Forum Index > Pacific NW History > Mountain Man
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
Snowbrushy
Member
Member


Joined: 23 Jul 2003
Posts: 6670 | TRs | Pics
Location: South Sound
Snowbrushy
Member
PostTue Nov 01, 2005 10:00 pm 
http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/craig.html When I found this I just had to post it because I think it's interesting. Mr. Craig settled in Washington Territory and was one of the few original Mountain Men to settle down in the NW. He didn't talk much about his wild & crazy day's back then in the fur trade. But he was an original NW hiker who had some funny tales. This from a Lewiston newspaper.

Oh Pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like thoughts inside a dream Heed the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
greg
Member
Member


Joined: 23 Jun 2003
Posts: 1159 | TRs | Pics
greg
Member
PostWed Nov 02, 2005 7:51 am 
Great story. I like the part about Blue John's tears. drink.gif Here's a story about another great early Northwest character, AJ Splawn, pioneer of the Yakima country. I like to think about this guy and his tales when I'm hiking that region. He wrote a great book about the Yakama leader Kamiakin. http://pw1.netcom.com/~carpentg/aj.html

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Snowbrushy
Member
Member


Joined: 23 Jul 2003
Posts: 6670 | TRs | Pics
Location: South Sound
Snowbrushy
Member
PostWed Nov 02, 2005 7:12 pm 
Hang 'em High
Thank's for the great link! Here is more on Ellensburgh. "The city got its start in 1870, when the trading post "Robber's Roost" opened in the Kittitas Valley. A year later, John and Mary Ellen Shoudy purchased the post, and John began platting the streets for a little town he named "Ellen's Burgh," after his wife. The name was shortened to Ellensburg, and the town incorporated on January 1, 1884."

Oh Pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like thoughts inside a dream Heed the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Mike Collins
Member
Member


Joined: 18 Dec 2001
Posts: 3086 | TRs | Pics
Mike Collins
Member
PostMon Nov 14, 2005 7:43 am 
Thanks for the article link. I am curious about the mention of Govenor J.J. Stevens of the Washington Territory signing a treaty with the Nez Perces in 1855. The govenor at the time was Isaac Ingalls Stevens. Who is J.J. ? I suspect it is a typo for I.I.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Snowbrushy
Member
Member


Joined: 23 Jul 2003
Posts: 6670 | TRs | Pics
Location: South Sound
Snowbrushy
Member
PostTue Nov 15, 2005 6:02 am 
Misty Murky Past
Probably typo's. Maybe also some murky recollections in 1918 from T Beal. It reminds me of the movie Little Big Man where a very old man recounts his early days in the west. Territorial Governor I.I. Stevens was accompanied by his son Hazard Stevens at the near disastrous Walla Walla councel; I believe in May, 1856.

Oh Pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like thoughts inside a dream Heed the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Mike Collins
Member
Member


Joined: 18 Dec 2001
Posts: 3086 | TRs | Pics
Mike Collins
Member
PostTue Nov 15, 2005 6:39 pm 
Hazard did accompany his father on many of the treaty activities during the time of Isaac Stevens' tenure as govenor. Hazard, as was the practice of the time, took his mother's maiden name (Margaret Hazards) as part of his name. He was with his father at the Battle of Chantilly when Isaac was shot through the temple and died instantly while leading a charge. The definitive reference material for Isaac Stevens is a biography, "Young Man in a Hurry" by Kent Richards. Hazard returned to Washington after the war and was in the first climbing party to summit Mt. Rainier.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Snowbrushy
Member
Member


Joined: 23 Jul 2003
Posts: 6670 | TRs | Pics
Location: South Sound
Snowbrushy
Member
PostTue Nov 22, 2005 11:30 am 
W. CRAIG AND TREATY
Here is the treaty. Mountain Man Craig was there as interpreter (bottom), and is mentioned in Article 10. http://www.washingtonwars.net/Nez%20Perce-1855.htm

Oh Pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like thoughts inside a dream Heed the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Snowbrushy
Member
Member


Joined: 23 Jul 2003
Posts: 6670 | TRs | Pics
Location: South Sound
Snowbrushy
Member
PostFri Nov 25, 2005 12:01 pm 
RUBBING ELBOWS W/HISTORY CRAIG
http://www.nps.gov/nepe/site8.htm Yesterday while I was seated at the holiday feasting table I finished a history book by Dale Walker called Pacific Destiny, while the others talked about laptop sales for Black Friday. The 478 page book has a couple of new and interesting thing's to say about mountain man Bill Craig who farmed early-on around Lewiston, Id.. Craig came to the NW in a period after Lewis & Clark, and before the missionaries after spending a few year's hunting for beaver. The book say's that he trapped with Jedediah Smith. Smith it is said was the inspiration for the Robert Redford movie, Jeriamiah Johnson. The movie is about the life of a mountain man. Jedediah Smith faded into history and became famous as a mountain man. While Bill Craig hung up his iron beaver trap's and settled down in Nez Perce' country, perhap's afraid to go back to the United States, and may have become a hero to a very scared white man and woman - Eliza and Henry Spalding. This is about the old, old west. Mr. and Mrs. Spalding were missionaries who had built a mission only eight miles from Bill Craig's spread. Eliza Spalding was one of the first two white woman in the West - the other being missionary Narcissa Whitman who's mission was 100 miles away around Walla Walla. A white woman in the neighborhood would have been a special treat for a mountain man like Craig, especially a pretty brunette one like Eliza. And it is said that her husband Henry Spalding was suspicious of his neighbor Bill Craig and his 'clan' of Nez Perce'. An Indian uprising was in the air, and allegiance's were in question. But that would change. Immediately after the horrible massacre at the Whitman mission on November 29, 1847 by some of the Cayuse Tribe, Eliza abandoned her misson and went to Craig's farm, joined a week later by her husband - he had lost his horse and hiked for a week to meet her. And there, fearing that the Cayuse would come to slaughter them next, they resided for a month under the protection of 40 year old mountain man William Craig and his Nez Perce' friend's. Then they left that country and thier mission never to return together again. And the mountain man probably saved thier lives. So, maybe Craig was finally a hero to all of his neighbor's back in the early pioneer day's of the NW. His community back in the United States probably considered him to be a murderer. He was never famous like some of the people that he probably rubbed elbow's with. But, he seem's to have lived a long and interesting life which saw many changes. And he was obviously well loved by many. Mr. Craig was probably considered back east a murderer to some, who was perhap's a hero for a month to a preacher and his wife, and maybe saved thier lives. What a guy .. I think I'll keep an eye out for him!

Oh Pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like thoughts inside a dream Heed the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Pacific NW History > Mountain Man
  Happy Birthday noahk!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum