Fort Simpson

“ Smith, after further consultation with his comrades, said:—
“Simpson, you are too brave a man to be turned adrift here without any means of defence. You shall have your revolvers and guns.” Our weapons were accordingly handed over to Simpson, and we at once started for Fort Bridger, knowing that it would be useless to attempt the recapture of our train.
When we had travelled about two miles, we saw the smoke rise from our old camp. ”

“ Fourteen commissioned gentlemen, as the chief factors and chief traders were called, and as many clerks, accompanied the party to the canoes, and amidst great cheering and a salute of seven guns, bade them God-speed. Simpson entered Peace River on the 15th of August, and reached Fort Vermilion in due course, three hundred and twenty miles from the mouth, which was then in charge of Paul Fraser. From here he proceeded to Fort St. James, the capital of Western Caledonia, and the chief depot for all the region north of the Fraser Forks to the Russian boundary, including the Babine country. ”

“ Billy smiled grimly and reloaded his weapons, after which Lew Simpson dressed the wounds of his comrades, who returned a like favor for him.
But the Indians had by no means gone, for they had gone into camp in a circle around their foes, but well out of range of the fearful Mississippi yagers.
The three defenders in the mean time improved their opportunity to strengthen their fort with dirt and dig a deeper space within, while they also lunched upon their scanty supply of food.
"They'll starve us out if they can't take us by charging," said Simpson. ”

“ Simpson will be seriously felt. * * * he departed this life at Nass on the 2nd of September (1831) . * * * Our people appear to be firm- ly seated down at Nass. * * * n and we have it in mind to extend our settlements along the coast, the best and most judicious plan we can adopt for the purpose of wresting that trade from the grasp of the Americans who have so far monopolized it". The Fort built in the summer of 183 1 was at the mouth of the Nass River and was named Fort Simpson in honor of the Captain who died there as just noted. ”

“ One day these trains were fifteen miles apart when Simpson, the wagon boss, with George Woods, a teamster, and Billy Cody, set off riding mules from the rear outfit to catch up the teams in front. They were midway when a war party of Indians charged at full gallop, surrounding them, but Simpson shot the three mules and used their carcasses to make a triangular fort. The three whites, each with a rifle and a brace of revolvers were more than a match for men with bows and arrows, and the Indians lost so heavily that they retreated out of range. ”

“ Every eye was directed across that inland sea, and great was our mortification when, with the glass, we discerned an unbroken line of ice embracing the land beyond Moose-deer Island. We advanced to the edge of that unwelcome barrier; but it was firm and immoveable, threatening us with a long detention. Turning within the islands, a portage, performed with the aid of canoes, brought our provisions and other property, in the course of the day, to Fort Resolution; the boats crossing the shallows light. ”

“ The impulses that guided the actions of the sepoys were strangely inconsistent; for two of the men saved the life of Lieutenant Simpson, who had been on outpost-duty on the fatal night, and brought him safely into the fort; and yet, though offered promotion for their fidelity, they absconded on the following morning to join their mutinous companions. The Europeans, about eighty in number, maintained their position at Mhow, until a force from Bombay arrived to reoccupy all that region. The ladies, there as everywhere, strove to lessen rather than increase the anxieties of their male companions. ”

“ On the holidays in particular, of which, Sundays included, there are one hundred sixty-five in the year, men, women and even children were to be seen staggering about in all directions drunk.” Simpson thought all the world, though, of the Russian bishop.
The Hudson’s Bay Company had a lease from the Russians of all the fur-trading forts of Southeastern86 Alaska, and one of these was the Redoubt Saint Diogenes. There Simpson found a flag of distress, gates barred, sentries on the bastions and two thousand Indians besieging the fort. ”

“ On the 29th of December, Le Sourd—the very man who had caused the natives such an alarm—arrived at Fort Confidence, in company with some Indians, carrying our long looked-for packet. His comrade, Peter Taylor, had died on the way in M'Tavish Bay of an old pulmonary complaint, aggravated, no doubt, by the fatigue of the journey; and he himself, having never heard of the latter arm of the lake, had wandered about searching for the establishment, and hunting reindeer, till he fortunately fell in with a camp of our Indians as he was returning towards Fort Norman. ”

