50 - Pioneer Biography. sisting of three hundred warriors, and bound on a foray against the Sioux. Their war plans were abandoned for the present, and they determined to return to the Arickara town where they hoped to obtain from the white men arms and ammunition that would enable them to take the field with advantage over their enemies. The boats now sought the first convenient place for encamping. The tents were pitched ; the warriors fixed their camp at about a hundred yards distant ; provisions were furnished from the boats sufficient for all parties ;. there was hearty though rude feasting in both camps, and in the evening the red warriors entertained their white friends with dances and songs, that lasted until after midnight.—Astoria, 187-191. The following morning (June 3), while they were distributing presents among the chiefs, an Indian came running up, and announced that a boat was coming up the river. This was anything but pleasing intelligence, as they knew that it must be one of Manual Lisa's boats, and it was useless now to attempt to evade him. The approach of Lisa, while it was regarded with uneasiness by Mr. Hunt, roused the ire of McClellan ; who, calling to mind old grievances, began to look round for his rifle, as if he really intended to carry his threat into execution and shoot him on the spot ; and it was with some difficulty that Mr. Hunt was enabled to restrain his ire, and prevent a scene of outrage and confusion. The meeting between the two leaders, thus mutually distrustful, could not be very cordial ; and as to Messrs. Crooks and McClellan, though they refrained from any outbreak, yet they Robert McClellan - 51 regarded in grim defiance their old rival and underplotter. In truth, a general distrust prevailed throughout the party concerning Lisa and his intentions. They considered him artful and slippery, and secretly anxious for the failure of their expedition. There being now nothing more to be apprehended from the Sioux, they suspected that Lisa would take advantage of his twenty-oared barge to leave them and get first among the Arickaras. As he had traded with those people and possessed great influence over them, it was feared he might make use of it to impede the business of Mr. Hunt and his party. It was resolved, therefore, to keep a sharp look-out upon his movements ; and McClellan swore that if he saw the least sign of treachery on his part, he would instantly put his old threat into execution—Astoria, 192. Mr. Henry M. Brackenridge accompanied Mr. Lisa on this trip, " in the spirit of adventure . . . with the intention of making a summer excursion as a simple hunter." Mr. Bradbury " found him a very amiable and interesting young man." He afterward became well known as a writer, and published a journal of this trip. The two parties now proceeded up the river together, each afraid that the other would steal a march on him and push on to the Arickara village in advance of the other. They had but one positive outbreak, when Lisa tried to induce Mr. Hunt's interpreter, Pierre Dorion, by threats concerning an old whisky debt to desert and join his party. McClellan, of course, took an active part in the affray. Dorion remained faithful, and the 52 - Pioneer Biography. two companies kept on their way together, but without any further personal intercourse, till on the 12th, they arrived at the Arickara village, fourteen hundred and thirty miles above the mouth of the river. They landed on the opposite side. of the river, and encamped near each other. It was arranged that both parties should cross at the same time to meet the Indians in council. Mr. Irving, in Astoria, Chapters XX and XXI, and Mr. Bradbury, in his journal, give interesting accounts of this meeting, and of the Arickara Indians, who proved very friendly. Mr. Hunt's plan was to abandon his boats here and proceed overland. Mr. Lisa intended going further up the river to visit and supply some of his trading posts. The great difficulty Mr. Hunt had to contend with, was the insufficiency of the number of horses he could procure from the Indians for his wants. At length Mr. Lisa offered to purchase-his boat and some of his surplus supplies, and pay for them in horses, if he would wait till he could procure them from one of his posts at a Mandan village one hundred and fifty miles up the river. As there was no alternative, Mr. Hunt accepted the offer, and Mr. Lisa and Mr. Crooks, with a number of men, set off for the post, from which they returned in about two weeks, with the stipulated number. From this village McClellan wrote on the 14th of July, to his brother William, at Hamilton : Robert McClellan - 53 We arrived at this place on the 1 2t h of June last, all in good health. We have been until this period collecting horses from the Arickaras and Mandans for our journey, which we purpose making across the country from this place. We suppose it not more than one thousand miles until we fall in with navigable waters of the Columbia river, where we purpose making pirogues to descend it. Our party consists of sixty-two men. We have procured eighty-two horses, and purpose to augment the number the first opportunity that may offer. In consequence of the scarcity of provisions, we have been obliged to purchase a number of dogs at this place for our men—buffalo being 'scarce near the village. In two days we set out on our journey, when we will soon be among the buffalo. We have running horses for the purpose of taking them. I ride one that can catch the wildest goat, which is swifter than the deer. We are all well armed, and have about a hundred beaver traps which we can employ should we meet with a scarcity of provisions. We have also nets for fishing. On the 17th of July, Mr. Bradbury took leave of our party and returned to St. Louis with Mr. Brackenridge, in the boats which Mr. Lisa dispatched loaded with skins and furs. Mr. Bradbury, in his journal, says : I took leave of my worthy friends whose kindness and attention to me had been such as to render the parting painful ; and I am happy in having this opportunity of testifying my gratitude and respect for them ; throughout the whole voyage every indulgence was given me that was consistent with their duty and general safety. 54 - Pioneer Biography. He did not write in quite so complimentary a style of Mr. Lisa, who, contrary to his express agreement, had instructed Mr. Brackenridge " not on any account to stop in the day, but if possible to go night and day." So that he was compelled to pass, day by day, the numerous plant treasures which he had expected to collect on the return trip. On the 18th of July, Mr. Hunt took up his line of march by land from the Arickara village, leaving Mr. Lisa and Mr. Nut-tall there, where they intended to await the expected arrival of Mr. Henry from the Rocky mountains. With all his exertions, Mr. Hunt had been unable to obtain a sufficient number of horses for the accommodation of all his people. His cavalcade consisted of eighty-two horses, most of them heavily laden with Indian goods, beaver traps, ammunition, Indian corn, cornmeal, and other necessaries. Each of the partners was mounted, and a horse was allotted to the interpreter, Pierre Dorion, for the transportation of his luggage and his two children. His squaw, for the most part of the time, trudged on foot, like the residue of the party ; nor did any of the men show more patience and fortitude than this resolute woman in enduring fatigue and hardship. The veteran trappers and voyageurs of Lisa's party shook their heads as their comrades set out, and took leave of them as of doomed men ; and even Lisa himself, gave it as his opinion, after the travelers had departed, that they would never reach the shores of the Pacific, but would either perish with hunger in the wilderness, or be cut off by the savages. For the narrative of the remainder of this adventur- Robert McClellan - 55 ous and disastrous trip, I am indebted mainly to Irving's Astoria, and the few scattering letters of Robert McClellan to his brother William. The party started in a northeast course, but they soon turned and kept more to the southwest. Their progress was slow for the first few days; some of the men were indisposed; Mr. Crooks, especially, was so unwell, that he could not keep on his horse. A rude kind of litter was prepared for him, consisting of two long poles fixed one on each side of two horses, with a matting between them on which he reclined at full length, and was protected from the sun by a canopy of boughs. In this situation they traveled for five days, having crossed in that time two considerable streams which empty into the Missouri below the Arickara village, when they came to an encampment of Indians calling themselves Shawhays, but known among the whites by the appellation of Cheyennes. They were the same band that had sent a deputation to the Arickaras. They were received by the Indians in a friendly manner and invited to their lodges, which were of dressed buffalo skins sewn together and stretched on tapering pine poles joined at top and radiating at bottom, and were kept cleaner than Indian lodges usually are. The party remained at their encampment in the neigborhood of this place a fortnight to rest and recruit those who were sick, during which time they procured from these people an accession of forty horses. 