Alexander Ross from birth to death.

Tonquin

Alexander Ross
(9th May 1783 - 23rd October 1856)

Nairn & Moray

Alexander Ross was born the 9th of May 1783 on his parent’s farm near Leyhill in the Parish[4] of Dyke in the Scottish county[5] of Nairn[1] (see "Boundary" map below) in the north of Scotland on the south shore of Moray Firth. The place was located north west of the village of Dyke[4] and west of the town of Forres, both which still exist today. He was christened in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland in Muirtown[3], Parish of Dyke, Nairnshire, Scotland which is just a few kilometers north of Dyke village.(please see maps below)

Boundary
[1] [2]
(click map for larger image)

This map came from
the Vision of Britain website.
The original map is located here
and the boundary change
information is found here

Leyhill

(click map for larger image)

Thanks goes to the
National Library of Scotland
for use of this map
which is taken from
the larger map located here

Dyke & Muirtown
[3] [4]
(click map for larger image)

This map image was created from
the www.old-maps.co.uk service
with permission of
Landmark Information Group Ltd.
and
Ordnance Survey old-maps.co.uk
which is taken from
a larger map located here

In late spring 1804 Alexander emigrated to the new world aboard the passenger ship “Countess of Darlington” from the Scottish port of Greenock on the river Clyde, just west of Glasgow. He arrived in Canada in July 1804 and became a village dominie (Scottish for schoolteacher) for a year in Lower Canada (now Quebec, Canada). Finding his money running out, he left for Upper Canada in 1805 and worked again as a teacher in a proper school at a location in what is presently Glengarry County, Ontario. By 1809 he had saved almost $100 dollars - enough to purchase 300 acres of land in the area.

In May 1810 Ross received a letter from Alexander McKay,the senior partner[6] of one of the new fur companies, which requested an interview with him in Montreal. After the interview he signed on as a clerk with John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company for the Columbia watershed[10]. Hired along with Ross as a clerk was Gabriel Franchere. Others hired in Montreal were Pillet, McGillis, Farnham, McLennan and David Stuart.

They departed Montreal July 20th accompanied by company partners Alexander McKay, Duncan McDougall, David Stuart and David's nephew Robert Stuart along with five clerks, ”five tradesmen or mechanics and twenty-four canoe men” (voyageurs). On September 6, 1810 in New York, they joined the Astor Expedition aboard the sailing ship Tonquin[11] making 33[7] company members headed by Alexander McKay and 21 crewmen headed by Captain Thorne.

They sailed under the command of the nefarious Captain Jonathan Thorne down the Atlantic and up the Pacific to the Columbia River[9].

Map of Journey
(click map for larger image - hold mouse over a date for more information)

If you would like to read a first-hand account of this adventure,
the text of Gabriel Franchere's book translated into English is located here.
With thanks to the American Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division for permission to use this map.
Map located here

6th September 1810: - departed New York, USA: passengers seasick
4th October 1810: - finally struck the trades (Trade winds)
5th October 1810: - distant view of Cape Verde Islands to the northwest
8th October 1810: - wallowed in a dead calm; captured a shark for food
16th October 1810: - becalmed; temperature at 108F
22 October 1810: - finally crossed the Equator; heading south
10th November 1810: - two sets of gales delayed passage; short on water; altered course for Falkland Islands
4th December 1810: - dropped anchor off two bald treeless islands for water; none found
6th December 1810: - safe anchorage at Port Egmont; Flowing spring of water; game abundant
10th to 24th December: - Terra del Fuego; Magellan; doubled Cape Horn (two attempts to cross)
17th January 1811: - Chili; Peru; caught several large tuna in the Pacific Ocean
23 January 1811: -crossed Equator; heading northwest
11th february 1811: - landed in Kealakekua Bay in Sandwich Islands (Hawaii[13])
15th February 1811: - sailed for Waikiki, Oahu to barter for fresh meat (hogs)
28th February 1811: - took on board a hundred hogs, some goats, sheep, poultry, and a quantity of sugar for fodder.
1st March 1811: - departed Sandwich islands heading for Columbia River
22 March 1811: - arrived at Columbia River bar; water very turbulent
4th april 1811: - McDougall and David Stuart with several clerks searched southern shore for a suitable site
12 April 1811

This story to be continued on page 2 soon!

