Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-10-27
A TREMENDOUS TRAMP.
Who Travelled on Foot from New York
to St. PeteEsburv.

cal Society, the subject under discussion wa
the adventures OF Russell Farnum, who wa
identified with the early history Of st. Loui:
| and the northwest. He was man ABOUT whom
| many newspaper items have been written, but O
| whose career little definite is known, especial,
his trip overland via Behring's straits from the
United States, through Siberia, and thence to
Paris, London, and back to New York, in the
interest Of John Jacob Aston. who was at the
time head of fur company doing business or
| the upper Mississippi aad Hudson's bay.
Col. Russell Farnum, native of New Hamp.
shire, had been clerk in the employ of John
Jacob Aston, of New York. for time, and was
dispatched by him to visit his employees and
agents in the Indian country of the west, and
with the aid of the late Wilson p Hunt. to
transact business as his agent. as his business
and interests required. Farnum soon became
well known in st. Louis, and at the commence
ment of the war of 1912 with Great Britain was
on a business excursion near Lake of the
Woods. Having finished his business, as fall
approached he struck boldly across the country
for Prairie du Chen. When he reached the
| river at that point, he was arrested by United
States officer and party of soldiers as Brit
ish spy, and brought to st. Louis under de-
grading circumstances; but when he arrived,
the boat was surrounded by crowd of his ex-
cited friends. and he was taken to his old
quarters before the officer could secure his
boat. The officer was greatly mortified at his
conduct toward his prisoner when he learned
who Farnum was. and returned his journal and
other papers at once.
After consultation with his friends, Gen.
Clarke and Mr. Hunt, Farnum started alone with
his dog and gun to carry messages to trading
posts up the Missouri river and at Astoria on
the Pacific coast. The exact date OF his depar-
ture and arrival at different points of his long
journey were carefully noted by him, as well as
the remarkable incidents and observations on
n 70 In ROLL mol 60
publication. and was placed in the hands of a
publisher in New York who failed and died sew
eral years before Col. Farnum, and he was never
after able to recover the journal or learn it's fate.
Having at length overcome the great barrier
the Columbia, and. leaving the inbound rivers
behind, meditated taking more easy and
speedy mode of travelling to complete his jour
ney. But while he sat on log near the river
meditatfng the best means of accomplishing his
object. his dog. lying at little distance jumped
up, and, running between his legs, manifested
great ALARM when Col. Farnum, turning his
eyes to the river, saw five canoes filled with In
dians glide by like an arrow. Their hostile ap-
pearance determined him to continue his Jour
ney in the same safe way in which he had
accomplished the most difficult and dangerous
part of it in safety, and, in pursuance of
this resolution, he reached Astoria in per-
feet health and delivered his dispatches
in safety. When Col Farnum had suf-
fciently recuperated to justify a further
effort, he undertook the overland Journey
to st. Petersburg, Russia, taking with him
documents for the Hudson Bay company. He
walked up the Pacific coast to Kamtschatka. still
carrying his gun and accompanied by his dog.
and arrived at Behring's Strait in the winter of
lSl3-14 and crossed it on the ice. Entering
Siberia he proceeded across the eastern CONT
nent to St Petersburg. where, introducing HIM
self to the American consul at the Russian court.
he was presented to Emperor Alexander as the
bold American who had travelled by land across
both continents. He was received with great
consideration and kindness and was forwarded,
without solicitation, as far as Paris on his home
ward journey. He was received in st.
Louis on his return with great demonstra-
tions. In 1880 Col. Farnum married
the second daughter of Charles BOsseron. She
survived him but a few years. leaving an infant
son, who lived to the age Of eighteen and died
OF pulmonary disease. He died of cholera in
1882, never having rewritten his journal. y
His sudden death leaves only his friends to write
OF his adventures from recollection, without the
aid of relations or documents of any kind except
the public journals of that day.