Messrs. Stuart And Clarke
Felt Highly Displeased At His Taking So Precipitate A Step,
Without Waiting For Their Concurrence, When He Must Have Known
That Their Arrival Could Not Be Far Distant.
Indeed, the whole conduct of Mr. M'Dougal was such as to awaken
strong doubts as to his loyal devotion to the cause.
His old
sympathies with the Northwest Company seem to have revived. He
had received M'Tavish and his party with uncalled for
hospitality, as though they were friends and allies, instead of
being a party of observation, come to reconnoitre the state of
affairs at Astoria, and to await the arrival of a hostile ship.
Had they been left to themselves, they would have been starved
off for want of provisions, or driven away by the Chinooks, who
only wanted a signal from the factory to treat them as intruders
and enemies. M'Dougal, on the contrary, had supplied them from
the stores of the garrison, and had gained them the favor of the
Indians, by treating them as friends.
Having set his mind fixedly on the project of breaking up the
establishment at Astoria, in the current year, M'Dougal was
sorely disappointed at finding that Messrs. Stuart and Clarke had
omitted to comply with his request to purchase horses and
provisions for the caravan across the mountains. It was now too
late to make the necessary preparations in time for traversing
the mountains before winter, and the project had to be postponed.
In the meantime, the non-arrival of the annual ship, and the
apprehensions entertained of the loss of the Beaver and of Mr.
Hunt, had their effect upon the minds of Messrs. Stuart and
Clarke. They began to listen to the desponding representations of
M'Dougal, seconded by M'Kenzie, who inveighed against their
situation as desperate and forlorn; left to shift for themselves,
or perish upon a barbarous coast; neglected by those who sent
them there; and threatened with dangers of every kind. In this
way they were brought to consent to the plan of abandoning the
country in the ensuing year.
About this time, M'Tavish applied at the factory to purchase a
small supply of goods wherewith to trade his way back to his post
on the upper waters of the Columbia, having waited in vain for
the arrival of the Isaac Todd. His request brought on a
consultation among the partners. M'Dougal urged that it should be
complied with. He furthermore proposed, that they should give up
to M'Tavish, for a proper consideration, the post on the Spokan,
and all its dependencies, as they had not sufficient goods on
hand to supply that post themselves, and to keep up a competition
with the Northwest Company in the trade with the neighboring
Indians. This last representation has since been proved
incorrect. By inventories, it appears that their stock in hand
for the supply of the interior posts, was superior to that of the
Northwest Company; so that they had nothing to fear from
competition.
Through the influence of Messrs.
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