"86f8aebe-3d07-4244-b1bf-c09265adc505"@en . "CONTENTdm"@en . "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=2750684"@en . "British Columbia Historical Books Collection"@en . "Old South Leaflets, No. 219, The Old South Association, Boston, Mass., n.d"@en . "S. E. Morison"@en . "Sturgis, William, 1782-1863"@en . "2015-09-22"@en . "[1910]"@en . "\"Caption title. 'The Lecture on the Northwest Fur Trade is reprinted from Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, XIV, 533-38 (1846). The extracts from Sturgis's journal and from the second lecture, as well as the facts regarding the author's life, are from Charles C. Loring 'Memoir of William Sturgis' [no.32IJ in 'Proceedings of Massachusetts Historical Society', 1863-64, VII, 420-73' :, p.20.\" -- Strathern, G. M. , & Edwards, M. H. (1970). Navigations, traffiques & discoveries, 1774-1848: A guide to publications relating to the area now British Columbia. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 280.

\"Old South Leaflets. No. 219.\" -- p. 1."@en . ""@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcbooks/items/1.0222622/source.json"@en . "20 pages : illustration ; 20 cm"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " people, at that time, just becoming known to the civn^ed\nworld. His first visit to Nootka Sound was made in the\neighteenth century, about twenty years after it was discovered by Captain Cook.\nThough not one of the first, he was amongst those who\nearly engaged in the Northwest trade, so called, and continued to carry it on, either personally or otherwise, until it\nceased to be valuable. He thus witnessed its growth, maximum, decreased, and finally, its abandonment by Americans.\nThese early visits afforded him an opportunity, too, of\nobserving changes in the habits and manners of the Indians,\neffected by intercourse with a more civilized race; and, he\nregretted to add, brought to his knowledge the injustice,\nviolence, and bloodshed, which has marked the progress of\nthis intercourse. . . .\nThis trade, in which our citizens largely participated, and\nat one period nearly monopolized, was principally limited to\nthe sea-coast between the mouth of the Columbia river, in\nlatitude 460, to the numerous islands bordering this whole\nextent of coast, and the sounds, bays, and inlets, within these\nlimits. Trade was always carried on along-side, or on board\nthe ship, usually anchored near the shore, the Indians coming off in their canoes. It was seldom safe to admit many\nof the natives into the ship at the same time, and a departure\nfrom this prudent course, has, in numerous instances, been\nfollowed by the most disastrous and tragical results.*\nThe vessels usually employed were from one hundred to\ntwo hundred and fifty tons burthen, each. The time occupied for a voyage by vessels that remained upon the coast\nonly a single season, was from twenty-two months to two\nyears, but they generally remained out two seasons, and were\nabsent from home nearly three years. The principal object\nof the voyages was to procure the skins of the sea-otter,\nwhich were obtained from the natives by barter, carried to\nCanton, and there exchanged for the productions of the\nCelestial Empire, to be brought home or taken to Europe,\nthus completing what may be called a trading voyage,\n* The story of the capture of the ship Boston by the Northwest Indians,\nin 1803, and of his captivity among the Indians, was told by one of the\ntwo survivors of the crew in a book called \"Jewitt's Narrative,\" which\nwas one of the most popular books of adventure in the first half of the\nnineteenth century.\n Beaver and common otter skins, and other small furs, were\noccasionally procured in considerable quantities, but in the\nearly period of the trade they were deemed unimportant,\nand little attention was given to collecting them. The sea-\notter skins have ever been held in high estimation by the\nChinese and Russians, as an ornamental fur; but its great\nscarcity and consequent cost, limits the wear to the wealthy\nand higher classes only. A full-grown prime skin, which has\nbeen stretched before drying, is about five feet long, and\ntwenty-four to thirty inches wide, covered with very fine fur,\nabout three-fourths of an inch in length, having a rich jet\nblack, glossy surface, and exhibiting a silver color when\nblown open. Those are esteemed the finest skins which have\nsome white hairs interspersed and scattered over the whole\nsurface, and a perfectly white head. Mr. Sturgis said that\nit would now give him more pleasure to look at a splendid\nsea-otter skin than to examine half the pictures that are\nstuck up for exhibition, and puffed up by pretended connoisseurs. In fact, excepting a beautiful woman and a lovely\ninfant, he regarded them as among the most attractive\nnatural objects that can be placed before him.\nThe sea-otter has been found only in the North Pacific.\nThe earliest efforts on record to collect furs in that region,\nwere made by Russians from Kamchatka, who, in the early\npart of the eighteenth century, visited, for this purpose, the\nKurile and other islands that lie near the northern coasts of\nAsia. After the expedition of Bering & Co., in 1741, these\nexcursions were slowly extended to other groups between the\ntwo continents, and when Cook, in 1778, explored these\nnorthern regions, he met with Russian adventurers upon\nseveral of the islands in proximity with the American shore.\nIt was, however, the publication of Cook's northern voyages,\nin 1785, that gave the great impulse to the Northwest fur\ntrade, and drew adventurers from several nations to that\nquarter.