Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 11.djvu/256

334 T. C. Elliott. educated by Rev. Mr. Doty of Three Rivers and Mr. Shakel of Montreal, where he studied law. In 1812 he began to prac- tice," etc It is not unreasonable to suppose, there- fore, that the Rev. Mr. Doty or some other vicar or rector (the family were devout members of the Church of England) tried a hand at educating young Peter Skene. However that may be, neither any such influence or the overwhelming prepon- derance of biblical names among his ancestors induced him to become a clergyman. His was a restless and imperious spirit which demanded a life of activity and adventure. The call of the wild" to a young man in Montreal in those days was not the quest of gold or the sailing of the seas or the raising of stock on the plains, but the trading for furs. The men of wealth in Canada were the shareholders in the fur companies ; there was a reputed romance to such a life as well as a pros- pect for future gain and prominence. A fur trader would he be! And, moreover, just then was gently heard that special call to the region beyond the Rocky Mountains just being opened up to the fur hunters through the explorations of Lewis and Clark, Simon Fraser, David Thompson, Joseph Howse and others. Between the Northwest Company of Can- ada and the "Gentlemen Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay," known generally as the Hudson's Bay Company, the rivalry was already intense and it was not a rivalry in trade only, but in exploration and discovery. Begin- ning with 1800 both the chief explorers, David Thompson for the Northwesters and Jos. Howse for the Hudson's Bay Com- pany, began to feel their way to the summit of the Rockies and soon after along the head waters of the Columbia. We already know of David Thompson on the lakes of the upper Columbia and in the beautiful valleys of the Kootenai and the Pend d'Oreille and the Skeetshoo (Spokane) from 1807 to 1812, and in future years we shall probably learn that Joseph Howse was not far behind. The adventurous spirit of young Peter Skene then might well be drawn toward the fur trade and the romantic lands of the Columbia.