56 - Pioneer Biography. On the 6th of August, the travelers bid farewell to the friendly band of Cheyennes, and resumed their journey. As they had obtained an additional number of horses, by their recent traffic, a new arrangement was made. The baggage was made up into smaller loads ; a horse was allotted to each of the hunters, and the others, not loaded with baggage, were distributed among the voyageurs, a horse for every two, so that they could ride and walk alternately. Mr. Crooks being still too feeble to mount the saddle was carried on his litter. They now steered their course over the prairies about a west-southwest course; they crossed the small branches of Big river, the Little Missouri above its forks, and several of the tributary streams of Powder river, one of which they followed up until they came to a band of the Upsaroka or Crow Indians, encamped on its banks at the foot of Big Horn mountain. Several of their horses having become lame by traveling on the arid stony ground over which they had to pass, they exchanged them with those Indians for sound ones, by giving some ammunition and other small articles " to-boot." Although this band had been considered by persons who were well acquainted with them, to be by far the best behaved of their tribe, it was only by the unalterable determination of the gentlemen of the party to avoid jeopardizing themselves, without at the same time submitting to intentional insults, that they left Robert McClellan - 57 the camp without coming to blows, although the band of Indians were not of greater force than the whites. The distance from the Arickara village to the Big Horn mountain at this place, is about four hundred and fifty miles; the plains over which they traveled, destitute of trees and even shrubs (insomuch that they had to use the dried dung of buffalo for fuel), by no means furnished a sufficient supply of water; but during the twenty-eight days they were in getting to the base of the mountains, they were only in a few instances without abundance of buffalo meat. Rugged mountains now appeared ahead, and the party wound their way through the wild defiles, and up and down crags and steeps of the mountains for three days, which brought them to the plains of Mad river (the name given to the Big Horn above the mountains). They followed the river for several days to where it was reduced to eighty yards in width, where they left it and crossed over to the banks of the Colorado or Spanish river. They followed the course of this river three days, when they came to where there were large droves of buffalo. Here they encamped and spent a week in killing and drying buffalo meat for the residue of their journey, as in all probability those were the last animals of the kind they would meet with. From this camp, in one day, they crossed over a mountain and pitched their tents on Hoback's fork of Mad river, where it is not more than one hundred and 58 - Pioneer Biography. fifty feet wide, and in eight days more, on the evening of the 8th of October, having passed several stupendous ridges, after a cold, wintry day, with gusts of westerly wind and flurries of snow, they arrived at the post established by Mr. Henry in the fall of 1810, on a stream about one hundred yards wide, bearing the name of that gentleman ; having traveled from where they left the main Missouri river, nine hundred miles in fifty-four days. The post, however, was deserted, for Mr. Henry had left it in the course of the preceding spring. The weary travelers gladly took possession of the deserted log huts which had formed the post. There being abundance of timber here suitable for the construction of canoes, they determined to abandon their horses and proceed by water down the Snake river, which is formed by the junction of Mad river and Henry's fork. By the 18th of October, they had fifteen canoes completed, when, leaving their horses in the care of two Snake Indians who had come to their camp, they embarked in their canoes and prosecuted their voyage down the river about three hundred and forty miles, during which they were impeded by the intervention of numerous rapids. On the 28th of the month, in one of these rapids, the canoe in which Mr. Crooks was, struck upon a rock in the middle of the river, and was wrecked. One man was drowned, and the rest on board with difficulty saved their lives by swimming. Robert McClellan - 59 In attempting to descend the river further, one canoe which they tried to pass down by means of a line, was swept away by the current, with all the weapons and effects of four of the voyageurs. Three other canoes stuck fast among the rocks, so that it was impossible to move them. The river was therefore declared unnavigable. At this place the whole body of the river was compressed into a space of less than thirty feet in width, between two ledges of rocks upward of two hundred feet high, and forming below a whirling and tumultuous vortex so frightfully agitated as to receive the name of " The Caldron Linn." Beyond this fearful abyss, the river kept raging and roaring on until lost to sight among impending precipices. Exploring parties were sent down the river, who, having explored its course for nearly forty miles, returned with the disheartening account that the river as far as they had explored it, ran foaming and roaring along through a deep and narrow channel from twenty to thirty yards wide, with precipices on each side two or three hundred feet high, and rapids and falls in the stream occasionally ten or twenty feet high, so that it was useless to attempt passing the canoes down. The situation of the unfortunate travelers was now gloomy in the extreme. They were in the heart of an unknown wilderness, and the repeated accidents to their canoes had reduced their stock of provisions to barely 60 - Pioneer Biography. five days' allowance, so that there was now every appearance of soon having famine added to their other sufferings. This last circumstance rendered it more perilous to keep together than to separate. Accordingly, after a little anxious and bewildered counsel, it was determined that Mr. Hunt with the majority of the party should remain there, cache their baggage and merchandise preparatory to continuing their march, and that several small detachments should start off in different directions, each headed by one of the partners. Should any of them succeed in falling in with friendly Indians, within a reasonable distance, and obtain a supply of provisions and horses, they were to return to the main body; otherwise, they were to shift for themselves, and shape their course according to circumstances, keeping the mouth of Columbia river as the ultimate point of their wayfaring. Accordingly, these several parties set off from the camp at Caldron Linn in opposite directions. Robert McClellan, accompanied by three men, kept down along the bank of the river. Mr. Crooks, with five other men, directed their steps up the river ; retracing by land the weary course they had made by water, intending, should they not find relief nearer at hand, to keep on until they should reach Henry's fort, where they hoped to find the horses they had left there, and return with them to the main body. The third party, headed by M'Kenzie, was composed Robert McClellan - 61 of five men, who struck to the northward, across the desert plains, in hopes of coming upon the main stream of the Columbia river. McClellan and his party, after wandering for several days over rugged mountains, without meeting with Indians or obtaining any supplies, fortuitously met with M'Kenzie and his party among the Snake river mountains, some distance below that disastrous pass or strait which has received the appellation of the Devil's Scuttle Hole. When thus united, the party consisted of McClellan, M'Kenzie, John Reed (a clerk of the company), and eight men, chiefly Canadians, making in all eleven men. Being all in the same predicament, without horses, provisions, or information of any kind that might tend to extricate their companions from their perilous situation, they all agreed that it would be worse than useless to return to Mr. Hunt, and incumber him with so many additional starving men, and that their only course was to extricate themselves as soon as possible from this land of famine and misery, and make the best of their way to Columbia river. They accordingly continued to follow down the course of the Snake river clambering over rocks and mountains, and defying all the difficulties and dangers of that rugged defile, which, subsequently, when the snows had fallen, was found impassible. Though constantly near the borders of the river, 62 - Pioneer