THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TONQUIN DEALT A HEAVY BLOW to the Astor project; it also revealed the simple but ineluctable theme of violence in the history of the American West: of humans killing one another in the struggle for control of Western resources. As time would prove, violence would be the defining characteristic of the West. When the violence diminished to the background level of the rest of the country, the West would no longer be the West but simply another part of America.
At the moment, the loss of the Tonquin deprived the Astorians of transport for the furs they would acquire, and the loss of its cargo left them short of the wherewithal to pay for the furs. The grisly deaths of Thorn and the others spooked the survivors, causing them to eye Comcomly with grave distrust. At one point one of the partners at Astoria resorted to a stratagem whose consequences would haunt Americans in Oregon for generations. He summoned Comcomly and the other Chinook chiefs and told them he was of vengeful mind on account of the evil fate that had befallen the Tonquin. He warned them not to cross him and showed them a bottle. In the bottle, he said, was smallpox. The Indians knew about the disease: a smallpox epidemic had ravaged the coastal tribes a few years before, following a visit by another trading ship. If he uncorked the bottle, the partner said, smallpox would escape and devastate the Indians again. His hand was restrained for the moment, but if the Indians did the whites any harm, the smallpox would be unleashed.
The Indian leaders swore their friendship. They would never harm the whites, they said. The bottle must never be uncorked.
The partner nodded severely. The smallpox would remain in the bottle, but only so long as the Indians behaved themselves.
DUNCAN MCDOUGALL HAD ANOTHER PLAN FOR DEALING with the Chinooks. McDougall was one of the Scots partners, and he thought to preach love rather than vengeance. Specifically, he asked Comcomly for the hand of his daughter in marriage. Perhaps McDougall really loved the girl; he would hardly be the first or last white man to take an Indian wife in the West, and some of the unions evinced great tenderness and durability. But practicality likely inspired the idea. Comcomly was a vital supplier of salmon, smelt and sturgeon to the fort, and whatever helped keep the fish coming would aid the enterprise.
Comcomly, for his part, thought the plan a splendid one. A family connection to the Astorians and their supplies of trade goods would reinforce his position as the dominant chief of the Chinooks. The Americans eventually called Comcomly the “King of the Chinooks,” and like many another king he was pleased to employ matrimony in the service of his realm.
The arrangements were made through emissaries. Comcomly, ever the shrewd bargainer, insisted on suitable compensation for delivering his beloved daughter. A deal was struck, and the great day dawned. Comcomly and the royal family crossed the Columbia from the Chinook village on the north bank to Astoria on the south in a fleet of canoes bedecked for the occasion. He wore a blue blanket and a red breech cloth; special paint accentuated his features and feathers adorned his head. The bride, too, was painted, according to Chinook marital custom, and anointed with oil; a beautiful pony awaited her at the landing of the canoes and carried her to the fort, where the bridegroom received her with appropriate gratitude and honor.
The ceremony was followed by a honeymoon on the premises of the fort, as there was nowhere better for the newlyweds to go. Whether or not there was a meeting of hearts, the union served its commercial and political purpose. Comcomly became a regular presence at Astoria, visiting his daughter and advising his son-in-law on relations with the Chinooks and other tribes, on practical matters of supply, and on additional questions important to the survival of the Astor enterprise. Comcomly particularly favored the blacksmith’s shop, and his requests for knives and axes caused the smith to set aside his current work to fill the chief’s order. Comcomly appreciated the consideration and became even more supportive of his son-in-law.
YET THE UNDERLYING PROBLEMS OF ASTORIA PERSISTED. THE expected war between the United States and Britain broke out in June 1812, and the British promptly imposed a blockade on the American coast. The blockade prevented the timely dispatch of ships to replace the Tonquin and develop the Pacific trade. After one Astor vessel, the Lark, did get through the British cordon on the East Coast, it sank off Hawaii on the way to Oregon.
The decline of Astoria’s fortunes, compounded by the onset of war, prompted Duncan McDougall to reassess his partnership with John Jacob Astor. McDougall had previously worked for the North West Company, and he concluded he might do so again. Indeed, in the denouement of what transpired, friends of Astor alleged that McDougall had plotted defection all along. Whether or not this was true, McDougall surreptitiously communicated with agents of the North West Company and hinted that he might be willing to deliver Astoria to them for a modest price, including a partnership for him in their company. McDougall’s interpretation of his contract with Astor allowed him to do this in case the Astor enterprise failed. McDougall now judged that failure was nigh. He rationalized that the sale of Astoria and its inventory to the North West Company would salvage for Astor as much as was possible under the circumstances.
News from the war forced his hand. The North West men alerted him that a British warship was bound for the Columbia, with the goal of seizing Astoria for the British crown. McDougall reckoned that a sale at any price was better than a seizure, and he made the final arrangements with the Northwesters.
The British warship arrived in due course. The officers and men expected to win a handsome prize of furs, which might be converted to cash and shared among them, according to the rules of warfare at the time. They were greatly annoyed to discover that there was no booty to seize, as the American goods now belonged to British subjects.
More annoyed than the British crew was Comcomly. The old chief knew about the war between the Americans and the British, but he didn’t know about the sale of Astoria to the Northwesters. When the British warship arrived, Comcomly grew excited at the prospect of fighting the invaders at the side of his son-in-law. He explained how his warriors would kill the British. His men would conceal themselves in the woods that ran down to the shore, and when the British boats landed, the warriors would attack. The King George men would die before they could mount any resistance. It would be a glorious victory.
McDougall explained that this could not be. The British must be treated as friends. There would be no resistance.
Comcomly was mystified and disappointed. He returned to his longhouse convinced that he had erred in selecting a son-in-law. To all who would listen, he complained that he had thought his daughter was getting a brave chief for a husband, but instead she got an old woman.