Book review: By Honor and Right
Aug 4, 2011 23:01:19 GMT -7
Post by Rod on Aug 4, 2011 23:01:19 GMT -7
By Honor and Right, by John C. Jackson
This is an interesting look at little-known fur trader John McClallen, who headed up the Missouri in late summer 1806. He met up with Lewis & Clark on their downriver journey, and told them he was going to be headed overland to 'St. Afee'. Instead, he wintered somewhere above the Niobrara, and the next spring continued up the Missouri, apparently up the Yellowstone, and crossed over to the Three Forks region. He was one of three parties on the river that spring, Charles Courtin (headed for the Great Falls of the Missouri) and Manuel Lisa being the other two.
Lisa is the only one we know about with certainty. Courtin may have gone up the Missouri to the headwaters of the Three Forks, but it's hard to say. Likewise, McClallen may have travelled with the Salish for awhile, but again, it's tough to pin him down. Both McClallen and Courtin (and possibly members of their respective parties) were killed by the Blackfeet/Bloods.
Jackson weaves a very interesting story, pulling bits of information from some pretty obscure sources. McClallen's story is pretty well documented early on (he was in the military, and a protegé of the infamous General Wilkinson), but after he heads upriver, the story gets murky. He's apparently the author of the Zackery Perch/Jeremy Pinch letters to David Thompson, warning him to stay away from the fur trade in the Montana area.
The only problem I have with Jackson's book is there are some fairly large leaps of supposion/deductive reasoning, because there's so little known about McClallen's travels. Ultimately, as Dr. Larry E. Morris wrote, "...every claim about McClallen after his meeting with Lewis and Clark in September of 1806 is one of conjecture..." [quoted in 'Until They Make a Fortune--Beginnings of the Montana Fur Trade, 1806-1807; Selected Papers of the 2010 Fur Trade Symposium at the Three Forks.]
Be that as it may, I'd still recommend this book, it's a fascinating look at the very early Rocky Mountain Fur Trade.
Rod
This is an interesting look at little-known fur trader John McClallen, who headed up the Missouri in late summer 1806. He met up with Lewis & Clark on their downriver journey, and told them he was going to be headed overland to 'St. Afee'. Instead, he wintered somewhere above the Niobrara, and the next spring continued up the Missouri, apparently up the Yellowstone, and crossed over to the Three Forks region. He was one of three parties on the river that spring, Charles Courtin (headed for the Great Falls of the Missouri) and Manuel Lisa being the other two.
Lisa is the only one we know about with certainty. Courtin may have gone up the Missouri to the headwaters of the Three Forks, but it's hard to say. Likewise, McClallen may have travelled with the Salish for awhile, but again, it's tough to pin him down. Both McClallen and Courtin (and possibly members of their respective parties) were killed by the Blackfeet/Bloods.
Jackson weaves a very interesting story, pulling bits of information from some pretty obscure sources. McClallen's story is pretty well documented early on (he was in the military, and a protegé of the infamous General Wilkinson), but after he heads upriver, the story gets murky. He's apparently the author of the Zackery Perch/Jeremy Pinch letters to David Thompson, warning him to stay away from the fur trade in the Montana area.
The only problem I have with Jackson's book is there are some fairly large leaps of supposion/deductive reasoning, because there's so little known about McClallen's travels. Ultimately, as Dr. Larry E. Morris wrote, "...every claim about McClallen after his meeting with Lewis and Clark in September of 1806 is one of conjecture..." [quoted in 'Until They Make a Fortune--Beginnings of the Montana Fur Trade, 1806-1807; Selected Papers of the 2010 Fur Trade Symposium at the Three Forks.]
Be that as it may, I'd still recommend this book, it's a fascinating look at the very early Rocky Mountain Fur Trade.
Rod