Danbury Times

Murder And Suicide.

The St. Louis Bulletin of July 24th contains the following account of a singular tragedy in the North-western wilds, a few weeks since. It appears that the Northwestern passage,—so long sought after by adventurous navigators, has at length been discovered by two young men belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, Simpson and Dace. On their return to the principal post of the Company, they both set out for England, to obtain the reward which the home government uniformly bestows upon those of her citizens who add to her dominions or her fame. The Bulletin says:

On the arrival of the two young men at Lake Winnepeck, they disagreed about the route which should be pursued, and there separated. Mr. Simpson, accompanied by Mr. Bird, Mr. Legros, and twenty or thirty of the colonists, struck across for St. Peters, intending to push on to New York, via the Lakes, and thence sail for Liverpool. Mr. Dace, his co-peer, with another party, set out for the Canadas.

About the 20th of June, Mr. Simpson and his party had reached Turtle river, where they encamped for the night. He had, from the beginning of the journey, exhibited occasional symptoms of mental hallucination, caused, as the party supposed, by the dread of being outstripped by his competitor in their long race for London. On the evening above mentioned, he had continued to push on until a late hour at night, and even then his feverish state of excitement deprived him of nourishment or rest.

When they stopped, and while in the act of camping, Mr. Simpson turned suddenly round, and shot Mr. Bird through the heart; and before the astounded party could fly from the presence of the madman, he discharged the other barrel, and mortally wounded Mr. Legros. It appears the party had separated; and when he committed the murder on his companions, there were only two more present—one of them a son of Legros, who immediately fled a short distance. The dying father earnestly implored Simpson to permit his son to return and embrace him before he should die—which he agreed to, and beckoned them back, saying there was nothing to fear.

On their return, Simpson accused Legros of conspiring with Bird, and asked him whether it was not their intention to assassinate him that night; the dying man said it was, but on being interrogated a second time, he denied having any intention or design of such a deed, and shortly after he expired. Simpson then ordered the two men to bridle their horses, and prepare to return with him to the settlement, but no sooner were they mounted than they dashed off in quest of the main body, and overtook them about 18 miles ahead. They all returned in the morning, and when they had reached within 200 yards of the camp, they got a glimpse of Simpson at the door of his tent, and immediately afterwards heard the report of a gun; supposing that he was determined to carry on the work of destruction which he had begun, they attempted to intimidate him by firing three volleys in the direction of the camp, and then approached it cautiously. When they came up, they found their commander weltering in his blood, and on closer examination, found that he had literally blown his head to pieces!

Far in the wild, unknown to public view, were the three bodies committed to the same grave by their companions, when they pursued their route with feelings more easily conceived than described.

The party arrived at St. Peters about the first of July, in possession of the important papers, and other property belonging to the ill-fated Simpson.