“ For nearly forty years this man stood at the head of the fur-trade: a potentate in the midst of the wilderness, the virtual ruler of almost one-half of a continent. Governor Simpson was a man of small stature, but he had "the self-possession of an emperor." [110] Accompanied by his voyageurs and clerks, he journeyed along the old Ottawa and lake route, through the Grand Portage, or by Fort William and Lake of the Woods, accomplishing this feat at least once a year throughout the entire period of his rule. ”

“ On 1 Dec. he started to join Dease, whom, after an interesting and adventurous winter journey, he found at Fort Chippeway, on the shore of Lake Athabasca. In June 1837 they continued their journey, and leaving a few men at Fort Norman, with orders to prepare winter quarters by Great Bear Lake, reached the sea on 9 July. They then turned west, along the coast till, in longitude 154° 23′ W., the boats were stopped by the ice. It was then determined that Simpson should make an effort to reach Point Barrow on foot, which he succeeded in doing on 4 Aug. ”

“ Whoever was the real assassin, the alarm occasioned by this atrocious action had well-nigh brought upon our Indians, and upon ourselves, still greater calamities. The natives abandoned their hunting grounds, and flocked for protection to the establishment, where it was afterwards asserted by the female inmates that a plot was actually hatching against us by the relatives of the deceased, the very people who shared most liberally in our bounty; "because," said they, "if the fort had not been on our lands, we should not have been where we were when the misfortune happened!" ”

“ McLoughlin needed Douglas in Oregon. The Company, that had begun two centuries before with one little fort on a frozen sea, had not only stretched its tentacles across the continent but was reaching out to Hawaii, to Mexico, to Alaska. And this galvanizing energy resulted directly from the energy of that little man, George Simpson. “If” is a word that opens the door of lost opportunities. If Sir George Simpson had been seconded in his aims by the Governing Board of the Hudson’s Bay Company ”

“ With this expectation, and in order to be personally on the spot to expedite and superintend the arrangements, he left Fort Confidence, his dreary residence for two long winters, on the 26th Sept. 1839; and after a journey of most extraordinary celerity, having traversed 1910 miles on foot in sixty-one days, including all stoppages, arrived at Red River Settlement on 2nd Feb. 1840. ”

“ Lines were re-set in the strait, but their produce did not even repay the baits employed, and they were again taken up. Fortunately our Chipewyan hunters and the native Indians vied with each other in amassing reindeer and musk-ox flesh; and our six sledges of dogs, with each a driver, were almost continually employed, bringing to Fort Confidence the means of existence. Le Babillard, an Indian frequently mentioned in the narrative of Franklin's last expedition, now approached with his party from the southward, and opened a communication with us. ”

“ We have seen that Governor Simpson had a plan in his mind for gaining control and preserving order in his own kingdom. His idea of building fortified stone forts is chiefly seen in the cases of Upper and Lower Forts Garry. Fort Garry was, as we have seen, well on the way to completion by the time of the French outbreak in connection with Larocque. And Governor Christie was authorized to go on and construct a still more elaborate fort at the204 Forks to replace the wooden Fort Garry built shortly after the union of the Companies. ”

“ Indian education begins early. Lewis and Clarke describe equestrians of some two years old using both whip and bridle with vigor and effect. An unweaned member of an Indian family reached Fort Confidence on snow shoes two feet in length:—
“I must not,” says Mr. Simpson, “close this part of the narrative without bestowing a just encomium on the generally docile character of the natives of Great Bear Lake. They soon become attached to white men, and are fond of imitating their manners. ”

“ At 7 in the morning our express, carried by Taylor and young Wentzel in a small canoe, started for Fort Resolution, and at the same moment we set out for Great Bear Lake. So strongly did it blow from the northward, that we had to tow the boats down the current; and it was late when we reached Bear Lake River. For the three following days we continued ascending its clear and rapid stream. Everything wore a wintry aspect; a good deal of snow fell, large masses of old ice lay undissolved on the beach, and the still parts of the river were newly frozen over. ”

