Benton County, Oregon - Chapter 14: Joint Occupation of Oregon, 1885

Chapter 14: Joint Occupation of Oregon

The Russian Settlements - They Establish Themselves at Bodega Bay - Treaty of Ghent - Restoration to the United States of Astoria, or Fort George - Treaty of Joint Ocoupancy in 1818 - The Florida Treaty of 18 1 9 - Fierce Rivalry between the Hudson's Bay and Northwest Companies - The War on Red River - Consolidation of the Rival Companies - Description of the Hudson's Bay Company.

During the years that had elapsed since the Russian Americau Trading Company was chartered, that organization had become exceedingly powerful, establishing many posts on the Alaskan coast and carrying on the fur trade in a systematic and successful manner. In 1799 a settlement was made on King George III. archipelago near Mount Edgecumb, near the 56th parallel. This was destroyed by the natives in 1803, and was rebuilt in 1805, and was then called New Archangel of Sitka. This became the capital of Russian America and so remained until Alaska was purchased by the United States. This was the most southerly settlement at that time, but in 1806 preparations were made to occupy the mouth of the Columbia, which was considered by the company to be embraced within the limits of the country over which their monopoly charter from the czar extended. The execution of this project was deferred for a time, and, as we have seen, was in a few years rendered impossible because of prior possession of the Americans and English. In 1812 the governor of the company, whose headquarters were at Sitka, requested and received permission of the Spanish governor of California to leave a few men on the shore of Bodega bay, a few miles north of Yerba Buena (San Francisco) for the purpose of preparing meat and supplies for their posts in the north. In a few years this little station had become a fortified settlement, and the governor's request and peremptory order to vacate were treated with contempt ; nor were they ever driven from their post, but abandoned it in 1840 at the request of the United States government. During the years of their occupancy many voyages of trade and exploration were made, some of them at the expense of much suffering and many lives, adding materially to the geographical knowledge of the upper portion of the Pacific and the Arctic ocean above Siberia and about Behring's strait.

The treaty of Ghent, which ended the war of 1812, provided that " all territory, places, and possessions, whatsoever, taken by either party from the other during the war, or which may be taken after the signing of this treaty, shall be restored without delay." It failed, however, because the commissioners could not agree, to define a dividing line between the American territory of Louisiana and the possessions of the British, west of the Lake of the Woods. In pursuance of this treaty, Mr. Astor, who was eager to recover possession of Astoria and resume his trading operations in the Pacific, applied to the president for restitution of his property. The minister of Great

Britain at Washington was accordingly notified in July, 1815, that the United States would at once reoccupy the captured fort at the mouth of the Columbia ; but no apparent notice was taken of this by the English government. It was not until September, 1817, that actual steps were taken to carry into effect this resolution, and then the sloop of war Ontario was dispatched on this errand, the captain, J. Biddle, and J. B Prevost, his associate commissioner, being instructed to assert the claim of the United States to the sovereignty of the country adjacent to the Columbia, but to do so in a friendly and peaceable manner.

Soon after the departure of the Ontario the representative of Great Britain officially inquired of Secretary Adams the destination and object of the vessel, and was informed that it was directed to take possession of the post at the mouth of the Columbia, which, since no attention had been paid to the notification of two years before, it had been assumed Great Britain had no idea of claiming as rightfully hers. This was answered by saying that the post had been purchased by the Northwest Company, subjects of his majesty, from private individuals, and as it was situated in a region which that company had long occupied it was considered as forming a portion of his - majesty's dominions. Much controversy was carried on between the two governments on the questions of abstract right and actual possession. It was finally agreed that the post should be restored to the United States but its property should still belong to its purchasers, while the right of dominion over the country should be left for future negotiation. The Ontario arrived at Valparaiso in February, 1818, where Mr. Prevost landed to transact official business with the Chilean government. Captain Biddle continued to the Columbia, sailing into that stream in the month of August and taking formal possession of the surrounding country in the name of the United States. He then departed for other portions of the Pacific. In the meantime Captain Sheriff, of the English navy, having orders to deliver up Fort George, met Mr. Prevost in Chili and offered him passage to the Columbia for that purpose in the frigate Blossom. They entered the river early in October, when Mr. Keith, the gentleman in charge surrendered possession, having been instructed to that effect by the officers of the company. A paper was given to Mr. Prevost setting forth the fact that, in pursuance of orders from the government, Fort George, on the Columbia river, was surrendered to him as the representative of the United States, and he in return gave the officers a written acceptance of the transfer. The British flag was then lowered and the American ensign was temporarily displayed over the walls of Fort George, while it was courteously saluted by the guns of the Blossom. Thus the matter stood, the Americans nominally and the British actually in possession of Oregon.

During the time the Northwest Company had occupied this past many improvements had been made, so that the Fort George of 1818 was far different from the Astoria of five years before. A stockade of pine logs, twelve feet high above the ground, enclosed a parallelogram of 150x250 feet, within which were dwellings, storehouses, magazines, shops, etc., all defended by two eighteen-pounders, six six-pounders, four four-pound carronades, two six-pound cohorns, and seven swivels, armament sufficient for a strong fort in those days. The population consisted of twenty-three whites, twenty-six Kanakas and sixteen Canadian half-breeds. The company was not disturbed in the possession of this important post, and Mr. Astor was finally compelled to abandon all hope of recovering his property through the action of the government, and not deeming it advisable to found a rival establishment, was reluctantly compelled to abandon his projects in the Pacific altogether.

Negotiations still continued between the two governments' during these transactions of their agents, and on the twentieth of October, 1818, a treaty of compromise was signed, providing that all territories and their waters west of the Rocky mountains should be free and open to the vessels and to the use and occupation of the citizens and subjects of both nations for the period of ten years, and that no claim of either party should in any manner be prejudiced by this action, and that neither should gain any right of dominion by such use or occupation during the time specified. On the twenty-second of February, 1819, a treaty was concluded between the United States and Spain, generally known as the Florida treaty, by which Spain ceded to the United States her province of Florida and all her rights, claims and pretensions to any territories north and east of a line drawn from the source of the Arkansas north to the 42d parallel and thence west to the Pacific. The 42d parallel remained the boundary between the United States and Mexico until Texas, then California, and still later New Mexico and Arizona were conquered or purchased by the former, and was considered the southern boundary of Oregon.

Fierce rivalry had existed for many years between the Hudson's Bay Company and its energetic competitor. The despised rival had grown in wealth and power until the Northwest Company, though not protected by royal charter and not having vast territories over which to exercise the right of dominion, had become an organization even more wealthy and powerful than the chartered monopoly. In the plenitude of its power it gave employment to 2,000 voyageurs, while its agents penetrated the wilderness in all directions in search of furs. The Hudson's Bay Company had confined itself to its granted territory, and had not even explored that with enlightened energy, their method of conducting the business being to build a few posts at central points, to which the Indians repaired for purposes of trade. On the contrary, it was the policy of the rival organization to send its agents far and wide, to trade with the natives and open up new fields of operation. This aggressive policy soon had the effect of arousing the old company to a realizing sense of the precarious condition of its affairs, and the necessity for taking energetic steps to recover the ground it was rapidly losing. The result of the rivalry, growing chiefly out of the improvident methods of the Northwest Company, was so alarming a decrease in the fur-bearing animals as to threaten their complete extinction. A systematic effort was made to crush the old company, or to at least drive its representatives from the most valuable beaver country, with the hope of finally compelling a surrender of its charter.