FOOTNOTES:

1. Nairnshire - In 1891 Nairnshire was reduced in size to increase the size of Morayshire [2]. This involved the part of Dyke and Moy parish previously in Nairn, an area of 43 acres. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/boundaries.jsp?u_id=10078519&u_name=NAIRNSHIRE

2. Morayshire was a county in Scotland. It was abolished in 1975. It was also known as Elgin, Elginshire and Morayshire. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10146008

3. Muirtown/Moortown is situated just a few kilometers north of the village of Dyke.

4. Parishes - Scotland has been divided into parishes since early medieval times, but there have been many boundary changes, amalgamations, changes of name and abolitions. It is important to distinguish between civil parishes and ecclesiastical parishes. Initially parishes were areas of land, whose inhabitants were compelled to pay a proportion of their produce or income (in Scotland called teinds) to support the Church. These were ecclesiastical parishes. By the seventeenth century the crown divided the country into burghs and sheriffdoms (or counties) and into parishes for the purposes of taxation. Between 1845 and 1860 elected parochial boards were formed in most parishes. These were known as civil parishes. The boundaries of many civil parishes and ecclesiastical parishes diverged after 1845. The civil parish was a unit of local government between 1845 and 1975. Many classes of historical record are arranged by parish, including valuation rolls, tax records, church records, poor relief records and education records. It is important, therefore, to know which parish(es) a place was in and which county (or counties) a parish was in. Many civil parish boundaries changed between 1845 and 1975, especially around 1891-1900, when the Boundary Commission rationalised parish and county boundaries. The SCAN Gazetteer attempts to take these changes into account. Boundary changes can explain why a place might appear in the records in one parish for a while, and then, apparently, disappear. ((c) The Scottish Archives Network Ltd. All rights reserved 2000) http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/au_ft/type_page.jsp;jsessionid=0AB695B48D716B49D711137B072A82D7?unit_type=SCO_PAR
Parish of Dyke - "The name of the parish is derived from two Gaelic words, dig, meaning a fen or a piece of low-lying marshy ground, and maigh, a plain or flat stretch of cultivated ground. The parish occupies the north-western corner of Moray and tapers inland from the Culbin Sands to a point near Craigiemore, where it meets the north-eastern tip of Ardclach parish in Nairn. On the north it borders the Moray Firth; to the east lies the parish of Forres, to the south the parish of Edinkillie, and on the west it adjoins the parish of Auldearn in the county of Nairn. The River Findhorn traces part of the eastern boundary. East of the river near Findhorn Bay an area of some 43 acres ay Moy Carse, which formed a detached portion of Nairn county, was transferred to Moray on 15 May, 1891 by the Boundary Commissioners. The parish is roughly 9 miles in length from north to south and 5 miles at its widest. The land area is now 13,719 acres, exclusive of 1,500 acres of foreshore. Except for its southern extremity, the parish is low-lying, and is noted for its woodlands and for the famous Culbin Sands". Population: (1801) 1,492; (1811) 1,427; (1821) 1,460; (1831) 1,451; (1841) 1,366; (1851) 1,369; (1861) 1,247; (1871)1,238; (1881) 1,236; (1891) 1,044 http://www.duffus.com/morayparishes.htm
The village of Dyke is also in the Parish of Dyke. It is a picturesque Moray village situated immediately east of Brodie Castle. Dyke lies on the left bank of the Muckle Burn between the Culbin Forest to the north and the A96 Inverness-Aberdeen road to the south. In the kirkyard of Dyke Church is the burial place of the Brodies of Brodie and on rising ground at the north end of the village is a school built in Elizabethan style in 1877. In 1873, Dyke was in Nairnshire instead of Morayshire/Elginshire.) http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/towns/townfirst4653.html

5. Counties were administrative areas in Scotland from later medieval times until 1975. Initially the unit was a judicial one, the sheriffdom. Sheriffs were local judges and crown officials appointed from the 12th century until the present day. A sheriffdom consisted of a group of parishes over which the sheriff had jurisdiction. In the mid-nineteenth century the boundaries of some counties and sheriffdoms were to diverge. Many important series of records in Scotland are arranged by county. ((c) The Scottish Archives Network Ltd. All rights reserved 2000) http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/au_ft/type_page.jsp?unit_type=SCO_CNTY

6. Pacific Fur Company partners - Pacific Fur Company articles of incorporation were signed in June of 1810. Astor offered shares in the company to Wilson Price Hunt of New Jersey, Duncan McDougall, Alexander McKay, Donald McKenzie [8], David Stuart, and John Clarke. The last four were former employees of the North West Company. Later, David Stuart’s nephew, Robert Stuart would be given two shares.

7. Onboard the Tonquin - Besides the partners Duncan McDougall, Alexander McKay, David Stuart, and Robert Stuart (all of Canada), there were eleven clerks - James Lewis of New York, Russel Farnham of Massachusetts , William W, Matthews of New York, Alexander Ross, Donald McGillis, Ovide de montigny, Prancis B. Pillot, Donald McLennan, Willaim Wallace, Thomas McKay, Gabriel Franchere (all of the latter natives of Canada, with experience in the Indian trade). In addition to the clerks, there were thirteen Canadian boatmen (voyageurs) - Oliver Roy Lapensée, Ignace Lapensée, Basile Lapensée, Joseph Lapierre, Jacques Lafantaisie, Benjamin Roussel, Michel Laframboise, Giles Leclerc, Joseph Nadeau, Jean Baptiste Bellea, Antoine Belleau, Louis Bruslé, P. D. Jeremie (all of Canada) and four skilled mechanics - John Koaster, ship-carpenter (Russian), Job Aitkem,rigger and calker (Scotland), Augustus Roussil, blacksmith (Canada), George Bell, Cooper (New York) and Guilleaume Perreault, a boy. (these were all destined for the establishment)

8. Donald McKenzie/Mackenzie - (June 15, 1783 - Jan. 20, 1851) fur trader, was born in Scotland, a brother of Sir Roderick Mackenzie of the North West Company, and a cousin of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the explorer. He was educated for the ministry, but instead of entering that profession went to Canada and joined the North West Company. On June 23, 1810 after ten years experience he was engaged by John Jacob Astor to be one of his partners in the Pacific Fur Company. With Wilson P. Hunt, he led a band of adventurers by the overland route to the mouth of the Columbia River. Mackenzie with his group arrived at Fort Astoria Jan. 18, 1812. He later became the head of a large party which engaged in hunting and trapping. His journeys took him to the rivers Willamette, Columbia and also the Snake, where he established a post. He left Astoria again in March 1813 and in June returned with 140 packs of furs from Okanagan Post, and Spokane River. While carrying supplies to the interior that Fall, he was robbed by Indians. Returning to Astoria, he occupied himself storing salmon until his party learned of the War with Great Britain. Concluding that Astoria would be captured and goods confiscated, he and his partners there sold out to the North West Company, the following Spring. On Apr. 14, 1814, Mackenzie set out for New York, where he remained for some time seeking re-employment by Astor. Failing to obtain it, he returned to Canada and again entered the service of the North West Company. In 1816 he was on the Columbia River, spending his time at Fort George, and Fort William and Spokane House. He rendered valuable service to the company in developing the rich trade of Southern Idaho. His brigade of 1817 was the first to report a year without casualties, and the quality of furs obtained was considerable. Mackenzie was retained when the Hudson’’s Bay Company consolidated with the North West Company, and in the following year, 1822, established Chatterton House. In 1824 he was made Chief Factor at Fort GGarry on the Red River of the North, and the same year was appointed Councillor of the Governors. Soon thereafter he was made Governor of Red River Colony, the highest post of the Country, next to the Governor-in-Chief, which vast province he ruled, judiciously and with kindness. To him is due credit for the peace and progress which prevailed during the following eight years. He retired in August 1833 and took his family to Mayville, N.Y. where he had an estate. There he lived until his death. Donald Mackenzie was eminently fitted, both physically and mentally, for life in the wilderness. His knowledge of the Indians was remarkably keen and accurate, and his influence over them was great. His boldness and prompt decision, in times of danger, helped to awe and conquer them. His ways and accomplishment astonished his associates; he weighed over 300 pounds, but was so active that he was called ‘‘perpetual motion’’. In August 1825 at Fort Garry, he married Adelgonde Humbert Droze, by whom he had thirteen children.http://www.pathcom.com/~rstewart/browse/Donald_Mackenzie.html

9. Columbia River - also know as the “Oregon River” or “River of the West".
The Columbia River drains a 259,000-square-mile basin that includes territory in seven states (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah) and one Canadian province. It flows for more than 1,200 miles, from the base of the Canadian Rockies in southeastern British Columbia to the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon, and Ilwaco, Washington.
The Columbia originates in two lakes that lie between the Continental Divide and Selkirk mountain ranges in British Columbia. The river's course is convoluted. It flows north for its first 200 or more miles, then it turns south and runs to the international border. Within the United States, the river courses southwest and skirts one of the Columbia Plateau's massive lava flows, then it turns to the southeast, cutting a dramatic gorge in the volcanic shield to its junction with the westward flowing Snake River. From its confluence with the Snake, the Columbia runs nearly due west to the Pacific Ocean. Fifteen percent of the basin -- 39,000 square miles -- lies in Canada and the largest of the river's major tributaries is the Snake River, itself more than 1,100 miles long.