\nThe published journal of Captain King, who succeeded to\nthe command of one of the ships after the death of Captains\nCook and Clark, and his remarks, setting forth the favorable\nprospects for this trade, doubtless roused the spirit of adventure. Between the time of the publication referred to,\nin 1785, and the close of 1787, expeditions were fitted out\n from Canton, Macao, Calcutta, and Bombay, in the East;\nLondon and Ostend in Europe; and from Boston in the\nUnited States. In 1787, the first American expedition was\nfitted out, and sailed from Boston. It consisted of the ship\nColumbia, of two hundred and twenty, and the sloop Washington, of ninety tons burthen\u00E2\u0080\u0094the former commanded by\nJohn Kendrick, the latter by Robert Gray.*\nMr. Sturgis deemed it scarcely possible, in the present age,\nwhen the departure or return of ships engaged in distant\nvoyages is an every-day occurrence, to appreciate the magnitude of this undertaking, of the obstacles and difficulties\nthat had to be surmounted in carrying it out.\nHe said, were he required to select any particular event\nin the commercial history of our country, to establish our\nreputation for bold enterprise and persevering energy, in\ncommercial pursuits, he should point to this expedition of the\nColumbia and Washington. Many of the obstacles and\ndangers were clearly pointed out, showing that it was then\nviewed as an extraordinary undertaking. . . .\nCaptain Kendrick, who was entrusted with the command\nof the expedition, was a bold, energetic, experienced seaman.\nHis management justified the confidence reposed in him, but\nhe was fated never to return.\nThe project of engaging in the fur trade of the North\nPacific, from this country, was first brought forward by the\ncelebrated American traveller, Ledyard. In his erratic\nwanderings, he entered on board the ship Resolution, as\ncorporal of marines, with Captain Cook, upon his last voyage. After his return, he made repeated attempts to get an\noutfit for a voyage to the Northwest Coast. In 1784, three\nyears previous to Kendrick's expedition, he induced Robert\nMorris to engage in the undertaking. But for some cause,\nnow unknown, the enterprise was abandoned, as were similar\nones in France and England. The unfortunate Ledyard\nseemed doomed to disappointment in whatever he undertook.\nThe life of this remarkable man shows that respectable talents, united with great energy and perseverance of character,\nmay be comparatively valueless to the possessor, and useless\n*See the account of the Columbia's voyages in Old South Leaflets,\nNo. 131 (Vol. VI).\n to the world, from the want of a well-balanced mind, which,\nunfortunately, was the fatal deficiency in Ledyard.*\nNearly all the early and distinguished navigators, who discovered and explored the northern regions of the Pacific, met\nthe fate that too often awaits the pioneers in bold and hazardous undertakings, and found a premature death, by violence\nor disaster, or disease brought on by incessant toil and\nexposure.\nBering, a Danish navigator in the service of Russia, who\ncommanded the expedition just mentioned, was wrecked in\n1741, upon an island that bears his name, and perished miserably in the course of the winter. He was the first navigator\nknown to have passed through the strait that separates Asia\nfrom America; and Cook, who was the next to sail through it,\nin a commendable spirit of justice, gave to this strait the\nname of the unfortunate Bering. The fate of Cook is well\nknown. He was killed by the natives of the Sandwich\nIslands, of which group he was the discoverer.\nMr. Sturgis said he had stood upon the spot where Cook\nfell, in Karakakooa Bay, and conversed with the natives who\nwere present at the time of the massacre. They uniformly\nexpressed regret and sorrow for his death, but insisted that\nit was caused by his own imprudence. . . .\nVancouver, an able British navigator, was sent out by his\ngovernment in 1790, to receive Nootka Sound from the\nSpaniards, and explore the whole western coast of North\nAmerica. The chart prepared by him is the most accurate\nof any at the present day. With a constitution shattered by\ndevotion to his arduous duties, he returned to England in\n1794, and sunk into an early grave.\nMr. Sturgis said he had already remarked that Kendrick\nwas fated never to return. After remaining with both\nvessels two seasons on the northwest coast, he sent the\nColumbia home, in charge of Captain Gray, and remained\nhimself in the sloop Washington. He continued in her several years, trading on the coast and at the Sandwich Islands.\nIn 1792, while lying in the harbor of Honolulu, at one of\nthese islands, and receiving, upon his birthday, a complimentary salute from the captain of an English trading vessel\n*Jared Sparks's \"Memoirs of the Life and Travels of John Ledyard\"\n\"(1828) is an interesting account of the remarkable career of this early\nAmerican adventurer.\n anchored near, he was instantly killed by a shot carelessly\nleft in one of the guns fired on the occasion.*\nCaptain Gray reached home in the Columbia, in the summer of 1790, and thus completed the first circumnavigation\nof the globe under the American flag. He was immediately\nfitted out for a second voyage in the same ship, and it. was\nduring this voyage that he discovered, entered, and gave\nthe name to the Columbia river, a circumstance now relied\nupon as one of the strongest grounds to maintain our claim\nto the Oregon Territory. He died abroad some years ago.\nThe voyage of the Columbia was not profitable to her\nowners, in a pecuniary view, but it opened the way for other\nadventures, which were commenced on her return. In 1791,\nthere were seven vessels from the United States in the North\nPacific in pursuit of furs. For various reasons, the American traders so far gained the ascendency, that at the close\nof the eighteenth century, with the exception of the Russian establishment on the northern part of the coast, the\nwhole trade was in our hands; and so remained until the\nclose of the war with Great Britain, in 1815. This trade\nwas confined almost exclusively to Boston. It was attempted, unsuccessfully, from Philadelphia and New York,\narid from Providence and Bristol, in Rhode Island. Even\nthe intelligent and enterprising merchants of Salem, failed\nof success; some of them, however, were interested in several of the most successful northwestern voyages carried on\nfrom Boston. So many of the vessels engaged in this trade\nbelonged here, the Indians had the impression that Boston\nwas our whole country. Had any one spoken to them of\nAmerican ships, or American people, he would not have been\nunderstood. We were only known as Boston ships, and\nBoston people.