Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-03-30

all the clever CnakS tIlaL followed
Came a dozen men together, carin
naught for any desert fears
Tracked me by the camps I'd quilted
used the waterholes I'd followed
Clever chaps that did the writing
They'll be called the Pioneers.
Kipling's lines were written abou
the pioneers who braved the African
bush, but they might have been writ
ten for Jacques Finlay; he was lone
traveller, and the honor did go tx
clever chaps who did the writing"
Fortunately, the clever chaps who
did the writing have given us con-
siderable information about Jacques
Finlay, although they called him ev-
erything but Jacques. In the records
Of David Thompson, Alexander Ross
and others who left journals of north
western travels, Jacques is called vari-
ously Jacquot. Jacko, Jocco, Jaccot-
but seldom Jacques.
Son of First Family"
Jacques Finlay was a member, on
his fathers side of one of the first
I families to engage in fur trade in the
/ far northwest James Finlay ST., was
! one of the founders of the famous
/ Northwest company of Montreal.
Jacques Finlays brother, James Jr.,
followed his father into the official
dom of the fur companies; but in
Jacques the Indian blood prevailed and
he went into the wilderness as a free
trapper Sometimes he was under
commission from one Of the big fur
companies, but more often he trapped
and traded on his own. Those Of his
contemporaries who have mentioned
Jacques in their writings have praised
his abilities.
Little is known of Finlay's early life.
He was born somewhere in the north
west in 1868, probably of a Chippewa
"Sauteur," misspelling Of "Salteur,"
the French name for the Chippewas.
jacques Finlay's first appearance on
history's stage occurred In 1913, when
he was 80 years old, factor in charge
of fort in Saskatchewan. John NC
Donald of Garth, famous ancestor Of
Montana'S Angus Mcdonald of Salish
House, mentions Jacques in his rem
iniscences of that year. Mcdonald
wrote:
1.-THE settlement upon the Bow river
having been attacked by the Missouri
Indians, they killed all the men, pill
LACED all the goods in the Hudson's
Bay fort, excepting one person, a clerk
who hid himself In the cellar amongst
some rubbish; and then attacked our
fort They were beaten off and several
killed. Our fort was in charge of one
Jaccot Finlayi a man of courage"
Tfis same incident was recorded by
another writer, who said.
1.-THE Hudson's Bay Co. had fort
In the same neighborhood which was
first attacked by about $50 Indians
on horseback; and the few people who
were in it, excepting one man, who
secreted himself, were killed: After
they had taken out Of the fort all
the property which they could con-
set fire to the fort, and proceeded 10
the establishment Of the Northwest
Co., which was 200 rods distant from
that of the Hudson's Bay people, with
the intention of treating 1t in the
same manner. The fort gates, provi-
dentially. had been shut previously to
the approach of the Indians. There
we're in the fort three men and several
women and children. They took their
stations in the blockhouseS and bas-
lions, and when the natives had come
sufficiently near, fired upon them. The
Indians instantly returned the fire,
and the contest continued until night
approached"
Jacques Finlay was the unsung hero
of this attack upon the fur forts. The
Missouri Indians" were probably the
Blackfeet, who warred for generations
against the establishment Of trading
posts in what they considered their
private hunting preserve. The featS OF
sheer daring and heroism performed
by the employees Of the early fur com
panies were equal to, and probably
surpassed anything done by John
Bozeman, General Custer and other
comparative latecomers, but there was
seldom anyone on the spot to record
the doings of the Jacques FinlayS and
the Henri Gareaus.
In the records Of the first North
West Co., the organization OF 1899,
Jacques Finlay is listed as an employe,
at a salary of 1900 liveres. A hvere
small yearly stipend made him one
of the best paid members Of the fur
company staff OF course the COM
panies had never heard of the Wagner
act and 1t Is a source of eternal won
der how they secured men to risk the
dangers and hardshipS of the frontier
for the meager salaries offered.
Was ThompsOn's Assistant
Jacques Finlay Is also listed as an
employe of the second Northwest Co.,
as a clerk at Fort DIES Prairies.
From 1900 to 1905 Jacques was an
assistant to the great David Thompson,
of his wilderness trips. Finlay also
made expeditions of his own in the
wild trading country, but where he
went is a mystery He was free trap
per some of the time and did not re-
veal the sources of his furs to rivals.
This secrecy on the part of the trap
pers has shrouded the early history OF
the northwest in mystery.
In 1906 Finlay crossed the Rocky
mountains to the upper Columbia river
and there built a canoe which was
used a year later by David Thompson.
It is probable that Finlay had crossed
the mountains before this, using
Howe's pass into the Flathead country.
This was a particularly dangerous
route, for the Blackfeet guarded 1t
jealously. Their enemies, the Salish
and the Kootenais, lived In the west
beyond the pass, and the Blaclfeet
were interested in preventing guns or
ammunition from reaching these tribes.
Arms and ammunition we're always
carried in the trade goods of the fur
company men and so the Blackfeet
sought to stop the traders from going
farther west.
Jacques was David Thompson's