You will also require, under similar penalties, a restitution of all forts, buildings and trading stations, with the property which they contain, which may have been seized, or taken possession of by either party, to the party who originally established or constructed the same, and who were in possession of them previous to the recent disputes between the two companies. You will also require the removal of any blockade or impediment by which any party may have attempted to prevent the free passage of traders, or other of his Majesty's subjects, or the natives of the country, with their merchandise, furs, provisions or other effects throughout the lakes, rivers, roads, and every other usual route or communication heretofore used for the purpose of the fur-trade in the interior of North America, and the full and free permission of all persons to pursue their usual and accustomed trade without hindrance or molestation. The mutual restoration of all property captured during these disputes, and the freedom of trade and intercourse with the Indians, until the trials now pending can be brought to a judicial decision, and the great question at issue, with respect to the rights of the companies, shall be definitely settled.
You will also require, under similar penalties, a restitution of all forts, buildings and trading stations, with the property which they contain, which may have been seized, or taken possession of by either party, to the party who originally established or constructed the same, and who were in possession of them previous to the recent disputes between the two companies. You will also require the removal of any blockade or impediment by which any party may have attempted to prevent the free passage of traders, or other of his Majesty's subjects, or the natives of the country, with their merchandise, furs, provisions or other effects throughout the lakes, rivers, roads, and every other usual route or communication heretofore used for the purpose of the fur-trade in the interior of North America, and the full and free permission of all persons to pursue their usual and accustomed trade without hindrance or molestation. The mutual restoration of all property captured during these disputes, and the freedom of trade and intercourse with the Indians, until the trials now pending can be brought to a judicial decision, and the great question at issue, with respect to the rights of the companies, shall be definitely settled.
Fort William restored to the Nor'-Westers.
The Governor-General appointed Colonel Coltman and Major Fletcher, two military personages of high character, to act as commissioners, in order to carry out the Imperial Government's intentions. Coltman and Fletcher left Montreal inthe same month that Selkirk evacuated Fort William. No sooner had Lord Selkirk and his party left this great trading post than the Sheriff of Upper Canada arrived, and by virtue of a writ of restitution took possession and restored it to its original owners. The commissioners, confronted by this fact, continued their journey on to Red River, arriving at Fort Douglas while Lord Selkirk was still in that locality. They proceeded to execute their commission, and to endeavour to restore the region to law and order. The merchandise, provisions and furs were in the course of the summer apportioned to their respective proprietors; the channels of communication were opened, and in time the commissioners were enabled to return to Canada, flattering themselves with the hope that the orders of the Prince Regent would be everywhere obeyed. The commissioners made a most circumstantial report of their mission, of which both parties complained that neither had received justice, which (as Senator Masson truly observes) was a very good reason for supposing that the report was just and impartial.
Unhappily, this hope of theirs was not destined to be fulfilled. Fort Gibraltar had been destroyed, but the North-Westers at once set about erecting buildings for carrying on their trade. Selkirk meanwhile devoted himself to the affairs of his colony, making provision for the soldiers of the De Meuron and Watteville regiments according to the contract mutually entered into. He allotted each man a plot of land either in the vicinity of Fort Douglas, or on the other side of the river, close at hand; and the officers were stationed amongst them. This was done so that in case of any necessity arising, a signal from headquarters would enable the whole body to join their commanders in the fort at short notice. Everything was effected which, in his opinion, could conduce to the well-being of the colony. Selkirk now turned his attention to the Indians, whom he called together within the walls of the fort, and after bestowing amongst them presents, concluded the following treaty with them:—
Treaty with Red River Indians.