The first act of actual hostility, other than mere trade rivalry, was committed in 1806, when a trader of the Hudson's Bay Company was forcibly deprived of 480 packs of beaver skins, and a few months later of fifty more. The same year another trader was attacked and robbed of valuable furs by servants of the Northwest Company, and received similar treatment again the following spring. These acts of plundering were numerous, and since no law but the law of might existed in the wilderness, there was no redress for the despoiled company nor punishment for the offenders, since the latter were Canadians and their victims citizens of England and not possessed of facilities for securing redress in the courts of Canada. In twelve years but one case was brought to trial, in 1809, when a Hudson's Bay Company man was convicted of manslaughter for killing an^ agent of the other company who was making an attack upon him with a sword ; and this result was accomplished by the powerful influence of the Northwest Company in Montreal.

In 1812, having received a grant of fertile land from the Hudson's Bay Company, Lord Selkirk, a man of energy and an enthusiast on the subject of colonial emigration, commenced a settlement on Red river near its junction with the Assiniboine, south of Lake Winnipeg. No sooner was this accomplished than the rival company expressed a determination to destroy the settlement, and in the autumn of 1814 fitted out an expedition for that purpose at its chief establishment, Fort William, on the shore of Lake Superior. After harrassing the settlement for some months, an attack was made upon it in June, 1815, which was repulsed. Artillery having been brought up, the buildings of Fort Gibraltar, the strong hold of the settlement, were battered down and the place captured. The governor was sent to Montreal a prisoner, the remainder of the settlers were expelled from the country, the cattle were slaughtered and the buildings demolished. In the fall, however the colonists returned with a great accession to their numbers and again established themselves under the leadership of Colin Robertson, being accompanied by Robert Semple, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company territories. In the spring of 1816, Alexander McDonnell, a partner of the Northwest Company collected a strong force with the design of crushing the settlement completely. After capturing the supply train on its way to Red river, the invading force came upon Governor Semple and a force of thirty men all of whom they killed, except one who was made a prisoner and four who escaped. The settlers still remaining in the fort, seeing the hopelessness of resistance, surrendered, and to the number of 200 were sent in canoes to Hudson's bay. They were chiefly Scotch, as were also the attacking party ; but the love of gain was stronger than the ties of blood.

In 1821 parliament put an end to this bloody feud and ruinous competition by consolidating the rival companies under the name of The Honorable Hudson's Bay Company, by which was created an organization far more powerful than had either been before, and England gained a united and potent agent for the advancement of her interests in America. The settlements on the Red, Assiniboine and Saskatchewan rivers were renewed, and Winnipeg became in a few years the center of a prosperous community. The new company took possession of Astoria and the posts along the Columbia, and as it thereafter became closely woven into the history of this region, a brief description of its founding, growth and methods becomes necessary to a full understanding of subsequent events. Dr. William Barrows gives the following description of that powerful corporation.

" Its two objects as set forth in its charter, were 'for the discovery of a new passage into the South Sea, and for the finding of some trade for furs, minerals and other considerable commodities.' It may well be suspected that the first was the face and the second the soul of the charter, which grants to the company the exclusive right of the 'trade and commerce of all those seas, straits and bays, rivers, lakes, creeks, and sounds, in whatsoever latitude they shall be, that lie within the entrance of the straits commonly called Hudson straits/ and of all lands bordering them not under any other civilized government. This covered all territory within that immense basin from rim to rim, one edge dipping into the Atlantic and the other looking into the Pacific. Through this vast extent the company was made for ' all time hereafter, capable in law, to have, purchase, receive, possess, enjoy, and retain lands, rents, privileges, liberties, jurisdiction, franchise, and hereditaments of what kind, nature, or quality soever they be, to them and their successors.' The company held that region as a man holds his farm, or as the great bulk of real estate in England is now held. They could legislate over and govern it, bound only by the tenor and spirit of English law, and make war and peace within it ; and all persons outside the company could be forbidden to * visit, hunt, frequent, trade, traffic, or adventure' therein. For all this, and as a confession of allegiance to the crown as a dependent colony and province, they were to pay annually as rent ' two elks and two black beavers.' Cheap rent that, especially since the king or his agent must collect it on the ground of the company. To dwell in the territory or even to go across it would be as really a trespass as if it were done on the lawn of a private gentleman in Middlesex county, England.

" Such were the chartered rights of a monopoly that growing bolder and more grasping became at last continental in sweep, irresistible in power, and inexorable in spirit. In 1821 the crown granted to this and the Northwest Company united, and for a term of twenty-one years, the exclusive right to trade with all Indians in British North America, north and west of the United States, and not included in the first charter. This granted only trade, not ownership in the soil. Thus, while the chartered territory was imperial, it grew, by granted monopoly of trade, to be continental. By degrees the trappers and traders went over the rim of the Hudson basin, till they reached the Arctic seas along the outlet of the Coppermine and the Mackenzie. They set beaver traps on the Yukon and Fraser rivers, around the Athabasca, Slave and Bear lakes, and on the heads of the Columbia. From the adjacent Pacific shore they lined their treasury with the soft coats of the fur seal and the sea-otter. They were the pioneers of this traffic, and pressed this monopoly of fur on the sources, not only of the Mississippi and Missouri, but down into the Salt Lake basin of modern Utah. What minor and rival companies stood in the way they bought in, or crushed by underselling to the Indians. Individual enterprise in the fur trade, from Newfoundland to Vancouver, and from the headwaters of the Yellowstone to the mouth of the Mackenzie was at their mercy. They practically controlled the introduction of supplies and the outgoing of furs and peltries from all the immense region between those four points.

" Within the Canadas and the other provinces they held the Indian and the European equally at bay, while within all this vast unorganized wilderness, their hand over red and white man was absolute. At first the company could govern as it pleased, and was autocratic and irresponsible. By additional legislation in 1803, the civil and criminal government of the Canadas was made to follow the company into lands outside their first charter, commonly called Indian countries. The governor of Lower Canada had the appointing power of officials within those countries. But he did not send in special men ; he appointed those connected with the company and on the ground. The company, therefore, had the administration in those outside districts iu its own hands. Thus the commercial life of the Canadas was so dependent upon the

Hudson Bay Company that the government could be counted on to promote the wishes of the company. In brief, the government of British America was practically the Hudson Bay Company, and for all the privilege and monopoly which it enjoyed without seeming to demand it, there was an annual payment if called for of ' two elks and two black beavers.'

