East Oregonian Round -Up Souvenir Edition
Pendleton, Oregon, Thursday, September 20, 1917.
Twenty-Eight Page
Records Show That John Day, Noted Early Day Trapper,
Died on Banks of Columbia River in 1819, Not Astoria
Page Two
(RKFrniJKHKIli FROM TI1K ORK
iiitX HISTOIUCAIj SOOKTY
Ol'AUTKRIiV)
(Kditorlal Notes by T. C Elliott. -John
llay wan n member of the
Wilson Price Hunt or ovfrland par
ty f the Pacific pur Company (A
tnriHns) which assembled at the
month of the "Nadowa" inear where
the city of Saint jnffeph. Mo. now
utandnt in the fall of 1M0, crossed
the plains anil l&icky mountains dur
lng l S 1 1 and arrived at Astoria dur
ing the winter and spring of The
Itinerary and experience of those
"Karliest Travelers on the Oregon
Trail" have been clearly told on
pages 227 2 39 of Vol 13 of this quar
terly. John Day was a Kentucky
hunter' engaged to act as one of the
hunters of the party, and is thus de
aTibed by Washington Irving at page
146 of Vol. l of his "Astoria:,
"John Day, a hunter from the
tiac It woods of Virginia, hut who had
several years on the Missouri in the
service of Mr. Crooks and of other
traders He was about forty years
of ape. six feet two inches high,
straight as an Indian; with an elas
tic step as if he trod on springs, and
a handsome, open, manly counten
ance. It was his boast that. In his
younger days nothing could hurt or
daunt him ; but he had "lived too
fast" and injured his constitution bv
excess. Still he was strong of
hand, bold of heart, a prime wood
man. and an almost unerring shot."
Harly rmy Kxcemea.
John Day's early excesses evident
ly incapacitated him for extreme
hards hi ps, for i n the f i na 1 crisis of
that Journey, in December. 1811.
along the banks of Snake rver, he
gave out and his life was saved only
by the fact that Ramsay Crooks re
mained behind with him at some
Indan camp near Weiser, Idaho. The
following spring these two made
their way across the Blue mountains
to the Co'umb.a river, only to be at
tacked, robbed and left practically
naked near the mouth of what has
ver since been called the John Day
river about thirty miles east of The
Dalles. They were found by others
of the fur traders and reached Asto
ria early in May.
John Day was soon assigned to ac
company Robert Stuart back across
the plains to St Louis with dispatch
es for Mr. Astor. and th party set
off on the 29th of June; but during
th night of July 2nd while encamped
on or near Wapato Island he sudden
ly became deranged and the follow
ing morning attempted to commit
suicide and was sent back to Astoria
in the care of some friendly Indians.
This is all told by Mr. Irving on
j pages 11112 of Vol. 2 of 'Astoria,"
with the final statement that "his
i constitution was completely broken by
j the hardships he had undergone and
! he died wihm a year."
j With this reference John Day's
i name disapepars from the writings of
! the annalists of the Pacific Fur Com
i j-any's ind North-West Company's
(careers upon the Columbia river, that
is. until 1S24 Tradition only as far
as known to the writer i is responsi
ble for the infrequent statement that
he retired from his associates and
died in a sma'l hunter's cabin on the
banks of the large creek which emp
ties into the Columbia a few miles
above Tongue Point which has for
years been mapped and known as
John Day creek.
Hut Mr. Irving was either inspired
or nvstaken. for John Day did not
die within a year, although he Is not
again mentioned until 1824 by any of
the fur traders of the Columbia rive:'.
When the North West Company's bar
ca n with the Pacific Fur Company
was completed t provided that those
of the Astorians who did not then
and there join the North-West Com
pany be conveyed back to Montreal,
or elsewhere east of the Rocky
, mountains: and a "brigade' of ten
i canoes containing near'y eighty men
left Astoria on April 4th. 1814. bound
. for the Athabasca Pass. The names
; of the party are all listed by Alex
Henry in his Journal, and Canoe No.
7 carried as "passengers, Mr. David
. Stuart and Mr Joshua Day" Now
there is nowhere any mention of suh
' a person as. Joshua Day among the
.gentlemen of either company. an 1
- Alex Henry having been at Astoria
onlv since the 1 5th of November.