This Indenture, made on the 18th day of July, in the fifty-seventh year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, King George the Third, and in the year of our Lord, 1817, between the undersigned Chiefs and Warriors of the Chippeway or Saulteaux Nation, and of the Killistins or Cree Nation, on the one part, and the Right Honourable Thomas, Earl of Selkirk, on the other part. Witnesseth, that for and in consideration of the annual present or quit rent hereinafter mentioned, the said Chiefs have given, granted and confirmed, and do by these presents give, grant and confirm unto our Sovereign Lord, the King, all that tract of land adjacent to Red River and Assiniboine River, beginning at the mouth of the Red River, and extending along the same as far as the great Forks at the mouth of the Red Lake River, and along Assiniboine River as far as Musk-Rat River, otherwise called Riviere des Champignons, and extending to the distance of six miles from Fort Douglas on every side, and likewise from Fort Daer (Pembina), and also from the Great Forks, and in other parts extending in the breadth to the distance of two English statute miles back from the banks of the said rivers, on each side, together with all the appurtenances whatsoever of the said tract of land, to have and to hold forever the said tract of land and appurtenances, to the use of the said Earl of Selkirk, and of the settlers being established thereon, with the consent and permission of our Sovereign Lord, the King, or of the said Earl of Selkirk. Provided always, that these presents are under the express condition that the Earl, his heirs and successors, or their agents, shall annually pay to the Chiefs and Warriors of the Chippeway or Saulteaux Nation the present, or quit rent, consisting of one hundred pounds weight of good merchantable tobacco, to be delivered on or before the tenth day of October, at the Forks of the Assiniboine River; and to the Chiefs and Warriors of the Kinstineaux or Cree Nation, a like present, or quit rent, of one hundred pounds of tobacco, to be delivered to them on or before the said tenth day of October, at Portage de la Prairie, on the banks of Assiniboine River. Provided always that the traders hitherto established upon any part of the above-mentioned tract of land shall not be molested in the possession of the lands which they have already cultivated and improved, till his Majesty's pleasure shall be known.In witness whereof the Chiefs aforesaid have set their marks at the Forks of Red River on the day aforesaid.Signed,Selkirk.Signed in presence of Thomas Thomas, James Bird, F. Matthey, Captain; P. D. Orsonnens, Captain; Miles McDonell, J. Bate, Chr. De Lovimier, Louis Nolin, Interpreter; and the following Chiefs, each of whom made his mark, being a rude outline of some animal.Moche W. Keocab (Le Sonent); Ouckidoat (Premier alias Grande Oreilles); Mechudewikonaie (La Robe Noire); Kayajickebinoa (L'Homme Noir); Pegawis.
This Indenture, made on the 18th day of July, in the fifty-seventh year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, King George the Third, and in the year of our Lord, 1817, between the undersigned Chiefs and Warriors of the Chippeway or Saulteaux Nation, and of the Killistins or Cree Nation, on the one part, and the Right Honourable Thomas, Earl of Selkirk, on the other part. Witnesseth, that for and in consideration of the annual present or quit rent hereinafter mentioned, the said Chiefs have given, granted and confirmed, and do by these presents give, grant and confirm unto our Sovereign Lord, the King, all that tract of land adjacent to Red River and Assiniboine River, beginning at the mouth of the Red River, and extending along the same as far as the great Forks at the mouth of the Red Lake River, and along Assiniboine River as far as Musk-Rat River, otherwise called Riviere des Champignons, and extending to the distance of six miles from Fort Douglas on every side, and likewise from Fort Daer (Pembina), and also from the Great Forks, and in other parts extending in the breadth to the distance of two English statute miles back from the banks of the said rivers, on each side, together with all the appurtenances whatsoever of the said tract of land, to have and to hold forever the said tract of land and appurtenances, to the use of the said Earl of Selkirk, and of the settlers being established thereon, with the consent and permission of our Sovereign Lord, the King, or of the said Earl of Selkirk. Provided always, that these presents are under the express condition that the Earl, his heirs and successors, or their agents, shall annually pay to the Chiefs and Warriors of the Chippeway or Saulteaux Nation the present, or quit rent, consisting of one hundred pounds weight of good merchantable tobacco, to be delivered on or before the tenth day of October, at the Forks of the Assiniboine River; and to the Chiefs and Warriors of the Kinstineaux or Cree Nation, a like present, or quit rent, of one hundred pounds of tobacco, to be delivered to them on or before the said tenth day of October, at Portage de la Prairie, on the banks of Assiniboine River. Provided always that the traders hitherto established upon any part of the above-mentioned tract of land shall not be molested in the possession of the lands which they have already cultivated and improved, till his Majesty's pleasure shall be known.
In witness whereof the Chiefs aforesaid have set their marks at the Forks of Red River on the day aforesaid.
Signed,Selkirk.
Signed in presence of Thomas Thomas, James Bird, F. Matthey, Captain; P. D. Orsonnens, Captain; Miles McDonell, J. Bate, Chr. De Lovimier, Louis Nolin, Interpreter; and the following Chiefs, each of whom made his mark, being a rude outline of some animal.
