Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814 or the First American Settlement on the Pacific by Gabriel Franchere

G >> Gabriel Franchere >> Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814 or the First American Settlement on the Pacific

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As in my preface I alluded to Mr. Irving's "Astoria," as reflecting, in
my opinion, unjustly, upon the young men engaged in the first expedition
to the mouth of the Columbia, it may suffice here to observe, without
entering into particulars, that my narrative, which I think answers for
its own fidelity, clearly shows that some of them, at least did not want
courage, activity, zeal for the interests of the company, while it
existed, and patient endurance of hardship. And although it forms no
part of the narrative or my voyage, yet as subsequent visits to the West
and an intimate knowledge of St. Louis, enable me to correct Mr.
Irving's poetical rather than accurate description of that place, I may
well do it here. St. Louis now bids fair to rival ere long the "Queen of
the West;" Mr. Irving describes her as a small trading place, where
trappers, half-breeds, gay, frivolous Canadian boatmen, &c., &c.,
congregated and revelled, with that lightness and buoyancy of spirit
inherited from their French forefathers; the indolent Creole of St.
Louis caring for little more than the enjoyment of the present hour; a
motley population, half-civilized, half-barbarous, thrown, on his
canvas, into one general, confused (I allow highly _picturesque_) mass,
without respect of persons: but it is fair to say, with due homage to
the talent of the sketcher, who has verged slightly on caricature in the
use of that humor-loving pencil admired by all the world, that St. Louis
even then contained its noble, industrious, and I may say, princely
merchants; it could boast its _Chouteaus_, _Soulands_, _Cere_,
_Cheniers_, _Vallees_, and _La Croix_, with other kindred spirits, whose
descendants prove the worth of their sires by their own, and are now
among the leading business men, as their fathers were the pioneers, of
the flourishing St. Louis.

With these remarks, which I make simply as an act of justice in
connection with the general subject of the founding of "Astoria," but in
which I mean to convey no imputation on the intentional fairness of the
accomplished author to whom I have alluded, I take a respectful leave of
my readers.

APPENDIX.[AM]

In Chapter XVII. I promised the reader to give him an account of the
fate of some of the persons who left Astoria before, and after its sale
or transfer to the British. I will now redeem that pledge.

[Footnote AM: We have thought it best to give this Appendix, excepting
some abbreviations rendered necessary to avoid repetition of what has
been stated before, in Mr. Franchere's own words, particularly as a
specimen of his own English style may be justly interesting to the
reader.]

Messrs. Ramsay Crooks, R. M'Lelland, and Robert Stuart, after enduring
all sorts of fatigue, dangers and hair-breadth escapes with their
lives--all which have been so graphically described by Washington Irving
in his "Astoria," finally reached St. Louis and New York.

Mr. Clapp went to the Marquesas Islands, where he entered into the
service of his country in the capacity of Midshipman under Commodore
Porter--made his escape from there in company with Lieutenant Gamble of
the Marine corps, by directions of the Commodore, was captured by the
British, landed at Buenos Ayres, and finally reached New York.

D. M'Dougall, as a reward for betraying the trust reposed in him by Mr.
Astor, was made a Partner of the Northwest Company, crossed the
mountains, and died a miserable death at _Bas de la Riviere_, Winipeg.
Donald M'Kenzie, his coadjutor, went back to the Columbia River, where
he amassed a considerable fortune, with which he retired, and lived in
Chautauque County in this state, where he died a few years since unknown
and neglected:--he was a very selfish man, who cared for no one but
himself.

It remains only to speak of Messrs. J.C. Halsey, Russell, Farnham, and
Alfred Seton, who, it will be remembered, embarked with Mr. Hunt on the
"Pedlar," in Feb. 1814.

Leaving the River about the 1st of April, they proceeded to the Russian
establishment at Sitka, Norfolk Sound, where they fell in with two or
three more American vessels, which had come to trade with the natives or
to avoid the British cruisers. While there, a sail under British colors
appeared, and Mr. Hunt sent Mr. Seton to ascertain who she was. She
turned out to be the "Forester," Captain Pigott, a repeating signal ship
and letter-of-marque, sent from England in company of a fleet intended
for the South Seas. On further acquaintance with the captain, Mr. Seton
(from whom I derive these particulars) learned a fact which has never
before been published, and which will show the solicitude and
perseverance of Mr. ASTOR. After despatching the "Lark" from New York,
fearing that she might be intercepted by the British, he 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.

When Mr. Hunt learned this fact, he determined to leave Mr. Halsey at
Sitka, and proceeding himself northward, landed Mr. Farnham on the coast
of _Kamskatka_, to go over land with despatches for Mr. Astor. Mr.
Farnham accomplished the journey, reached Hamburg, whence he sailed for
the West Indies, and finally arrived at New York, having made the entire
circuit of the globe.

The "Pedlar" then sailed to the southeast, and soon reached the coast of
California, which she approached to get a supply of provisions. Nearing
one of the harbors, they descried a vessel at anchor inside, showing
American colors. Hauling their wind, they soon came close to the
stranger, which, to their surprise, turned out to be the Spanish
corvette "Santa Barbara," which sent boats alongside the "Pedlar," and
captured her, and kept possession of the prize for some two months,
during which they dropped down to _San Blas_. Here Mr. Hunt proposed to
Mr. Seton to cross the continent and reach the United States the best
way he could. Mr. Seton, accordingly, went to the Isthmus of Darien,
where he was detained several months by sickness, but finally reached
Carthagena, where a British fleet was lying in the roads, to take off
the English merchants, who in consequence of the revolutionary
movements going on, sought shelter under their own flag. Here Mr. Seton,
reduced to the last stage of destitution and squalor, boldly applied to
Captain Bentham, the commander of the squadron, who, finding him to be a
gentleman, offered him every needful assistance, gave him a berth in his
own cabin, and finally landed him safely on the Island of Jamaica,
whence he, too, found his way to New York.

