- Bargain for the Transfer
of Astoria- Doubts Entertained of the Loyalty of M'Dougal.
0N the 2d of October, about five weeks after Mr. Hunt had sailed
in the Albatross from Astoria, Mr. M'Kenzie set off with two
canoes, and twelve men, for the posts of Messrs. Stuart and
Clarke, to appraise them of the new arrangements determined upon
in the recent conference of the partners at the factory.
He had not ascended the river a hundred miles, when he met a
squadron of ten canoes, sweeping merrily down under British
colors, the Canadian oarsmen, as usual, in full song.
It was an armament fitted out by M'Tavish, who had with him Mr.
J. Stuart, another partner of the Northwest Company, together
with some clerks, and sixty-eight men - seventy-five souls in
all. They had heard of the frigate Phoebe and the Isaac Todd
being on the high seas, and were on their way down to await their
arrival. In one of the canoes Mr. Clarke came as a passenger, the
alarming intelligence having brought him down from his post on
the Spokan. Mr. M'Kenzie immediately determined to return with
him to Astoria, and, veering about, the two parties encamped
together for the night. The leaders, of course, observed a due
decorum, but some of the subalterns could not restrain their
chuckling exultation, boasting that they would soon plant the
British standard on the walls of Astoria, and drive the Americans
out of the country.
In the course of the evening, Mr. M'Kenzie had a secret
conference with Mr. Clarke, in which they agreed to set off
privately before daylight, and get down in time to appraise
M'Dougal of the approach of these Northwesters. The latter,
however, were completely on the alert; just as M'Kenzie's canoes
were about to push off, they were joined by a couple from the
Northwest squadron, in which was M'Tavish, with two clerks, and
eleven men. With these, he intended to push forward and make
arrangements, leaving the rest of the convoy, in which was a
large quantity of furs, to await his orders.
The two parties arrived at Astoria on the 7th of October. The
Northwesters encamped under the guns of the fort, and displayed
the British colors. The young men in the fort, natives of the
United States, were on the point of hoisting the American flag,
but were forbidden by Mr. M'Dougal. They were astonished at such
a prohibition, and were exceedingly galled by the tone and manner
assumed by the clerks and retainers of the Northwest Company, who
ruffled about in that swelling and braggart style which grows up
among these heroes of the wilderness; they, in fact, considered
themselves lords of the ascendant and regarded the hampered and
harassed Astorians as a conquered people.