\nIn 1801, the trade was most extensively, though not most\nprofitably prosecuted; that year, there were 15 vessels on\nthe coast, and in 1802 more than 15,000 sea-otter skins were\ncollected, and carried to Canton. But the competition was\nso great, that few of the voyages were then profitable, and\n*The author is not quite accurate. In December, 1794, Captain Kendrick and his crew, together with that of the English ship Jackal, took a\ndecisive part in a battle between two Hawaiian chiefs. To celebrate the\n. victory, Captain Kendrick hoisted his ensign, which the English vessel was\nsaluting when the fatal accident occurred.\n some were ruinous. Subsequently, the war with Great\nBritain interrupted the trade for a time; but after the\npeace of 1815, it was resumed, and flourished for some\nyears. The difficulties and uncertainty in procuring furs\nbecame so serious, that in 1829 the business north of California was abandoned.\nBesides the 15,000 skins collected by American traders in\n1802, probably the Russians obtained 10,000 the same year\nwithin their hunting limits, making an aggregate of 25,000\nin one season. Mr. Sturgis said he had personally collected\n6,000 in a single voyage, and he once purchased 560 of prime\nquality in half a day. At the present time, the whole amount\ncollected annually within the same limits does not exceed\n200, and those of very ordinary quality.\nThe commercial value of the sea-otter skin, like other\ncommodities, has varied with the changes in the relation of\nsupply and demand.\nThe narrative of Cook's voyage shows the value of a\nprime skin to have been, at the time of that voyage, $120.\nIn 1802, when the largest collection was made, the average\nprice of large and small skins, at Canton, was only about\n$20 each. At the present time, those of first quality would\nsell readily at $150.* Some seventy or eighty ordinary\nCalifornia skins, brought home a few months ago, were sold\nhere at nearly $60 each, to send to the north of Europe.\nMr. Sturgis said the trade on the coast was altogether a\nbarter trade. It consisted in part of blankets, coarse cloths,\ngreat-coats, fire-arms and ammunition, rice, molasses, and\nbiscuit, coarse cottons, cutlery, and hard-ware, a great\nvariety of trinkets, &c; in fact, everything that one can\nimagine. Copper has long been known, and highly prized\nby the Indians. The lecturer observed that he had seen\npieces of virgin copper among different tribes, that weighed\n50 or 60 pounds each. It was put to no use, but still was\nconsidered very valuable, and a person having a few pieces\nwas deemed a wealthy man.\nThe natives had no currency. But the skin of the ermine,\nfound in limited numbers upon the northern part of the continent, was held in such universal estimation, and of such\n* The price of sea-otter skins at the St. Louis fur auction in 1920 was\nabout #800. As high as #2,000 has been paid for the finest skins.\n 8\nuniform value, among many tribes, that it in a measure supplied the place of currency. The skin of this little slender\nanimal is from eight to twelve inches in length, perfectly\nwhite, except the tip of the tail, which is jet black.\nUrged by some Indian friends, in 1802, Mr. Sturgis\nobtained and sent home a fine specimen, with a request that\na quantity should be ordered at the annual Leipsic fair,\nwhere he supposed they might be obtained. About 5,000\nwere procured, which he took out with him on the next\nvoyage, and arrived at Kigarnee, one of the principal trading\nplaces on the coast, early 1804. Having previously encouraged the Indians to expect them, the first question was, if\nhe had \"clicks\" (the Indian name for the ermine skin) for\nsale, and being answered in the affirmative, great earnestness was manifested to obtain them, and it was on that\noccasion that he purchased 560 prime sea-otter skins, at that\ntime worth #50 apiece at Canton, in a single forenoon, giving\nfor each five ermine skins, that cost less than thirty cents\neach in Boston. He succeeded in disposing of all his ermines\nat the same rate, before others carried them out\u00E2\u0080\u0094but in less\nthan two years from that time, one hundred of them would\nnot bring a sea-otter skin.\nAmong a portion of the Indians, the management of trade\nwas entrusted to the women. The reason given by the men\nwas, that women could talk with the white men better than\nthey could, and were willing to talk more.\nWhen the natives had a number of skins for sale, it was\nusual to fix a price for those of the first quality as a standard,\nwhich required a great deal of haggling. In addition to the\nstaple articles of blankets, or cloth, or muskets, &c, that\nconstituted this price, several smaller articles were given as\npresents, nominally, but in reality formed part of the price.\nOf these articles, different individuals would require a different assortment: a system of equivalents was accordingly\nestablished. For instance, an iron pot and an axe were\nheld to be of equal value\u00E2\u0080\u0094so of a knife and a file, a pocket\nlooking-glass and a pair of scissors.