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Wilson P. Hunt Dec. 30, 1811-Jan. 1, 1812 Campsite

Historic Campsite

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place:4043038

place:4043036

The next three days were very fortuitous for the Astorians as a child would be born, a friendly Shoshone village discovered, and the New Year of 1812 was celebrated .

December 30th, the Astorians left the Pierre and Marie Dorian to care for their newborn and continued into the Grande Ronde Valley where they found a Shoshone village near present day Union, OR and camped. There in the vicinity of Hot Lake, Hunt traded “a rifle, an old musket, a tomahawk, a tin kettle, and a small quantity of ammunition” for “four horses, three dogs, and some roots”. A horse was promptly put down for food to feed Hunt, his Astorians, and 3 Shoshone guides.

December 31st, Pierre [Young] Dorion, his wife Marie, there two sons, and their one day old newborn joined the Astorians at their campsite.

January 1st, 1812. At the request of his men, Hunt remained New Years Day at camp resting for the journey to and over the Blue Mountains. The meal was a “banquet of dog’s meat and horse flesh”. (Barry 1912, 235-36; Hunt 1821; Irving 1836; Rollins 1935, 301, 325 note 242-245; Ronda 1990, 192)

Hunt noted in his diary:

On the 30th, after we had left the river at a spot where it thrusts into the mountains to the north, we came to another beautiful [Grande Ronde] valley several miles wide and very long. A pretty stream meanders there and the beaver seem to be plentiful. Happily we found six Shoshone tepees and many horses. These Indians sold us four horses, as well as three dogs and some roots. They told me that we still had three nights to sleep before we came to the Sciatoga [Cayuse] village and they showed me a pass in the mountains through which we had to travel. They added that not much snow was there, but they had so often given me erroneous reports that I did not take this news seriously. On every side of us snow blanketed the mountains. The pregnant woman [Marie Dorion] gave birth to her child early the next morning. Her husband [Pierre Dorion] remained with her in the camp for a day, then rejoined us on the 31st. His wife rode horseback with her newly born child in her arms. Another child, two years old and wrapped in a blanket, was fastened by her side. One would have thought, from her behavior, that nothing had happened to her. (21 miles west)

— Hunt

My people asked me not to travel on the 1st of January without first celebrating the new year. I agreed to the idea willingly because most of them were very tired from having daily no more than a meager meal of horse meat and from carrying packs on their shoulders while crossing the mountains. (Hunt 1821)

— Hunt

Irving added:

Early in the following morning [meaning morning of Dec. 30th] the squaw [Marie] of Pierre Dorion, who had hitherto kept on without murmuring or flinching, was suddenly taken in labor, and enriched her husband with another child [near North Powder, OR]. As the fortitude and good conduct of the poor woman had gained for her the goodwill of the party, her situation caused concern and perplexity. Pierre, however, treated the matter as an occurrence that could soon be arranged and need cause no delay. He remained by his wife in the camp, with his other [two] children and his horse, and promised soon to rejoin the main body, who proceeded on their march.

— Irving

Finding that the little river entered the mountains, they abandoned it, and turned off for a few miles among hills. Here another Canadian, named La Bonte, gave out, and had to be helped on horseback. As the horse was too weak to bear both him and his pack, Mr. Hunt took the latter upon his own shoulders. Thus, with difficulties augmenting at every step, they urged their toilsome way among the hills, half famished and faint at heart, when they came to where a fair valley spread out before them, of great extent and several leagues in width, with a beautiful stream meandering through it. A genial climate seemed to prevail here, for though the snow lay upon all the mountains within sight, there was none to be seen in the valley. The travellers gazed with delight upon this serene, sunny landscape, but their joy was complete on beholding six lodges of Shoshonies pitched upon the borders of the stream, with a number of horses and dogs about them. They all pressed forward with eagerness and soon reached the camp. Here their first attention was to obtain provisions. A rifle, an old musket, a tomahawk, a tin kettle, and a small quantity of ammunition soon procured them four horses, three dogs, and some roots. Part of the live stock was immediately killed, cooked with all expedition, and as promptly devoured. A hearty meal restored every one to good spirits. In the course of the following morning the Dorion family made its reappearance. Pierre came trudging in the advance, followed by his valued, though skeleton steed, on which was mounted his squaw with her new-born infant in her arms, and her boy of two years old wrapped in a blanket and slung at her side. The mother looked as unconcerned as if nothing had happened to her; so easy is nature in her operations in the wilderness, when free from the enfeebling refinements of luxury, and the tamperings and appliances of art.

— Irving

The next morning ushered in the new year (1812). Mr. Hunt was about to resume his march, when his men requested permission to celebrate the day. This was particularly urged by the Canadian voyageurs, with whom New-Year’s day is a favorite festival; and who never willingly give up a holiday, under any circumstances. There was no resisting such an application; so the day was passed in repose and revelry; the poor Canadians contrived to sing and dance in defiance of all their hardships; and there was a sumptuous New-Year’s banquet of dog’s meat and horse flesh. (1836, 2: 59-61)

— Irving

Attribution of Source Material

The preceding summary for the approximated December 30, 1811 - January 1, 1812 Wilson P. Hunt Campsite location is used with thanks for the public domain sources of Hunt 1821 and Irving 1836. Additionally, appropriate parenthetical citations are used with thanks and credit in specific summary passages and quotes for sources that are not in the public domain Barry 1912, Rollins 1935, and Ronda 1990. Errors regarding unintended and improper copyright usage will be corrected immediately following notification.

Primary Sources

Hunt, Wilson P., and V.A. Malte-Brun. Nouvelles annales des voyages. v. 10. Paris: Bertrand, 1821. English translation available at Mountain Men and the Fur Trade AMM Virtual Research Center Project http://www.mtmen.org/mtman/html/wphunt/index.html.

Irving, Washington. Astoria, Or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains. Vol. 2. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, & Blanchard, 1836. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Astoria_Or_Anecdotes_of_an_Enterprise_Be/t6k-AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0.

Rollins, Phillip A., ed. 1935. The Discovery of the Oregon Trail: Robert Stuart’s Narrative of His Overland Trip Eastward from Astoria in 1812-1813: Appendix A: Wilson Price Hunt’s Diary. Bison Book Edition reprinted from the original 1935 edition by Edward Eberstadt and Sons. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995.

Secondary Sources

Barry, J. Neilson. “The Trail of the Astorians.” The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society 13, no. 3 (1912): 227–39. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20609906.

Ronda, James P. Astoria and Empire. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990.

Further Research and Reading

Irving, Washington. Astoria, Or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, & Blanchard, 1836. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/oKk-AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0.

Illustrations and Maps

Chittenden, Hiram Martin. “Map of the Trans-Mississippi of the United States during the Period of the American Fur Trade as Conducted from St. Louis between the Years 1807 and 1843.” Image. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, 1902. https://lccn.loc.gov/99446195 (accessed February 25, 2022).

Kmusser. “Columbia River Watershed with the Columbia River Highlighted.” April 7, 2008. self-made, based on USGS and Digital Chart of the World data. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbiarivermap.png. (accessed March 31, 2022)

Shannon1. Map of the Grande Ronde River in Eastern Oregon, USA. September 23, 2010. Background topography from DEMIS Mapserver, which is public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Granderonderivermap.jpg. (accessed March 29, 2022)

Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Snake River watershed map.png,” Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Snake_River_watershed_map.png&oldid=521600900 (accessed February 14, 2022).

Taxonomy

Classified As

Historic Campsite