" This company thus became a powerful organization. It had no rival to share the field, or waste the profits in litigation, or in bloody feuds beyond the region of law. [ Except the contest between it and the Northwest Company prior to their consolidation.] It extended its lines, multiplied its posts and agents, systematized communication through the immense hunting grounds, economized time and funds by increased expedition, made many of its factories really fortifications, and so put the whole northern interior under British rule, and yet without a soldier. Kivers, lakes, mountains and prairies were covered by its agents and trappers. The white and the red men were on most friendly terms, and the birch canoe and the pirogue were seen carrying, in mixed company, both races, and, what was more, their mixed progeny. The extent of territory under this company seems almost fabulous. It was one-third larger than all Europe ; it was larger than the United States of to-day, Alaska included, by half a million of square miles. From the American headquarters at Montreal to the post at Vancouver was a distance of twenty-five hundred miles ; to Fort Selkirk on the Yukon, or to the one on Great Bear lake, it was three thousand miles, and it was still further to the rich fur seal and sea-otter on the tide waters of the Mackenzie. James bay and Red river at Winnipeg seem near to Montreal in comparison. These distances would compare well with air-line routes from Washington to Dublin, or Gibraltar or Quito.

"One contemplates this power with awe and fear, when he regards the even motion and solemn silence and unvarying sameness with which it has done its work through that dreary animal country. It has been said that a hundred years has not changed its bill of goods ordered from London. The company wants the same muskrat and beaver and seal ; the Indian hunter, unimproved, and the half-breed European, deteriorating, want the same cotton goods, and flint-lock guns, and tobacco and gew-gaws. To-day, as a hundred years ago, the dog sled runs out from Winnipeg for its solitary drive of five hundred, or two thousand, or even three thousand miles. It glides, silent as a spectre, over those snow fields, and through the solemn, still forests, painfully wanting in animal life. Fifty, seventy, an hundred days it speeds along, and as many nights it camps without fire, and looks up to the same cold stars. At the intervening posts the sledge makes a pause, as a ship, having rounded Cape Horn, heaves to before some lone Pacific island. It is the same at the trader's hut or factory as when the sledgeman's grandfather drove up, the same dogs, the same half-breeds, or voyageurs to welcome him, the same foul, lounging Indians, and the same mink skin in exchange for the same trinkets. The fur animal and its purchaser and hunter, as the landscape, seem to be alike under the same immutable, unprogressive law of nature,

' A land where all things always seemed the same/ as among the lotus-eaters. Human progress and Indian civilization have made scarcely more improvement than that central, silent partner in the Hudson Bay Company - the beaver.

" One feels towards the power of this company, moving thus with evenness and immutability through a hundred years, much as one does towards a law of nature. At Fort Selkirk, for example, the fifty-two numbers of the weekly London Times came in on the last sledge arrival. The first number is already three years old, by its tedious voyage from the Thames. Now one number only a week is read, that the lone trader there may have fresh news weekly until the next annual dog-mail arrives, and each successive number is three years behind time when it is opened ! In this day of steamers and telegraphs and telephones, does it seem possible that any human, white habitation can be so outside of the geography and chronology of the world ? The goods of the company, packed and shipped in Fenchurch street, leave London, and at the end of the third year they are delivered at Fort Confidence on Great Bear lake, or at any other extreme factory of the company ; and at the end of three years more the return furs go up the Thames and into Fenchurch street again. So in cycles of six years, and from age to age, like a planet, the shares in the Hudson Bay Compauy make their orbit and dividends. A run of three months and the London ship drops anchor in Hudson bay. ' For one year 9 says Butler in his i Great Lone Land/ ' the stores that she has brought in lie in the warehouse of York Factory ; twelve months later they reach Red river ; twelve months later they reach Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie.'

" The original stock of this company was $50,820. In fifty years it was trippled twice by profits only, and went up to $457,380, while not one new dollar was paid in. In 1821 the company absorbed the Northwest Company of Montreal, on a basis of value equal to its own. The consolidated stock then was $1,916,000, of which $1,780,866 was from profits. Yet, meanwhile, there had been an annual payment of ten per cent, to stockholders. In 1836 one of the company's ships left Fort George for London, with a cargo of furs valued at $380,000. * * * When the English government, in 1846, conceded the claims of the United States to Oregon, property of the Hudson Bay Company was found within Oregon for which that company claimed $4,990,036.67. One cannot but admire the foresight, compass, policy, and ability with which those English fur traders moved to gain possession, and then keep in wilderness for fur-bearing, so much of North America. * * * Travelers tell us of an oppressive, painful silence through all that weird northland. Quadruped life, and the scanty little that there is of bird life, is not vocal, much less musical. This company has partaken of the silence of its domain. It makes but little noise for so great an organization. It says but few things and only the necessary ones, and even those with an obscurity often, that only the interested and initiated understand. The statements of its works and results are mostly in the passive voice."

This description carries us somewhat beyond the era of which this chapter treats, but it is done for a purpose, that the reader might fully comprehend the full power, methods and objects of this potent corporation which represented England in its contest with the United States for the fair land of Oregon. If he will study it he will discover the fatal points of weakness, which will be developed more and more as the story of that long contest is unfolded. The company desired to win Oregon for England, not that the power and dominion of that great empire might be extended, but that the company might be left unmolested to dominate this region and fill its treasure boxes with the products of the wilderness ; for its officers well knew that from England they might hope for an indefinite extension of its monopoly rights, but from*the United States nothing. It was an effort to beat back the wave of progress and civilization, and failure could have been the only result. For two centuries it had reigned supreme in British America, and had defeated every effort to make of that region anything but a vast hunting ground for its representatives. It was from the first its policy to discourage and prevent if possible any exploration of its dominions, and instances are not wanting where expeditions sent out by the home government came to grief through the machinations of the company. It occasionally sent out explorers in search of new fields in which to operate, but was careful to keep the knowledge thus obtained a secret, and to make no record of anything, save what was necessary in the prosecution of its business. This policy it endeavored to carry out in Oregon ; but it miscalculated its strength and was swept away before the resistless march of American progress.

Rivalry Of English And American Fur Companies

Outlook for Joint Occupation - American and English Fur Traders Compared - Fort Vancouver Founded - Described by John Dunn - American Trapping History - Expeditions of Jedediah S. Smith - The Hudson's Bay Company Enters California - Ewing Young's Party - Bonneville and Wyeth - Failure of American Trappers in Oregon - Cause of their 111 Success.

When joint occupation of Oregon was agreed upon in 1818, the only Caucasians in the country, as we have seen, were representatives of the Northwest Company, or, as they became in a few years, of the Hudson's Bay Company. Not an American was to be found along the Columbia from its source to its mouth. After the disastrous venture of Mr. Astor and his unsuccessful efforts to secure a restoration of his property through the medium of the government, which, could it but have recognized the fact, was far more deeply interested in retaining under American control the mouth of the Columbia than any private citizen could possibly have been, traders hesitated to enter this region and undertake to compete with the powerful organization already entrenched. The question of taking military possession of the Columbia was frequently discussed in congress, committees reported favorably on it at various times, and a number of plans were advocated, among them being one to send a body of troops overland to occupy the disputed territory, and another to construct a chain of forts across the continent, which should form a basis of supplies and protection for emigrants. None of these plans were adopted, and it was then a little early for emigrants.