\nMr. Sturgis next alluded to the various efforts made by the\nIndians to obtain a more valuable article than the established\nequivalent. To avoid trouble, which would certainly follow\nif he yielded in a single instance, he said he had found it\n necessary to waste hours in a contest with a woman about\narticles of no greater value than a skein of thread or a\nsewing-needle. From various causes, the northwest trade\nwas liable to great fluctuations. The laws of supply and\ndemand were frequently disregarded, and prices consequently\noften unsettled. He had seen prime sea-otter skins obtained\nfor articles that did not cost fifty cents at home, and had\nseen given for them articles that cost here nearly twice as\nmuch as the skins would sell for in China.\nTo secure success with any branch of business, it must\nbe undertaken with intelligence, and steadily prosecuted.\nMen of sanguine temperaments are often led, by reports of\ngreat profits made by others, to engage in a business of\nwhich they are ignorant, or have not adequate means to\ncarry it on, and thus involve themselves in loss or ruin.\nThese truths Mr. Sturgis deemed strikingly illustrated by\nthe northwest trade.\nWhile most of those who have rushed into this trade without knowledge, experience, or sufficient capital to carry it\non, have been subjected to such serious losses, they were\ncompelled to abandon it; to all who pursued it systematically and perseveringly, for a series of years, it proved highly\nlucrative. Among those who were the most successful in this\ntrade, were the late firm of J. & T. H. Perkins, J. & Thos.\nLamb, Edward Dorr & Sons, Boardman & Pope, Geo. W.\nLyman, Wm. H. Boardman, the late Theodore Lyman, and\nseveral others, each of whom acquired a very ample fortune.\nThese fortunes were not acquired, as individual wealth\nnot unfrequently is, at the expense of our own community,\nby a tax upon the whole body of consumers, in the form of\nenhanced prices, often from adventitious causes. They were\nobtained abroad by giving to the Indians articles which they\nvalued more than their furs, and then selling those furs to the\nChinese for such prices as they are willing to pay; thus\nadding to the wealth of the country, at the expense of foreigners, all that was acquired by individuals beyond the usual\nreturn for the use of capital, and suitable compensation for\nthe services of those employed. This excess was sometimes\nvery large. Mr. Sturgis said that more than once he had\nknown a capital of $40,000, employed in a northwest voyage,\nyield a return exceeding $150,000. In one instance, an out-\n 10\nfit not exceeding $50,000, gave a gross return of $284,000.\nThe individual who conducted the voyage is now a prominent merchant of Boston.\nIn conclusion, the lecturer gave a brief account of the\ntwo.great fur companies. In 1785 an association of merchants was formed in Siberia for the purpose of collecting\nfurs in the North Pacific. In 1799 they were chartered\nunder the name of the \"Russian American Company,\" with\nthe exclusive privilege of procuring furs within the Russian\nlimits, (540 40') for a period of twenty years, which has\nsince been extended.\nThe furs collected are sent across Siberia to Kiatska, the\ngreat mart for peltries in the northern part of China, or to\nSt. Petersburg. For a number of years the company obtained a large portion of their supplies from American\nvessels, giving in return seal-skins and other furs, and latterly\nbills on St. Petersburg.\nThe treatment of the agents and servants of the company,\nto the Indians, has been of the most atrocious and revolting character.\nThe British Hudson Bay Company was chartered by\nCharles II., in 1669, with the grant of the exclusive use and\ncontrol of a very extensive though not well-defined country,\nnorth and west of Canada. This uncertainty as to limits,\nled to the formation of an association of merchants in Canada\nin 1787, called the \"Northwest Company,\" for carrying on\nthe fur trade without the supposed boundaries of the Hudson\nBay Company.\nThose in the service of these concerns soon came in\ncollision. Disputes and personal violence followed. At\nlength, in June, 1816, a pitched battle was fought near a\nsettlement that had been made by Lord Selkirk, upon the\nRed river, under a grant from the Hudson Bay Company,\nbetween the settlers and a party in the service of the Northwest Company, in which Governor Semple and seventeen of\nhis men were killed. This roused the attention of the British\ngovernment, and in 1821, the two companies were united, or\nrather, the Northwest Company was merged into the Hudson Bay Company. Previous to this, however, the Northwest Company had, in 1806, established trading posts beyond\nthe Rocky Mountains. During the last war with Great\n II\nBritain, they got possession of Mr. Astor's settlement at the\nmouth of the Columbia, and extended their posts on several\nbranches of that river. These establishments being united,\nit infused new life, and their operations have since been conducted with increased vigor. They have now, practically,\na monopoly of the fur trade, from 42 \u00C2\u00B0 to 540 40', on the\nwestern sea-board, and from 490 to the Northern Ocean,\nupon the rest of the American continent.\nWith the exception of the British East India Company,\nthe Hudson Bay Company is the most extensive and powerful association of individuals for private emolument now\nin existence, and their influence has hitherto prevented an\nadjustment of the Oregon question. Mr. Sturgis said he\ndid not speak from mere conjecture, when he affirmed that\nit would have been settled months ago, upon the line suggested by him in a previous lecture before this association,\nand to the satisfaction of the people of both countries, but\nfor the selfish interference of this company. Should disastrous consequences follow the delay in settling this question,\nit will add another to the numerous evils that have already\nresulted from great commercial monopolies.\nThe whole business of collecting furs upon our western\ncontinent, without the acknowledged limits of the United\nStates, is now monopolized by two great corporations, the\nRussian and British Fur Companies.