Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 13.djvu/84

76 T. C. ELLIOTT parallel which made the political cry of "Fifty-four Forty or Fight" look so ridiculous to our diplomats in 1844-5-6. Donald Mackenzie had seen service in the fur trade in the Indian Coun- try of British North America with the "Northwesters" of Canada and joined the Astorians under some special induce- ment. At Cauldron Linn (at Milner, Idaho, about twenty miles above Shoshone Falls) in October of 1811 with a few others he separated from the main party and found his way to Astoria a full month in advance of Mr. Hunt, having suc- ceeded in forcing his way through the rough mountains along the east bank of Snake river and across Salmon river to the Clearwater and thence to the sea in canoes. If he had differ- ences with Wilson Price Hunt they were only those common to the different dispositions of men, and incident to his own really superior experience in the field life of the fur trade to that of Mr. Hunt himself ; and his service with the Pacific Fur Company was both intelligent and valuable. He returned to the Columbia in the fall of 1817 as a chief factor in the Northwest Company with instructions to assume the manage- ment of all the business of that Company in the Interior, as distinguished from that of the Coast and lower river, and especially to develop the trade in the Snake Country which he knew from actual observation to be so valuable. Donald Mackenzie was a wonderful man to deal with In- dians ; his influence over them was remarkable, due to his powerful physique and activity as well as his tact, courage, endurance and daring. (Washington Irving relates in "As- toria" his bold entrance into the lodge of one of the robber Klickitat chiefs at Wishram Celilo in quest of a rifle that had been taken from the whites). His hair is said to have been of the color some people prefer to call sandy and his weight about three hundred and twenty pounds. This would make him a very good physical duplicate of our own President Taft, but golf would have been slow exercise for him. He was a great pedestrian, could outwalk any of his associates and was continually on the move. The first thing that Donald Mackenzie did after getting the