The great drawback was the fact that there was no American company sufficiently powerful to enter the field in competition with the English corporation. The Americans were nearly all independent traders, operating individually or in partnerships of two or three. Separately they had not the capital to carry on a business in the systematic and comprehensive manner in which the Hudson's Bay Company operated. One unsuccessful season with them was often financially disastrous, while to the great company a completely unsuccessful year was impossible. Covering such a vast scope of country, dealing with so many tribes, and handling such varied classes of furs, such a thing as a total failure was unknown. Losses in one section were certain to be compensated for by unusual gains in another. Whenever two trapping parties met in open competition for the trade of a tribe, the Americans had to go to the wall, except in the few cases where they outwitted their opponents. The English trader was instructed to do anything he chose to spoil the trade of his rivals. No spectre of bankruptcy shook its bony finger before his face, no vision of an angry and distrustful partner rose up before him. He could sit quietly down and give away every dollar's worth of goods he had, if it were necessary so to do in order to prevent the Indians from trading with his rivals. On the other hand the American trader, with the last dollar he possessed invested in this one venture, could neither give away his goods nor could he afford to lose the trade before him ; for often the chance he then had to secure a good stock of furs was the only opportunity offered during the season, and to miss it meant ruin. Not only this, but the American traders carried on such sharp competition among themselves that they were the more unable to hold their ground against a harmonious organization. The fact that congress in 1815 passed an act expelling all foreign traders from the territories east of the Rocky mountains is of importance only as it signifies the desire of the government to aid our struggling pioneer traders ; for the act was practically inoperative, since agents of the Hudson's Bay Company continued to monopolize the Indian trade on the upper Missouri and its affluents.

In 1821 the Northwest Company established a post on the north bank of the Columbia, a few miles above the mouth of the Willamette, which was called Fort Vancouver, since this was the highest point reached by the exploring party of the Vancouver expedition in 1792. In 1823 the Hudson's Bay Company removed its Pacific headquarters from Astoria to that point because it possessed the desirable features for such an establishment more fully than any other in this whole region. It was near the mouth of the Willamette and therefore the center and natural converging point of trapping parties coming down the Columbia from the vast wilderness to the east or with the annual overland express from Montreal, from the rich trapping grounds to the south, or from the upper coast and Puget sound; agriculturally, the surroundings were all that could be desired to raise the large crops of grain and vegetables required at all the company's posts and to furnish pasturage for the beef and dairy cattle ; it was easily approachable by deep-water vessels of large draft, and presented excellent natural facilities for loading and discharging cargo. The vessels that came at stated periods to bring supplies and carry away the accumulated furs, could spare the few days of extra time required to ascend the river better than the employees of the company could spare it in passing to and from headquarters in the transaction of business. Vancouver was the most eligible site on the Columbia for the chief trading post, and

During the next four years the company spread out in all directions, from California to Alaska and from the Pacific to the Rocky mountains. Some idea can be gained of its power and methods in Oregon from the following description given by John Dunn, for seven years a clerk and trader of the company :

" Fort Vancouver is the grand mart and rendezvous for the company's trade and servants on the Pacific. Thither all the furs and other articles of trade collected west of the Rocky mountains from California to the Russian territories, are brought from the several other forts and stations ; and from thence they are shipped to England. Thither too all the goods brought from England for traffic - the various articles in woolens and cottons - in grocery - in hardware - ready-made clothes - oils and paints - ship stores, etc., are landed ; and from thence they are distributed to the various posts of the interior, and along the northern shores by sailing vessels ; or by boat ; or pack horses ; as the several routes permit ; for distribution and traffic among the natives, or for the supply of the company's servants. In a word, Fort Vancouver is the grand emporium of the company's trade, west of the Rocky mountains ; as well within the Oregon territory, as beyond it, from California to Kamstchatka.

" The fort is in the shape of a parallelogram, about 250 yards long, by 150 broad ; enclosed by a sort of wooden wall, made of pickets, or large beams fixed firmly in the ground, and closely fitted together, twenty feet high, and strongly secured on the inside by buttresses. At each angle there is a bastion, mounting two twelve pounders, and in the center there are some eighteen pounders ; but from the subdued and pacific character of the natives, and the long absence of all apprehension, these canon have become useless. The area within is divided into two courts, around which are arranged about forty neat, strong wooden buildings, one story high, designed for various purposes - such as offices, apartments for the clerks and other officers - warehouses for furs, English goods and other commodities - workshops for the different mechanics ; carpenters, blacksmiths, coopers, wheelwrights, tinners, etc. ; in all of which there is the most diligent and unceasing activity and industry. There is also a school house and chapel; and a powder magazine built of brick and stone.

" In the centre stands the governor's residence, which is two stories high - the dining hall ; and the public sitting room. All the clerks and officers, including the chaplain and physician, dine together in the hall ; the governor presiding. The dinner is of the most substantial kind, consisting of several courses. Wine is frequently allowed ; but no spirituous liquors. After grace has been said, the company break up. Then most of the party retire to the public sitting room, called ' Bachelor's Hall, ' or the smoking room ; to amuse themselves as they please, either in smoking, reading, or telling and listening to stories of their own and others' curious adventures. Sometimes there is a great influx of company, consisting of the chief traders from the outposts, who arrive at the fort on business ; and the commanders of vessels. These are gala times after dinner ; and there is a great deal of amusement, but always kept under strict discipline, and regulated by the strictest propriety. There is, on no occasion, cause for ennui, or a lack of anecdote or interesting narrative ; or indeed of any intellectual amusement ; for if smoking and story-telling be irksome, then there is the horse ready to mount, and the rifle prepared. The voyageur and the trapper, who have traversed thousands of miles through wild and unfrequented regions ; and the mariner, who has circumnavigated the globe, may be found grouped together, smoking, joking, singing and story telling ; and in every way banishing dull care, till the period of their again setting out for their respective destinations arrives. The smoking room or ' bachelor's hall/ presents the appearance of an armoury and a museum. All sorts of weapons, and dresses, and curiosities of civilized and savage life, and of the various implements for the prosecution of the trade, may be seen there. The mechanics, and other servants of the establishment, do not dine in the hall or go to the smoking room.

" The school is for the benefit of the half breed children of the officers and servants of the company, and of many orphan children of Indians who have been in the company's employment. They are taught English (sometimes French), writing, arithmetic and geography ; and are subsequently either apprenticed to traders in Canada ; or kept in the company's service. The front square is the place where the Indians and trappers deposit their furs, and other articles, and make their sales, etc. There may be seen, too, great numbers of men sorting and packing the various goods ; and scores of Canadians beating and cleaning the furs from the dust and vermin, and coarse hairs, previous to exportation. Six hundred yards below the fort, and on the bank of the river, there is a neat village, of about sixty well built wooden houses, generally constructed like those within the fort ; in which the mechanics, and other servants of the company, who are in general Canadians and Scotchmen, reside with their families. They are built in rows, and present the appearance of sfnall streets. They are kept in a neat and orderly manner. Here there is an hospital, in which the invalided servants of the company, and, indeed, others who may wish to avail themselves of it, are treated with the utmost care.

