WASHINGTON IRVING




1.

State of the fur trade of the--Rocky Mountains--American
enterprises--General--Ashley and his associates--Sublette, a
famous leader--Yearly rendezvous among the mountains--
Stratagems and dangers of the trade--Bands of trappers--
Indian banditti--Crows and Blackfeet Mountaineers--Traders
of the--Far West--Character and habits of the trapper

IN A RECENT WORK we have given an account of the grand enterprise of Mr.
John Jacob Astor to establish an American emporium for the fur trade
at the mouth of the Columbia, or Oregon River; of the failure of that
enterprise through the capture of Astoria by the British, in 1814; and
of the way in which the control of the trade of the Columbia and its
dependencies fell into the hands of the Northwest Company. We have
stated, likewise, the unfortunate supineness of the American government
in neglecting the application of Mr. Astor for the protection of the
American flag, and a small military force, to enable him to reinstate
himself in the possession of Astoria at the return of peace; when the
post was formally given up by the British government, though still
occupied by the Northwest Company. By that supineness the sovereignty
in the country has been virtually lost to the United States; and it will
cost both governments much trouble and difficulty to settle matters on
that just and rightful footing on which they would readily have been
placed had the proposition of Mr. Astor been attended to. We shall now