Biography. and for a great part of the time within sight of its current, one of their greatest sufferings was thirst, as the country was destitute of brooks or springs, and the river had worn its way in a deep channel through the rocky mountains. Its banks were so high and precipitous, that there was rarely any place where the travelers could get down to drink of its waters. Occasionally they met with rain-water collected in the hollows of the rocks, but more than once they were reduced to the utmost extremity. Their sufferings from hunger were equally severe. They could meet with no game, and subsisted for a time on strips of beaver skins, broiled before the fire. These were doled out in scanty allowances, barely sufficient to keep up existence, and even this at length failed them altogether. Still they went feebly on, scarcely able to drag one limb after another, until a severe snow-storm brought them to a pause. To struggle against it, in their exhausted condition, was impossible. Cowering under an impending rock at the foot of a steep mountain, they prepared themselves for that wretched fate which seemed inevitable. At this critical juncture, when famine stared them in the face, McClellan, casting up his eyes, discovered an Ashsahta, or Big Horn, sheltering itself under a shelving rock on the side of the hill above them. Being in more active plight than any of his comrades, and an excellent marksman, he set off to get within Robert McClellan - 63 shooting distance of the animal, while his companions watched his movements with breathless anxiety, for their lives depended on his success. He took a circuitous route, scrambled up the hill with the utmost silence, and at length arrived unperceived within a proper distance. Here, leveling his rifle, he took so sure an aim that the Big Horn fell dead on the spot—a fortunate circumstance, for to pursue it, if merely wounded, would have been impossible in his emaciated condition. The declivity of the hill enabled him to roll the carcass down to his companions, who were too feeble to climb the rocks. They fell to work to cut it up; yet exerted a remarkable degree of self-denial for men in their starving condition, for they contented themselves for the present with a soup made from the bones, reserving the flesh for future repasts. This providential relief gave them strength to pursue their journey; but they were frequently reduced to almost equal straits, and it was only to the smallness of their party (eleven in number) requiring but a small supply of provisions, that they were enabled to get through this desolate region with their lives. At length, after twenty-one days of toil and suffering, they got through these mountains, and arrived at Mulpot river, a tributary stream of that branch of the Columbia called Lewis river, of which Snake river forms the southern fork. In this neighborhood they 64 - Pioneer Biography. met with wild horses, the first they had seen west of the Rocky mountains. From hence they made their way to Lewis river, where they fell in with a friendly tribe of Indians who freely administered to their necessities. Here they procured two canoes, in which they descended this river to its confluence with the Columbia, and then down that river to Astoria. On New Years' Day (the 1st of January, 1812), the canoe in which McClellan was, was upset in the rapid ; but, by great exertion, he and the men with him clung to the canoe until the others came to their assistance, making their escape with the loss of their rifles and some other small articles which were in the canoe. They arrived at Astoria early in the month of January, haggard, emaciated, and in rags. Mr. Hunt, with the main body of the party, who had been left at Caldron Linn, after all hope of relief was closed from the parties of McClellan and M'Kenzie, set out on foot, struggling forward through the trackless wilderness, arived at Astoria on the 15th of February, 1812, having lost two of their men in consequence of starvation. Mr. Crooks, with five men, who had separated from the party in the mountains, did not reach Astoria until the loth of May. The ship Tonquin, commanded by Captain Thorn, and owned by John Jacob Astor, of New York, arrived at the mouth of the Columbia river in the summer of 1811. She was the first vessel sent there by the Amer- Robert McClellan - 65 ican Fur Company. And, in the month of June of that year, when trading on the coast north of the Columbia, was taken by the Indians, and every soul on board massacred. The news of this disaster had reached Astoria some time before the arrival of McClellan at that place, which struck dismay into the hearts of the Astorians and those engaged in the fur trade. Mr. Hunt had been selected by John Jacob Astor to be his chief agent, and to represent him on the northwest coast. Previous to his arrival, Duncan McDougal, one of the partners, had considered himself at the head of the concern. As the spring opened, after the arrival of Mt. McClellan at Astoria, several important things were to be accomplished. A supply of goods was to be sent to the trading post of Mr. David Stuart, which had been established the preceding autumn on the Oakinagan. The cache or secret deposit made by Mr. Hunt, at the Caldron Linn, was likewise to be visited, and the merchandise and other effects left there, to be brought to Astoria. And a third object of moment was to send dispatches overland to Mr. Astor, at New York, informing him of the state of affairs at the settlement, and the fortunes of the several expeditions. The task of carrying supplies to Oakinagan was assigned to Mr. Robert Stuart, nephew of David Stuart, who had established the post. The dispatches for Mr. Astor, were confided to Mr. John Reed, the clerk of the company. 66 - Pioneer Biography. When the expedition of Reed to the Eastern States was made known, Robert McClellan announced his determination to accompany it. He had for some time been dissatisfied with the smallness of his interest in the co-partnership, and had requested an additional number of shares ; his request not being complied with, he resolved to abandon the company. McClellan was a man singularly self-willed and of decided character, with whom persuasion was useless ; he was permitted, therefore, to take his own course without opposition. On the 22d of March, the three parties set out from Astoria together, in two canoes—they numbered in all seventeen men. They proceeded up the Columbia river till they came to the foot of the falls, where the canoes and goods had to be carried by the men a considerable distance by land to the head of the falls. Here they were surrounded by a band of upward of four hundred Indians, armed with bows and arrows, and war-clubs, who offered to carry the canoes and effects up the portage; but the party mistrusting the friendly disposition of the Indians, their offer was declined, alleging the lateness of the hour ; yet, to keep them in good humor, informed them that if they conducted themselves well, their offered services might probably be accepted in the morning ; in the meanwhile, that they might carry up the canoes. They accordingly set off with the two canoes on their shoulders, accompanied by a guard of eight men well armed. Robert McClellan - 67 When arrived at the head of the falls, the mischievous spirit of the savages broke out, and they were on the point of destroying the canoes, doubtless with a view to impede the white men from carrying forward their goods, and laying them open to further pilfering, and it was with some difficulty they were prevented from committing this outrage by the guard and interference of an old man who appeared to have some authority among them. The whole of the band, with the exception of about fifty, then crossed over to the north side of the river. In the meantime, Mr. Stuart and McClellan, who had remained at the foot of the falls with the goods, and who knew that the proffered assistance of the savages was only for the purpose of having an opportunity to plunder, determined, if possible, to steal a march upon them, and defeat their intentions. Accordingly, at i o'clock in the night, the moon shining brightly, they roused the party, and Mr. Stuart went forward with the first loads and took his station at the head of the portage, while McClellan and John Reed remained at the foot to guard and forward the remainder. The day dawned before the transportation was completed. When some of the Indians who had remained on the south side of the river perceived what was going on, they gave the alarm to those on the opposite side ; upward of an hundred embarked in several large canoes, 68 - Pioneer Biography. and crossed over. No sconer did the canoes touch the shore than they leaped forward to secure their prize. McClellan, who was on the river bank, advanced to guard the goods, when one of the Indians attempted to hoodwink him with his buffalo robe with one hand, and stab him with his knife in the other. McClellan sprang back just far