" Many of the officers of the company marry half breed women. They discharge the several duties of wife and mother with fidelity, cleverness and attention. They are, in general, good housewives; and are remarkably ingenious as needlewomen. Many of them, besides possessing a knowledge of English, speak French correctly, and possess other accomplishments ; and they sometimes attend their husbands on their distant and tedious journeys and voyages. These half breed women are of a superior class ; being the daughters of chief traders and factors, and other persons, high in the company's service, by Indian women of a superior descent or of superior personal attractions. Though they generally dress after the English fashion, according as they see it used by the English wives of the superior officers, yet they retain one peculiarity - the leggin or gaiter, which is made (now that the tanned deer skin has been superseded) of the finest, and most gaudy coloured cloth, beautifully ornamented with beads. The lower classes of the company's servants marry native women, from the tribes of the upper country ; where the women are round-headed and beautiful. These, too, generally speaking, soon learn the art of useful housewifery with great adroitness and readiness ; and they are encouraged and rewarded in every way by the company, in their efforts to acquire domestic economy and comfort. These, too, imitate, in costume the dress of the officers' wives, as much as they can ; and from their necessities of position, which exposes them more to wet and drudgery, they retain the moccasin, in place of adopting the low-quartered shoe.

u Attached to the fort there is a magnificent farm ; consisting of about 3,000 acres ; of which 1,500 acres have been already brought to the highest state of tillage. It stretches behind the fort, and on both sides, along the banks of the river. It is fenced into beautiful corn fields - vegetable fields - orchards - gardens - and pasture fields, which are interspersed with dairy houses, shepherds' and herdsmen's cottages. It is placed under the most judicious management ; and neither expense nor labour has been spared to bring it to the most perfect cultivation. There is a large grist mill, and a threshing mill, which are worked by horse power ; and a saw mill worked by water power. All kinds of grains and vegetables, and many species of fruits, are produced there in abundance and of superior quality. The grain crops are produced without manure ; and the wheat crop, especially, is represented by practical farmers to be wonderful.

"Besides this farm, which they are "every day extending, they have commenced farming on a large scale on the Cowlitze, to the north ; Umpqua, to the south ; and in other parts of the territory, where they have established posts, the produce of all of whicli they use for exportation bath to the Russian stations in Kamskatka (as they entered into a contract with the Russians, in 1839, to supply their posts in those regions with provisions at fixed prices), and to the islands in the Southern Pacific ; and to British and American whalers and to other merchant ships. They also keep scores of wood cutters, employed to fell timber, which is sawed up in large quantities - 3,000 feet a day, and regularly shipped for the Sandwich islands, and other foreign ports. And as they can afford to sell the goods purchased in England under a contract of old standing, together with the productions of the territory and their own farms - fish, beef, mutton, pork, timber, etc., at nearly half the American price, they are likely to engross the whole trade of the Pacific, as they do already the trade of the Oregon ; especially since they command all the ports and safe inlets of the country. This the Americans feel and declare ; and it is this which whets their cupidity, and excites their jealousy and hatred.

" Trapping parties leaving Vancouver are some weeks preparing for the mountains and prairies. The blacksmiths are busily engaged making beaver traps for the trappers - the store keepers making up articles for trade, and equipping the men, the clerk in charge of the provision store packing up provisions for them, to last until they get into hunting ground, the clerk in charge of the farm providing horses, and other requisite articles. The party generally consists of about fifty or sixty men - most of them the company's servants - others, free hunters. The servants have a stated salary, while the freemen receive so much per skin. Previous to leaving the fort for the arduous adventure they are allowed a small quantity of rum per man ; and they generally enjoy a grand holiday and feast the night previous to starting. Each man has a certain number of horses, sufficient to carry his equipment. The free trappers generally provide their own animals. Both the company's servants and the freemen frequently take their wives and families with them ; the women are very useful on the expedition, in preparing meals and other necessaries for their husbands during their absence from the camp. In summer and winter, whether they have a sort of a traveling camp or a fixed residence, they select the localities that most abound in fur-bearing animals. Though a party may be obliged, from a variety of circumstances, to winter in the plain, or in the recesses of the mountains ; or on the borders of lakes and rivers, some numbers of it return to the fort at the fall, with the produce of the season's hunt, and report progress ; and return to the camp with a reinforcement of necessary supplies. Thus the company are enabled to acquire a minute knowledge of the country and the natives ; and extend their power and authority over both."

Such was the hold the Hudson's Bay Company had upon Oregon when Americans attempted to enter the country and exercise their rights under the 'treaty of joint occupancy. To show how American trappers first extended their operations into the disputed country, requires a short sketch of the American fur trade.

In 1762, while Louisiana was still a province of France, its governor chartered a fur company under the name of Pierre Ligueste Laclede, Antoine Maxan & Co. Laclede established St. Louis the following year, and it became a headquarters for the fur trade similar to Mackinaw and Montreal. The business of this company and many others that engaged along the Missouri in the trapping of beaver became very large. The acquisition of Louisiana by the United States threw this trade into the hands of the Americans. In 1815, congress passed an act expelling British traders from all the territories east of the Rocky mountains, and the American Fur Company, at the head of which Mr. Astor had been for many years, bagan to send trappers to the headwaters of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. American trappers also penetrated into New Mexico and established a trade between St. Louis and Santa Fe. Up to this time but one attempt had been made by trappers to penetrate the Rocky mountains, and that was in 1808, by the M issouri Fur Company, at the head of which was a Spaniard named Manuel Lisa. Posts were established on the upper Missouri and one on Lewis river, the south branch of the Columbia ; but the failure of supplies and the hostility of the savages caused its abandonment by the manager, Mr. Henry, in 1810.

In 1823, Gen. W. H. Ashley, a St. Louis merchant long engaged in the fur trade, pushed a trapping party into the Rocky mountains. He went up the Platte to the Sweetwater, and up that stream to its source, discovered the South pass, explored the head-waters of the Colorado (or Green) river, and returned to St. Louis in the fall. The next year he again penetrated the mountains and built a trading fort on Lake Ashley, near Great Salt Lake, both of which bodies of water were discovered by him that year, and returned, leaving there one hundred men. From that time the headwaters of the Missouri and its tributaries, the Green and Columbia rivers and their tributaries, were the trapping-ground of hundreds of daring men, whose wild and reckless life, privations and encounters with the savages, make a theme of romance that has occupied the pen of Washington Irving and many authors of lesser note, and been the source from which the novelists of the sensational school have drawn a wealth of material. It was the custom to divide the trappers into bands of sufficient strength to defend themselves against the attacks of savages, and send them out in different directions during the trapping season, to assemble the next summer at a grand rendezvous previously appointed, the head-waters of Green river being the favorite locality for the annual meeting.

