counter for the more adventurous life of a fur-trade clerk. He himself tells us in brief but telling sentences of his emotions on leaving Montreal to join the contingent of the American Fur Company which departed thence for New York, where Astor's sea-going party were to embark for the Pacific. Leaving New York September 6, 1810, the expedition arrived the following spring at the bar of the Columbia, and after a series of disasters began the construction of the fort named for the senior partner.
Franchère faithfully narrates the occurrences of the following years, until the sale of the entire property to the rival North West Company in October, 1813. One of his fellow clerks (Alexander Ross, whose journal is to be published as volume vii of this series) intimates that Franchère was eager to accept employment in the new company. The latter's narrative, however, and his subsequent movements, refute this statement. Indeed, Franchère was singularly loyal to his American employers; and although offered advantageous terms because of his linguistic facility, remained with the North West Company only until the first opportunity presented itself to return to Montreal. This occurred when the trading brigade left the Columbia, April 4, 1814. After a difficult and perilous trip across the continent, Franchère reached his father's home in September of the same year, being received there as one risen from the dead.
Early the following spring the young Canadian married the maiden who, in alternate hope and despair, had during four long years waited for his return. He then entered Astor's employ as his Montreal agent. Several years later, he removed to Sault Ste. Marie—whose appearance during the War of 1812-15 he so graphically describes in his book—and for several years made this his home. Upon the liquidation of the American Fur Company's affairs, Franchère was employed by the St. Louis firm of
