18TH Century scissors traded to the Chinook Indians by the Hudson Bay Company

This is a very interesting piece being offered, it is a pair of scissors which were found while excavating buildings at Fort Columbia, Washington. They are 18^th century and measure 9 ½” x 3”. They are tied to a card with an old, typed label giving its history as shown below:

“SISSORS BROUGHT BY THE HUDSON BAY CO. AND TRADED TO THE INDIANS (CHINOOK) FOR FUR. FOUND WHILE EXCAVATING FOR BUILDINGS AT FORT COLUMBIA. ALSO THE BULLETS MOLDS AND BAYONET. LOANED BY MRS. H. D. LANDON”.

Chief Comcomly, the Clatsop Leader, was known to Lewis and Clark, and honored and respected by the founding Astorians, The Northwesters and the Hudson's Bay Fur Traders. Comcomly was one of the Chiefs of the Chinook Tribe at the time of Lewis and Clark. He was born around 1770 and died in 1829 or 1830.

During his lifetime he was a trader, navigator, and not only befriender of Lewis and Clark, but also benefactor of the early Astorians. Chief Comcomly's village was located at Chinook Point, today the location of Fort Columbia. He first appears in the historic record in the journal of Captain Charles Bishop of the British ship Ruby which wintered in Baker’s Bay from December 1795 to January 1796. Lewis and Clark first met him in November 1805.

In 1788 the Chinook welcomed the Americans who arrive on the Northwest Coast to trade for furs, the “soft gold” they will sell for high profits in China. The British John Meares spent that summer trading at Nootka Sound. Like the Americans, he misses the entrance to the Columbia River.

In 1792, the Chinook have greeted many American ships along the Northwest Coast. When Captain Robert Gray sailed into the mouth of the Yakaitl-Wimakl, he called it the Columbia River after his ship, the “Columbia Rediviva”. The trade-savvy Chinook exchange fish and furs for Euro-American items, such as these scissors. Gray’s visit gains significance later when used to establish an American claim to the region under Euro-American international law.

Apparently, these large scissors were previously in a museum or historical society and were loaned to it by a Mrs. Landon. The scissors are frozen together with rust, but they still remain very solid without any chipping or flaking. They come in the glass top display case pictured.