Marie Dorion: Against All Odds

by Linda Harris Sittig

Everyone seems to remember the famous firsts: first man on the moon, first woman in space, first this, first that…. but how about the seconds? Those men and women who also accomplished an incredible feat but whose names are not famous.

Enter the story of Marie Dorion. If I put her in the same category as Sacajawea, you might have a vague idea of what she did, but you would not know the whole story.

In 1810, John Jacob Astor, the wealthiest person in America, sent an expedition out west to establish a fur trading post. Part of Astor’s incredible wealth was his fur empire. Not satisfied with how much he made, he yearned for more. And so, Astor met with President Thomas Jefferson to discuss the establishment of a trading emporium in the Pacific Northwest.

England, Russia, and Spain were already engaged in the fur trading business of the Northwest but without a permanent settlement. Astor planned to set up an outpost at the mouth of the Columbia River (present-day Oregon). He chose Wilson Hunt of New Jersey to lead an overland expedition following the same route Lewis and Clark followed in 1804. Then, he decided that Jonathan Thorn would simultaneously captain a seagoing route on the Tonquin to sail for the Pacific Northwest.

Like Lewis and Clark, Hunt found himself an interpreter, Pierre Dorion. Dorion insisted that his multi-lingual Native American wife, Marie, and their two small sons join the group.

Marie was pregnant when the expedition left the winter camp, 400 miles north of St. Louis, and began the spring trek in 1811. By May, Hunt decided to change the agreed-upon route and headed to an area in present-day South Dakota to obtain sufficient horses for the new overland trek. While in this location, Sacajawea and her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, arrived with a rival trading party. It is plausible that Sacajawea and Marie would have met one another, even if they did not speak the same language.

By mid-July, Hunt had procured enough horses to set out. The two young Dorion boys were allowed to ride, but Marie, now almost four months pregnant, walked. Weeks went by, and the travel progressed. But by early October, when they reached the Wyoming territory, they encountered a large river (the Snake) and exchanged their horses for dugout canoes.

Traveling now by canoe, disaster struck on October 28 when one of the canoes smashed on the rocks in an attempt to run the rapids. One man was killed, and many supplies were swept downstream. Their food supply was running low, and winter was approaching.  They abandoned the canoes and struck out on foot through deep mountain snow. Marie was now seven months pregnant but kept pace with the expedition. The party was down to 32 white men, one pregnant Native woman with two small children, and three Native scouts. The few puny remaining horses would become their primary food source.

Marie gave birth in the Oregon territory in late December 1811, but the baby did not survive.

When the Hunt party finally reached the mouth of the Columbia River, the Tonquin had already arrived and helped to start the outpost they named Astoria.

Marie’s story might have ended there, but the War of 1812 broke out only a few months later. The threat of the British invading Astoria made the pioneers abandon the post and strike out for the interior.

Marie, Pierre, and the two boys left Astoria and eventually set up a trapping base camp along the Snake River. In January 1814, Pierre was killed by a hostile group of Shoshone, while Marie was able to escape with the two children. With nowhere else to go, Marie headed back toward Astoria. After a nine-day trek, she killed the horse and smoked the meat to feed herself and the children.

Realizing winter was near, she built a crude shelter and settled in. After almost two months, she set out again with the two children. They walked for 15 days and were fortunate to be found by a small camp of Walla Walla American Indians who took them in and fed them.

Eventually, Marie and the boys reached a fur outpost in the Washington territory. The years went by; she remarried twice, gave birth to three more children, and settled in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.

Marie died in September 1850 at the age of 65. She had been an interpreter, explorer, pioneer, community member, wife, and mother during her long life—certainly, a strong woman.

Thank you to Bill Hudgins, whose article On The Oregon Trail, American Spirit, November/December 2018, was the basis for my research on Marie. I referred to several geographic areas as territories to help you understand the locations.

Wishing everyone a joyous holiday season and peace on Earth for the new year.

~ Linda