Moche W. Keocab (Le Sonent); Ouckidoat (Premier alias Grande Oreilles); Mechudewikonaie (La Robe Noire); Kayajickebinoa (L'Homme Noir); Pegawis.
As a matter of fact, the Saulteaux Indians, who were given precedence in the above treaty, had no real claim to the lands on the Red River, which were possessed by the Crees alone. This latter tribe afterwards took great offence at this circumstance and made various threats to recede from their covenant and claim their lands from the settlers. These threats, however, were not carried out. Selkirk having in this manner arranged all to his satisfaction, bade farewell to Red River, and accompanied by a guide and a few friends, directed his course southward across the frontier into American territory. He made his way to New York and there embarked for England.
It has been remarked that his Majesty's commissioners flattered themselves that in the formal and peaceful manner described, law and order was to be introduced into the North-West.
It is true that the proclamation of the Prince Regent and the creation of the commission of inquiry had quieted much of the turbulence, and that all who came in contact with the recognized officers were ready to submit to their authority; but it was by no means so in the more remotely situated departments.
Attack on Fort Vermilion.
Governor Robertson, Semple's lieutenant, had delegated his authority to Clarke, another ex-employee of the North-West Company. This trader now sought upon Lord Selkirk's authority to penetrate, with an effective force, and a quantity of merchandise, into the very heart of the territory occupied by the North-Westers. One of Clarke's first acts on arriving at Peace River was to attack Fort Vermilion, with the design of acquiring a supply of provisions; but here he met with so vigorous a resistance that he was constrained to beat a retreat without having succeeded in his project. On the other hand, two partners, Black and McGillivray, on the pretence that Robertson had incited the savages to massacre some of their number, and that their men would refuse to serve if an example were not made, took him prisoner to Fort Athabasca, and there confined him during an entire winter. Therewere numerous examples of the abuse of force and the utter abandonment to lawlessness during this and the following year.
Arrest of Nor'-Westers.
Upon most of those Northmen named in the warrants issued at the instance of the Earl of Selkirk, it had been impossible to serve papers owing to their absence in the distant fur country. Williams, Semple's successor as Governor of the colony of Assiniboia, was consumed with a desire to effect the arrest of all those persons himself. It is possible that he also wished to avenge the incarceration of Robertson. Taking with him a number of De Meuron soldiers and two pieces of cannon, Governor Williams departed to lie in ambush for the North-Westers at a portage called Grand Rapids, which spot it was necessary for the enemy to pass in order to enter Lake Winnipeg. Beyond question, the North-Westers had no suspicion of what was in store for them, inasmuch as the party did not arrive in a large body, but in small detachments, and successively, often at an interval of several days. As fast as they arrived, however, Governor Williams and his soldiers were on the watch. It was new work to the veterans, but they entered into it with a zest and spirit. The North-Westers were seized and disarmed, being subjected to considerable violence. Some were permitted to continue their route; others were dispatched to York Factory, on the Bay. Here they were, during many weeks, detained as prisoners and treated with scant courtesy, up to the arrival of a certain British naval officer. This was Lieut. Franklin, who was then about to undertake his celebrated land voyage to the Arctic Sea. Franklin had in his possession several letters of introduction to partners in the North-West Company. Under these circumstances the consideration, not to say compassion, which he evinced for the Hudson's Bay Company's prisoners was much in their favour. McTavish and Shaw, two of the North-West partners, were granted permission to return to England as passengers on the ship which had brought Franklin, but the others were not so fortunate. Duncan Campbell was sent to Canada,viaMoose Factory and Michipicoten, and there placed at liberty. As toBenjamin Frobisher, there was no accusation or warrant of arrest against him, but it was felt that he should not escape punishment for his long hostility to the Company, as well as for the violent and crafty resistance which he had offered in the first instance to his arrest. Frobisher is described as being a man of great strength and herculean stature. On numerous occasions he had had the good or ill-fortune to come in contact with the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company, and there were many to testify that he had on such occasions not emerged with the loss either of prestige or property. His whole ambition now, whilst suffering from a severe wound in the head, was to escape from his captors. The nearest North-West post was distant about five hundred miles as the crow flies, but this circumstance had little restraining power upon his project. Two of his French-Canadian companions, Turcotte and Lépine, endeavoured to dissuade him, but without success; and at length they consented to participate in the escape should it be possible to elude the vigilance of their captors. They succeeded in doing this on the 30th September; launched themselves in an old canoe, into which they had stored some pounds of pemmican saved from their rations, and so commenced their painful journey.