\nAfter the peace in 1815, the British Northwest Company\u00E2\u0080\u0094\npartly in consequence of the monopoly of the East India\nCompany\u00E2\u0080\u0094were compelled to seek the aid of American merchants and American vessels, in carrying on an important\nbranch of their business. For a number of years, all the\nsupplies for British establishments, west of the Rocky\nMountains, were brought from London to Boston, and carried hence to the mouth of the Columbia in American ships,\nand all their collections of furs sent to Canton, consigned to\nan American house, and the proceeds shipped to England or\nthe United States, in the same vessels; a fact which speaks\nloudly in favor of the freedom of our institutions and the\nenterprise of our merchants. Our respected fellow citizens,\nMessrs. Perkins & Co., furnished the ships, and transacted\nthe business.\n 12\nEXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF WILLIAM STURGIS ON THE\nNORTHWEST COAST, l800.\nThe appearance of the country here [Norfolk Sound] is\nreally romantic. On one side of us, within pistol-shot, and\nwhich seems in the evening almost as if you could touch it,\nis a thick spruce wood, extending close to the water's edge,\nfrowning in native horror, and looks to be only fit for wild\nbeasts to prowl in: on the other side appears a mixture of\nland and water. At short distances are passages which\neither run inland, or, by joining, cut the country up into small\nislands. Some of them are not much larger than the ship,\nand numbers much smaller. They are composed of rocks\nrising just clear of the surface of.the water, on which is\nsprinkled a little soil; and from this rises a thick cluster of\ntall spruce-trees, which, in the tout ensemble, look very handsome, and often bring to my mind the romantic little Island\nof Poplars, in which is Rousseau's tomb. Add to this the\nmelancholy sighing of the wind among the pines. But a\ntruce to descriptions; and let me proceed to business.\nThe place where we walked was all rocks; and, on the\nshoreside of us; they rose like a barrier, in some places full\nan hundred feet perpendicular. On the tops of these (which\noverhung all the beach beyond the Point) again are tall\nspruce-trees, which seem to grow on the edge of the precipices\nas plenty and as thick as on the lowland. Some of them,\nwhich had advanced their heads too high for the feeble support their roots afforded, had shared the fate of all such\nfoolish pretenders, by being dashed from the pinnacle to the\nbottom of the precipice; and, with their roots still clinging\nto the rocks above, and their heads on the beach below, offer\nan instructive example to thousands, who, by presuming on\nas slight foundations, have no right to expect aught but the\nsame fate. . . .\nIn the afternoon, two large canoes came round the East\nPoint; and, as they turned it, all joined in a war-song, which\nthey rattled off with spirit quite handsomely. Upon their\napproach, we found that they each contained a petty chief,\nand about nine young men. The chiefs, who were both\ngood-looking men, and carried themselves with great dignity,\nsat upon a high box in the middle of the canoes. They\n 13\nhad beards about two inches long, with a considerable pair\nof whiskers; and wore very long hair, which, by what we\ncould understand, was taken from the heads of their enemies\nkilled in battle. The tops of their heads were powdered\nwith small geese-down; and a long red and yellow feather,\npainted, which rose over all, completed the head-dress. In\ntheir ears they wore a kind of shell pearl, which is of some\nvalue here, and, when the coast was first visited, was\nesteemed of very great. Over their shoulders they wore a\ncloth of their own manufacture, about a fathom square, made\nout of the wool of their mountain sheep: round the edges\nthey work in sea-otter's fur; and, on the whole, it makes\na very handsome appearance. What they wore on their\nlegs I could not say, as they did not condescend to rise\nfrom their seats, but, after purchasing three or four muskets,\nleft us, and went on shore. All the young men in the canoes\nhad their faces daubed with red and black, and their heads\npowdered with red ochre and geese-down. This, though no\ndoubt only what is conformable to their ideas of beauty,\nyet made them look not far unlike Milton's description of\nDeath,\u00E2\u0080\u0094\"Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell.\"\nHe [one of the chiefs], however, would not venture himself on board of us; having been several times made prisoner\nby different vessels, and obliged to ransom himself by giving\nup the greatest part of his skins. This was the way some\npeople, not worthy of the name of men (and who, I thank\nHeaven, cannot call themselves Americans), took to make\ntheir fortunes.\nC , C , and Alsatree, the principal chiefs on the\ncoast, they trepanned on board their ships; and, having\nseized and laid some of them in irons, forced them, contrary\nto every principle of honor or humanity, to deliver up their\nskins before they would give them their liberty.\nTHE NORTHWEST INDIANS.*\nThe Indians of whom I speak are piscatory in their pursuits; reside upon the borders of the sea, from which they\n* Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc. VII, 444-49.