enough to avoid the blow, and raising his rifle shot the Indian through the heart. He fell dead. McClellan discharged a pistol at another Indian, and wounded him severely. In the meantime John Reed received a blow with a war-club that laid him senseless on the ground. In an instant he was stripped of his rifle and pistols, and of the tin case in which he carried the dispatches which had been confided to his care. At this juncture, Mr. Stuart, who had heard the war-whoop, hastened to the scene of action with Ben Jones and seven others of the men. When they arrived, Reed was weltering in his blood, and an Indian standing over him ready to dispatch him with a tomahawk. Stuart gave the word, when Ben Jones leveled his rifle, and shot the Indian on the spot. The men then gave a shout and charged upon the main body of the savages, who took to instant flight. Reed was now raised from the ground, and borne senseless and bleeding to the upper end of the portage. Preparations were made to launch the canoes, and in a Robert McClellan - 69 little while all were embarked, and were continuing their voyage along the southern shore of the river. They then dressed the wounds of Mr. Reed, who had received five severe gashes in the head, and proceeded to the establishment of Mr. Stuart, on the Oakinagan, where they remained several days. The important dispatches for New York having been irretrievably lost, the object of the overland journey was therefore defeated. McClellan and Reed, with the men intended to accompany them over the mountains, returned down the river, passing all the dangerous places without interruption, and arrived safely at Astoria. After their arrival at Astoria, a vessel was descried of the mouth of the Columbia river, which came to anchor outside the bar. McDougal, McClellan, and eight Canadians, embarked in a barge and went to the vessel, piloted her over the bar, and safely anchored her in Baker's bay. She proved to be the ship Beaver, which had sailed from New York on the loth of October, 1811, with supplies for the infant establishment at Astoria. At the Sandwich islands, having heard a rumor of the disastrous fate of the ship Tonquin, they were apprehensive that the settlement of Astoria had met a similar fate, and were cautious of running into the harbor, until assured by McClellan and those with him of the safety of the place. It was again concluded to forward dispatches to Mr. Astor, in place of those which had unfortunately been 70 - Pioneer Biography. lost by Mr. Reed, in order to give him an account of the condition of the establishment, that he might regulate his reinforcements and supplies accordingly. This mission was confided to Mr. Robert Stuart, and four trusty and well-tried men, who had come overland in Mr. Hunt's expedition, were assigned him as guides and hunters. These men were Ben Jones and John Day, the Kentuckians, and Andri Vallar and Francis LeClare, Canadians. Robert McClellan again expressed his determination to take this opportunity of returning to the Atlantic States, and Ramsay Crooks also concluded to accompany them. These men set out from Astoria on the 28th of June, 1812. After ascending the Columbia river about ninety miles, John Day, one of the hunters, became altogether insane, and was sent back to the main establishment, under the charge of some Indians. The remaining six pursued their voyage up the river, about six hundred miles, to the mouth of the Walla-Walla river, where they arrived on the 28th of July. Here they were to leave the river and pursue their perilous journey by land. On the next day a traffic was commenced to procure horses for the journey. Fifteen horses were purchased—some for the saddle and others to transport the baggage. A day or two were spent in arranging the packages and pack-saddles, and in making other preparations for their long and arduous journey. Robert McClellan - 71 On the morning of the 31st of July, all preparations being completed, the little party mounted their horses and set out. 'The course they took was to the southeast, toward the fatal region of the Snake river. At an immense distance rose a chain of craggy mountains, presenting an azure blue tint, which they would have to traverse. They were the same among which they had experienced such suffering from cold the preceding winter. They had not proceeded many days on these great wastes and wilds before they found themselves among naked hills, with a soil composed of sand and clay, baked and brittle, that to all appearance had never been visited by the dews of heaven, not a spring or pool or running stream was to be seen—a burning sky above their heads, a parched desert beneath their feet. Their sufferings from thirst became intense ; a fine young dog, their only companion of the kind, gave out and expired before they came to water to quench their thirst. On the 21st of August, they reached the banks of the Snake river, the scene of so many trials and mishaps which they had previously endured, and on the 29th of the month arrived at Caldron Linn, and found the caches made by Mr. Hunt the previous autumn, intending to take from them such articles as belonged to Mr. McClellan, Crooks, and the Canadians ; but to their disappointment six of them had been opened and rifled of their contents, except a few books which lay 72 - Pioneer Biography. scattered about the vicinity. They had the appearance of having been plundered in the course of the summer. There were tracks of wolves in every direction, to and from the holes, from which it was concluded that the wolves had been first attracted to the place by the smell of the skins contained in the caches, which they had probably torn up, and that their tracks had betrayed the secret to the Indians The three remaining caches had not been molested; they contained a few dry goods, some ammunition, and a number of beaver traps. From these the party took what they needed, and deposited in them all their superfluous baggage, and all the books and papers scattered around. The holes were then carefully closed up, and all traces of them effaced. On the 1st day of September, the party resumed their journey, bending their course eastwardly along the course of Snake river. Having spent a week wandering over barren wastes, where they suffered much from hunger, having to depend on a few fish from the streams, and now and then a little dried salmon, or a dog procured from some forlorn lodge of Shoshonees. On the 7th of the month, they left the banks of Snake river, and, crossing a mountain, came to a stream supposed to be Bear river. Up this river and its branches they kept for two or three days, supporting themselves precariously upon fish. On the 12th of the month, having encamped early, they sallied forth with their Robert McClellan - 73 fishing rods to angle for their supper. On returning, they discovered a number of Indians prowling about their camp, whom, to their infinite disgust, they perceived to be Crows. They soon found they were in a dangerous neighborhood. The Crow Indians behaved with the greatest insolence, and were only prevented from cutting off the whole party, by observing them well armed and constantly on their guard. The Indians, however, pursued their tracks and dogged the party for six days, until on the nineteenth day they succeeded in stealing and driving off every horse belonging to the party. Some idea of the situation of these men may be conceived when we take into consideration that they were now on foot in a wilderness, and had a journey of two thousand miles before them, fifteen hundred of which were entirely unknown, as they intended and prosecuted their route considerably south of that taken by Lewis and Clarke. The impossibility of carrying any considerable quantity of provisions in addition to their ammunition and blankets will occur at first view. The danger to be apprehended from starvation was imminent. They, however, put the best face on their prospects the matter would admit. Their first intention was to select from their baggage such articles as were indispensable for their journey, to make them up into convenient packs, and deposit the residue in caches. The whole day was consumed in 74 - Pioneer Biography. these occupations. At night they made a scanty meal of their remaining provisions, and lay down to sleep with heavy hearts. In the morning they were up and about at an early hour, and began to prepare their knapsacks for a march, while Ben Jones repaired to an old beaver trap which he had set in the river bank a short distance from the camp. He was rejoiced to find a beaver in his trap sufficient for a morning's meal for himself and hungry companions. On his way back to camp he observed two heads peering over the edge of an impending cliff several hundred feet high, which he at first supposed to be a couple of wolves. As he proceeded, he now and then cast his eyes up—the heads were still there, looking down with fixed and watchful gaze. A suspicion now flashed across his mind that they