“ Having, with Chief Factor Smith's kind and liberal assistance, satisfactorily completed every arrangement, the expedition took its departure, on the evening of Thursday the 1st of June, from Fort Chipewyan, under a salute, which we returned with three hearty cheers. As soon as the first shade of regret at parting from so sincere a friend had passed away, we warmly congratulated each other on being at length fairly embarked in the interesting service of discovery. ”

“ Not all their vigilance could at all times avail to prevent mischief. When Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, was on a visit to Vancouver in 1829, he was made aware of this truism. The Governor was on his return to Canada by way of the Red River Settlement, and had reached the Dalles of the Columbia with his party. In making the portage at this place, all the party except Dr. Tod gave their guns into the charge of two men to prevent their being stolen by the Indians, who crowded about, and whose well-known bad character made great care needful. ”

“ I doubt whether the history of the West contains so strange an episode as that of the siege of John Simpson, his wife and two children. They took turns in keeping watch, for the red man is subtle by nature and they could be counted upon to test thoroughly the vigilance of the little company. More than once several of the Utes or Cheyennes stole as noiselessly as shadows up the flinty path, but before they could do any harm the crack of the deadly rifle sent them skurrying to the bottom. Simpson always stood guard through the night, for he knew that was the time of greatest peril. ”

“ Then a roar of musketry broke from the emerald wall; a storm of lead swept into the human ranks; a wild huzzah burst from the invisible enemy, and the battle had begun. The fight was fierce and long—courage and daring were exhibited on both sides—but when it was over, St. Udo Brand and his brave band were famous forever. They were the victors.
The two colonels were smoking together before St. Udo's tent, enjoying an hour's chat, as usual, before they parted for the night, and in the welcome absence of Thoms, were served by a fine fellow from Vermont, who almost worshiped his colonel. ”

“ The chevalier examined them through his glass with smiling nonchalance; but Captain Brand looked over the scene with thoughtful brow.
"What is monsieur's programme?" chirped the chevalier. "Does he dally with Fortune's train, or does he brush by her robes and seize the treasure which she guards? Shall mon ami live the short and merry life of conviviality with me in New York, or shall he choose the short and beastly bad career of a soldier?"
St. Udo Brand laughed bitterly.
"What is my life worth to me without fame to gild it?" growled he. "I have no gold to make it shine." ”

“ We knew that we had fallen into the hands of the Mormon Danites, or Destroying Angels, the ruffians who perpetrated the dreadful Mountain Meadows Massacre of the same year. The leader was Lot Smith, one of the bravest and most determined of the whole crowd.
"Now, Simpson," he said, "we are going to be kind to you. You can have one wagon with the cattle to draw it. Get into it all the provisions and blankets you can carry, and turn right round and go back to the Missouri River. You're headed in the wrong direction."
"Can we have our guns?" asked Simpson.
"Not a gun." ”

“ Being obliged to leave their horses on the way, they marched during the night, and reached undiscovered the woody banks of the Red River, a short distance above the remotest houses. There they lay concealed for several days, and, being almost naked, suffered much from cold and hunger. At length one of them, venturing out to the brink of the stream, observed on the opposite side a half-breed, named Baptiste Parisien, whom he recognised. This man had travelled through the Sioux territories, and served, it is said, in the United States' cavalry against the Socs and Foxes. ”

“ What better life does a brave soldier expect? Do your duty in the field and don't growl in the camp, and when good luck comes you will deserve it," replied St. Udo, laughing.
"Pardieu! I shall be too old to see him when he comes!" grumbled the chevalier. "Three months of glory without gold is enough for me."
"You are a mercenary dog," cried St. Udo; "and I know you are an implacable devil. I have not forgotten Madam Estvan."
"Diable! nor I," hissed Calembours. "Mon ami, let us forget her. La! there she has vanished forever. But, Monsieur St. Udo, I have not been mercenary with you, have I?" ”