skins less than last Year which is principally owing to the deaths of several of our best traders particularly Chalakan & Choulits, two of the Sons of Old Comcomily the principal Chief of the Chinook Tribe, this casuality [sic] not only deprived us of two of our best Traders, but also tended to slacken the exertions of the surviving part of the family for a considerable time, who instead of collecting furs, were occupied in going round the villages in their vicinity howling like wolves and begging property to soothe their sordid minds for the loss of their near relations.
Another cause that in some degree effected our returns was our endeavouring to do away with a bad habit that had been introduced of indulging these Natives with Spiritous Liquers, of which they were becoming excessively fond, and which would soon grow to be a serious evil if it was not checked by degrees, and done away with as soon as possible. It is my humble opinion that it is better the trade should partially suffer for a year or two than that this evil should be allowed to increase, as the effect it would have on the Natives would ultimately prove more injurious to the Trade than otherwise – The following is a list of the furs procured at Fort George on outfit 1824/25 – Beaver skins 5054. Land Otters 869. Sea otters 14. Musquash 105. &c &c yielding a profit according to our estimation of £3483//14//9.
It is my opinion that the Trade of this Department may be much increased by extending our posts in the Countries both to the Northward & Southward of Fort George, as there are fine fields to work upon which are yet but little known to the whites. The principal part of our returns hitherto procured at Fort George are killed a considerable way from the Establishment where by the accounts of the Natives beaver are not scarce nor difficult to be procured. Mr McMillans trip to the mouth of Frasers River this last winter has led to the discovery of a Country that by being exp[lored] will add to the increase of our returns on the West side the Continent and will tend to open an easy communication with New Caledonia which if carried into effect must facilitate the business of transport to that distant Department, and enable the Gentlemen wintering there to get in early to their different posts when they can be usefully employed in endeavouring to extend the trade in unknown tracts of Country, with fewer hands than they now require to carry on the business by the expansion & tedious route to & from York Factory.
The Country to the Southward of Fort George, if it does not fall into the hands of the Americans, also holds out encouragement for the extension of Trade, as by the accounts of the Natives there is a rich Country between the mouth of the Columbia and St Francisco occupied by Savages who would soon be induced to give us their furs for articles of European Manufacture. Governor Simpson whose trip across the continent this last season will I have not doubt be attended with much benefit to the Concern, has so ably pointed out the alterations & improvements that may be made in the Trade on the West side the Mountains in his Letter to the Honourable Committee that I beg leave to refer to it, as his sentiments on the subjects of retrenchment & extention [sic] of Trade coincides generally with my Ideas on those important points.
The removal of the Fort from point George to about 70 Miles up the River, must be attended with beneficial effects as the New Post named Fort Vancouver is well situated for trade & we will be enabled here to raise grain, and a Stock of Cattle &c that will produce Beef, Pork, & Butter enough in a little time to supply any demand that will be upon it which never could be the Case at Fort George where our Cattle for want of pasture could not have been increased in number, and there was little space of cleared ground for Cultivation. The Navigation up to Fort Vancouver will be found good for a vessel of 150 or 200 tons burthen when the channel is marked out, and even in the event of its being found inconvenient for vessels of a large draft of water to go up so far a lighter can easily be constructed that will answer every purpose of conveying property up and down the River.
Alex Kennedy C.F.