In the spring of 1825, Jede;liah S. Smith le:l a ompany of this kind, consisting of about forty men, into the country west of Great Salt Lake, discovered Humboldt river and named it Mary's river, followed down that stream and crossed the Sierra Nevada into the great valley in July. He collected a large quantity of furs, established a headquarters on the American river near Folsom, and then, with two companions, recrossed the mountains through Walker's pass, and returned to the general rendezvous on Green river, to tell of the wonderful valley he had visited. Cronise speaks of American trappers having penetrated into California as early as 1820, but is evidently mistaken, as there is no record of any party crossing the Rocky mountains previous to the expedition of Mr. Ashley in 1823, save those already mentioned. Jedediah S. Smith must stand in history as the first white man to lead a party overland into California. The return of Smith with such a valuable collection of furs, and specimens of placer gold he had discovered on his return journey near Mono lake, led to his being sent again the next season, with instructions to thoroughly inspect the gold placers on the way. This time he went as a partner, Mr. Ashley having sold his interest to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, consisting of William Sublette, Jedediah S. Smith and David Jackson. He passed as far south as the Colorado river, and there had a battle with the Indians, in which all but himself, Turner and Galbraith were killed. They escaped and arrived at the Mission San Gabriel, where they were arrested as filibusters and sent to San Diego, but were released upon the certificate of the officers of some American vessels who chanced to be on the coast, that they were peaceful trappers and had passports from the commissioner of Indian affairs. This certificate bears date December 20, 1826, and in the ensuing May we find them in camp near San Jos£, where the following letter w as written to Father Duran, who had sent to know what their presence there signified : -

Reverend Fathei: : - I understand, through the medium of one of your Christian Indians, that you are anxious to know who we are, as some of the Indians have been at the mission and informed you that there were certain white people in the country. We are Americans on our journey to the River Columbia ; we were in at the Mission San Gabriel in January last. I went to San Diego and saw the general, and got a passport from him to pass on to that place. I have made several efforts to cro3s the mountains, but the snows being so deep, I could not succeed in getting over. I returned to this place (it being the only point to kill meat), to wait a few weeks until the snow melts so that I can go on : the Indian3 here also being friendly, I consider it the most safe point for me to remain, until such time as I can cross the mountains with my horses, having lost a great many in attempting to cross ten or fifteen days since. I am a long ways from home, and am anxious to get there as soon as the nature of the case will admit. Our situation is quite unpleasant, being destitute of clothing and mo3t of the necessaries of life, wild meat being our principal subsistence. I am, Reverend Father, your strange but real friend and Christian brother.

Smith had united himself with the party he had left in 1825 on the American river, and who had been very successful during his absence, and now that he could not cross the Sierra Nevada, decided to penetrate north to the Columbia and follow up that stream to the Rocky mountains, expecting to join his partners at the Green river rendezvous. Near the head of the Sacramento valley the. party crossed the Coast Range to the west, reaching the ocean near the mouth of Russian river, and continued up the coast to the Umpqua. While stopping here to construct a raft for the purpose of ferrying their effects across the stream, their camp was suddenly attacked by Indians with whom they were holding friendly intercourse, and all but three were slain. Smith, Daniel Prior, and an Indian were on the raft at the time of the attack, and when the signal yell was given the Indian seized Smith's rifle and sprung into the water ; but the old mountaineer grasped his companion's gun, and as soon as the treacherous rascal thrust his head out of water to catch a breath, sent a bullet through his brain. The two men then landed on the opposite side of the river and started on foot for Vancouver, which they eventually reached in safety. The third one who escaped was Richard Laughlin, who seized a burning brand from the fire and with vigorous blows upon the naked bodies of the savages cleared a passage for himself through the assailants and escaped uninjured. After enduring many hardships he, too, reached the company's headquarters on the Columbia.

The Hudson's Bay Company had made it an inflexible rule to treat the natives justly and even liberally, to give them no cause of offense or complaint ; but to maintain respect for their power and authority and to show the natives that their conduct was not inspired by fear, they never failed to punish offending tribes or individuals in such a manner as would be a perpetual warning to them in the future. It happened that Governor Simpson was at Fort Vancouver at the time Smith arrived in such a forlorn condition, and he sent out a party under Thomas McKay, son of Alexander McKay, the partner of Mr. Astor who perished on the Tonquin, to punish the Indians and recover the captured property, both as a necessary step to maintain the company's authority and as an act of courtesy to the despoiled trader. Accounts vary as to the degree of punishment inflicted, but at all events the furs were recovered and conveyed to Vancouver, and since he could not carry them, having no means, and since the company, from a business point of view, could not afford to provide him with facilities for carrying on opposition to it, he sold the whole lot to the company for $40,000. Though this was much below the market price in St. Louis, it was a pretty fair valuation for them on the Columbia. The most minute account of this transaction is given by Rev. Gustavus Hines, to whom it was related by Dr. McLaughlin, chief factor of the company, a few years subsequently. But one writer has seriously questioned the correctness of these statements. Gray's History of Oregon states that the property was recovered " by giving them presents of blankets and powder, and such things as the Indians wished, as stated to us by a Frenchman, a servant of the company, who was one of Mr. McKay's party that went to get the furs. They found no bodies to bury, and had no fight with the Indians about the property, as stated by Mr. Smith, also. But, as the Hudson's Bay Company tells the story through Mr. Hines, they 6 spread terror through the tribes. 9 * * Mr. Hines says his Umpqua party 1 returned in triumph to Vancouver' And well they might, for they had made the best season's hunt they ever made, in getting those furs and the property of Smith* which paid them well for the expedition, as there was no market for Smith, except London, through the hypocritical kindness of Mr. Simpson. By this time, Mr. Smith had learned all he wished to of this company. He preferred giving them his furs at their own price to being under any further obligations to them. Mr. Sublette, Mr. Smith's partner, did not speak as though he felt under much obligation to Mr. Simpson or the Hudson's Bay Company, which was not long after the transaction referred to. I do not know how the company regard these statements of Mr. Hines, yet I regard them as true so far as Mr. Hines is concerned, but utterly false as regards the company. * * * According to the testimony given in the case of the

Hudson's Bay Company vs. United States, the amount of furs seized by the company at that time was forty packs, worth at the time $1,000 each, besides the animals and equipments belonging to the party, a large portion of which was given to the Indians, to compensate them for their services rendered to the company, in destroying Smith's expedition and killing his men."

When it is known that the author of the above bears such bitter hatred towards the Hudson's Bay Company and the officers who represented it in Oregon that he cannot even hear the name mentioned without bristling up in anger, and that this feeling grew out of early missionary feuds, the hated company having supported the Catholic missionaries, opponents of this gentleman and his associates in the Protestant missions it will be understood how, having been thus carried beyond the verge of reason, he could make such deliberate charges of inhumanity against men well known to have been possessed of more than ordinary integrity, benevolence and morality That the company's policy was to break down all opposition, is true ; that in order to do this they strictly enjoined all Indians over whom they exercised any control from dealing with independent traders or selling them supplies, and instructed the agents at their various posts to refuse supplies and ammunition to them, except when it became a case of pure humanity, is also true ; but that it ever encouraged the thought among the natives that it would be pleased by the murder of Americans is not susceptible of proof, and the idea is as inconsistent with well known facts as it is with the character of the men who administered the company's affairs in Oregon. Dr. John McLaughlin was one of nature's noblemen, kind and benevolent in character and in manners a thorough gentleman. Undeserved abuse has been heaped upon his head by his enemies without stint, many of whom display the basest ingratitude in so doing. Though instructed by the company to oppose the settlement of Americans and to refuse to sell them supplies, his kind heart would not permit him to carry out the injunction. The needy pioneer never applied to him in vain He not only sold them supplies but gave them credit, many of them never settling their scores , and for this he was in later years dismissed from his position and compelled by the company to pay from his own pocket all that was owing from these ungrateful men who at that very time were vilifying his name, being thus brought to the verge of bankruptcy. It is needless to go into further details, for all, save a few whom blind prejudice holds in chains, bear testimony to the grandeur of Dr. McLaughlin's character. As for Tom McKay he was universally respected by whites and Indians for his sterling integrity, and because of this held greater influence over the Indians of this region than any man before or since. He took up land in the Willamette valley and lived as an American citizen, loved and respected to the day of his death. To ascribe such conduct to men like this is to show that judgment has been so distorted by prejudice as to be valueless.