might be Indian scouts; and had they not been far above the reach of his rifle, he would doubtless have tested his suspicions by a shot. On arriving at the camp, he directed the attention of his comrades to what he had observed. The same idea was at first entertained, that they were wolves ; but their immovable position and watchfulness soon satisfied every one that they were Indians watching the movements of the party, to discover their place of concealment of such articles as they would be compelled to leave behind. There was no likelihood that the caches would escape the search of such keen eyes. The idea was intolerable that any booty should fall into Robert McClellan - 75 their hands ; therefore, to disappoint them, the travelers stripped the caches of the articles deposited there, and collected together everything that they could not carry away with them, made a bonfire of all that would burn, and threw the rest into the river. There was a forlorn satisfaction in thus balking the expectations of the Crow Indians, by the destruction of their own property, and having thus gratified their pique, they shouldered their packs about ten o'clock in the morning, and set out on their pedestrian wayfaring. The route they took was down along the banks of Mad river, which stream makes its way through the defiles of the mountains, into the plain below Henry's fort, where it terminates in Snake river. It was the hope of the party to meet with some encampment of Snake Indians on the plain, where they might procure a couple of horses to transport their baggage, in which case it was their intention to resume their eastern course across the mountains. After two days of toilsome travel, during which they had made but eighteen miles, they stopped on the 21st of the month to build two rafts on which to cross to the north side of the river. On these they embarked the following morning and pushed boldly from the shore. Finding the rafts sufficiently firm and steady to withstand the rough and rapid water, they changed their minds and instead of crossing, ventured to float down with the current. 76 - Pioneer Biography. In this way they kept down the river for three days, drifting with the current and encamping on the land at night, where they drew up their rafts on shore. Toward the evening of the third day, they came to a small island on which was a gang of elk. Ben Jones landed and was fortunate to wound one, which immediately took to the water, but being unable to stem the current, drifted above a mile, when it was overtaken and drawn to shore. They now encamped on the bank of the river, where they remained all the next day, sheltering themselves as well as they could, from a storm of cold rain, hail and snow, affording them a sharp foretaste of the approaching winter. During their encampment, they employed themselves in jerking the flesh cf the elk for future supply. They again embarked, and for three days more continued to navigate the river with their rafts. They had now floated down about ninety miles, when finding the mountains on the right diminish to moderate sized hills, they landed, and prepared to resume their journey on foot. Accordingly, having spent a day in preparations, making moccasins and parceling out their jerked meat, in packs of about twenty pounds to each man, they turned their backs upon the river, on the 29th of September, and struck off to the northeast, keeping along the southern skirt of the mountain on which Henry's fort was situated. Their march was slow and toilsome, part of the time Robert McClellan - 77 through an alluvial bottom, thickly overgrown with cottonwood, hawthorn, and willows, and part of the time over rough hills. Discovering by certain signs that they were on the border of the country infected by the Blackfeet Indians, a consultation was held as to their course; should they continue round the skirt of the mountain, they would be in danger of falling in with scattering parties of the Indians who were probably hunting on the plain. It was thought most advisable, therefore, to strike directly across the mountain, since the route, though rugged a- nd difficult, would be more secure. This counsel was indignantly derided by McClellan as pusillanimous. Hot headed and impatient at all times, he was now rendered more irascible by the fatigues of the journey, and the condition of his feet, which were chafed and sore. He could not endure the idea of encountering the difficulties of the mountain, and swore he would rather face all the Blackfeet in the country. He was overruled however, and the party began to ascend the mountain, striving with the ardor and emulation of young men who should be the first up. McClellan, who was double the age of some of his companions, soon began to lose breath and fall in the rear. In the distribution of burdens, it was his turn to carry the old beaver trap. Piqued and irritated, he suddenly came to a halt, swore he would not carry it any farther, and jerked it half way down the hill. He 78 - Pioneer Biography. was offered in place of it a package of dried meat, but this he scornfully threw upon the ground. They might carry it, he said, who needed it, for his part he could provide his daily food with his rifle. He concluded by turning off from the party, and keeping along the skirt of the mountain, leaving those, he said, to climb rocks who were afraid to face Indians. It was in vain Mr. Stuart represented to him the rashness of his conduct and the dangers to which he exposed himself. He rejected such counsel as craven. It was equally useless to represent the dangers to which he subjected his companions; as he could be discovered at a great distance on those naked plains, and the Indians, seeing him, would know that there must be other white men within reach. McClellan turned a deaf ear to every remonstrance, and kept on his willful way. It seems a strange instance of perverseness in this man, thus to fling himself off alone in a savage region, where solitude itself was dismal, but every encounter with his fellow-man was full of peril ; such, however, is the hardness of spirit and the insensibility to danger that grow upon men in the wilderness. McClellan, moreover, was a man of peculiar temperament, ungovernable in his will, of a courage that absolutely knew no fear, and somewhat of a braggart spirit that took a pride in doing desperate and hairbrained things. This was the 1st day of October. Mr. Stuart and his party pursued their course; when on the mountain Robert McClellan - 79 they descried McClellan at a distance in advance traversing the plain. Whether he saw them or not, he showed no disposition to rejoin them, but pursued his sullen and solitary way. The travelers were now in a dangerous neighborhood, where the report of a rifle might bring the savages upon them—they had to depend on their old beaver trap for subsistence. Their journey became more tiresome daily, and their sufferings more severe as they advanced. Scarcely any game came in their path, and hunger was added to their other sufferings. On the 11th of October, they encamped on a small stream near the foot of the Spanish river mountain. Here they met with traces of McClellan, who was still keeping ahead of them through those lonely mountains. He had encamped the night before on this scream. They found the embers of the fire by which he had slept, and the remains of a miserable wolf on which he had supped. It was evident he had suffered like themselves the pangs of hunger, though he had fared better at this encampment, for they had not a mouthful to eat. The next day the famishing wanderers resumed their march, and in the evening when they halted, perceived a large smoke at some distance to the southwest. The sight was hailed with joy, for they trusted it might rise from some Indian camp where they could procure something to eat, for the dread of starvation" had now 80 - Pioneer Biography. overcome the terror of the Blackfeet. LeClare, one of the Canadians, was dispatched to reconnoiter; but not returning they lay down supperless to sleep. At daybreak they resumed their journey, but had not gone far when they perceived LeClare approaching at a distance. They hastened to meet him in hopes of tidings of good cheer. He had none to give them, but news of that strange wanderer, McClellan. The smoke had risen from his encampment which had taken fire while he was a little distance from it fishing. LeClare found him in a forlorn condition. His fishing had been unsuccessful. During twelve days that he had been wandering alone through these savage mountains, he had found scarce anything to eat. He had been ill, wayworn, sick at heart, still he kept forward ; but now his stubbornness and strength were exhausted. He expressed his satisfaction at hearing that the rest of his party were so near, and said he would wait at his camp for their arrival, in hopes they would give him something to eat, for without food he declared he should not be able to proceed much further. When the party