He had persisted in crossing the mountains
with eight men, who remained true to him. They had traversed the higher
regions, and ventured near the source of the Columbia, where, in the
spring, they had constructed a cedar canoe, the same in which they had
reached Astoria.
This, in fact, was the party despatched by the Northwest Company to
anticipate Mr. Astor in his intention of effecting a settlement at the
mouth of the Columbia River. It appears, from information subsequently
derived from other sources, that Mr. Thompson had pushed on his course
with great haste, calling at all the Indian villages in his march,
presenting them with British flags, and even planting them at the forks
of the rivers, proclaiming formally that he took possession of the
country in the name of the king of Great Britain for the Northwest
Company. As his original plan was defeated by the desertion of
his people, it is probable that he descended the river simply to
reconnoitre, and ascertain whether an American settlement had been
commenced.
Mr. Thompson was, no doubt, the first white man who descended the
northern branch of the Columbia from so near its source. Lewis and
Clarke struck the main body of the river at the forks, about four
hundred miles from its mouth. They entered it from Lewis River, its
southern branch, and thence descended.
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