ADVERTISEMENT, 



The Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company was formed in 

 1834, by several individuals in New York and Boston. Capt. Wyeth, 

 having an interest in the enterprise, collected a party of men to cross 

 the continent to the Pacific, with the purpose chiefly of establishing 

 trading posts beyond the Rocky Mountains and on the coast. 



The idea of making one of Capt. Wyeth's party was suggested to 

 the author by the eminent botanist, Mr. Nuttall, who had himself 

 determined to join the expedition across the North American wilder- 

 ness. Being fond of Natural History, particularly the science of 

 Ornithology, the temptation to visit a country hitherto unexplored by 

 naturalists was irresistible ; and the following pages, originally penned 

 for the family-circle, and without the slightest thought of publication, 

 will furnish some account of his travels. 



