356 T. C. Elliott Umpqua river in southern Oregon) and learn at first hand of the experiences of Mr. Smith with the Mojave Indians, to which reference is made in the Journal for the following year. The chief value to history of this Journal, in connec- tion with the other three, is the further light thrown upon the relations between the American and the English fur trading companies ; and the assistance to a considerable degree in clearing the record of Gen. William H. Ashley, a prominent citizen of St. Louis, who for some years represented the State of Missouri upon the floor of Congress, whose rapid progress to wealth has by many been regarded with suspicion. In his valuable "Hist, of the Amer. Fur Trade," published by Harper in 1902, Maj. Chittenden states (p. 277) that the details of Mr. Ashley's transaction with Mr. Ogden "will probably re- main unknown until the world hears from Mr. Ogden through the records of the Hudson Bay Company." That is now partly available. We now knowi the exact date and the nature of Mr. Ogden's disaster that year, and have confirmation of the name of the leader of the American trappers who accom- plished it, who was a Mr. Gardner (*) and not Mr. Ashley at all ; and that the conduct of this Mr. Gardner was not ap- proved by those in authority in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company; and that the band of trappers under Mr. Gardner may have been free trappers not connected with Mr. Ashley (see entry of Feb. 19th, 1828, infra, for this). After the desertion of Mr. Ogden's men with their catch and outfits (which legally belonged to them) for whatever cause that may or may not have been, it may not have been incompati- ble with human nature on the plains at that time for Mr. Ashley to have acquired their furs, according to the manner they may have reached him; although any contrast with the treatment afforded Jedediah S. Smith as to his furs, by Dr. McLaughlin of the Hudson's Bay Company in August, 1828, is much in favor of the English company.
- See Journal of Nath. Wyeth in "Sources of Oregon History," Vol. i, p. 74.