10. Pacific Fur Company - From a post at the mouth of the Columbia River, John J. Astor (biography - http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/412) envisioned fur trading posts along the rivers draining into the Columbia and the ocean along the Pacific Coast. These trading posts could supply Native Americans with trade goods at a cheaper price than traders from the North West Company. Astor believed that eventually this would force the North West Company out of New Caledonia (British Columbia). With the North West Company driven out, Astor’s Pacific Fur Company would control the Indian fur trade between Spanish California and Russian owned Alaska...everything West of the Continental Divide from California to Alaska would become part of the United States. Astor pictured a worldwide fur trade empire. His company would gather and ship Pacific Northwest beaver and sea otter furs to the Orient to be traded for oriental goods. The oriental goods would be taken to the marketplaces of Europe and traded for European goods that could be carried back to Boston. Astor’s fleet of sailing ships would then complete his broad vision by re-supplying his Pacific Coast posts and the Russian posts in Alaska. To help achieve domination of the Pacific Northwest, Astor approached the Russian’s field manager at New Archangel (Sitka, Alaska). Astor proposed to Alexander Baranov that if they combined forces the British could not maintain posts on the Columbia River system and in New Caledonia. Astor’s ships would deliver supplies and trade goods to New Archangel, and since Russians were barred from the lucrative fur trade markets of China, his ships would carry Russian furs to Canton. Astor discussed his plans with New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, whose uncle was the Vice President of the United States. Seeking the Federal Government’s backing for his fur company, Astor met with Vice President Clinton, and then former President Jefferson. Jefferson pledged his wholehearted support to the establishment of claims to the Oregon Country. Governor Clinton issued a charter for Astor’s new fur company in April of 1809. Astor had approached the North West Company about joining his initial venture, but the partners had refused. Aware of Astor’s plans, the North West Company sent Simon Frazer to establish a presence on the mouth of the Fraser River and David Thompson to the mouth of the Columbia River. Based on reports of increased North West activity, Astor sought stronger government support. Letters were sent to Secretary of the Treasury, Gallatin, which in turn was read to Secretary of War, Eustis and eventually, President Madison. Washington officials refused any further support. Pacific Fur Company articles of incorporation were signed in June of 1810. Astor offered shares in the company to Wilson P. Hunt of New Jersey, Duncan McDougall, Alexander McKay, Donald Mackenzie, and David Stuart. The last four were former employees of the North West Company. Later, David Stuart’s nephew, Robert Stuart would be given two shares. Wilson Price Hunt was appointed resident partner with overall field command of the Pacific Fur Company. Hunt would lead the westbound overland party, and Duncan McDougall, who would go on the Tonquin, was in charge of the new post until Hunt arrived. http://www.thefurtrapper.com/astorians.htm#references

