, 1890-11-06
OLD KUAfRUML YS GRAND
SON.


SON.
a recent issue OF the Kettle Falls
Pioneer gave an interesting sketch
of the early operations of the Hud-
son Bay Fur Company, including n
brief account of the romantic and
adventurous career of Ranold Mac
donald son of one of the ounders
of Astoria. The article speaks Of
the "royal" ancestry of Mr.. Mac
donald, he being n grandson of old
Kumkumly, the most powerful and
influential chief in the entire Co
lumbia river region. This recalls
the history of the alliance that
brought about the old warriors
friendship for the whites.
Soon after the establishment by
John Jacob Astor of his fur trading
post at Astoria, in 1911, Macdonald
astonished his associates by an
nouncing that he had determined
to wed the daughter Of old Kum-
kumly, the one-eyed chief who
dwelt with his people in
II large village across the
Columbia from Astoria. This de-
termination, he explained, was for
diplomatic reasons, the intention
being to cement the bonds of friend
ship between the Indians and the
whites Old Kumkumly was en-
ceedingly vain of the alliance and
the distinction 1t heaped upon his
house. When the day for the we'd
ding dawned, a mighty throng of
natives came across the river in
canoes. The bride was all decked
in Indian fashion for the nuptials,
her trousseau consisting largely of
bears grease; but the bridegroom
objected to that, and she was taken
out and introduced to pail of soft
soap and tub of Columbia river
water. much to the disappointment
Of the bridesmaids. The wedding
was followed by a great feast, pro-
tracted for two or three days, and
terminating only after all the viands
had been consumed.
The wisdom of this political al
lance was verified by time, but
its full advantages were lost to the
Astor company. Old Kumkumly
was loyal to the whites, and when,
the following year, war was de-
clared between Great Britain
and the United States, and British
vessel appeared outside the Column
bla bar in the interest of the North
western Fur Company, the brave
old chief rallied his warriors and
presented himself to his son-in-law
to fight the British, but Macdon-
aid was Scotchman, and loved the
lion above the eagle. He was for
capitulation, not for fighting, great
ly to the indignation of his father
in-law, who knew the tortuous ma
ture of the passage, and was aware
that the British vessel could never
work her way up to Astoria with
out apllot, and could not possibly
send an effective force against the
fort, and who was, therefore, In for
fighting King Georges men. Some
time after that, old Kumkumly,
with woful shake of the
head, declared that his daughter
had made q great mistake in not
marrying q fighting man.
The world knows the sequel. The
Astor company was surrendered to
the northwestern for tithe of it's
value, and the latter in turn passed
to the control of the Hudson Bay
Company. But even the latter,
powerful and influential as it was,
could not resist the encroachments
of the American settlers who poured
out of the Middle West, brin ging
with them their wives and children,
their rude household gods, and
flinging to the free breeze those
beautiful colors that were ignomin-
icusly lowered when Astoria fell
into the hands of the British.