“I am exceedingly desirous no exertion should be spared to have means of our own for our expedition, and shall much prefer to be in condition to extend aid than to be obliged to receive aid from others. Whilst we will gratefully receive aid from the company in case of necessity, let it be our determination to have within ourselves the means of the most complete efficacy. I am more and more convinced that in our operations we should be self-dependent, and whilst we exchange courtesies and hospitalities with the Hudson Bay Company, the people and the Indians of the Territory should see that we have all the elements of success in our hands. The Indians must look to us for protection and counsel. They must see that we are their true friends, and be taught not to look, as they have been accustomed to, to the Hudson Bay Company. I am so impressed with this fact that I wish no Indian presents to be procured from British posts. I am determined, in my intercourse with the Indians, to break up the ascendency of the Hudson Bay Company, and permit no authority or sanction to come between the Indians and the officers of this government.”
The Hudson Bay Company still held trading-posts in the new Territory at Steilacoom, Vancouver, Walla Walla, and Colville, and claimed extensive but ill-defined rights and possessions, and its officers lost no opportunity to cultivate the goodwill of Governor Stevens, hoping to win his favoring view, if not support, of their claims.
Lieutenants Donelson and Mullan, with part of the sappers, were sent to St. Louis to prepare the supplies, etc., for ascending the Missouri to Fort Union. Governor Stevens had already ascertained by correspondence the character of the river boats at St. Louis and at Pittsburg, and the cost of purchasing or chartering them, but was unable to find one of sufficiently light draught and power, and therefore decided to send the party by the American Fur Company’s boat.
Captain Gardiner was dispatched to St. Paul to select the dragoon detachment, establish a camp, and make preliminary arrangements for starting the main party afield as early as possible. The civil engineers, Lander and Tinkham, were also sent to the same point to examine the crossings of the Mississippi and their approaches.
Lieutenant Grover, as assistant quartermaster and commissary of the expedition, was also sent to St. Louis, assisted by a civilian employee, to procure supplies and forward them to St. Paul. Lieutenant Du Barry was directed to push on beyond St. Paul to Pembina to procure guides.
The most detailed and careful instructions were furnished all these officers; requisitions and arrangements made with the officers of the army administrative branches in Washington, St. Louis, St. Paul, San Francisco, and Vancouver for the outfit and supply of the different parties; all existing information in the way of maps, reports, etc., was copied and furnished, and full instructions for the making and preservation of natural history collections, and for the astronomical and meteorological observations were prepared and printed, and placed in the hands of all those having charge of those branches.
The very full, carefully considered, and complete instructions given these various officers by Governor Stevens would fill two hundred pages. They are not only a remarkable monument of industry, but show a complete grasp and mastery of the whole field, great foresight of the conditions and difficulties to be encountered, and are remarkably clear and precise in stating the objects to be obtained, but leave much to the judgment of the officer addressed in the ways and means of attaining them.
Not content with omnivorously devouring all the books, reports, and maps upon the field of operations, and seeking information by correspondence with the officers of the Hudson Bay Company and citizens of Oregon and Washington, Governor Stevens procured and studied all the available works on the steppes of Russia and Asia, as throwing light upon the formation and characteristics of the great plains.
During these four weeks the Third Street house was filled with clerks and draughtsmen, hard at work on instructions, requisitions, maps, etc., with officers and civil employees conferring as to their duties and making preparations, and with many others anxious to accompany the expedition and seeking positions upon it; and was crammed from garret to cellar with books, maps, papers, instruments, arms, and other paraphernalia incident to such an undertaking. Professor Baird took the greatest interest in the scientific collections, preparing rules, and getting up panniers and apparatus, and made that feature so important that Governor Stevens was impelled to say, “I want you to understand, Professor Baird, that my exploration is something more than a natural-history expedition.” The fitting out of the expedition attracted much attention in Washington, and the parlors were filled every evening with gentlemen connected with or interested in it. Among them was Fred. W. Lander, a tall, athletic young man, confident in bearing, frank and ready in conversation, and fond of relating the adventurous experiences and escapes, especially with horses, into which his daring not to say reckless disposition often led him. Lieutenant George B. McClellan, afterwards the well-known commander of the Army of the Potomac, was of charming manners and personality. On being asked how he liked being under Governor Stevens, he replied, “At any rate, I shall serve under a man of brains.” Lieutenants Saxton and Grover rose to be major-generals in the Civil War. General Joseph Lane, who represented Oregon in Congress, was a frequent caller. He was a man of native grace and dignity of manner and fine character,—one of nature’s noblemen.
The energy and capacity for effective work displayed by Governor Stevens during this time astonished his friends. His labors with the pen alone were enough to fully occupy any man. Besides this, he was incessantly engaged in consultations, conferences, and interviews with the subordinates and others, and was embracing every opportunity of talking with men who had experience on the plains or the Pacific coast. George Stevens declared that no human being could stand such a strain, and on another occasion exclaimed, “The major is crazy, actually crazy, or he never could work as he does!”