11. The Tonquin Astor purchased the Tonquin in August of 1810 for thirty-seven thousand eight hundred and sixty dollars. A two hundred and sixty-nine ton ship, she was pierced for 22 guns but mounted only ten guns. Astor placed navy lieutenant Jonathan Thorn in command. The Tonquin departed New York Harbor in September 1810. With a sailing crew of twenty-one men, the Tonquin carried the frame of a schooner for the Pacific Coast trade, Indian trade goods, seeds, tools, and materials for a combination fort and trading post at the mouth of the Columbia. The ship was barely out of the harbor when trouble started between Captain Thorn and the Pacific Fur Company partners. A rigid authoritarian, Captain Thorn maintained absolute control and discipline over his ship, while the fur company partners wanted the treatment and respect due a Pacific Fur Company partner. Besides the partners Duncan McDougall, Alexander McKay, David Stuart, and Robert Stuart, there were twelve clerks, several of them natives of Canada, with experience in the Indian trade. In addition to the clerks, there were thirteen Canadian voyageurs and four skilled craftsmen: a boat builder, Job Aitkem, a blacksmith, Augustus Roussel, a carpenter, Johann Koaster, and a cooper, George Bell. Captain Thorn disliked the Canadians. He considered the clerks’ journals as secret documents. To make matters worse, he could not understand them. If he was nearby, the clerks spoke in either French or Scots-Irish, neither of which Thorn understood. The Tonquin rounded Cape Horn at the tip of South America in December of 1810. Arriving at the Falkland Islands, the ship anchored to take on water and make repairs. Once the repairs were completed, Thorn signaled the men ashore to come aboard. Duncan McDougall and David Stuart with six men were on the south side of the island. When they did not respond, Thorn ordered the crew to set sail. At sight of the ship leaving, the eight men rushed to a small boat and rowed for over three hours trying to catch the Tonquin, but Thorn kept the ship on course. Seeing his uncle being left behind, Robert Stuart grabbed a pistol and threatened to blow Captain Thorn’s brains all over the deck, if he did not shorten sail and wait for the boat. In February, the Tonquin reached the Sandwich Islands and anchored in the bay of Karakakooa on the island of Owyhee. The next morning, canoes filled with fruits and vegetables surrounded the ship. Captain Thorn wanted to purchase a number of hogs, but the trade in pork was a royal monopoly. Raising anchor and sailing to Oahu, the royal residence of King Tamaahmaah, hogs, goats, sheep, poultry, and vegetables were obtained. The partners wanted to recruit thirty or forty Hawaiians, but Captain Thorn objected. He finally agreed on twelve. The Tonquin arrived at the Columbia River estuary on the twenty-second of March 1811. Between Cape Disappointment and Point Adams high waves rolled over a sand bar that resulted in a continuous chain of breakers. Uncertain of how to proceed, Captain Thorn had Ebenezer Fox, John Martin, and three Canadian voyageurs take the whaleboat to locate a channel. The whaleboat soon disappeared in the heavy waves. Lying off shore until the next morning, William Mumford and four others were sent to sound a four-fathom channel through the breakers. The pinnace was nearly lost in the breakers, before making it back to the ship. Thorn believed Mumford had looked too far south, so he ordered Job Aiken, John Coles, Stephen Weekes, and two Hawaiians to take soundings further north. Aiken located the channel, but before he could return, heavy waves swamped the small boat. The next day, March 24th, 1811, the Tonquin crossed over the breakers and anchored in Baker’s Bay at the mouth of the Columbia River. Search parties went ashore to look for the lost men. Stephen Weeks and one Sandwich islander were all that could be found. Crossing the breakers into the Columbia River had cost the lives of eight men. Duncan McDougall and David Stuart proceeded upriver about fifteen miles to a point of land with a good harbor. When the Tonquin moved upriver and anchored in the harbor, the men started building a small a shed for the ships supplies and clearing land for the post. The tiny settlement was named Astoria. Once the post was under construction, Captain Thorn, with Alexander McKay as supercargo…an officer on a merchant ship that has charge of the cargo and its sale and purchase…and James Lewis as clerk, made preparations to sail. The ship’s crew was twenty-three, plus an Indian interpreter called Jack Ramsey (Lamazu). Ramsey had made two voyages along the coast with other sailing vessels. After sixty-five days at Astoria, the Tonquin sailed back to Baker’s Bay, but had to wait until the 5th of June before conditions were right to cross the breakers. Anchoring on the west side of Vancouver Island at Nootka Sound, McKay went ashore to an Indian village. While he was gone, Indians began arriving with sea-otter skins to trade. Captain Thorn laid out the trade goods, but when his first offer for a trade was scorned at by one of the chiefs, Thorn hit him across the face with a sea otter skin. The Indians onboard gathered their furs and left the ship. The next morning a canoe of twenty unarmed Indians were allowed on deck. When another canoe arrived, the Watch Officer become alarmed. He called for Captain Thorn and McKay, but by the time they reached the deck, a large number of Indians were onboard. McKay urged Captain Thorn to clear the deck and get under way. The Indians offered to trade on Thorn’s terms, and while the anchor was being raised, the trade started. Once the anchor was up and the sails set, the Captain ordered the deck cleared of Indians. Told to leave, the Indians drew weapons from under their blankets and killed McKay and Thorn. Although the three Astorian clerks that kept journals, Ross, Franchère, and Cox, heard the story from the only survivor, Jack Ramsey (Lamazu), the details in the three books vary to such an extent that suffice it to say all of the Tonquin crewmen were killed, except one. The following morning, when the Indian came back onboard, a badly wounded James Lewis (?) managed to light the powder magazine. Ramsey estimated two hundred Indians were killed by the explosion. The sunken hull of the Tonquin has never been located. http://www.thefurtrapper.com/astorians.htm#references

12. Fort Astoria While the Tonquin was still anchored in Baker’s Bay, Duncan McDougall and David Stuart decided on Point George as the place to build Fort Astoria. As the men started to build the fort, Alexander Ross noted: It would have made a cynic smile to see these pioneers, composed of traders, shopkeepers, voyageurs, and Owyhees, all ignorant alike in this new walk of life, and the most ignorant of all, the leader [McDougall]. Many of the party had never handled an axe before, and but few of them knew how to use a gun, but necessity, the mother of invention soon taught us both. http://www.thefurtrapper.com/astorians.htm#references

13. Hawaii In Hawaii, 20 to 30 Hawaiians joined the Tonquin for the voyage to Oregon. Thorn also took aboard a hundred hogs, some goats and sheep, poultry, and a quantity of sugarcane for fodder.

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