reached the place, they found McClellan lying on a parcel of withered grass wasted to a mere skeleton, and so feeble that he could scarcely raise his head to speak. The presence of his old comrades seemed to revive him ; but they had no food to give him, for they themselves were starving. They urged him to rise and Robert McClellan - 81 accompany them, but he shook his head. It was all in vain, he said, there was no prospect of their getting speedy relief, and without it he should perish by the way ; he might as well stay and die where he was. At length, after much persuasion, they got him upon his legs ; his rifle and other effects were shared among them, and he was cheered and aided forward. In this way they proceeded seventeen miles over a level plain of sand, until seeing a few antelopes in the distance, they encamped on the margin of a small stream. All those capable of exertion turned out to hunt, but returned without success. As they were preparing to lie down to sleep, LeClare, gaunt and wild with hunger, approached Mr. Stuart with his gun in his hand. " It was all in vain," he said, " to attempt to proceed further without food—they had a barren plain before them, three or four days' journey in extent, on which nothing was to be procured. They must all perish before they could get to the end of it. It was better, therefore, that one should die to save the rest." He proposed, therefore, that they should cast lots, adding, as an inducement for Mr. Stuart to assent to the proposition, that he, as leader of the party, should be exempted. Mr. Stuart was shocked at the horrible proposal, and endeavored to reason with the man, but his words were unavailing. At length, snatching up his rifle, he threatened to shoot him on the spot if he persisted in 82 - Pioneer Biography. the proposition. The man was cowed, begged pardon, and promised never again to offend by making such a suggestion. Quiet was restored to the encampment, but they spent a sleepless night. The next day, after traveling about nine miles, they discovered "an old, run-down buffalo bull," which they succeeded in killing. This seasonable supply stayed their hunger for a time. On the 18th of October, after crossing a mountain ridge and traversing a plain, they waded one of the branches of Spanish river, and, ascending its bank, met with about one hundred and thirty Snake Indians. They were friendly in their demeanor, conducted them to their encampment, made the hungry strangers welcome to their wigwams, and treated them with the utmost hospitality. A few trinkets procured for them a supply of buffalo meat and some leather for moccasins, of which the party were greatly in need. The most valuable prize obtained from them was a horse. It was a sorry old animal in truth, but it was the only one that remained to the poor fellows after the fell swoop which the Crows had made on them a few days previous. Yet this they were prevailed upon to part with to their guests for a pistol, an ax, a knife, and a few other trifling articles. By sunrise on the following morning, the 19th of October, the travelers had loaded their old horse with buffalo meat sufficient for five days' provisions, and Robert McClellan - 83 taking leave of their new allies, the poor but hospitable Snakes, set forth in somewhat better spirits, though the increasing cold of the weather, and the sight of the snowy mountains which they had yet to traverse, were enough to chill their very hearts. The snow, which had fallen in the night, made it late next morning before the party loaded their solitary pack-horse, and resumed their march. Their course was about southeast, having the main chain of mountains on the left, and a considerably elevated ridge on the right. In the evening they encamped on the banks of a small stream in an open prairie. The northeast wind was keen and cutting. They had nothing wherewith to make a fire but a scanty growth of sage or wormwood, and were fain to wrap themselves up in their blankets, and huddle themselves in their "nests" at an early. hour. In the course of the evening, McClellan, who had now regained his strength, killed a buffalo; but, as it was some distance from the camp, they postponed supplying themselves from the carcass until the following morning. The next day, the 21st of October, the cold continued, accompanied by snow. They set forward on their bleak and toilsome way, traversing rugged and sterile mountains, until the 26th of the month, when they came to a wooded ravine in a mountain, at a small distance from the base of which they discovered a stream of water running between willow banks. Here they halted 84 - Pioneer Biography. for the night, and having luckily trapped a beaver and killed two buffalo bulls, they remained all the next day encamped, feasting and reposing, and allowing their jaded horse to rest from his labors. The stream on which they encamped was one of the head waters of the Platte river, which flows into the Missouri. They pursued the course of this stream several days. The increasing rigor of the season, which makes itself felt in these regions, however, brought them to a pause and serious deliberation. All were convinced that it was in vain to attempt to accomplish their journey on foot at this inclement season. They had still many hundred miles to traverse before they could reach the main course of the Missouri river, and their route lay over immense prairies, naked and bleak, and destitute of fuel. The question was, where to choose their wintering place. On the 2d day of November, they came to a place that appeared to present everything requisite for their comfort. It was on a fine bend of the river, just below where it issued from among a ridge of mountains, and bent toward the northeast. Here was a beautiful low point of land covered with cotton-wood, and surrounded by a thick growth of willow, so as to yield both shelter and fuel, as well as materials for building. The river swept by, in a strong current, about one hundred and fifty yards wide. To the southeast and on the north, were mountains of moderate height, Robert McClellan - 85 the nearest about two miles off, covered with thick forests of pine, cedar, and other timber—their rocky recesses and butting cliffs affording retreats for flocks of the big-horn, while their woody summits and ravines abounded with bears and black-tailed deer. These, with the numerous herds of buffalo that ranged the lower grounds along the river, promised the travelers abundant cheer in their winter quarters. Here, therefore, they concluded to pitch their camp for the winter. Their first thought was to obtain a supply of provisions. For this purpose they sallied out to hunt, leaving but one to watch the camp. Their hunting was uncommonly successful; in the course of two days, they killed thirty-two buffaloes, and collected their meat on the margin of a small brook about a mile distant. Fortunately, a severe frost froze the river, so that the meat was easily transported to the encampment. On a succeeding day, a herd of buffalo came trampling through the woody bottom on the river bank, near their encampment, and fifteen more were killed. As the slaughter of so many buffalo had provided the party with meat for the winter, in case they met with no further supply, they now set to work, heart and hand, to build a comfortable cabin. Trees were cut down for the purpose, and by the second evening it was completed. It was eighteen feet long by eight feet wide. The walls were six feet high, and the whole covered by buffalo skins. The fireplace was in the center, and the smoke found its way out by a hole in the roof. 86 - Pioneer Biography. The hunters were next sent out to procure deer skins for garments, moccasins, and other purposes. They made the mountains echo with their rifles, and, in the course of two days' hunting, killed twenty-eight bighorns and black-tailed deer. The party being now abundantly provided for, enjoyed repose for several weeks, until one morning at daybreak, when they were startled by a savage yelp, repeated several times; cautiously peeping out, they beheld several Indian warriors among the trees, all armed and painted in warlike style. McClellan, who had taken his gun to pieces the evening before, put it together in all haste. He proposed that they should break out the clay from between the logs of the cabin, so as to be able to fire upon the enemy. Not a word was uttered by the rest of the party, but they silently slung their powder-horns and ball-pouches, and prepared for battle. It was suggested, however, that a parley ought first to be held, and Mr. Stuart and one Canadian went out; the rest remained in the garrison to keep the savages in check. Stuart advanced, holding his rifle in one hand and extending the other to the savage who appeared to be the chief. The Indian stepped forward and took it, his men followed his example, and all shook hands with Mr. Stuart in token of friendship. It now appeared they were a war party of Arapahays. Their