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Wilson P. Hunt December 23, 1811 Campsite

Historic Campsite

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place:4043035

place:4043033

Wilson Hunt’s group of Astorians succeeded in crossing the Snake River into today’s State of Oregon’s Farewell Bend area on December 23rd using a horse hide bull boat.

There they rejoined the 16 men that remained from Ramsey Crooks’ group. The Snake River’s swift waters and canyons, had physically separated these two groups since November 9th when back at the Cauldron Linn area they each had followed a different side of the river seeking assistance from friendly Indians.

However, each group had faced near starvation and several months of winter still remained. Hunt was determined to press on the Columbia River, yet not all members were mentally or physically capable to proceed.

From Crooks’ group of 16, three men Jean Baptiste Turcotte, André LaChapelle, and François Landry decided to remain in this area hoping to find Ramsay Crooks, John Day, and Jean Baptiste Dubreuil (Barry 1912, 235; Hunt 1821; Rollins 1935, 300, 325 note 235; Ronda 1990, 191-92).

Hunt posted in his diary:

When we had all effected a crossing by the 23rd, my people took heart. All of Mr. Crook’s men were extremely weak and exhausted, four of them even more than the others. They handed over to me a horse and some goods. When three of them expressed the wish to remain with the Snakes [Shoshoni], I gave them a canoe and some supplies. They crossed the [Snake] river [to the east bank] on the following day, and I hoped that they would not be long in finding Mr. Crooks and his party. (Hunt 1821)

— Hunt

Irving added more detail:

At an early hour of the morning, December 23d, they began to cross the river. Much ice had formed during the night, and they were obliged to break it for some distance on each shore. At length they all got over in safety to the west side; and their spirits rose on having achieved this perilous passage. Here they were rejoined by the people of Mr. Crooks, who had with them a horse and a dog, which they had recently procured. The poor fellows were in the most squalid and emaciated state. Three of them were so completely prostrated in strength and spirits that they expressed a wish to remain among the Snakes. Mr. Hunt, therefore, gave them the canoe, that they might cross the river, and a few articles, with which to procure necessities, until they should meet with Mr. Crooks. There was another man, named Michael Carriere, who was almost equally reduced, but he determined to proceed with his comrades, who were now incorporated with the party of Mr. Hunt. After the day’s exertions they encamped together on the banks of the river. This was the last night they were to spend upon its borders. More than eight hundred miles of hard travelling, and many weary days, had it cost them; and the sufferings connected with it rendered it hateful in their remembrance, so that the Canadian voyageurs always spoke of it as “La maudite riviere enragee” – the accursed mad river – thus coupling a malediction with its name. (1836, 2: 56-57)

— Irving

Attribution of Source Material

The preceding summary for the approximated December 23, 1811 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).

Curtis, Edward S. “Mandan Bull Boat.” Image. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, 1908. https://www.loc.gov/item/2002722330/. (accessed March 21, 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

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Historic Campsite