Ignace Shonowane had, in this way, followed the enterprise of the company to the banks of the Spokan, being, probably, one of the first of his tribe that had traversed the Rocky Mountains.
Such were some of the motley populace of the wilderness, incident to the fur trade, who were gradually attracted to the new settlement of Astoria.
The month of October now began to give indications of approaching winter.

Hitherto, the colonists had been well pleased with the climate.
The summer had been temperate, the mercury never rising above eighty degrees.

Westerly winds had prevailed during the spring and the early part of the summer, and been succeeded by fresh breezes from the northwest.

In the month of October the southerly winds set in, bringing with them frequent rain.
The Indians now began to quit the borders of the ocean, and to retire to their winter quarters in the sheltered bosom of the forests, or along the small rivers and brooks.

The rainy season, which commences in October, continues, with little intermission, until April; and though the winters are generally mild, the mercury seldom sinking below the freezing point, yet the tempests of wind and rain are terrible.