Of all those engaged in the expedition there are now but four
survivors--Ramsay Crooks, Esq. the late President of the American Fur
Company; Alfred Seton, Esq., Vice-president of the Sun Mutual Insurance
Company; both of New York city; Benjamin Pillet of Canada; and the
author, living also in New York. All the rest have paid the debt of
nature, but their names are recorded in the foregoing pages.

Notwithstanding the illiberal remarks made by Captain Thorn on the
persons who were on board the ill-fated Tonquin, and reproduced by Mr.
Irving in his "Astoria"--these young men who were represented as "Bar
keepers or Billiard markers, most of whom had fled from Justice, &c."--I
feel it a duty to say that they were for the most part, of good
parentage, liberal education and every way were qualified to discharge
the duties of their respective stations. The remarks on the general
character of the voyageurs employed as boat-men and Mechanics, and the
attempt to cast ridicule on their "Braggart and swaggering manners" come
with a bad grace from the author of "Astoria," when we consider that in
that very work Mr. Irving is compelled to admit their indomitable
energy, their fidelity to their employers, and their cheerfulness under
the most trying circumstances in which men can be placed.

With respect to Captain Thorn, I must confess that though a stern
commander and an irritable man, he paid the strictest attention to the
health of his crew. His complaints of the squalid appearance of the
Canadians and mechanics who were on board, can be abated of their force
by giving a description of the accommodation of these people. The
Tonquin was a small ship; its forecastle was destined for the crew
performing duty before the mast. The room allotted for the accommodation
of the twenty men destined for the establishment, was abaft the
forecastle; a bulk-head had been let across, and a door led from the
forecastle into a dark, unventilated, unwholesome place, where they were
all heaped together, without means of locomotion, and consequently
deprived of that exercise of the body so necessary to health. Add to
that, we had no physician on board. In view of these facts, can the
complaints of the gallant Captain be sustained? Of course Mr. Irving was
ignorant of these circumstances, as well as of many others which he
might have known, had some one suggested to him to ask a few questions
of persons who were within his reach at the time of his publication. I
have (I need scarcely say) no personal animosity against the unfortunate
Captain; he always treated me, individually, as well as I could expect;
and if, in the course of my narrative, I have been severe on his
actions, I was impelled by a sense of justice to my friends on board,
as well as by the circumstance that such explanations of his general
deportment were requisite to convey the historical truth to my readers.

The idea of a conspiracy against him on board is so absurd that it
really does not deserve notice. The threat, or rather the proposal made
to him by Mr. M'Kay, in the following words--"if you say fight, fight it
is"--originated in a case where one of the sailors had maltreated a
Canadian lad, who came to complain to Mr. M'Kay. The captain would not
interpose his authority, and said in my presence, "Let them fight out
their own battles:"--it was upon that answer that Mr. M'Kay gave vent to
the expression quoted above. I might go on with a long list of
inaccuracies, more or less grave or trivial, in the beautifully written
work of Mr. Irving, but it would be tedious to go through the whole of
them. The few remarks to which I have given place above, will suffice to
prove that the assertion made in the preface was not unwarranted. It is
far from my intention to enter the lists with a man of the literary
merit and reputation of Mr. Irving, but as a narrator of events of which
I was an EYEWITNESS, I felt bound to tell the truth, although that truth
might impugn the historical accuracy of a work which ranks as a classic
in the language. At the same time I entirely exonerate Mr. Irving from
any intention of prejudicing the minds of his readers, as he doubtless
had only in view to support the character of his friend: that sentiment
is worthy of a generous heart, but it should not be gratified, nor would
he wish to gratify it, I am sure, at the expense of the character of
others.

NOTE BY THE EDITOR.

Perhaps even contrary to the wish of Mr. Franchere, I have left the
above almost word for word as he wrote it. It is a part of the
history of the affairs related as well in Mr. Irving's ASTORIA as
in the present volume, that the reclamations of one of the clerks
on that famous and unfortunate voyage of the Tonquin, against the
disparaging description of himself and his colleagues given in the
former work, should be fairly recorded. At the same time, I can not
help stating my own impression that a natural susceptibility,
roused by those slighting remarks from Captain Thorn's
correspondence, to which Mr. Irving as an historian gives currency,
has somewhat blinded my excellent friend to the tone of banter, so
characteristic of the chronicler of the Knickerbockers, in which
all these particulars are given, more as traits of the character
of the stern old sea-captain, with his hearty contempt for
land-lubbers and literary clerks, than as a dependable account of
the persons on board his ship, some of whom might have been, and as
we see by the present work, were, in fact, very meritorious
characters, for whose literary turn, and faithful journalizing
(which seems to have especially provoked the captain's wrath), now
at the end of more than forty years, we have so much reason to be
thankful. Certainly Mr. Irving himself, who has drawn frequently on
Mr. Franchere's narrative, could not, from his well-known taste in
such matters, be insensible to the Defoe-like simplicity thereof,
nor to the picturesque descriptions, worthy of a professional pen,
with which it is sprinkled.

THE END.

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