The latter he
remitted to Mr. Astor by some of his associates, who were about
to cross the continent to New York. This done, he embarked on
board the Pedler, on the 3d of April, accompanied by two of the
clerks, Mr. Seton and Mr. Halsey, and bade a final adieu to
Astoria.
The next day, April 4th, Messrs. Clarke, M'Kenzie, David Stuart,
and such of the Astorians as had not entered into the service of
the Northwest Company, set out to cross the Rocky Mountains. It
is not our intention to take the reader another journey across
those rugged barriers; but we will step forward with the
travellers to a distance on their way, merely to relate their
interview with a character already noted in this work.
As the party were proceeding up the Columbia, near the mouth of
the Wallah-Wallah River, several Indian canoes put off from the
shore to overtake them, and a voice called upon them in French
and requested them to stop. They accordingly put to shore, and
were joined by those in the canoes. To their surprise, they
recognized in the person who had hailed them the Indian wife of
Pierre Dorion, accompanied by her two children. She had a story
to tell, involving the fate of several of our unfortunate
adventurers.
Mr. John Reed, the Hibernian, it will be remembered, had been
detached during the summer to the Snake River.
