Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth
Encyclopedia
Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth was an American
inventor, ice harvester, and explorer and trader in the far west.
, to Jacob and Elizabeth (Jarvis) Wyeth. He married Elizabeth Jarvis Stone on Jan 29, 1824, and began his career in the 1820s by acting as foreman for a company that harvested ice from Fresh Pond in Cambridge, and thus helping Boston's "Ice King" Frederic Tudor
to establish New England's ice trade with the Caribbean, Europe, and India. In the course of this business, he invented a number of tools that revolutionized the ice-harvesting business and increased its productivity enormously. He also invented above-ground ice houses, with double walls for insulation. As the Dictionary of American Biography states, "[I]t was said at his death that practically every implement and device used in the ice business had been invented by Nat Wyeth."
convinced him that Oregon
had excellent commercial prospects. Wyeth believed that he could become wealthy in the Oregon fur industry, develop farms for growing crops (especially tobacco
) and start a salmon
industry that would rival New England
's cod
industry.
When Kelley's plans for an expedition were long delayed, Wyeth formed one of his own, and as he wrote in his expedition journal: "On the 10th of March 1832 I left Boston in a vessel with 20 men for Baltimore
where I was joined by four more, and on the 27th left to Rail Road for Fredrick Md (Frederick, Maryland
) from thence to Brownsville we marched on foot, and took passage from that place to Liberty Mo. on various steamboats, which place we left for the prairies on the 12th of May with 21 men, three having deserted, and on the 27th of May three more deserted." From there the expedition's route proceeded along what would later become known as the Oregon Trail
, via the Black Hills
, the Grand Tetons, north of the Great Salt Lake
, thence to Walla Walla, Washington
, down the Columbia River
, and ultimately to Fort Vancouver
on October 29.
On November 6, Wyeth's journal notes that "my men came forward and unanimously desired to be released from their engagement with a view of returning home as soon as possible.... I am now afloat on the great sea of life without stay or support but in good hands i.e. myself and providence". After spending the winter months at Fort Vancouver, Wyeth returned overland, reaching Liberty, Missouri
by late September 1833, and then on to Boston. Although the expedition had not been a commercial success, he brought with him a collection of plants previously unknown to botany.
In 1834 he outfitted a new expedition, with grand plans for establishing fur-trading posts, a salmon fishery, a colony, and other developments. Included in the company were two noted naturalists, Professor Thomas Nuttall
(1786-1859) of Harvard University
, and John Kirk Townsend
plus missionary Jason Lee
.
Wyeth's party crossed the Kansas River
on May 5, founded Fort Hall
(July, 1834) and built Fort William
on the Columbia River
. Wyeth reports in his journal that on September 15, 1834, he "met the Bg [Brig] May Dacre in full sail up the River boarded her and found all well she had put into Valparaíso
having been struck by Lightning and much damaged. Capt Lambert was well and brot me 20 Sandwich Islanders and 2 Coopers 2 Smiths and a Clerk." After much exploration and trapping, he was ultimately unsuccessful in competition with Dr. John McLoughlin of the Hudson's Bay Company
, and in 1836 he returned to the East discouraged.
Despite its business failure, the second expedition again proved scientifically useful as Nuttall collected and identified 113 species of western plants including sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata
and "mule's ear", a sunflower genus that he named Wyethia in Wyeth's honor.
by American settlers, and encouraged many to go west, although he himself never crossed the Mississippi
again.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
inventor, ice harvester, and explorer and trader in the far west.
Early life
Wyeth was born in Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, to Jacob and Elizabeth (Jarvis) Wyeth. He married Elizabeth Jarvis Stone on Jan 29, 1824, and began his career in the 1820s by acting as foreman for a company that harvested ice from Fresh Pond in Cambridge, and thus helping Boston's "Ice King" Frederic Tudor
Frederic Tudor
Frederic Tudor was known as Boston's "Ice King", and was the founder of the Tudor Ice Company. During the early 19th Century, he made a fortune shipping ice to the Caribbean, Europe, and even as far away as India from sources of fresh water ice in New England.The Tudor Ice Company harvested ice in...
to establish New England's ice trade with the Caribbean, Europe, and India. In the course of this business, he invented a number of tools that revolutionized the ice-harvesting business and increased its productivity enormously. He also invented above-ground ice houses, with double walls for insulation. As the Dictionary of American Biography states, "[I]t was said at his death that practically every implement and device used in the ice business had been invented by Nat Wyeth."