; 1M3. probably was not intimate with
; the names of all the Pacific Fur Com-
pany's men; so there is good reason
1 to cone'U'le 'that Joshua Dayand
! John lay are one and the same per
son notwithstanding the discrepancy
in names, and that our Mr. John Day
the ascended the Columbia at least as
far ;is one of the other North-West
Company trading posts and eventually
joined the North-West Company in
some form of service. The docu-
ocao
onoi
socio
liiilUllMlllIillllMlllilUlllllUUIllUHIIIfllMtlllllilllllllll.JlllliUIIIUUIIHMIIMl
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The relation between a druggist and his
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We want you to make use of ALL the ad
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o
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in
.IIIMMIMtitflMilMi f t """ HHimiMimtHUMMHfUllrU I
p., mmW I QUO! IPDPI 3QPA
probably accounts for the lack of
mention of him.
Died in 1811).
Our next record of John Day is con
tained in the Journal of Alex. Koss,
who was in charge of the Hudson's
Bay Company trapping party in the
Snake country in The entry
of May 12th. 1824, reads: "Went up
to headwaters of the river This is
the defile where in 1M9 died John
Day." (Or. Hist. guar. Vol. 14. p.
valley which heads in the Salmon
river mountains of central Idaho and
opens to the lava beds to the north
of the Three Butter. John Works'
Journal of November 2nd, $l0.
reads: "Camped near the head of
Day's River" (.Or. Hist, guar., Voi.
13. p 3H1M. Captain Bonneville was
on the same stream in December.
1832, as related by Mr. Irving, and
the Arrowsmith maps of 1835 4f des
ignate it as Day's or MacKenzie s riv
er. It has. however, lost the original
name and is now mapped as Little
Lost river, from the fact that its
flow sinks and follows underground
channels to the Snake river.
Turning now tn the document it.selt"
we find that the testator and witness
es recite its execution Feb. inth. 1820
"on the dependencies of the U.ver
Columbia," and thar Donald Mac
Kenzie proves it by swearing that
John Day died February 16th, 1820,
"on the south si !e of the River Co
lumbia in the Territory of Oregon."
Had it been executed at Fort George
or Spokane or Nez Perce the recital
would have been different. This doc
ument was therefore written and ex
ecuted in the camp of Donald Mac
Kenzie on one of the mountain
streams of Idaho, and may be the
first proven will ever executed in Old
Oregon certainly In the State of Ida
ho. Donald MacKenzie was a passen
ger in Canoe Ko 1 of the brigade
which left Astoria on April 4th, 1S14,
and carried to Mr. Astur the papers
of final settlement with the North
West Company and the draft in pay
ment. He then Joined the North
Westers again and returned to the
Columbia in 1816 to take full charge
of the fur trade of the interior or
upper river. A!ex Ross, in "Fur
Hunters of the Far West." is our
authority for his presence in the
Snake country in the winter of 1820
in charge of a large trapping party
there. Evidently he kept this docu
ment in his own possession until able
as an American citizen to present it
for probate at Mayville, New York,
where he resided from 1R33 until
1S51. the date of his death.
The suggestion has been made that
Washington Irving was Inspired when
he stated that John Day died within
a year. This suggestion may be en
larged upon at some future date
when it may be possible to relate the
story of Donald MacKenzie's collec
tion of the bequest to his daughter
Rachel being; the moneys due from
John Jacob Astor to John Day for
services rendered the Pacific Fur
Company. The document follows:
Before God and the subscribing
witnesses, I, John Day, the son of
Ambrose Day in the County of Cul
pepper, State of Virginia, being sound
in mind but infirm of body, do here
by make and constitute this my law
ful Will and Testament, and I ap
point Mr. Donald MacKenzie as the
sole Executor of the same as follows;
John Day 1b Will.
First. I hereby give and bequeath
to the said Donald MacKenzie two
hundred and forty acres of landed
property given to me by the Spanish
government formerly at St. Louis in
Ixuis:ana. The said property of two
hundred and forty acres of land is
situated about a mile from the banks
of the Missouri, on the south side
and lying upon the creek Lavudze
right hand side of that creek adjoin
ing the lands of Mons'r Cheauteau.
All papers concerning the said landed
property I have placed in the hands
of Mr. James McKay, residing about
nine miles below the town of St.
Louis I therefore request and desire
of the said James McKay, his heirs.
administrators or executors, that he
or they will give and deliver up or see
given or delivered up into the hands
of the said Donald MacKenzie or in
to his order all and every one of the
papers, the deeds or rights whatso
ever appertaining to or concerning
the Eaid two hundred and forty acres
of landed property situated as above
mentioned.