village lay on a stream several days' journey to Robert McClellan - 87 the eastward. It had been attacked and ravaged during their absence by a band of Crows, who had carried off several of their women and most of their horses. They were now in pursuit in quest of vengeance. Mr. Stuart invited the chief and another, who appeared to be his lieutenant, into the hut, but made signs that no one else was to enter. The rest halted at the door; others came straggling up, until the whole party, to the number of twenty-three, were gathered before the hut. They were armed with bows and arrows, tomahawks and scalping knives, and some few with guns; all were painted and dressed for war, and had a wild and fierce appearance. The party of the Arapahays were liberally feasted by the white men during two days which they remained, and when prepared to depart were supplied with provisions to aid them on their way. However, their friendship being doubted, they were carefully watched during their stay. No sooner were they out of hearing than the luckless travelers held council together. They were between two fires. On one side were their old enemies, the Crows; on the other side, the Arapahays, no less dangerous freebooters. The security of their cabin was at an end, and with it all their dreams of a quiet and cosy winter. It was determined, therefore, not to await the return of the Arapahays, but to abandon, with all speed, this dangerous neighborhood. 88 - Pioneer Biography. Accordingly, on the 13th of December, they bade adieu, with many a regret, to their comfortable quarters, where, for five weeks, they had been indulging the sweet repose of plenty and fancied security, and resumed their toilsome journey. They were still accompanied by their venerable pack-horse, which the Arapahays had omitted to steal, probably because they did not think him worth stealing. The snow lay deep and was slightly frozen on the surface, but not sufficiently to bear their weight. Their feet became sore by breaking through the crust, and their limbs weary by floundering on without firm foothold, yet they kept steadily on for fourteen days, making a distance of about three hundred and thirty miles. During the three last days of their fortnight's travel, the face of the country changed. The timber gradually diminished, until they could scarcely find fuel enough to cook their scanty meals. The game grew more and more scarce, and finally none was to be seen but a few miserable, broken-down buffalo bulls not worth killing. The snow lay fifteen inches deep, which made the traveling grievously painful and toilsome. At length they came to an immense plain, where no vestige of timber was to be seen, nor a single living animal to enliven the desolate landscape. Here, then, their hearts failed them, and they held another consultation. The river on which they were, was upward of a mile wide, extremely shallow, and abounding in quick- Robert McClellan - 89 sands, which induced them to come to the correct conclusion that they were on the banks of the Platte, or shallow river. What were they to do? pursue its course to the Missouri? To go on at this season of the year seemed dangerous in the extreme. There was no prospect of obtaining either food or fuel. The weather was threatening a change; a snow-storm in these boundless wastes might prove fatal. After much dreary deliberation, it was at length determined to retrace their last three days' journey of seventy-seven miles, to a place where they had observed a sheltering growth of timber, and a country abounding in game. Accordingly, on the 27th day of December, they faced about, retraced their steps, and on the 3oth regained the part of the river in question. Here the alluvial bottom was from one to two miles wide and thickly covered with a forest of cotton-wood trees, some of which were large enough for canoes. Herds of buffalo were scattered about the neighboring prairie, several of which soon fell beneath their rifles. Here they put up a shed for immediate shelter, and afterward proceeded to erect a but for their more comfortable accommodation. They soon killed an abundance of buffalo, and again laid up a stock of winter provisions. The party Were more fortunate in this their second cantonment, than they had been in the former. The winter passed away without any Indian visitors, and 90 - Pioneer Biography. the game continued to be plentiful in the neighborhood, They felled two large trees, and shaped and dug them out into canoes ; and, as the spring opened and a thaw of several days' continuance melted the ice in the river, they made preparation for embarking. On the 8th of March, they launched forth in their canoes, but soon found that the river had not sufficient depth even for such slender barks. It expanded into a wide but extremely shallow stream, with many sandbars and occasionally various channels. They got one of their canoes a few miles down the river with extreme difficulty, sometimes wading and dragging it over the shoals. At length they had to abandon the attempt, and resume their journey on foot, aided by their faithful old pack-horse which had recruited strength during the repose of the winter. The weather, having suddenly become more severe than it had been at any time during the winter, delayed them a few days ; but on the loth of March, they were again on their journey. In two days they arrived at the vast naked prairie, the wintry aspect of which had caused them in December to pause and turn back. It was now clothed in the early verdure of spring and plentifully stocked with game. Still, as they were obliged to bivouac on the bare surface without any shelter, and by a scanty fire of dried buffalo dung, they found the night blasts piercing cold. On one occasion, a herd of buffalo straying near their evening camp, they Robert McClellan - 91 killed three of them merely for their hides, wherewith to make a shelter for the night. They continued on for upward of a hundred miles, with vast prairies extended before them as they advanced, sometimes diversified by undulating hills, but destitute of trees. In one place they saw a large gang of wild horses—but as to buffaloes, they seemed absolutely to cover the country. Wild geese abounded, and they passed extensive swamps that were alive with innumerable flocks of water-fowl, among which were a few swans and an endless variety of ducks. The first landmark by which the travelers were enabled to conjecture their position with any degree of confidence, was an island about seventy miles in length in the river, which they presumed to be Grand Island. If so, they were within one hundred and forty miles of the Missouri river. They therefore kept on with renewed spirit, and at the end of three days met with an Otto Indian, who conducted them to his village, situated a short distance from the banks of the Platte. Here they met with two white men, Messrs. Dornin and Roi, Indian traders, recently from St. Louis. Of these they had a thousand inquiries to make concerning all affairs, foreign and domestic, during their year of sepulture in the wilderness. From them they learned for the first time that war existed between the United States and England, although, in fact, it had existed for near a whole year, during which time they had been 92 - Pioneer Biography. beyond the reach of all knowledge of the affairs of the civilized world. They now prepared to abandon their weary travel by land, and to embark upon the water. A bargain was made with Mr. Dornin, who engaged to furnish them with a canoe and provisions for the voyage, in exchange for their venerable and well-tried fellow-traveler, the old Snake horse. Accordingly, in a couple of days the Indians employed by Mr. Dornin constructed for them a canoe twenty feet long, four feet wide, and eighteen inches deep. The frame was of poles and willow twigs, on which were stretched five elk and buffalo hides, sewed together with sinews, and the seams filled with unctuous mud. In this they embarked at an early hour on the 16th of April, and drifted down ten miles with the current, when, the wind being high, they encamped, and set to work to make oars, which they had not been able to procure at the Indian village. Once more afloat, they went merrily down the stream, and after making thirty-five miles emerged in the broad turbid current of the Missouri. Here they were borne along briskly by the rapid stream, though by the time their fragile bark had floated a couple of hundred miles, its frame began to show the effects of the voyage. Luckily they came to the deserted wintering place of a hunting party, where they found two old wooden canoes. Taking possession of the larger, they again Robert McClellan - 93 committed themselves to the current, and after dropping down fifty-five miles further they arrived safely at Fort Osage. Here they found Lieutenant Bronson still in command—the same officer who had given the expedition a hospitable reception on its way up the river. He received this remnant of the