Astoria, Oregon, situated at the mouth of the Columbia River within a few miles of the Pacific Ocean, began as a trading post known as Fort Astoria. It was named after John Jacob Astor (1763-1848), the New York financier who sent fur traders into the area. Astor now envisioned a chain of trading posts on the upper Missouri River and a fleet of trading ships that would supply posts on the Columbia River. These ships would also be able to trade along the coast and supply the Russian trading posts in Alaska. The ships would then carry the furs to Canton, China where they would be traded for prized Chinese merchandise which would then be transported to the northeastern United States.
In addition to sending a party by sea to establish Fort Astoria, Astor also sent a group overland. By October 1810, provisions had been purchased and the group was ready to travel west. Getting a start late in the season, Wilson Price Hunt (1783-1842), the leader of the Astorian Overland Party, decided to winter on the Nodaway River, near present-day St. Joseph, Missouri.
During the Winter, Hunt journeyed downriver to St. Louis to purchase additional supplies and to find an interpreter. They finally hire Pierre Dorion (Sioux), the son of Old Dorion who had served as interpreter for Lewis and Clark.
Accompanying the overland party was a Native American woman, Marie Dorion (Iowa) and her two children—five-year-old Jean Baptiste and two-year-old Paul. Had the party not needed her husband, Pierre Dorion, Marie Dorion and her children would not have been allowed to accompany the party. She was less than enthusiastic about the trip. In his book Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire, A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival, Peter Stark writes:
“It’s likely Marie Dorion and Sacagawea knew each other: two Indian women in the small settlement of St. Louis, both wives of interpreters in the burgeoning Missouri fur trade.”
Beginning the trip across the continent, the Astorians arrived at the Arikara village in what is now North Dakota about the same time as a fur trading party from their rival Manuel Lisa. Arikara chief Le Gauche (Left-Handed) guided the leaders of the two rival parties through the 200 or so earthlodges in the village to the council house. Lisa provided Le Gauche with a gift of tobacco and expressed his desire to trade with the Arikara. In spite of previous bad blood between Lisa and Hunt, Lisa introduced Hunt’s party as “friends,” asking Le Gauche to assist them. Hunt then gave tobacco to Le Gauche and explained that they were not among the Arikara to trade but were traveling to the Pacific Ocean. Hunt spoke in French which Pierre Dorion then translated into Arikara.
While Le Gauche declined the Astorians’ request for horses, another Arikara chief, Les Yeux Gris (Gray Eyes) indicated that he could supply them. While the horses were being obtained, the Astorians remained among the Arikara who also engaged in much sexual bartering with them.
A little more than a month later, the overland party left the Arikara village to cross the Great Plains by foot. In his book Who Was Who in Native American History: Indians and Non-Indians From Early Contacts Through 1900, Carl Waldman reports:
“After having obtained horses from the Arikaras for cash, as well as from Lisa in exchange for riverboats, the Astorians then deviated from the westward route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, heading south across the Continental Divide and then proceeding west to the Snake River region of present-day Idaho.”
There were more than 60 members of the party and a total of 82 horses. Marie Dorion at this time was three months pregnant.
The Astorians spent two weeks camping near a Cheyenne village as one of the members of the party was ill. They acquired more horses from the Cheyennes.
They next encountered the Crows and traded with them for fresh and additional horses. They now had 121 horses, enough so that most of the Astorians were able to ride. The party was concerned about how to cross the Bighorn Mountains. Peter Stark writes:
“The hospitable chief of the Crow, learning of the problem, sent an emissary to guide Hunt and party to the easiest route across the Bighorns.”
The party crosses the mountains using trails that the Crow and other Indians nations had been using for centuries.
Having crossed the mountains, the Astorians met with the Shoshones in the Wind River country. Hunt bought 2,000 pounds of dried bison from the Shoshones. The Shoshones told the Astorians that the river flowed south to the Spanish settlements. The Astorians called the river the Spanish River, which is today known as the Green River, a branch of the Colorado River.
The party crossed a low divide and found another river which they called the Mad River. Feeling that the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean must be close, they left their horses with the Shoshones and set out by canoe. After five days on the river, they encountered another Shoshone band, one which had never had contact with Europeans.
In what is now southwestern Idaho, the Astorians encountered a number of Shoshone bands. The Shoshones speak an Uto-Aztecan language which is unrelated to the Plains languages that Pierre Dorion knew. Communication with The Shoshones was difficult, but they understood that the Shoshones were telling them that the Columbia River was still some distance away.
In December, with the party suffering from scurvy, they found another Shoshone village and were able to obtain dried wild cherries which provided the vitamin C needed to combat the scurvy. With great difficulty, Hunt obtained three Shoshone guides. They were guided to a six-tipi Shoshone village where Marie Dorion gave birth. The child died a few days later.
The Heritage Museum in Astoria, Oregon summarizes the Overland Party’s trip this way:
“The group made mistake after mistake, with a fair amount of bad luck thrown in for good measure. Hunt was ever fearful of the Native peoples along the route, and some men quit and returned down river. Supplies quickly ran out and merchandise to be traded for furs was often traded for food.”
In February 1812, the Pacific Fur Company overland party under the leadership of Wilson Price Hunt arrived at Fort Astoria. The party left their goods and began the overland trip back with orders for the supplies for the coming year.
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