I spent my entire forty year career working for a newspaper, The Oregonian, so I might be a little biased.  But for generations newspapers have been the lifeblood of the communities they served.  Especially in small communities, if you wanted to know who your neighbors had dinner with you found it in the local paper.  That has, of course, changed in recent years with the emergence of social media.  But for the genealogist who wants to add color to their family stories there is still no better source than newspapers of the past.  Thanks to the efforts of websites like newspapers.com and genealogybank.com, who have digitized and indexed millions of pages of newspapers, there are some real gems to be found.  I offer here two of my most recent treasures.

Information Wanted

“Mr. Curtis Harding of Monroe, Pa has two sons Anning and Dwight who left Minnesota for Frazer’s River one year ago.  He last heard from them in winter quarters at the Selkirk Settlement the 6th of March.  Mr. Harding has heard indirectly that the party some twenty or more in number all perished except two, by reason of starting too early in the spring. If anyone can give information of these young men, will confer an act of humanity by addressing Geo. W. Chowen Esq., the Register of Deeds of Hennepin County, Minnesota.” – (St. Cloud Democrat; Saint Cloud, MN; 26 Jan 1860; page 1, Col 5)

Curtis Harding was my 2nd great-grandfather.  Dwight and Anning were born to him by his first wife, Martha Parrish.  I am descended from Curtis through his 2nd wife, Elizabeth Sands.   So the young men is question were my half 2nd great uncles.  Not close relatives, but still of interest to me.

In 1858, gold was discovered in the Fraser River Canyon in British Columbia; that is  roughly 240 miles north of Seattle.  This caused quite a stir and thousands of would be miners, including our two Harding boys, set out to seek their fortunes.  Unfortunately, gold in this area was much harder to find than in California or the Klondike and most went home empty handed after a year or so.    Which explains why you have probably never heard of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.  It was a major boondoggle.

Selkirk Settlement on the Red River was near modern day Winnipeg, Manitoba and is therefore about 450 miles from the Falls of St. Anthony (Minneapolis) and 1400 miles from the Fraser River Canyon.

A Trip Across the Rocky Mountains – Fight with the Indians

“In August, 1858, a party of twenty-one young men, mostly lumbermen, started from Falls of St. Anthony, Minnesota, for the Frazer River Gold Mines.  The party was organized as follows: Albert Henshaw, Captain; J. A. Robinson, Clerk; J. G. Johnson, Baggage Master; Shubeal Bohauan, Cook, Chas. W. Montgomery, B. Y. Smith, D. W. Howard, David Henshaw, James Windle, Jas. Kerr, Wm. Sweeny, A. C. Foster, T. Graham, Thomas Campbell, Anning Harding, Dwight Harding, Z. B Brown, H. S. Johnson, James Dillman.

The Company was provided with thirteen carts, somewhat resembling the Red River carts, but much better made, drawn by thirteen single oxen.  They were provisioned for nine months, and well armed and ammunitioned, and proposed to winter 200 miles beyond the Selkirk settlement on the hunting grounds of the Hudson’s Bay Company.  The Company only reached Selkirk Settlement on the Red River of the North before winter set in.  They were joined in the Spring by a party of twenty three others, making in all a company of forty three resolute men, each armed with a double barrel gun, and two Colt’s six shooters, and took up their line of march for the then New Eldorado.  

A letter has been received from one of the party, now in Oregon, to his friends in this city, from which we are permitted to make the following extracts:

‘After forty-five days travel we hove in sight of the Rocky mountains, and began to think our fears concerning Indians were unfounded, when one morning at early dawn our camp was aroused by the near approach of Indians, apparently about 400.  We seized our guns and made ready for action.  When they approached within about two hundred yards we raised our guns and commanded them to stop, which they immediately did.  On inquiring what that meant, we told them we wanted an interview with their Chief, before we allowed them in our camp. He immediately came forward and demanded to know what countrymen we were.  We told him we were “Americans.”  He replied that he was an American at the same time giving us a shake of the hand, and pulling out a medal with “Frank Pierce’s” name on it, said he was our friend, and desired to smoke the pipe of peace with us, which we did.  After a friendly interview with him and his men, we traded off all our tired horses for fresh ones and took our departure, he cautioning us to look out for a large party of Indians belonging to the Slave Tribe, who were hostile to Americans.

After three days more travel we lay by one day on account of rain.  The next morning our horses came running into camp badly frightened, with arrows sticking in them, which alarm gave us to understand that Indians were nearby. We arranged our carts, and placed our horses behind them as much as possible, and made ready for action.  After a little time, a large party, apparently about eight hundred were seen approaching on either side of us, about four hundred on a side.  This was a critical hour with us; a most fearful odds— forty-three against eight hundred.  It was life or death, and every man felt that he must do his best.  Accordingly we met them with such well directed aim that it made sad havoc among them.  After one hour’s hard fighting, they were glad to retreat, with a loss of twenty-six killed, and sixty horses; while we only lost four horses, and one man wounded.

This ended our troubles with the Indians—.  But we had one far greater to encounter in the mountains, that of starvation.  We lost our way and wandered abut for thirty days without food except the flesh of our horses and the few berries we could find among the mountains.

Hearing from Frazer River we found it all a humbug, and shifted our course for Oregon where we arrived, mere skeletons, after a journey of one hundred and twenty days from Selkirk.’” –  (Cleveland Morning Leader; Cleveland, OH; 21 Dec 1859; page 2 Col 2)

Dwight and Anning Harding went on to be notable pioneers in the Montana Territory.  For years they operated a butcher shop together in Missoula.  In 1887, Dwight was elected Mayor. I found several stories involving bears, wolves, and broken bones from falling off of horses, and a few lawsuits.  But surely nothing was more memorable than their time in the wilderness in the spring of ’60.