He took a general interest in the scheme of the captain;
introduced him to commercial men of his acquaintance, and in a little
while an association was formed, and the necessary funds were raised
to carry the proposed measure into effect. One of the most efficient
persons in this association was Mr. Alfred Seton, who, when quite a
youth, had accompanied one of the expeditions sent out by Mr. Astor to
his commercial establishments on the Columbia, and had distinguished
himself by his activity and courage at one of the interior posts. Mr.
Seton was one of the American youths who were at Astoria at the time
of its surrender to the British, and who manifested such grief and
indignation at seeing the flag of their country hauled down. The hope
of seeing that flag once more planted on the shores of the Columbia, may
have entered into his motives for engaging in the present enterprise.

Thus backed and provided, Captain Bonneville undertook his expedition
into the Far West, and was soon beyond the Rocky Mountains. Year after
year elapsed without his return. The term of his leave of absence
expired, yet no report was made of him at head quarters at Washington.
He was considered virtually dead or lost and his name was stricken from
the army list.

It was in the autumn of 1835 at the country seat of Mr. John Jacob
Astor, at Hellgate, that I first met with Captain Bonneville He was
then just returned from a residence of upwards of three years among the
mountains, and was on his way to report himself at head quarters, in the
hopes of being reinstated in the service. From all that I could learn,
his wanderings in the wilderness though they had gratified his curiosity
and his love of adventure had not much benefited his fortunes. Like
Corporal Trim in his campaigns, he had "satisfied the sentiment,"
and that was all. In fact, he was too much of the frank, freehearted
soldier, and had inherited too much of his father's temperament, to make
a scheming trapper, or a thrifty bargainer.

There was something in the whole appearance of the captain that
prepossessed me in his favor. He was of the middle size, well made and
well set; and a military frock of foreign cut, that had seen service,
gave him a look of compactness. His countenance was frank, open,
and engaging; well browned by the sun, and had something of a French
expression. He had a pleasant black eye, a high forehead, and, while he
kept his hat on, the look of a man in the jocu