Oregon Country
At age 30, however, Hall J. KelleyHall J. Kelley
Hall Jackson Kelley was an American settler and writer known for his strong advocacy for settlement by the United States of the Oregon Country in the 1820s and 1830s...
convinced him that Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
had excellent commercial prospects. Wyeth believed that he could become wealthy in the Oregon fur industry, develop farms for growing crops (especially tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
) and start a salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
industry that would rival New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
's cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
industry.
When Kelley's plans for an expedition were long delayed, Wyeth formed one of his own, and as he wrote in his expedition journal: "On the 10th of March 1832 I left Boston in a vessel with 20 men for Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
where I was joined by four more, and on the 27th left to Rail Road for Fredrick Md (Frederick, Maryland
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
) from thence to Brownsville we marched on foot, and took passage from that place to Liberty Mo. on various steamboats, which place we left for the prairies on the 12th of May with 21 men, three having deserted, and on the 27th of May three more deserted." From there the expedition's route proceeded along what would later become known as the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
, via the Black Hills
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
, the Grand Tetons, north of the Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake
The Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere, the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world. In an average year the lake covers an area of around , but the lake's size fluctuates substantially due to its...
, thence to Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla is the largest city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,731 at the 2010 census...
, down the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
, and ultimately to Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
on October 29.
On November 6, Wyeth's journal notes that "my men came forward and unanimously desired to be released from their engagement with a view of returning home as soon as possible.... I am now afloat on the great sea of life without stay or support but in good hands i.e. myself and providence". After spending the winter months at Fort Vancouver, Wyeth returned overland, reaching Liberty, Missouri
Liberty, Missouri
Liberty is a city in Clay County, Missouri and is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. At the 2007 population estimate, the city population was 29,993...
by late September 1833, and then on to Boston. Although the expedition had not been a commercial success, he brought with him a collection of plants previously unknown to botany.
In 1834 he outfitted a new expedition, with grand plans for establishing fur-trading posts, a salmon fishery, a colony, and other developments. Included in the company were two noted naturalists, Professor Thomas Nuttall
Thomas Nuttall
Thomas Nuttall was an English botanist and zoologist, who lived and worked in America from 1808 until 1841....
(1786-1859) of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and John Kirk Townsend
John Kirk Townsend
John Kirk Townsend was an American naturalist, ornithologist and collector.Townsend was born in Philadelphia and trained as a physician and pharmacist. He developed an interest in natural history in general and bird collecting in particular...
plus missionary Jason Lee
Jason Lee (missionary)
Jason Lee , an American missionary and pioneer, was born on a farm near Stanstead, Quebec. He was the first of the Oregon missionaries and helped establish the early foundation of a provisional government in the Oregon Country....
.
Wyeth's party crossed the Kansas River
Kansas River
The Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
on May 5, founded Fort Hall
Fort Hall
Fort Hall, sitting athwart the end of the common stretch shared by the three far west emigrant trails was a 19th century outpost in the eastern Oregon Country, which eventually became part of the present-day United States, and is located in southeastern Idaho near Fort Hall, Idaho...
(July, 1834) and built Fort William
Fort William (Oregon)
Fort William was a fur trading outpost built by American Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth in 1834. It was located on the Columbia River on Wappatoo Island in what is now part of Portland, Oregon. It was the site of a murder and the first Euro-American trial in what is now the state of Oregon...
on the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
. Wyeth reports in his journal that on September 15, 1834, he "met the Bg [Brig] May Dacre in full sail up the River boarded her and found all well she had put into Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
having been struck by Lightning and much damaged. Capt Lambert was well and brot me 20 Sandwich Islanders and 2 Coopers 2 Smiths and a Clerk." After much exploration and trapping, he was ultimately unsuccessful in competition with Dr. John McLoughlin of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
, and in 1836 he returned to the East discouraged.
Despite its business failure, the second expedition again proved scientifically useful as Nuttall collected and identified 113 species of western plants including sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata
Artemisia tridentata
Artemisia tridentata is a shrub or small tree from the family Asteraceae. Some botanists treat it in the segregate genus Seriphidium, as S. tridentatum W. A. Weber, but this is not widely followed...
and "mule's ear", a sunflower genus that he named Wyethia in Wyeth's honor.
Later life
Although he failed in his two ventures westward, Wyeth's business dealings in Massachusetts remained financially secure and he maintained a sizable fortune. He continued to strongly support the occupation of OregonOregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
by American settlers, and encouraged many to go west, although he himself never crossed the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
again.
General references
- “Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth.” Dictionary of American Biography, Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group, 2001.
- The correspondence and journals of Captain Nathaniel J. Wyeth, 1831-6. Eugene, Ore., University Press, 1899.
- The Journals of Captain Nathaniel J. Wyeth's Expeditions to the Oregon Country 1831-1836. Don Johnson, ed. Fairfield, Washington. Ye Galleon Press. 1984