Joseachal was a

Quinault Quinault may refer to: * Quinault people, an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast **Quinault Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe ** Quinault language, their language People * Quinault family of actors, including: * Jean-Bapt ...

man who lived in the early 19th century. Notably he was the sole survivor of the '' Tonquin'', a

trading Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market (economics), market. Traders generally negotiate throu ...

vessel owned by the

Pacific Fur Company The Pacific Fur Company (PFC) was an American fur trade venture wholly owned and funded by John Jacob Astor that functioned from 1810 to 1813. It was based in the Pacific Northwest, an area contested over the decades among the United Kingdom of G ...

(PFC) that was destroyed near

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

. He was hired to act an interpreter for the vessel in negotiations with various

Nuu-chah-nulth The Nuu-chah-nulth ( ; ), also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifteen related tri ...

peoples. Enraged at the prices that the

Tla-o-qui-aht The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations () are a Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation (band government) in Canada. They live on ten reserves along the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The band is part of the Nuu-chah-n ...

insisted upon, captain

Jonathan Thorn Jonathan Thorn (8 January 1779 – 15 June 1811) was a career officer of the United States Navy in the early 19th century. Early life and Naval career Born on 8 January 1779 in Schenectady, New York, during the Revolutionary War, Thorn was ...

struck an elder with a pelt. After purchasing PFC blades, the Tla-o-qui-aht attacked and killed the crew. Only Joseachal survived to reach

Fort Astoria Fort Astoria (also named Fort George) was the primary Fur trade, fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company (PFC). A maritime contingent of PFC staff was sent on board the ''Tonquin (1807 ship), Tonquin'', while another party tra ...

to inform the PFC officers of the ''Tonquin's'' destruction.

Battle of Woody Point

Near

Destruction Island Destruction Island (also known historically as Green Island and Isla de Dolores/Island of Sorrows) is a island located approximately off the Washington (U.S. state), Washington coast. Home to seabirds, shorebirds, and marine mammals, it is par ...

he was recruited by Thorn to act as an interpreter. He had a sister married to a Tla-o-qui-aht man, a factor that has been attributed to his later survival on Vancouver Island. While at

Clayoquot Sound Clayoquot Sound is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. It is bordered by the Esowista Peninsula to the south, and the Hesquiaht Peninsula to the North. ...

in June 1811, the ''Tonquin'' hosted members of the neighboring Tla-o-qui-aht nation. They boarded the ship in large numbers to trade with commercial dealings negotiated between Thorn and an experienced elder, Nookamis, along with Joseachal translating their proposals. These discussions made Thorn increasingly frustrated at Nookamis' intransigence to accept his terms. Joseachal later informed Duncan McDougall that Thorn took one of Nookamis' fur skins and hit him in the face with it. After this outburst, the Indigenous consulted among themselves and offered to trade their fur stockpiles again. They proposed that in return for a skin, the PFC officers sell 3 blankets and a knife. McDougall recounted that "A brisk trade was carried on all the Indians setting round on the decks of the Ship were supplied with a knife a piece." Violence immediately erupted as the warriors led by

Wickaninnish Wickaninnish (; meaning "Nobody sits or stands before him in the canoe") was a chief of the Tla-o-qui-aht people of Clayoquot Sound, on what is now Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, in the 1780s and 1790s, during the opening period of Eu ...

attacked the crew on board, and killed all but one of the men. The only known survivor of the crew was Joseachal, who arrived back at Fort Astoria through assistance of prominent Lower Chinookan noble

Comcomly Comcomly (or Concomly) (1765–1830) was a Native American leader of the Lower Chinook, a group of Chinookan peoples indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, who inhabited the area near Ilwaco, Washington. Concomly spoke Lower Chinook and was ...

Citations

Bibliography

* {{refend Astoria, Oregon Fur trade Pre-Confederation British Columbia