New-York tribune., 1902-03-29

Chiftenden Three volumes. octave PIP 49,
is2. viii iS5-Ss2. S9}-l o2a. Francis +. mar pei
Those ,braa substantial volumes give more
minute comprehensive and well ordered account
than has ever been attempted before OF one OF
the most influential factors in the exploration
and development Of the Far West The traders
and trappers engaged in the fur trace were the
real pathnnders and not those later oihcla! eN-
piorers whom posterity 50 recognizes says zap
tain ,-aitreneen and his work goes far 10 up
hold the Justice Of hts contention. II Is DOOR
Of great research IN widely scattered sources,
for much Of the published material concerning
This subject IS difficult Of access, and many
original documents have never been made pub
lie Captain Chittenden has utilized them al
with discrimination and judgment. HIS account
of the larger forces that moulded events IN the
Far West as well as Of the details OF various
trading companies and ventures. Is fun and
complete. leaving little apparently to be said
upon the subject.
The fur trade. as late as sixty years ago. was
almost the only business transacted west Of the
Mississippi River. St Louis was. and still Is,
its centre and its supremacy. which Captain
Chittenden points out a fact Of which Few
Of its citizens are cognizant. is even greater
to-day than IT then The Indian was the
most important single factor in the fur trade
The gov ernments first method Of dealing with
him was through a system of trading In fac
1DTleS.
as Captain Chittenden puts it, had not the cour-
age Of its convictions and. instead Of keeping
the field for Itself granted rights 10 private IN
dividuals 10 trade with the Indians. looming
is own system at once 10 destruction and open
ing the way for the iQfames that have resulted
in the Century OF Dishonor.' Private enter
prise planted the heart Of the wilderness with
"forts"-in ls43 there We're in the country trih-
utary 10 81. Louis no fewer than 100 Of these
Of a
tionalites-American. French and Spanish The
French were especially important in the early
fur trade-at least four-fifths Of the lower
grades Of employees were Of this nationality
They were sharply contrasted in character with
the Americans:
The voyaEeur had a light and buoyant vein
in his na ture which was totally wanting in the
American He was always singing at his work;
laughing and Joking with his companions. ana
cheerful and happy IN his manner HIS WlnIg-
ness To toll his toIryIaceut endurance OF the
most prodigioUs lahors. and his long acquires
cenCe in the most scauty provision for foou
and shelter made him the cheerful slave OF the
fur trade. II would nave beeh lllll'.sslDte 10
have eXtorted similar ser vice from an American.
AS general thing. his field OF work was more
upon the water than upon the land II was ne
who cordeIed the keelboat up the long course
OF the Missouri and performed the arduous la
bors connected with the navigation OF that
most stubborn stream. The Noyageur
MAS beyond comparison the most interesting and
picturesque personality in the trapping fra
iernitv-n7ild in disposition. mercurial in tenn
per, obedient. willing and COntented, ever ready
r. undergo the most severe hardships and alto
eether a most useful and Indispensable charac-
ter in the business of the fur trade
The American lacked this vivacious and happy
temperament and was less compliant under au-
thority. But in dangerous emergencies, in ar
duous undertakings. he the superior
The distinctively American development of the
fur trade was the work OF John Jacob Astor,
though the great English corporations. the Hud-
the Mackinaw Company. and number Of st.
Louis traders, had already been exploiting
American soil The Louisiana Purchase at
stroke vastly increased the possibilities open to
Americans in the trade. In 1S0S Astor incor-
porated the American Fur Company. and elab-
Grated plans, that had the approval OF the gov
eminent, for a settlement the mouth OF
the Columbia. from which trade TO be prose
cuted in al directions The exciting story and
disastrous end Of the Astoria project have been
told by Washington Irving-the historical
curacy Of whose work is considered by Captain
Chttenden 10 be level with It's merit
literature. The result OF his studies has been
10 cause him growing astonishment' TO find
with what detail Irving had worked out his
theme. and with what judicial fairness he had
passed Judgment upon actors and events" and
his history of Captain Bonneville is equally re-
Inarkable for lis accuracy Of detail and compre
hensve treatment. When the English Captain
Black landed and took possession OF the Ameri-
can settlement, he had done. says the historian.
what no British sailor had ever done before-"in
taking possession Of this port he had saved an
empire 10 mis- country It is no flight of fancy
10 say that if Mr Astor's fur trading enterprise
at Astoria had succeeded the course of empire
on the American continent would have been
altogether different:
With the valley of the Columbia and the
neighboring shores Of the Pacific occupied by
American citizens instead Of British subjects
during the period of controversy the Ore
gon question. 40 part Of the Pacific Coast line
would row belong TO Great Britain.
IN 1872 another corporation was formed in St
Louis for Western fur trapping, the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company. which in its brief ex-
istence Of twelve years. did a great work in
opening TO the knowledge Of Eastern civilization
one Of the richest fur sections Of the West and
performing daring explorations full Of romantic
adventure. Its made known the country
around the sources OF The Platte and Yellow
stone and around the Great Salt Lake; this lake
they discovered and they were the first, after
one lone adventurer, Golfer, 10 enter the Yellow
stone wonderland the first 10 cross the Sierras
and the deserts Of Utah and Nevada, and the
first 70 travel by land up the Pacific Coast from
San Francisco 70 the Columbia. Mr.. Astor's
American Fur Company-thst fiction intended
70 broaden and facilitate his Operations'-made
few brilliant strokes OF policy. but rather made
sure and well fortified steps in progress leaving
10 its more adventurous rivals the breaking Of
ground in new and dangerous territory. II was
the great power Of the day in the West; it had
no allies il was the counterpart Of the present
day octCpus,' knowing and practising all the
familiar devices Of the lobby and Of the free
pass. II knew. too, the advantage Of promoting
emil -rtrfca rF~as