Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-05-11

Alexander Ross was beSet by
labor troubles. There was q wage
question, as represented by the
price paid for beaver fur. There
was, too, a juriSdictiOnal dispute
with reverse application; his Hr0-
quOiS hunters had not engaged to
shovel snow, but to trap. Since a
wilderness trapping party must be
ruled by discipline of almost mill
tary strictness, there was also
mutiny. And there was some plain,
pure ornerineSS.
Too, there was a new atmosphere in
wilderness commerce. The Hudson S
Bay Co. no longer held a feudal con-
troll of territory and servants in the
traditional manner, and his authority
could not be enforced as strongly as
it once had been. Ross knew that.
The Northwest Co. had won the de-
ciSiOn on the showdown at Winnipeg
lake. and to save itself the Hudson's
Bay Co. had invited a merger, with
the leaders Of the Northwest Co. in
the saddle.
Free Trappers Were Independent
And there was that new element
the American free trappers. They we're
q lusty, devil-may-care crew, independ-
ent as a beaver in midStream, owing
allegiance to no one but themselves.
and shifting that loyalty to another
group when they saw fit. Tt was these
Americans who had tainted the Hud-
sons Bay Co. servants with the idea
of higher prices for the furs they
caught.
Ross had to admit the Justice Of
the price contention. He had gone to
the Pacific coast at the beginning Of
the American fur era, following the
Lewis and Clark expedition, with
Astors crew. When the Northwest Co.
took ever AStor's outfit at the mouth
of the Columbia, Ross went with the
Canadians. Then he came to the Hud-
the American outlook. and, when 1t
became necessary, conceded that Hud-
sons Bay Co. prices were too low.
But Ross was a hard-headed fellow,
and with craft and bluff and schem-
ing he won through against mutiny
and labor troubles and adverse wealth (
er in He'll Gate canyon, near the pres
ent MiSsoula. back In the spring Of
1924.
Ross was at Fort Okanogan that /
winter, up the Columbia river. 1t was
far from the buffalo country, and the I
HudSons Bay Co. outfits in the west
were getting tired Of fish. They wanted /
some buffalo meat; Ross was ordered .
to proceed TO the buffalo country for
hunt and, incidentally, to bring In I
all the beaver he could.
He started Feb. IL, 1924, from Occur
d'Alene lake with II Hudsons Bay Co. 4
trappers, mostly Iroquois Indians and .
half-breedS who had drifted west IN .
the company's employ, a few Canadi-
ans, like Pierre and Goddin and Syl-
vaille-au good men; and 43 free trap
pers who Joined up for companionship
and protection. The company had 206
traps, 81 guns, a large brass cannon
and $50 horses. Besides the men there
were q number Of Indian women and
children, for trapping expeditions took
along whole families, much as the In
dams travelled.
Entering the Flathead country, now
western Montana, the expedition en-
countered large bands Of Spanish
ponies, claimed by the Flatheads.
Passing travellers were welcome to help
themselves to as many horses as were
needed, but unless they left behind
four beaver skins for each horse taken,
the Flatheads would follow, and there
would be a battle.
Snow, lots Of it In the air and plenty
deep on the ground, was encountered
near the mountains.
IroquOls Hunters Desert
One morning Ross arose to find his
mounted In hurry and soon overlook
them on the backtrack. He demanded
their complaint. They replied the price
the HudSon'S Bay Co. allowed them
for flrS was insignificant in the face
of exorbitant prices they had to pay
the company for goods; on the exist
ing basis they were never able to get
out of debt, much less make any money ,
for themselves. They would no longer ,,
risk their lives for the company's
profit.
General Ashleys free trappers, some I
Of whom were with Ross, and Pierre
Chouteau's men from st. Louis had I
penetrated the mountains In the past I
dozen years, contracting the Indian I
tribes and meeting the servants Of the 5
Hudsons Bay Co. They had pro-
claimed the fact that American fur {
buyers paid trappers IS for beaver
peltS, where the HudSon's Bay Co.
paid only 81 TO 50, and sometimes less.
Ross acknowledged this.