On this #TBT, we conclude our series on the adventures of Wilson P. Hunt and the Astorians.

As John Jacob Astor’s agent in the fur trade, Hunt led an 1811 expedition of roughly 60 men to secure a fur trading post at the Columbia River’s mouth. These explorers, dubbed the Astorians, were the first large group of fur traders to strike a trail through the Powder River Basin and the Bighorn Mountains.

In our last post, the Astorians had attempted (unsuccessfully) to cross the Big Horn Mountains near the confluence of the North Fork of Crazy Woman Creek and Pole Creek. Ironically it was Edward Rose, whom Hunt had distrusted and paid to leave the expedition, who helped the Astorians find their way.

From Hunt’s diary, September 4th – 5th, 1811:

“So Rose joined the first Crow Indians whom we encountered. Their chief realized that we had followed a wrong course and on the 4th sent Rose to tell us and to put us on the right trail that crossed the mountains and that was both shorter and better. We soon met Crows who were taking the same route as we, a meeting that gave me an opportunity to admire the horsemanship of these Indians. It was truly unbelievable. There, among others, was a child tied to a two-year-old colt. He held the reins in one hand and frequently used his whip. I asked about his age and was told that he had seen two winters. He did not yet talk!

We camped at the source of the small river that we had reached the day before, resting there on the 5th. We wished to await the return of our hunters who appeared that evening. They had killed two buffalo and a gray bear. We were in the middle of the Big Horn mountains, so called because of the river by that name. The river runs along the mountain base, flowing northeast to southwest. The Big Horns are an advanced part of the Rockies. They are covered with pines, with many shrubs, and with plants that were actually in bloom.”

After cresting the Big Horns near Hazelton Peak, and spending the night near modern-day Dull Knife Reservoir, the party continued on toward the Wind River Mountains. Hunt and thirty men finally made it to Astoria on February 12, 1812.

Sources:

Hunt, Wilson P., and V.A. Malte-Brun. Nouvelles annales des voyages

Irving, Washington. Astoria, Or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains.