[281] Fort George, situated at the confluence of the Nechaco with the Fraser, was built by Simon Fraser in the autumn of 1807, and named in honor of the reigning English monarch. Hugh Faries was the first officer in charge. The fort stood in the midst of a hunting country, and was noted for its fine furs. A Hudson’s Bay Company post is still maintained at this place.—Ed.
[282] Father de Smet ascended first the Nechaco to the embouchment of Stuart River, then up that stream—whose native name is Nakasley or Na’kaztle—to Stuart Lake, where is situated the capital of New Caledonia, Fort St. James. See Farnham’s Travels, ante, p. 58, note 77.—Ed.
[283] The mission at Fort St. James received no further visit after that of Father de Smet’s successor, Father Nobili (1847), for twenty-one years. In 1868 the order of Oblates sent two missioners thither who were at the fort in the early summer, and soon after founded a permanent mission thereat, of which Father Adrian G. Morice was for many years the head. See his History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, pp. 326-336.—Ed.
[284] The Chilcotin are one of the four tribes of Western Déné, occupying the valley of the river bearing their name. They are nearly related to the Carrier in their customs and modes of life; but have always been more turbulent, and difficult to control. The Hudson’s Bay Company built a fort among them which was later abandoned because of the untrustworthy character of the native population; see Farnham’s Travels, ante, p. 58, note 77. In 1864 they attacked the miners of the region, and the consequent punitive expedition cost the Dominion government over $60,000. They are now on reservations in their valley, being Roman Catholic communicants and gradually becoming civilized.—Ed.
[285] For the forts upon these lakes and their location, see Farnham’s Travels, ante, pp. 56, 58, notes 68, 77.
Fort Babine—during the first years called Fort Kilmaurs—was built in 1822 on the north bank of the lake of that name. Pierre C. Pambrum and William Connolly were the first traders in charge. The Babine Indians, so named from the plug of wood worn by the women to enlarge the lower lip, were loyal Hudson’s Bay people, and good hunters. There are still three bands of this tribe dwelling near Babine Lake—one known as the Old Fort Babines have a village in the vicinity of the first post, fourteen miles from the foot of the lake, and accessible only by canoes.
The fort on Bear Lake was named Connolly, and established in 1826 for the benefit of the northern Sekanais. The earliest post was built on an island in the lake, and was the most northerly of the interior stations of New Caledonia.—Ed.
[286] The Shushwap (Atnahs) proper live on both branches of Thompson River; the Okanagan, on the lake and river of that name. Lake Superior (or the “Upper” Lake) is probably Upper Arrow Lake of the Columbia. The Fountain of Fraser River (not Lake) is an Indian village known as Hulilp, near the site of the modern Lillooet; probably the author intends by this the whole tribe of Lillooets, a western branch of the Shushwap. The Knife Indians are probably the Thompson (or Similkameen) branch of the Shushwap stock, inhabiting the valley of Similkameen River and ranging thence to the Thompson and Fraser. The six bands of Shushwap here named correspond in part with the divisions given by G. M. Dawson in “The Shuswaps of British Columbia,” in Canadian Royal Society Transactions, ix, part 2, pp. 3-43.—Ed.
[287] Peter H. Burnett was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1807. While still young he moved with his parents to Missouri, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits and began legal studies. Upon the introduction of Senator Linn’s bill in Congress providing land for bona fide Oregon settlers, Burnett determined to emigrate thither, and was chosen captain of a large company, which set forth in 1843. Arrived in Oregon, he settled first at Linnville, then at Tualatin Plains, where he took much interest in the provisional government and was a member of its first legislative committee (1844). The following year he was chosen judge of the supreme court, and upon the establishment of territorial government was appointed justice of the United States court. In 1848 he went to California, where in 1850 he was elected first governor of the new state, and later (1857-58) served as justice of the California supreme court. Embarking in the banking business in San Francisco, he won eminence as a financier, dying in his adopted home in 1894. He has related his experiences in Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer (New York, 1880). He therein details his conversion to Catholicism, due chiefly to conviction following the reading of controversial works. Going to Oregon City, he was received into the church by Father Devos (June, 1846).
Dr. John E. Long was a native of England, being educated for a physician. Emigrating to the United States in 1833, and to Oregon ten years later, he acted as recorder of the first legislature of the provisional government, but in 1846 was killed by an accident.—Ed.