In This He Was Joined By Mr.
Crooks, -Who, Notwithstanding All That He Had Suffered In The
Dismal Journey Of The Preceding Winter, Was Ready To Retrace His
Steps And Brave Every Danger And Hardship, Rather Than Remain At
Astoria.
This little handful of adventurous men we propose to
accompany in its long and perilous peregrinations.
The several parties we have mentioned all set off in company on
the 29th of June, under a salute of cannon from the fort. They
were to keep together for mutual protection through the piratical
passes of the river, and to separate, on their different
destinations, at the forks of the Columbia. Their number,
collectively, was nearly sixty, consisting of partners and
clerks, Canadian voyageurs, Sandwich Islanders, and American
hunters; and they embarked in two barges and ten canoes.
They had scarcely got under way, when John Day, the Kentucky
hunter, became restless and uneasy, and extremely wayward in his
deportment. This caused surprise, for in general he was
remarkable for his cheerful, manly deportment. It was supposed
that the recollection of past sufferings might harass his mind in
undertaking to retrace the scenes where they had been
experienced. As the expedition advanced, however, his agitation
increased. He began to talk wildly and incoherently, and to show
manifest symptoms of derangement.
Mr. Crooks now informed his companions that in his desolate
wanderings through the Snake River country during the preceding
winter, in which he had been accompanied by John Day, the poor
fellow's wits had been partially unsettled by the sufferings and
horrors through which they had passed, and he doubted whether
they had ever been restored to perfect sanity. It was still hoped
that this agitation of spirits might pass away as they proceeded;
but, on the contrary, it grew more and more violent. His comrades
endeavored to divert his mind and to draw him into rational
conversation, but he only became the more exasperated, uttering
wild and incoherent ravings. The sight of any of the natives put
him in an absolute fury, and he would heap on them the most
opprobrious epithets; recollecting, no doubt, what he had
suffered from Indian robbers.
On the evening of the 2d of July he became absolutely frantic,
and attempted to destroy himself. Being disarmed, he sank into
quietude, and professed the greatest remorse for the crime he had
meditated. He then pretended to sleep, and having thus lulled
suspicion, suddenly sprang up, just before daylight, seized a
pair of loaded pistols, and endeavored to blow out his brains. In
his hurry he fired too high, and the balls passed over his head.
He was instantly secured and placed under a guard in one of the
boats. How to dispose of him was now the question, as it was
impossible to keep him with the expedition. Fortunately Mr.
Stuart met with some Indians accustomed to trade with Astoria.
These undertook to conduct John Day back to the factory, and
deliver him there in safety. It was with the utmost concern that
his comrades saw the poor fellow depart; for, independent of his
invaluable services as a first-rate hunter, his frank and loyal
qualities had made him a universal favorite.
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