Aside from its historical value, Ross’s _Adventures_ possesses abundant interest for all who are stirred by clearly-delineated accounts of life in the great silent places of earth. Our author has a graphic touch: dangers from Indian treachery, perils of the forests and the waterways, thrilling escapes of every sort, lose nothing under his pen; wilderness life is vividly portrayed—the sharp contrasts between civilization and savagery, the obstacles which beset man’s progress through the vast solitudes of the North-west, the forbidding aspects as well as the beauties of primeval nature; all these are presented with force and not seldom with charm. Assistance in annotating this volume has been received from Louise Phelps Kellogg, Ph. D., and Edith Kathryn Lyle, Ph. D. R. G. T. MADISON, WIS., August, 1904. ALEXANDER ROSS’S ADVENTURES OF THE FIRST SETTLERS ON THE OREGON OR COLUMBIA RIVER Reprint of the original edition (London, 1849) [Illustration: MAP OF THE COLUMBIA.] ADVENTURES OF THE FIRST SETTLERS ON THE OREGON OR COLUMBIA RIVER: BEING A NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION FITTED OUT BY JOHN JACOB ASTOR, TO ESTABLISH THE “PACIFIC FUR COMPANY;” WITH AN ACCOUNT OF SOME INDIAN TRIBES ON THE COAST OF THE PACIFIC. BY ALEXANDER ROSS, ONE OF THE ADVENTURERS. LONDON: SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. 1849. PREFACE Having been one of the first commercial adventurers to the Columbia River, and having spent fifteen years of my life travelling among the savage tribes west of the Rocky Mountains, I was induced, from time to time, to note down such incidents and opinions, illustrative of savage life and manners, as appeared to me either new or interesting. To the characteristic details of Indian life, I have added that of personal adventure, the trials and misfortunes which the first adventurers had to undergo among the Indians in that quarter; connecting therewith an account of the trade and commerce of the country during the early days of that bold spirit which animated the first explorers of the Columbia. These different subjects have been arranged and {iv} linked together in their natural order, so as to form one complete narrative, embodying the history of “the Pacific Fur Company.”