The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-09-03
TREASURE STATE FARM AND LIVESTOCK
THE STAR MAN

Continued from Feature Page)
lake in 1910. The Hudson's Bay
Company did not try to do any more
fur trading west of the Rockies until
ten years later.
Alexander Ross
With refernce to Joseph Howse,
there is another record to be taken
into account. Alexander Ross was
one Of the clerks in the employ of the
Astor Company and assisted in the
building of Fort Astoria. At the
time the Astor interests sold ont.
Ross joined the Northwest Company
and became one of their clerks.
When, in 1921, the Northwest Com
pany was absorbed, he became asso-
ciated with the Hudson's Bay Com
pany. Ross has written two books
'FiFst Settlers on the Columbia Ri
ver," and "The Fur Hunters of the
Far West" He kept journals. These
books, written and published in lat
er years, and based upon his own
journals.
The Snake River Expedition
Alexander Ross was employed by
the Hudson's Bay Company to con-
duct the Snake River Expedition in
the winter Of 1823-24. He organized
this expedition at Flathead Post, or
Saleesh House. The Hudson's Bay
Company did not use the word
house" as did the Northwest Com
pany; they called their establish
ments posts or "forts". This ex-
petition was composed Of quite a
large company, fifty or sixty men
and three hundred or more horses.
They followed the old trail up the
Bitter Root, over to the Big Hole on
the Missouri, TIM over to the Salmon
River and spent the winter, return
ing the following year. When Mr..
Ross was ascending JockO Creek, he
wrote in his journal that he passed
the day through the remains of the
only trading post ever established
west of the Rockies by the Hudson's
Bay Company by Joseph Howse in
1910. He said that this was the only
effort the Hudson's Bay Company
made which is accurate. Alexander
Ross books are considered good au.
thority. That remark would indi
cate that Joseph Howse wintere6
near what is now the town of Raval
Ii. This is explained in this way:
Very often there were out-posts
and with the main establishment a
Ashley Greek Howse may have sem
a clerk nearer to the Saleesh CamI
to do trading there. Thus we FIND
there is little contradiction between
the Arrowsmith map and the record
of Alexander Ross, which can be ex
planned in the manner indicated. II
any event, Howse could not have
missed seeing the lake.
; These are reliable records havin,
I to do with the early visits of whitG
: men to Flathead lake before 1912
: the date of David Thompson's nara
[ tive, herinabove mentioned and quot
. ed. 1t is possible that Thompson
saw the lake at an earlier date, AM
= this fact, MI. Tyrell hopes to deter
: mine in present Investigations.
Who vas the first to see Flatheat
Lake? That, we do not know; blu
we do know that Finnan Macdonald
? and James Mcmillan wintered on tn
Kootenai in 10000, and that the.
had time to scout around among tn
Indian tribes. It is quite certain
= that one or both of them were o
+ Pend d'Oreille Lake. They were i
\ the country to scout for trade an
were both intelligent men, and the
! may have viewed Flathead Lake, bu
we have no written record Of such.
In 1S09-1O David Thmopson spen
the winter with Finnan Macdonald
his clerk, at Saleesh House, O
Thompson's Prairie, and when b
! went East in April of 1910 he in
structed Macdonald to summer an
ong the Flatheads, to go with the1
on their buffalo hunt. MACEDONIA
y actually Joined in a fight with tn
Blackfeet and Ross Cox tells tn
n story. He would not have scoute
around all summer in 1910 withoU
seeing Flathead Lake. At least,
hardly seems possible.