Smith's party was the first band of American trappers to visit this region, and as their presence was unsuspected by the company it is impossible that the Indians could have been stirred up against them. A few years later, when the American traders were better known here and settlers began to arrive, the distinction between the Bostons (Americans) and King George men (Englishmen), became better known, and the Indians became prejudiced against the former for reasons that will be given in speaking of American settlements. Dunn relates an incident which shows this spirit in after

" On one occasion an American vessel, Captain Thompson, was in the Columbia, trading for furs and salmon. The vessel had got aground, in the upper part of the river, and the Indians, from various quarters, mustered with the intent of cutting the Americans off, thinking that they had an opportunity of revenge, and would thus escape the censure of the company. Dr. M'Laughlin, the governor of Fort Vancouver, hearing of their intention, immediately dispatched a party to their rendezvous; and informed them that if they injured one American, it would be just the same offense as if they had injured one of his servants, and they would be treated equally as enemies. This stunned them ; and they relinquished their purpose ; and all retired to their respective homes. Had not this come to the governor's ears the Americans must have perished."

A party of trappers was then sent out from Vancouver to penetrate into California, headed by Alexander Roderick McLeod and guided by one of the survivors of the Umpqua massacre. They passed through Kogue river valley, over Siskiyou mountain, and entered California by the way of the Sacramento river, trapping along the streams that course through the valley. In the early part of the winter they were caught in a severe snow storm on one of the tributaries of the Sacramento, in Shasta county, and narrowly escaped starvation. They lost their horses and were in a sad plight. Joe McLaughlin, son of the chief factor, set out on foot with a companion to procure aid from Vancouver, and reached that place after much hardship and privation. McLeod did not wait, however, but cached his furs, which were extremely valuable, and struggled through to Vancouver with the remainder of his men. Another party was then dispatched to recover the peltries, but found them spoiled. The stream which witnessed his misfortune was ever afterwards called McLeod (now improperly spelled Mc- Cloud) by his companion trappers.

Before the return of this unfortunate party to the fort, another, under Peter Ogden and accompanied by Smith, started for the new trapping grounds by another route. They passed up the Columbia and Lewis rivers to the source of the latter, at which point Smith left them and returned to the rendezvous on Green river, to report his manifold misfortunes. . He sold his interest in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1830, and the next year was treacherously killed by Indians while digging for water in the dry bed of the Cimeron river, near Taos, New Mexico, and was buried there by his companions. After Smith took his leave on Lewis river Ogden's party continued south to Mary's or Humboldt river, which was thereafter known as Ogden's river by the English, continued down that stream to the sink and crossed over the mountains to California through Walker's pass. They trapped along the Sacramento and followed McLeod's trail back to Vancouver. From that time till it became a portion of the United States in 1846, California was one of the regular trapping grounds of the Hudson's Bay Company.

The second party of American trappers to enter Oregon was that of Major Pilcher* They left Green river in 1828, and passed along the western base of the Rocky mountains to Flathead lake, where they wintered. In the spring they descended Clarke's Fork and the main Columbia to Colville river, up which they ascended to its source and started on their return eastward. Gray says : " This party of Major Pilcher were all cut off but two men, besides himself ; his furs, as stated by himself to the writer, found their way into the forte of the Hudson's Bay Company." The writer, though not stating it positively, intends to convey the impression that these men were murdered at the instigation of the Hudson's Bay Company, or at least with its sanction. That the captured furs were sold to the company is true, but as that was the only market open to the Indians it is a very small foundation upon which to lay a charge of murder against the purchasers. The next band of American trappers was that of - Ewing Young, who had been for years a leader of trapping parties from Santa Fe to the head waters of the Del Norte, Rio Grande and Colorado rivers. He entered California through Walker's pass in 1829, and returned the next year. In 1832 he again entered California and followed Smith's route into Oregon as far as the Umpqua, when he turned eastward, crossed the mountains to the tributary streams of the Columbia and Snake rivers, entered Sacramento valley again from the north, and finally crossed out by the Tejon pass, having been absent from Santa F£ two years. Mr. Young soon returned, and became one of the first and most energetic of the American settlers in

When Smith sold his interest in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1830, William Sublette and David Jackson retired also, and the new partners were Milton Sublette, James Bridger, Robert Campbell, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Frapp and Jarvais. In 1831 the old American Fur Company, which had been managed so long by Mr. Astor but was now directed by Ramsey Crooks, began to push into the trapping grounds of the other company. Great rivalry sprung up between them, which was the following year intensified by the appearance of two other competitors in the persons of Captain B. L. E. Bonneville and Nathaniel J. Wyeth. Captain Bonneville was a United States army officer, who had been given permission to lead a party of trappers into the fur regions of the northwest, the expedition being countenanced by the government only to the extent of this permit. It was supposed, that, by such an undertaking, sufficient additional information of the region explored would be obtained to warrant authorizing an officer to engage in a private venture. The captain first reached the Rocky mountains in 1832. In 1833 he sent Joseph Walker with forty men to California over the route formerly pursued by Smith, and on Christmas of the same year started with three companions from his camp on Portneuf river, upon an expedition to Fort Walla Walla. His object, as given by Irving, was: "To make himself acquainted with the country, and the Indian tribes ; it being one part of his scheme, to establish a trading post somewhere on the lower part of the river, so as to participate in the trade lost to the United States by the capture of Astoria." He reached Powder river on the twelfth of January, 1834, whence his journey was continued down Snake river and by the Nez Perce trail to Fort Walla Walla, where he arrived March 4, 1834.

This journey, in mid- winter, was attended with its accompanying detail of hardships incident to the season, including the absence of game and presence of snow in the mountains. At one time, they had wandered among the Blue mountains, lost amid its canyons and defiles east of the Grand Ronde valley, for twenty days, nearly frozen and constantly starved, until they were at the verge of despair. At length, a Nez Perce chief was met, who invited them to his lodge some twelve miles further along the trail they were traveling, and then galloped away. So great had been the strain upon the captain's system in sustaining these successive days of unnatural exertion, that when the chief disappeared, he sunk upon the ground and lay there like one dead. His companions tried in vain to arouse him. It was a useless effort, and they were forced to camp by the trail until he awoke from this trance the next day and was enabled to move on. They had hardly resumed their tedious journey, when some dozen Nez Perces rode up. with fresh horses and carried them in triumph to their village. Everywhere, after this, they were kindly received by this hospitable people, fed, cared for and guided on their way by them.

