F. D. Haines

“ Between December 10, 1812, and January 15, 1813, McKenzie made the trip from Spokane to his post, cached his trade goods, and made his way to Astoria. Under winter conditions, it would be extremely difficult for him to even make the trip from Spokane to Fort Boise in this short time, as the air line distance between the two is more than two hundred sixty miles and much of it would be across mountains covered by many feet of snow. Also, it would not be feasible to send eighty horses across this trail in the spring before the high trails were open. ”

“ McKenzie's visit to Spokane and his furnishing Clarke with horses indicates there was a comparatively short and easy route between the two posts.
The only approach to Fort Boise by boat is up the canyon of the Snake River. The list of activities given above would have required McKenzie to make his trip through the canyon at least four times—once to reach the post in August, once to reach Astoria in January, once to return in February (using but twenty-two days for the trip) and the last time when he left in the spring. ”

“ McKenzie had expected to buy enough horses from the Indians for his pack train and for the winter supply of meat. Now the Indians refused to sell their horses, even at advanced prices, hoping to starve the whites into leaving the country. However, McKenzie was not the man to see his men go hungry with an abundance of food at hand. Under his directions, the hunters stalked the horse herds on the nearby grazing lands, shooting the fatter for camp use. Although the hunters always left a bundle of trade goods in payment for the animals thus killed, the Indians did not care for the arrangement. ”