I'm reading through the articles on HistoryLink for our period and my current focus is the early fur trappers/explorers who arrived just a few years after Lewis and Clark. Jaco Finley arrived on the Columbia less than three years after Lewis and Clark and built Spokane House in 1810.
Another interesting detail is the wide variety of men involved in the fur business. In David Thompson's party, which explored and mapped the Columbia in 1811, included a native Hawaiian ("Sandwich Islander"), an Englishman (Thompson), French Canadians, and Iroquois Indians. Now picture all of them wintering at the Spokane House, whiling away the time, smoking Indian pipes and talking about their adventures. "Coxe," the Hawaiian member of the expedition must have told the others of his tropical home as they listened to the howling east wind outside.
Here's a link to the Spokane House Interpretive Center at Riverside State Park. The site includes a historical overview of the "House" and the "Fort" built by the friendly rivals in the Northwest and Pacific Fur Companies respectively. Unfortunately, their reenactment was back on June 20-21, but maybe I can get involved next year. Of note for History 300 is the informative article on Spokane House, although no citations are included.
Here is a portion of David Thompson's map of North America, located at WSU's Historical Timeline which is bookmarked on our class Delicious page. 
Here is a Frederick Remington print located at artknowledgenews.com. "The Gathering of the Trappers," 1904. Although trappers in the Northwest primarily travelled by water (after all they were after beaver pelts) they did have access to horses from the Indian peoples. I do like the adventurous and free spirit portrayed in this painting. It contrasts with the very hard work of portage and paddling and the specific goals of the exploration missions. But it would have been impossible to travel the wild lands of the North American West without a sense of adventure and possibility.
Good going, Phil. There is lots to like here in terms of how we should use these blogs to work our way into Frontier Washington history: 1) your lively, personal narrative, 2) good use of map and images, 3) information on the sources of the images and maps, 4) link to outside source.
ReplyDeleteHey, if I wanted a couple of good scholarly articles on this subject, where would I find them?
It is so interesting that very early explorers were so open minded in the sense of the company they kept. This group seemed to understand that a variety of people from different backgrounds made for a well prepared party. How did the man from Hawaii end up all the way up here by himself?
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff, Phil. I will try to model my work after yours. This will be a great learning experience for me learning to develop my own blog.
ReplyDeleteMarla
Marla - thanks for the encouragement. I've enjoyed reading your blog posts as well.
ReplyDeleteApril - The image of these diverse individuals working closely together in a common endeavor captured my imagination as well. The fur companies of western North America experienced a labor shortage in the Far West. By 1810, Europeans had been in contact with Hawaii since Cook's first contact in 1778. Since that time, various Hawaiians had been hired, kidnapped, or otherwise transported from their home islands. For instance, Captain Vancouver briefly had charge of two Hawaiian girls who had been kidnapped by the crew of another British vessel around 1790. (See Pacific Northwest Forum article for more info. http://www.narhist.ewu.edu/pnf/articles/s1/ii-2-3/Vancouver/schults.html.)
Other Hawaiians came willingly to the Northwest - hired by the fur companies and transported by the cargo vessels which transported furs and other commodities to China. I think several timeline articles reference the Hawaiians who became an important part of the community at Fort Vancouver. I look forward to reading more about them.