I further give an bequeath to sai'l
Donald MacKenzie all and every my
right and pretensions to the Salt Pe
ter lands discovered by me about
Boons Licks at the River Missouri.
I also bequeath to him the said
Donald MacKenzie my one-third pro
portion of profits therefrom arising
since first I found them, and I re
quest and desire of my worthy friend
Mr. Benjamin Cooper and of Mr. John
Falral who have been hitherto part
ners with me in the proceeds of the
said Salt Peter lands, that they de
liver up or see delivered up Into th;
hands of the said Dona'd MacKenzie
or into hl order all the share of
profits belonging to me as arlping
from the said Salt Peter lands sfnc
the commencement of my partnership
with them, which 1 believe took
place In the year eighteen hundred
and nine.
I (five and bequeath to Mtes Rachel
Mackenzie of Columbia River all and
every my ready cash with the lawful
interest arising therefrom, and lying
n the hands of my roYmer master.
Mr. John Jacob Astor, Merchant of
New York. I therefore desre the sai l
John Jacob Astor to deliver Into the
hands of my aforesaid executor or
order, a 1 the ready cash with lawful
interest belonging to me In his pos
se kbI on
Signed and sealed this fifteenth
day of February on the dependencies
of the River Columbia in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and twenty.
I wish this writing to be considered
by all men as my lawful will and tes
tament. JOHN DAY. U S.
Witness:
WILLIAM RETTSON.
James Birnie.
i State of New York.
'Chautauqua County, s.
He it remembered that at a Surro
gate's Court held at the Village of
.Mayville in the County of Chautauqua
ion the twenty eighth day of October
! in the year of our Lord one thousand
'eight hundred and tnirtysix, the last
Will and Testament of John Day late
of the Territory of Oregon in the
I'nited States of America, deceased a
copy whereof is hereunto annexed i
'was admitted to probate after a cita
ltion to the next of kin (there belli?
no widow of said deceased) to the
isaid deceased issued, served, returned
and filed according to law.
I Whereupon at the place and on the
day aforesaid the following witnesses
after having been duly sworn by the
! tiuiil Mnrrni'iitn taurifiu;l no follow F.
to-wit: after proof of legal service of
the said citation on the next of kin
to th said deceased Donald Mac Ken
zle. after having been duly sworn by
the said Surrogate, testified as fol
lows that there was a promissory note
of the said deceased came into the
County of Chautauqua since the death
of the said deceased, and that John
Day the aid deceased died on the
sixteenth day of February in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hun
dred and twenty, on the south side
of the River Columbia in the Terri
tory of Oregon, in the Tnlted States
which was the p'ace of his residence
at the time of his death: and this de
ponent further says that William
Itettson and James Birnle the two
subscribing witnesses to the last will
and Testament of the said John Ia
deceased, nuw reside out of the State
of New York, according to the be
lief and knowledge of this deponent,
and that he is well acquainted with
the hand writing of the said William
Rettson and James Birnle. and that
the signatures of the said witnesses
to the Will are the proper signatures
of the said William Rett son and
James Birnle who signed their names
to the said Wl!l of said deceased, at
the request of said decedent, and in
the presence of the said deceased,
and in the presence of each other,
and this deponent further Buys that
ho Is well acquainted with the hand
writing of John Day the said deceas
ed, and that the signature of John
Day to the will of said deceased here
produced in court is the signature of
said deceased, the proper handwriting
of John Day the said deceased, and
further that at the time the said de
ceased executed said will he was of
sound disposing mind and memory
and not under restraint, and the said
William Rettson ond James Birnie
the said witnesses to the said will,
took the said will after it was exo
cuted and immediately handed the
said will to thtH deponent, and this
deponent says that the said will now
presented in court Is the same will
of said deceased without any altera
tion whatever.
DONALD MacKENZIE
Whereupon. I, the said Surrogate,
upon the proof aforesaid, being sat
isfied of the genuineness and validity
of the said will, order that the aald
will be admitted to probate, and that
Letters Testamentary thereon be
granted to Donald MacKenzie execu
tor In the said will named, after th
expiration of thirty day from the
time of taking the proof aforesaid, on
his taking and subscribing the oath
of office prescribed by law.
In Testimony Whereof, we have
caused the seal of office of our riur-
roKate to be hereunto affixed.
U S.
Witness Wllllum Smith. SurroKate nf
the County of Ohuutnuuua aforena'-d.
at Mayville in said County on the
second day of December in the year
of our Lord one thouauiid eight hun
dred and thirty six.
WIIJJAM SMITH.
Surrogate
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