\n H\ndraw their principal subsistence; and use altogether the\ncanoe, both for this purpose and for transporting themselves\nand families from place to place. Their migrations are limited to a change of residence from one permanent village to\nanother at different seasons of the year, following the periodical movements of the several species of fish upon which they\nmainly depend for food; and to trading excursions, which\nare often made, sometimes to distant points, visiting tribes\nresiding several hundred miles from their own village. Upon\nthese occasions they are usually accompanied by their women\nand children, who are adroit and skilful in the management\nof canoes, and, in taking and curing fish, are as efficient as\nthe men themselves. These circumstances, exercising a material influence upon their domestic and social character,\nhave, in a degree, softened the naturally stern nature of these\nIndians, and rendered them less sanguinary than the tribes\nin the interior. War, however, is not unfrequent; and bravery and skill in conducting it are qualities commanding as\nhigh admiration and respect as among the most warlike\npeople: and the Indian upon the borders of the Pacific\naccords to an accomplished and successful destroyer of his\nfellow-men the same pre-eminence that is conceded to him\nby most civilized nations. In their domestic relations, they\nmanifest as much tenderness and affection as can be found\nin any state of society. The constant presence of their\nwomen gives to them a proper influence; and their position,\nthough subordinate in some respects, is, upon the whole, as\nfavorable as that occupied by their sex in civilized life,\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nnominal submission, actual control. Children are uniformly\ntreated with tenderness and indulgence, seldom punished, and\nnever struck.\nThe Indian doctrine is, that it mav be necessarv to beat\ndogs, but not to strike a child. The children, on their part,\nseem intuitively respectful and submissive to their seniors.\nI do not recollect to have seen punishment inflicted upon a\nchild but in a single instance, and then not very severely. A\nwoman, with a family of children was alongside of the ship\nin her canoe, making some purchases; and, among other\narticles, she obtained a quantity of molasses, which was put\ninto a large tub in her canoe. A little naked urchin, two or\nthree years old, half covered with oil and dirt, made repeated\n i5\nattempts to get at the molasses, much to the mother's annoyance. At length, in a great pet, she caught the child by the\narms, and plunged it into the tub, leaving it seated in the\nviscid substance up to its chin. The child bore the punishment with as much stoicism, and employed himself in the\nsame manner, as a young Yankee would have done.\nThe only occasion upon which blows are inflicted is in\nthe practice of a singular custom among them. At times\nduring the winter, in a cold, frosty morning, all the boys of\na village, from five to ten years old, assemble upon a sandy\nbeach in a state of nudity; and, each having furnished himself with a bunch of rods, they wade into the water up to\ntheir armpits: and then commences an uproarious scene; each\none using his rods with his whole strength in thrashing every\none who comes within his reach, always giving a preference\nto those of his own size. This continues for some time;\nwhen at a given signal, a general plunge and a short swim\nfinishes the frolic, and they resume their garments and their\ngravity. The Indians say that this practice hardens the\nbodies of the little fellows, and the flagellation. they get\nloosens their skins, and thus promotes their growth.\nTheir fancy for many articles could be traced to a desire\nto imitate their somewhat more polished visitors; and the\nabsurdity, if any there was, lay in the manner in which they\nused them. When attacked upon this point, they would\ndryly refer to some of our usages as equally absurd with\ntheir own. Talking one day upon such matters with Altad-\nsee, a sarcastic old chief of the Hanslong tribe, I ridiculed the\npractice of covering their own and their children's garments\nwith rows of brass and gilt buttons, and loading them with\nold keys, to keep bright at a great expense of labor. \"Why,\"\nsaid he, \"the white men wear buttons.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094\"True,\" I replied;\n\"but they are useful to us: the fashion of our garments requires buttons to secure them.\"\u00E2\u0080\u0094\"Ah!\" said he, \"perhaps it\nis so; but I could never discover the usefulness of half a\ndozen buttons upon your coat-tails: and, as for the waste\nof labor in scouring old keys, you are right; it is very foolish,\nand almost as ridiculous as the fashion, which I am told\nprevails in your country, of placing brass balls upon iron\n i6\nfences in front of your houses, to be polished every day,\nand tarnished every night. \"Truly,\" he added, \"Ejjets hardi\nand Hanslong hardi cootnanous coonug\" (\"White people\nand Hanslong people are equally foolish\").\n...........\nTheir dwellings are of a more permanent character than\nthose of the Indians in the interior. In the winter villages,\nsome of the houses are quite large, covered with boards, and\nprobably as comfortable as the houses in London and Paris\nare represented to have been five centuries ago. I have\nseen houses upon the southern part of the Coast more than\none hundred feet in length, and forty in breadth; and Jewett,\nwho was two years a prisoner among them, describes\nMaquinna's house at Nootka as a hundred and fifty feet long.\nIn articles of furniture, either for use or ornament, they are\nquite deficient; and their mode of living is so simple, that\nlittle is required. The only ornamental articles I recollect\nto have seen in their houses were copper tea-kettles. These\nwe imported from Holland, and carried to the Coast in large\nquantities. It would have been almost sacrilege among the\nIndians to have degraded this beautiful piece of furniture, as\nthey esteemed it, to culinary uses. It was placed in an\nelevated and conspicuous position in the house, kept perfectly bright, and regarded with as much solicitude and care\nas I have elsewhere seen bestowed upon a tawdry French\nvase, filled with showy artificial flowers, and carefully covered with a glass case.\nThe Indians are not a joyous race, and have few amusements. The only public ones are singing and dancing, and\nthese not in a style calculated to inspire or indulge mirth.