Flight of prisoners from York Factory.
For two whole months these three fugitives from York Factory travelled through the wilderness. They suffered from cold and hunger, even devouring the buffalo skins that the Indians had left suspended in the trees as an indication of their route. At last the doughty Frobisher arrived at such a state of weakness that he was fain to lie down without further power of exertion. The trio were then not more than two days' journey from Lac L'Orignal, near Lake Bourbon, where the North-Westers had a post. Frobisher begged his companions, whose greater power of endurance and devotion to their superior had led to their carrying him on their shoulders, to leave him and seek assistance. This they did, after having deposited their burden at the side of a fire, and grilled a morsel of buffalo skin for his nourishment. Four days later they reached the fort, and a search party didnot arrive on the spot until the 27th of November. Their eyes were greeted by the corpse of Frobisher, partly burnt, and extended at full length on the ground. Within his scanty clothing was found a journal, which he had kept ever since his arrest at Grand Rapids, and in which he had recorded his daily sufferings.[106]
After considerable delay the news of Frobisher's escape and subsequent death was spread throughout the West. A courier arrived at Fort William in hot haste with the news of the affair at Grand Rapids. The utmost indignation prevailed. Many of the partners, fearing a descent of the Hudson's Bay soldiery, left in disorder for Montreal. The agents of the Company instantly addressed themselves to the Duke of Richmond, then Governor of Canada, representing to him that if the civil authorities did not interfere to compel respect for the orders of the Prince Regent, the fortunes of the North-West co-partnery would suffer a great and irreparable blow.
Envoys of the Government enjoin peace.
The Duke was then at Little York. He lost no time in dispatching one of the officers of his suite, Major MacLeod, with a budget of dispatches for delivery at the chief forts of the North-West. In these he enjoined obedience to the laws. MacLeod was accompanied, at the last moment, by Sir Charles Saxton. The envoys of the Governor reached Fort William and pressed on to the Grand Rapids, where they learned that Williams had raised the blockade of the river, and had left for the Bay with his soldiers and prisoners. It was too late in the autumn to follow them, so there was nothing left but to arrange to have their dispatches forwarded to the parties in the interior, and to return immediately to Little York. The alarm of the partners in Canada was matched by that of their agents in London. They addressed themselves to the Imperial Government, soliciting his Majesty's interference in order to put an end to the outrages and lawlessness, as they expressed it, of Lord Selkirk and the Hudson's Bay Company. They recalled that they had often demanded that the rights of the Company should be submitted to law, andwarned the authorities that when their rivals mocked the orders of the Prince Regent, it would be impossible for themselves to confide their persons and their property to the protection of an authority with a seat so remote and exacting, so reluctant an obedience.
"What is to become of us," they demanded, "if we are to have no protection for our servants in these wild regions of the North?"
"You have no right in these regions," was, in effect, the retort of the Company. "They are vested in us by Royal charter, and the sooner you apprehend this truth the better."
Whereupon the partners declared that if the Hudson's Bay Company or Lord Selkirk continued to exercise illegal powers, which had for their end the destruction of the commerce of their rivals, it was inevitable that more bloodshed should follow. Such protestations had the desired effect. The Government entered into correspondence with the directors of the Company and ordered that they should exert themselves to the utmost to prevent a repetition of lawlessness, else the consequences must be on their own head.
Trial of Semple's murderers.
The trials which took place at Little York and at Montreal had been very costly to both parties. Those relating to the Semple massacre were not tried until 1818.[107]Application had been made to the Governor-in-Chief of Canada in the previous March (1817) to have them removed to UpperCanada, and this naturally caused delay, the Governor judging it expedient to consult the Home Government in the matter. A favourable reply was received on the 24th of October, and warrants under the Great Seal were issued to try the cases at York. The North-Westers were finally brought before the court, and indictments found against them for participating in the affairs of the 11th of June, and the 28th of June, 1815; for larceny at Qu'Appelle River on the 12th of May, and the Semple massacre on the 19th of June, 1816. It surprised nobody in Canada that the jury in each case brought in a verdict of not guilty, however it may have astonished the British public.
