THE FUR TRADERS. 13 



the British Government. He failed to accomplish his pur-, 

 pose; but in 1792 an expedition conducted by Sir Alexander 

 McKenzie succeeded in reaching latitude 52 20' 48".. 

 McKenzie at once realized the possibility of linking together 

 the trade on both sides of the continent; and upon his 

 return to Montreal he suggested that to prevent conflict- 

 ing interests from interfering with the prosecution of this 

 great scheme, the Hudson's Bay Company, claiming much 

 of the territory by charter rights, and the Northwest Com- 

 pany, holding by right of possession, should join issues in 

 the undertaking ; but the jealousies of these two companies 

 were too great to permit them to get together. 



The Lewis and Clark expedition fitted out in 1804 by the 

 United States Government, succeeded where Carver had 

 failed in 1763. The expedition ascended the Missouri, 

 crossed the Rocky Mountains never before visited by white 

 -men and discovered the hitherto unexplored source of the 

 Columbia River, which they followed down to its mouth 

 where Captain Gray had anchored twelve years before. 



It was at this time that Mr. Astor conceived the plan 

 ' ' of grasping with his individual hand, the great enterprise, 

 which had been doubtfully contemplated by powerful asso- 

 ciations and paternal governments. ' ' Where they had feared 

 to venture he pushed boldly forward. He planned to 

 establish a line of fortified trading posts extending from the 

 Great Lakes, along the Ohio, Missouri and Columbia Rivers, 

 with a supply depot at the mouth of the latter from which 

 to furnish supplies to the trading posts of the far west, and 

 to the coasting vessels with which he proposed to trade 

 along the northwest coast. A ship was also to be built to 

 carry supplies from New York to the depot on the Col- 

 umbia and take the collections of skins from there to China ; 

 bringing back on the return voyage, cargoes of oriental 

 merchandise. 



To prevent hostile rivalry on the part of the Russian Fur 

 Company this ship was to stop regularly at the stations of 

 that company with supplies ; so that the Russian company 

 would no longer be dependent upon transient trading ves- 

 sels owned by private adventurers, who, actuated only 

 by motives of present gain, supplied the natives with liquor 

 and firearms, making them troublesome and dangerous 

 neighbors for the Russians, and causing the American Gov- 