\nThe women take no active part in the dance; but their\npleasant voices are often heard in song, sometimes with great\nsweetness and pathos. Their musical instruments are a\nhollow cylinder, used as a drum, and rattles of various sorts;\nbut they are only used to mark time, and stimulate the\ndancers, who take great pains to prepare themselves for the\noccasion, and only appear in full dress. When engaged in\nthe war-dance, they cover the head with scalps taken from\ntheir enemies, the hair filled with the down of sea-fowl or the\n 17\neagle. Their mode of scalping adapts it to this purpose; for\nthey take off the whole skin of the head, preserving it entire,\nwith the hair attached. I cannot commend their grace in\nthe dance; but their spirit is worthy of imitation. They\nengage in it with some life and animation: at least it was\neasy to discover whether the dancers were awake or asleep,\u00E2\u0080\u0094\na fact not readily ascertained in modern days in more\npolished communities.\nMy own opportunities were favorable for observing and\nestimating Indian character; but, even with a close and long-\ncontinued intimacy under circumstances that tended to dispel\nthe reserve that an Indian maintains in his intercourse with\nstrangers, I found it scarcely possible to comprehend, much\nless to describe him, or to understand his motive for much\nthat he does. His character is made up of incongruous and\nseemingly conflicting elements. The noblest impulses and\nbest feelings of man's nature are in him closely allied to\nbrutal propensities; and the bright and dark hues are so\nmixed and blended, that at times they are scarcely distinguishable, and seem lost in one another. He is, even to\nthose who have most carefully studied him, a mysterious\nbeing, and must remain so; for we cannot fully comprehend\nhis impulses and motives: and doubtless Mr. Schoolcraft\nis correct in remarking, as he does, that \"the civilized man\nis no less a mysterious and unaccountable being to an Indian,\nbecause the springs of action are alike unintelligible to him.\"\nBut, while it may not be possible to comprehend all the\nanomalies of Indian character, enough may be discovered\nand understood to entitle him to much higher consideration\nthan he usually enjoys. Few have the opportunity to make\na just estimate of this race. Those who form an opinion of\nthem from the wretched, degraded remnants of the tribes\nwho formerly occupied New England, such as the Penobscots\nand others, or from delegations from more distant tribes that\nare occasionally paraded about and exhibited, like wild animals, as a show, will do the Indian great injustice, and have\na very erroneous impression. To judge the Indian fairly,\nhe must be seen, as I have seen him, in his native forest,\nbefore he becomes contaminated by intercourse with civilized\n i8\nmen; for, to our reproach be it spoken, contamination and\ndegradation invariably and speedily follow such intercourse.\nIn this original state, while he retains his independence,\nand preserves self-respect, he is proud even of existence; and\nit is not a mere poetical fiction in the writer who says, that\n\"the Indian in his primitive state stands erect, his foot firmly\nplanted upon'his mother earth, surveys the wide expanse of\nNature, and, with conscious superiority, strikes his breast,\nand exclaims exultingly, T am a man'!\" I have at times per-\nceived'the workings of strong and lofty feelings in the Indian's\nbosom, that could not be more truly or happily expressed.\nMr. Catlin, with all his frippery, has given many interesting\nfacts respecting remote Indians, who, at the time of his\nvisit, were little changed by the intrusion of civilization; and\nI doubt not his statements may be relied on, with some little\nallowance for his evident partiality for the red man. His\nconclusion, after a long residence among them, is, in his own\nwords, that \"the North-American Indian, in his primitive\nstate, is a high-minded, honorable, hospitable being\"; and\nin another passage he asserts, that \"the North-American\nIndian, in his native state, is an honest, hospitable, faithful,\nbrave, warlike, cruel, revengeful, relentless, yet honorable,\ncontemplative, and religious being.\" My own experience\ndoes not lead me to dissent from this opinion. It may sound\nstrangely to hear the Indian spoken of as a religious being;\nbut, if a constant reference in all that he does to the supposed\nwill of his Creator constitutes a religious being, the North-\nAmerican Indian is eminently one. Mr. Schoolcraft, speaking of the great tribes of the Far West, says \"It would surprise any person to become acquainted with the variety and\nextent t(? which an Indian is influenced by his religious views\nand superstitions: he takes no important step without reference to them; they are his guiding motives in peace and in\nwar; he follows the chase under their influence, and his very\namusements take their tincture from them.\"\nTo the Indian, much that we do seems ridiculous and\nabsurd; and some of the practices of civilized life are as\nrevolting to his feelings as their most barbarous usages are\nto ours. I have often been struck with the comments of\nsensible Indians upon what they had noticed or learned\nrespecting our customs, particularly by those of Keow, the\n 19\nprincipal chief of Caiganee, a place much frequented by\ntrading-vessels. Keow was, upon the whole, the most intelligent Indian I met with. He was a shrewd observer, of\nquiet perception, with a comprehensive and discriminating\nmind, and insatiable curiosity. He would occasionally pass\nseveral days at a time on board my ship; and I have often\nsat up half the night with him, answering questions, and\nlistening to his remarks. I have no doubt that our conversation, first and last, would fill several folio volumes, even in\nthe sight-destroying type of modern pamphlet-printing. His\ncomments on some features of our social system, and upon\nthe discrepancies and inconsistencies in our professions and\npractice as Christians, particularly in relation to war,\nduelling, capital punishment for depredations upon property,\nand other less important matters, were pertinent and forcible,\nand by no means flattering to us, or calculated to nourish\nour self-conceit.\nBiographical Note.\nWilliam Sturgis was an admirable example of the self-made American\nmerchant. Born in 1782 at Barnstable, Massachusetts, the son of a Cape\nCod shipmaster, he came to Boston at the age of fourteen, and became a\nclerk in the office of J. & T. H. Perkins, one of the pioneer firms in the\nNorthwest fur trade. Young Sturgis soon decided to abandon the office\nstool and seek his fortune at sea. In 1798, after studying navigation for\na. few months, he shipped as foremast hand on the ship Eliza, of 136\ntons, bound for the Northwest Coast and China. The captain made him\nhis assistant in trading with the Indians. Sturgis picked up their language\nquickly, and won their good-will by fair dealing. While trading along\nthe coast, the Eliza fell in with another Boston vessel, the Ulysses, whose\ncrew had mutinied and put the captain in irons. The Eliza's officers induced them to release their commander and promise to obey him in\nfuture; but the mates refused to return. Captain Lamb of the Ulysses\nthen offered young Sturgis the position of first mate. He accepted with\nsome misgivings, being only seventeen years old, but made such a success\nof it that on returning to Boston the owners made him first mate and\nsupercargo (business officer) of their ship Caroline. When the captain of\nthis vessel died at Hawaii, William Sturgis succeeded to the command, at\nthe age of nineteen. Five years after he had left Boston as a common\nsailor, he returned \"as the master of a noble ship, with a valuable cargo\non board, the fruit in great measure of his own skill and exertions.\"\nAfter another voyage around the world in the same vessel, Captain\nSturgis was given command of a larger Boston ship, the Atahualpa, which\nsailed^ direct for Canton with 300,000 silver dollars on board. The owner\nof this vessel was unwilling to arm her, as was customary in those days\nfor all Pacific merchantmen; but luckily Captain Sturgis managed to\nget four cannon on board. On August 21, 1809, when at anchor off Macao,\nthe Atahualpa was attacked by sixteen heavily armed Chinese junks,\n 20\nunder the command of a noted pirate. Part of the crew were on shore,\nbut the rest, under the lead of their intrepid captain, succeeded in beating\noff the pirates, with heavy loss. O x-\"-e;is had sworn off smoking,\nbut when the fight began he lit a ^b. the crew that he\nwould toss it in the powder barrel ratht; . \ the ship to the\npirates. A passenger, who was \"yellow as a su*. with the jaundice,\nwas completely cured by the excitement of the batuo.\nAfter this voyage was over, Captain Sturgis retired from the sea, and\nformed the firm of Bryant & Sturgis, which continued the Northwest fur.'\ntrade until 1829, when it ceased to be profitable. Bryant & Sturgis then\nbecame the leader in the California hide traffic. It was on their vessels\nthat Richard H. Dana sailed \"Two Years before the Mast.*' For\nthirty years off and on, William Sturgis represented Boston in the Massachusetts legislature. On one occasion a learned member of that assembly\nendeavored to confuse this bluff old sailor by a string of Latin and Greek\nquotations, to which Mr. Sturgis, who was self-educated beyond the point\nattained by most college graduates, replied in the Indian language of the\nNorthwest Coast, which he said was quite as much to the point, and\n\"doubtless as intelligible and convincing ;.o most of those present\" as the\nclassical quotations they had just heard. He always took a keen interest\nin the Oregon question, and published several articles and pamphlets in\nfavor of the American claim. The westward extension of the forty-ninth\nparallel, as- a compromise boundary, was suggested by him in a pamphlet\nof 1845, which undoubtedly had considerable influence on the result of\nthe negotiations of 1846. Like most retired sea-captains, William Sturgis\nlived to a good old age, and kept his physical and intellectual vigor to the\nend. He died on October 21, 1863.\nThe Lecture on the Northwest Fur Trade is reprinted from Hunt's\nMerchants' Magazine, XIV, 533-38 (1846). The extracts from Sturgis's\njournal and from the second lecture, as well as the facts regarding the\nauthor's life, are from Charles G. Loring, \"Memoir of William Sturgis,\"\nin \"Proceedings of Massachusetts Historical Society, 1863-64,\" VII, 420-73.\nOther Old South Leaflets on the Oregon Country and\nthe Northwest are No. 131 (E. G. Porter's account of the\nDiscovery of the Columbia River), No. 44 (Jefferson's life\nof Meriwether Lewis, 1813), and 133 (Seward's Address on\nAlaska, 1869).\nThe Old South Leaflets are a series of reprints of historical narratives, speeches, documents and other writings\nrelating to the history of America, and of Liberty. They\nare published under the editorial supervision of S. E. Mori-\nson, Ph.D., by The Old South Association, Old South\nMeeting-house, Boston, Massachusetts, where they may\nbe obtained at five cents the copy, four dollars and seventy-\nfive cents the hundred, or in bound volumes, twenty-five\nnumbers in each, one dollar and a half. A catalogue of the\nseries will be forwarded upon request.\n"@en . "Other Copies: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4743274"@en . "Leaflets"@en . "spam9268"@en . "II-0526"@en . "10.14288/1.0222622"@en . "English"@en . "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en . "Boston : The Old South Association"@en . "Images provided for research and reference use only. For permission to publish, copy, or otherwise distribute these images please contact digital.initiatives@ubc.ca."@en . "Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. spam9268"@en . "Fur trade--Northwest, Canadian"@en . "The Northwest fur trade, and the Indians of the Oregon country. 1788-1830"@en . "Text"@en .