McGillivray, who had been waiting two years for trial, and now finding the further indictments abandoned, caused Lord Selkirk, Miles McDonnell, and eighteen others, to be indicted for the part they took in the capture of Fort William. The Earl had also several civil suits entered against him, one of which was by William Smith, the constable whom he ejected from Fort William, "taking hold of him and pushing him out of doors, and afterwards keeping him in close custody in the fort, under a military guard." The constable got a verdict of £500 damages against the Earl. Daniel McKenzie also entered suit against Lord Selkirk, and received a verdict of £1,500.
Prosperity at Red River.
Whilst these various proceedings were in progress, the Red River colony was struggling against adversity. In the winter of 1817 they were forced to resort again to Pembina, owing to a scarcity of food. The next year, when a considerable area of land had been planted, and followed by a favourable summer, the July sky suddenly darkened, and a cloud of grasshoppers descended upon the earth. Every green thing perished before them. In greater despair and wretchedness than ever, the colonists again migrated across the border. The same disaster occurred in the ensuing year, and if it had not been for the bounty and care of the Company, many would have perished. It was not until 1822 that the Red River colony, now recruited by French, Irish, Germanand Swiss, as well as Scotch settlers, began to take on a flourishing condition; but the news of this prosperity was not destined to reach the ears and gladden the heart of its founder. Selkirk had reached England disheartened, and with a well-founded grievance against the Canadian authorities, who, he declares, and with justice, had not accorded him the encouragement to which he had a right; and against the Canadian tribunals, from whom it had been impossible to obtain justice.
The health of the Earl, shattered by the anxieties and episodes which have been recorded, rendered it necessary that he should seek repose in the south of France. But his ailment was mortal. He breathed his last at Pau, in the month of April, 1820, surrounded by his wife and children, leaving behind him many friends, and numerous admirers of his intellectual qualities and his courage. The Great North-West of to-day is his monument.
The death of its principal Adventurer strengthened, on the part of the Company, the sentiment for peace; and by removing the chief obstacle hastened an amalgamation of interests of the rival traders. None then could nor can now but perceive, if they examine the situation broadly, that the complete annihilation of the North-West Association was a mere matter of time. None recognized this more than their agents in London, who had repeatedly made overtures to Lord Selkirk for amalgamation, but which were by him rejected as often as made.
To Edward Ellice, a leading partner, an enterprising merchant, and a rising parliamentarian, belongs the chief credit of bringing about this union. This young man was the son of Alexander Ellice, a wealthy London merchant, and himself directly interested in the Canadian fur-trade. In 1803, when a lad of but fourteen, young Ellice had gone out to Canada, and animated by a love of adventure, had entered into the life of a trader, under the auspices of his father's friends. Ellice was quick to grasp the tendency of affairs. Theterrible struggle of recent years made by the Northmen had told severely upon them.[108]
Simpson
Signature
The partners met at Fort William, in July, 1820, and a stormy session served to reflect their vexed plight. Dissensions exhibited themselves; the minority, at least, felt that in their London agents—Ellice and the McGillivrays—coming to terms with the Hudson's Bay Company, lay their only hope of salvation.
Union of the two Companies.
Without, however, consulting the powers at Fort William, these agents in London were acting on their own account. Conferences with the Chartered Adventurers took place daily. By the time the partnership between the Northmen themselves expired, in 1821, the negotiations had attained the form of an agreement. Delegates had been sent from Fort William to confer with their English representatives as to the future of the interests of the North-West Company. Ellice received them cordially in his office in Mark Lane and showed them an instrument which he called the Deed Poll. This document bore the names of the Governor, Berens, and the Committee of the Honourable Hudson's Bay Company, on the one part, and the McGillivrays and Ellice, on the other. The astonished delegates gazed upon the signed and sealed instrument, and recognized that the North-West Company had ceased to exist. "Amalgamation," cried one of them, "this is not amalgamation, but submersion. We are drowned men."
A coalition and partnership had been agreed upon for twenty-one years, on the basis that each should furnish an equal capital for conducting the trade. This Deed Poll, which bore date of March 26, 1821, provided that the expenses of the establishment should be paid out of the trade, and that no expense of colonization or any commerce not directly relating to the fur-trade, was to fall upon the Company.
The profits were to be divided into one hundred equal parts, of which forty were to be shared between the chief factors and chief traders, according to profit and loss. If a loss should occur in one year on these forty shares it was to be made good out of the profits of the year ensuing. A general inventory and account was to be made out annually on the 1st of June. If profits were not paid to any parties within fourteen days of that date, interest was to be allowed then at the rate of five per cent.
When the Deed Poll was signed, it was stipulated that twenty-five chief factors and twenty-eight chief traders should be appointed, to be named in alternate succession from the Hudson's Bay and the North-West Company's servants. Both were placed on an equal footing, the forty shares out of the hundred being again subdivided into eighty-five shares, in order that each of the twenty-five chief factors should receive two (or 2/85ths), and each of the chief traders one of such shares. The remaining seven shares, to complete the eighty-five, were set apart for old servants, to be paid them during a term of seven years.
Plan of union.
The chief factors were to superintend the business of the Company at their respective stations, while the chief traders under them were to conduct the commerce with the Indians. The third class was the clerks, who were promoted to factorships and traderships, according to good conduct and seniority, but whose clerical salaries ranged from £20 to £100 per annum. The chief factors and traders, who wintered in the interior, were granted, in addition to their share of profits, certain personal necessaries free of cost. They were not, however, permitted to carry on any private trade on their own account with the Indians. Strict accounts were required of them annually. The councils at the various posts were empowered to mulct, admonish or suspend any of the Company's servants. Each year three chief factors and two chief traders were granted twelve months leave of absence. A chief factor or chief trader, after wintering three years in the service might retire, and hold his full share of profits for one year after so retiring,with half the share for the four succeeding years. If he wintered for five years, he was granted half profits for six years on retiring. Retirements of chief factors and chief traders were made annually by rotation, three of the former, or two of the former and two of the latter. The heirs of a chief factor or chief trader who died after wintering five years received all the benefit to which the deceased or himself would have been entitled had he lived, or in proportion otherwise. Everything was thus regulated, provision was effected for everything. The Northmen, rough, enterprising, adventurous, as many of them were, found themselves part of a huge machine, operated with sleepless vigilance of a governor and committee in London. As for the profits, they were to be estimated after the entire expenses, both in London and the fur country, were deducted. They were then to be divided into fifths, of which three-fifths went to the proprietary and two-fifths to the chief factors, chief traders and clerks, who were to be thenceforward known as the "fur-trade" or the "wintering partners."
No wonder that many of the Northmen were constrained to cry out, in the language of one of their number[109]: "Alas, the North-West is now beginning to be ruled with an iron rod!"
The Deed Poll—A Governor-in-Chief Chosen—A Chaplain Appointed—New License from George IV.—Trade on the Pacific Coast—The Red River Country Claimed by the States—The Company in California—The Oregon Question—Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1825—TheDryadAffair—Lieutenant Franklin's two Expeditions—Red River Territory Yielded to Company—Enterprise on the Pacific.
By the terms of the Deed Poll, the immediate control of the Company's affairs in its territory passed from the hands of a committee sitting in London, to a personage known as Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land and his council. His commission extended over all the Company's lands and possessions, with an unlimited tenure of office. The council was to be composed of chief factors, and occasionally a few chief traders, who were to meet at some convenient centre for the purposes of consultation, this particular feature being a survival of the rendezvous of Fort William. The chartered territories and circuit of commercial relations were divided into vast sections, known as the Northern, Southern, Montreal and Western Departments. The Northern extended between Hudson's Bay and the Rocky Mountains, the Southern, between James' Bay and Canada, including a part of the eastern shore of Hudson's Bay.
Governor Simpson.
Such a Governor-in-Chief should be a person of energy, shrewdness and ability. Mr. Ellice had been struck by the qualities and special aptitude for this important post of a young Scotchman, named George Simpson. This young man was an illegitimate son of the maternal uncle of Thomas Simpson, the Arctic explorer. While clerk in a London counting-house, George Simpson had attracted the attention of Andrew Colville, Lord Selkirk's brother-in-law, who sent him to Rupert's Land in the service of the Company. The responsibility was a tremendous one, but Simpson did not flinch from accepting it; and the endshowed the wisdom of the appointment. For nearly forty years this man stood at the head of the fur-trade: a potentate in the midst of the wilderness, the virtual ruler of almost one-half of a continent. Governor Simpson was a man of small stature, but he had "the self-possession of an emperor."[110]Accompanied by his voyageurs and clerks, he journeyed along the old Ottawa and lake route, through the Grand Portage, or by Fort William and Lake of the Woods, accomplishing this feat at least once a year throughout the entire period of his rule. At the outset of his career he perceived that the management of Red River colony was an extremely difficult task—harder perhaps than the management of the fur-trade. But he attacked both with energy, resolved to serve his employers, and to create, at all hazards, harmony and prosperity in the territories.
Part of the time he spent at Red River, part in Oregon, in Athabasca, and at Hudson's Bay. He crossed the Rocky Mountains at three different latitudes, and journeyed extensively over the vast territory of which he was truly the "commercial sovereign."
The appointment of the Rev. Mr. West as principal chaplain to the Company led to very great improvements in the moral and religious life at the forts. Many of the traders and servants of the Company were soon afterwards induced to marry the women with whom they had lived, a material step towards the amelioration of the condition of the Indian and half-breed females.
Company obtains a new license.
The next step on the part of the Honourable Adventurers was to further safeguard their interests, and supplement their charter by a license from the new king, George IV. This license was for the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in such parts of North America as were not part ofthe territories heretofore granted to the Hudson's Bay Company. This Royal license, dated the 5th of December, 1821, at Carlton House, was expressly issued to prevent the admission of individual or associated bodies into the British North American fur-trade, inasmuch as the competition therein had been found for years to be productive of enormous loss and inconvenience to the Hudson's Bay Company and to trade at large, and also of much injury to the natives and half-breeds.
The Board Room, Hudson's Bay House, London.
The Board Room, Hudson's Bay House, London.
To anticipate events, it may here be remarked that this license expired in 1842, but prior to its expiration an extension was granted at the close of the first year of the reign ofher present Majesty,[111]for a further term of twenty-one years. By virtue of these licenses the Company was granted exclusive trade in the Indian territories west of the Rocky Mountains. It must be borne in mind, and will be pointed out in a subsequent chapter, that it was of the utmost moment for Great Britain to obtain a standing in Oregon and on the Columbia River,[112]and the licenses were framed to this great and desirable end.
Although, as has been shown, the North-West partners had made great efforts and borne great sacrifices, to maintain the trade on the Pacific, they were contending against great odds. The Russian establishments at Norfolk Sound, and at other places on the coast, even so far south as California, came to share in a virtual monopoly with the Americans, who, after the Treaty of Ghent, began to send ships from Boston to New York. The amalgamation of 1821 came about, and the Hudson's Bay Company, invigorated by the infusion of new blood, believed it their duty to seek to regain the trade. They therefore set to work to re-establish British influence on the Pacific.
It was no easy task. The Russians had gained a firm foothold, and the Americans paused at no form of competition, nor any method by which they might secure their ends. The natives had already become debauched and now their debauchery spread from tribe to tribe, rendering dealings with them difficult and formidable. Serious losses, both of lives and property, were sustained through their savage attacks on the Company's agents and trading posts. But the work was in the hands of strong, able, and temperate men, who knew what the situation required of them and did not shrink from meeting it fully and fearlessly. By tact and vigorous measures the natives were restrained; at great expenditure of money and patience, order was restored; and in ten yearstime the Company occupied the whole country between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. It maintained six permanent establishments on the coasts, sixteen in the interior, and several movable posts and migratory brigades. By 1835 it had a fleet of six armed vessels, one of them propelled by steam, on the Pacific. Fort Vancouver, its principalentrepôton the Columbia River, was surrounded by large pasture and grain farms, maintaining large herds of horses and cattle, and was a profitable and growing establishment.
It was a long time since the Company had cut any considerable figure in international politics, but with the extraordinary growth of the American States and the increase of the fur traffic of the Russians, contemporary European publicists came again to speak of the prospect of trouble over the Company's rights and boundaries.
Claim of the United States to Red River.
Before this time there had arisen a cry, sedulously seconded by the Company's enemies, that the Red River region belonged to the United States. Nothing can be clearer than that it was never for a moment contemplated either by the British or American Government, that any of the Hudson's Bay lands, or any of the waters running into Hudson's Bay, would be included in the lines assigned as the boundaries between the possessions of Great Britain and those of the States. It is sufficiently demonstrated by the treaty concluded with America in 1794 that such an idea never existed in the minds of the negotiators. By the third article of that treaty, which permits the most perfect freedom of communication and intercourse between the subjects of both nations throughout their respective dominions, an exception is made of the country within the limits of the Hudson's Bay Company, to be ascertained, of course, in conformity to their charter from which the Americans are expressly excluded. The terms of the treaty concluded in 1783 with the United States show the express intentions of both nations to have been that the northern boundary of the United States should not, in any part, extend farther north than the River St. