David Stuart (fur trader)
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David Stuart (1765-1853) was a
fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
who worked primarily for the
North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and Pacific Fur companies throughout his varied career.


Fort Astoria

In the official
Fort Astoria Fort Astoria (also named Fort George) was the primary fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company (PFC). A maritime contingent of PFC staff was sent on board the '' Tonquin'', while another party traveled overland from St. Louis. ...
logbook maintained by station manager Duncan McDougall, Stuart was recorded in May 1811 as suffering overexertion and potentially a hernia from clearing timber. In the same month, the Chinookans reported sighting a merchant vessel near their settlements on the coast. Rather than lose the beaver skins to rival
Maritime fur trade The maritime fur trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in ex ...
rs, McDougall sent Stuart on 22 May to
Comcomly Comcomly (or Concomly) (1765 – 1830) was a Native American leader of the Lower Chinook, a group of Chinookan peoples indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, who inhabited the area near Ilwaco, Washington. Concomly spoke Lower Chinook and was kn ...
's village across the Columbia River. The reported vessel never actually appeared after its existence was announced by Chinookan traders. This episode has been suggested by historian Robert F. Jones to have been a Chinookan "stratagem" to "secure better prices, perhaps for inferior skins." Stuart returned the following day with only 20 beaver pelts. Throughout June, Stuart and
Gabriel Franchère Gabriel Franchère ( 3 November 1786 –12 April 1863) was a French Canadian author and explorer of the Pacific Northwest. Franchère was born in Montreal to Gabriel Franchère (4 March 1752 - 16 May 1832) and Marie-Félicité Morin (20 August 176 ...
cleared, planted and maintained a garden to grow an amount of fresh produce. In the same month, David was also appointed to oversee two canoes of men to go gather large stockpiles of tree bark. This material was utilised by the fur traders to create roofing and siding for their dwellings and related buildings. He departed with four
French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...
s and four Hawaiian
Kanakas Kanakas were workers (a mix of voluntary and involuntary) from various Pacific Islands employed in British colonies, such as British Columbia (Canada), Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Queensland (Australia) in the 19t ...
near the end of June from Astoria to Cape Disappointment. The party was taken there by
Coalpo Coalpo was a Clatsop Chinookan leader alive in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He married a daughter of Comcomly, the most prominent Chinookan headman on the lower Columbia River. Fort Astoria In March 1811, the Pacific Fur Company (PFC ...
on a canoe the Clatsop noble owned. While there he reviewed the general terrain and fur bearing animal populations.


Fort Okanogan

In July 1811, Stuart was given orders to open a second trade post for the PFC. The intelligence for a suitable location came from
Kaúxuma Núpika Kaúxuma Núpika ("Gone to the Spirits"), also known as Qánqon Kámek Klaúla ("Sitting in the Water Grizzly") or Manlike Woman, was a Kutenai person who lived in the early 19th century.Lee Irwin, ''Coming Down From Above'' (2014), p. 241-242Ria ...
, a
Two-Spirit Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ...
from the
Ktunaxa The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...
people. Kaúxuma recommended that the station be opened near the
confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
of the Columbia and "the Okannaakken River." The personnel assigned to join Stuart were eight men, including Alexander Ross, François Benjamin Pillet,
Ovide de Montigny Ovide de Montigny was a French-Canadian fur trapper active in the Pacific Northwest from 1811 to 1822. Pacific Fur Company de Montigny was hired by Alexander MacKay at Montreal in July 1810. McKay and Wilson Price Hunt were in the city recruit ...
, and
Naukane Naukane (c. 1779 – February 2, 1850), also known as John Coxe, Edward Cox, and Coxe was a Native Hawaiian chief who traveled widely through North America in the early 19th century. He was either considered a member of the royal household of Kam ...
. The party left on the 21st, following the course of the Columbia River in the company of David Thompson and his party of NWC men. Thompson had previously came down the Columbia to Fort Astoria on 15 July from
New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
. A
French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...
assigned to the interior journey under Stuart back arrived at Fort Astoria in early October. He brought back news of the successful opening of
Fort Okanogan Fort Okanogan (also spelled Fort Okanagan) was founded in 1811 on the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers as a fur trade outpost. Originally built for John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company, it was the first American-owned settlemen ...
and that the
Syilx The ''Syilx'' () people, also known as the Okanagan, Okanogan or Okinagan people, are a First Nations and Native American people whose traditional territory spans the Canada–US boundary in Washington state and British Columbia in the Okanagan C ...
peoples were reportedly favorable to developing commercial ties with the PFC. However, in tours of the hinterlands trade goods of the NWC were found among the local inhabitants near Fort Okanogan's eventual location. On 18 January 1812, Stuart arrived at Fort Astoria with
Étienne Lucier Étienne Lucier, né Lussier, (June 9, 1786 – March 8, 1853) was a French-Canadian fur trader active primarily in the Pacific Northwest. He was hired by John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company and sent to the region to help establish Fort Astoria ...
, Robert McClellan, John Reed and seven other men. McClellan, Reed and Lucier were members of the overland expedition that had traveled overland from
Fort Mackinac Fort Mackinac ( ) is a former British and American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century in the city of Mackinac Island, Michigan, on Mackinac Island. The British built the fort during the American Re ...
(in the modern state of
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
) under
W. Price Hunt Wilson Price Hunt (March 20, 1783 – April 13, 1842) was an early American pioneer, pioneer and explorer of the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest of North America. Employed as an agent in the fur trade under John Jacob Astor, Hunt organized ...
's authority. The assembled men told McDougall of the remaining members of the expedition and their privations crossing the continent. Stuart's party had to leave Hunt and the majority of the PFC laborers in the Snake River basin to procure supplies and aid at Astoria. In the meantime Alexander Ross was left alone at Fort Okanogan, wintering among the Syilx. The addition of fifty or more men was feared by McDougall to potentially wreck the already uncertain Astorian food stockpiles. Hunt, about thirty men,
Marie Aioe Dorion "Madame" Marie Aioe Dorion Venier Toupin (ca. 1786 – September 5, 1850) was the only female member of an overland expedition sent by Pacific Fur Company to the Pacific Northwest in 1810. Like her first husband, Pierre Dorion Jr., she was Métis p ...
and her two children reached Fort Astoria on 15 February 1812.


Citations


Bibliography

* * * 1765 births 1853 deaths Fur traders North West Company people Pre-Confederation British Columbia people Oregon Country Oregon pioneers {{Oregon-bio-stub