Bonneville and his two companions were kindly received at Fort Walla Walla by Mr. P C. Pambrun, who, with five or six men, was in charge of that station at the mouth of the Walla Walla river. This Hudson's Bay Company representative was a courteous, affable host, but when asked to sell the captain supplies that would enable his return to the Rocky mountains : " That worthy superintendent, who had extended all the genial rights of hospitality, now suddenly assumed a withered up aspect and demeanor, and observed that, however he might feel disposed to serve him personally, he felt bound by his duty to the Hudson's Bay Company, to do nothing which should facilitate or encourage the visits of other traders among the Indians in that part of the country." Bonneville remained at the fort but two days, for his destitute condition, combined with the lateness in the season, rendered it necessary for him to return immediately ; and he started on the back trail with his Nez Perce guide, and finally reached the point of general rendezvous for his various expeditions. This is a true statement of the position assumed by the Hudson's Bay Company ; its agents would not themselves, nor would they permit the Indians under their control to deal with or in any manner assist opposition traders ; but that Bonneville traversed the country in safety with but three companions after the company was aware of his intention to return and found a rival establishment on the Columbia, is convincing evidence that assassination was not one of its methods of overcoming competition, however much such charges may be reiterated by its enemies.

In July, 1834, Bonneville started on a second expedition to the Columbia, with a formidable number of trappers and mountain men, well equipped, and with an extensive stock of goods to traffic with Indians. He still contemplated a restoration of American trade in this country, and designed establishing a post for that purpose in the Willamette valley. This time he passed the Blue mountains by way of Grand Ronde valley and the Umatilla river, and upon his arrival at the mouth of that stream, was surprised to find the natives shunning him. They ran from his men, hid themselves, and when intercepted, refused to have anything to do with the Americans. Not a skin, a horse, a dog, or a fish could be obtained from them, having been warned by the Hudson's Bay Company not to traffic with these new comers. It now seemed a question of immediate evacuation or starvation, and Bonneville decided to abandon his attempt at joint occupancy. Once more he turned his back upon the Columbia and left the English company in undisputed possession of the field.

A contemporaneous effort was made by Nathaniel J. Wyeth, a Boston merchant. With eleven men who knew nothing of trapper-life, he crossed the plains to Humboldt river with Milton Sublette in 1832. From this point the twelve pushed north to Snake river, and by way of that stream to Fort Vancouver, where they arrived October 29. The fortune of Mr. Wyeth was invested in this enterprise and he had brought a stock of goods with him not well adapted to the Indian market. He was hospitably received by the Hudson's Bay Company. The next spring he left for the East, a financial bankrupt, deserted by all of his followers except two. It is not recorded that the company's officers in any way contributed towards producing this result ; but, if they did not, it was because they believed it unnecessary, knowing that failure would follow without their manipulation. Arriving in Boston, Mr. Wyeth organized The Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company, with a view of continuing operations on the Pacific coast under the same general plan that had formerly been pursued by Astor, proposing, however, to add salmon fishing to the fur business. A brig, called the May Decres, sailed for the Columbia river with stores, and Mr. Wyeth, with sixty experienced men, started for the same place across the continent in 1834. Near the head waters of Snake river, he established Fort Hall as an interior trading post, named in honor of one of his partners, where he left twelve men and a stock of goods. He then pushed forward to the Columbia and erected a fort on Sauvie's island at the mouth of the Willamette river, which he called Fort Williams, in honor of another partner ; and again the American flag waved over soil west of the Rocky mountains.

The officers of the company again received him with much hospitality, and though they continued to treat him with courtesy, this did not prevent them from taking the steps necessary to protect the company's interests. Fort Boise was established as an opposition to Fort Hall and drew the bulk of the trade of the Indians of Snake river. On the Columbia Wyeth found that the natives were so completely under the control of the company that he could establish no business relations with them whatever. In two years he was compelled to sell all his possessions, including Fort Hall, to the rival company, and abandon this second effort at joint occupation.

In 1835 the two rival American companies were consolidated as the American Fur Company, Bridger, Fontenelle and Briggs being the leaders. The retirement of Bonneville and the sale of Fort Hall by Mr. Wyeth left only the consolidated company and a few " lone traders" to compete with the English corporation. For a few years longer the struggle was maintained, but gradually the Hudson's Bay Company absorbed the trade until the American trappers, so far as organized effort was concerned, abandoned the field.

The chief secret of the failure of Americans and the success of the English - and it is best to be candid in this matter - was the radical difference in their methods of conductingjthe business. The American trappers were, to a large extent, made up of a class of wild, reckless and brutal men, many of them fugitives from justice. With them might made right, and the privilege of shooting Indians was considered an inherent right which should be exercised as often as circumstances permitted. They were insubordinate and quarrelsome, and the histories of their adventurous lives, even those written for the glorification of Kit Carson, Joe Meek, Jim Beckwourth and others, convince us that these men composed the lowest stratum of American society. Irving, in one of many similar passages, says : " The arrival of the supplies gave the regular finish to the annual revel. A grand outbreak of wild debauch ensued among the mountaineers ; drinking, dancing, swaggering, gambling, quarreling and fighting. Alcohol, which, from its portable qualities, containing the greatest quantity of fiery spirit in the smallest compass, is the only liquor carried across the mountains, is the inflammatory beverage at these carousals, and is dealt out to the trappers at four dollars a pint. When inflamed by this fiery beverage, they cut all kinds of mad pranks and gambols, and sometimes burn all their clothes in their drunken bravadoes. A camp, recovering from one of these riotous revels, presents a serio-comic spectacle ; black eyes, broken heads/lack lustre visages." Alcohol was a leading article of merchandise, and the annual assemblage at the points of rendezvous and the meetings with Indians for the purposes of trade, were invariably the scenes of drunken debauchery like the one described. Many impositions were practiced on the Indians, and the men, being irresponsible and without restraint, were guilty of many acts of injustice. The Indians learned neither uprightness nor morality from contact with them, and had respect only for their bravery.

On the other hand the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company were men, chiefly half-breeds and French Canadians, who had been reared in the business, as were their fathers before them, and cheerfully submitted to the rigid discipline maintained by the company. It was the policy of the company to avoid all trouble with the natives, to whom they gave no liquor whatever, and, by just and even generous treatment, bind the Indians to them by a community of interest ; yet it never let an act of treachery or bad faith go unpunished. Thus, by an exhibition of justness and moral behavior on one hand and power on the other, it maintained unquestioned authority among the savages of a hundred tribes and over thousands of miles of wilderness. Had the American companies pursued the same policy as their great English rival, far different would have been the result of their enterprises. Fortunately for America she was not compelled to rely upon reckless trappers for her dominion in Oregon. Fur traders could not gain it for her, nor could they hold it for Great Britain. Plows and not steel traps were to settle the question between them.

During these years of competition in the fur business, diplomacy was also at work. Several expeditions were sent to the Rocky mountains by the United States government, to report upon the nature of the country and its adaptability to settlement. From these as well as from the reports of trappers, the idea was spread abroad, that the country west of the rocky mountains was valueless except for its fur-bearing animals ; and this idea was fostered by the Hudson's Bay Company both in America and England. The consequence was that when the ten years of joint occupancy had expired, such was the apathy of congress and American statesmen on the subject, that an indefinite extension of the treaty was agreed upon, to be terminated by either party upon giving notice one year in advance. This was done in 1828, and it was while the extended treaty was in force that Bonneville and Wyeth made a practical test of its workings.