party with a cordial welcome, and endeavored in every way to promote their comfort and enjoyment during their sojourn at the fort. The greatest luxury they met with on their return to the abode of civilization was bread, not having tasted any for nearly a year. Their stay at Fort Osage was but short. On re-embarking, they were furnished with an ample supply of provisions by the kindness of Lieutenant Bronson, and performed the rest of their voyage without meeting with any adverse circumstances. On the 30th of April, 1813, they arrived in perfect health and spirits at St. Louis, having been ten months performing their toilsome and perilous expedition from Astoria. Their return caused quite a sensation in St. Louis. They brought the first intelligence of the fortune of Mr. Hunt and his party in their adventurous expedition across the Rocky mountains, and of the new establishment on the shores of the Pacific. On the 1st day of May, the day after their arrival at St. Louis, Robert McClellan wrote to his brother William, at Hamilton, Ohio, giving him an account of 94 - Pioneer Biography. his journey from the Pacific ocean, and by another letter dated Cape Girardeau, of July 14, 1814, he wrote that he had been furnished with a stock of goods by Risdon H. Price, of St. Louis, which he had opened at Cape Girardeau, in the month of January previous, where he had sold a great many goods, but principally on credit. He writes that his health had been very bad for several months (no doubt in consequence of his constitution being impaired by the extreme hardships to which he had been exposed), and that he was about closing his business with an intention of returning to St. Louis. The health of McClellan continued to decline until the time of his death, which happened sometime in the latter part of that year, at Cape Girardeau, where he lies buried. This closed all the adventures and wanderings of Robert McClellan. With a short notice of McClellan's brothers, we closes this narrative : John, the youngest of the three brothers, at the commencement of this narrative, remained at the paternal residence near Mercersburgh, and pursued the business of packing over the mountains, from the Conecocheague valley, to the Backwoods, as the country around Pittsburg and Red Stone Old Fort (Brownsville) was then called, until about the year 1800, when he came to the western country. Being a single man, he lived Robert McClellan - 95 with his brother William, who kept a house of entertainment in the town of Hamilton. John McClellan occasionally engaged in trading with the Indians ; taking goods, and such articles as were suitable for the Indian trade, on pack-horses from Hamilton to the Indian towns on the headwaters of the Wabash river, and other villages in the direction of Detroit. He pursued this business for several years. In the month of August, 1814, he loaded a number of pack-horses at Hamilton, with goods for the Indian trade, and set out on a trading expedition for the Indian towns on the headwaters of the Wabash. On the 13th of August, he left Greenville early in the morning, and pursued his route toward Fort Recovery. He was altogether alone. When he had advanced nine and a half miles beyond Greenville he was waylaid and shot by some Indians, who it is presumed had seen him at Greenville and watched his movements. Their object was the plunder of the goods he carried. They carried off his horses and goods, and were never heard of afterward. His body was not discovered until two or three days afterward, when it was found by some hunters and buried in the woods where he fell. John McClellan was in stature upward of six feet high, of great strength and muscular powers, but by no means endowed with the activity which his brother Robert possessed. In disposition he was mild and 96 - Pioneer Biography. accommodating. He would, intentionally, give offense to no human being. William, the oldest of the three brothers, continued in the employ of the quartermaster's department of the army as captain or pack-horse master, during the campaign of General Wayne against the Indians, and until after the treaty of peace concluded at Greenville, in August, 1795. Soon after this he married Miss Mary Sterret, of Mercersburgh, Pennsylvania, and settled in Hamilton, where he took possession of the building in Fort Hamilton, which had been erected for the accommodation of the officers of the army. The house stood near the center of High street, about where the west end of the market-house now is. It was a frame building, fifty feet long by twenty feet wide, and two stories high. It had a heavy stone chimney in the center of the building, which divided each story into two rooms, affording a fireplace in each room. On the west, even with the second story, was a porch or piazza the whole length of the building, from which was a fine view up and down the Miami river. On the north was a kitchen of logs, with a fine wide space or hall between the kitchen and the house. Here William McClellan lived and opened a tavern, which was the principal place of entertainment and resort of travelers in 'Hamilton for many years. The county of Butler having been established and Robert McClellan - 97 organized in the year 1803, William McClellan was elected sheriff of the county in October of that year, and at the expiration of two years was again elected for a second term, at the expiration of which, having served in the office four years, and being according to the constitution of the State of Ohio, ineligible to the same office, John Wingate was elected to succeed him in October, 1807. At the expiration of the term of two years of Mr. Wingate, Wm. McClellan again became a candidate in October, 1809, and was elected. At the expiration of his first term of two years, he was re-elected for a second term and served until October, 1813, making eight years which he had served as sheriff of Butler county. In the year 1811, he removed from the town of Hamilton, and settled on his farm, on Two-Mile creek, west of the Great Miami river and a mile northwest of Rossville. However, he still kept an office in Hamilton, and a deputy to attend to his business. After the expiration of his term of office as sheriff he remained in private life, employing himself in cultivating and attending to his farm and other domestic concerns, until the time of his death, which took place on the 2d of October, 1827. His body lies interred in the old Hamilton burying-ground, where a plain head-stone marks the spot in which his remains are deposited. William McClellan was sixty years old at the time of his death. 98 - Pioneer Biography. In person, William McClellan was about six feet in hight, sparely made, but muscular and active ; in his friendship he was warm and ardent ; in disposition, kind and accommodating, possessing a great portion of the milk of human kindness. None of his friends ever called on him for a favor, which was not granted, if possibly within his power. One peculiar trait of his character was, that he could never say no to any friend who solicited him for a favor. Hence he was one of the most popular men of his day in the county of Butler. His widow survived him several years—she died on the loth of November, 1842, aged 71 years, and lies buried beside her husband in the old Hamilton burying-ground. They had two sons and three daughters who inherited the estate. James, the oldest son, sold his possession, and moved to the State of Iowa in the year 1851. William, the younger son, owns the homestead and still lives. The daughters, Maria, Martha Ann, and Isabella, have married, and all gone with their husbands to live in the State of Indiana. Appendix—Captain William Wells - 99 APPENDIX. Captain, William Wells. Of Captain William Wells' birth and parentage we have no record. He was captured at the age of twelve years, when he was an inmate of the family of Hon. Nathaniel Pope, in Kentucky, by the Miami tribe, and going through the formal adoption, lived to manhood among them. His Indian name was Black Snake. He became quite an influential man among them, and married a sister of the celebrated chief Little Turtle. He fought by the side of his chief in the contests with Generals Harmar and St. Clair. " Afterward, in times of calm reflection, with dim memories still of his childhood home, of brothers and playmates, he seems to have been harassed with the thought that among the slain, by his own hand, may have been his kindred. The approach of Wayne's army, in 1794, stirred anew conflicting emotions, based upon indistinct recollections of early ties, of country and kindred on the one hand, and existing attachments of wife and children on the other. He resolved to make his history known. With true Indian characteristics the secret purpose of leaving his adopted nation was, according to reliable tradition, made known in this manner : Taking with him the war-chief, Little Turtle, to a favorite spot on the banks of the Maumee, Wells said : I now leave your nation for my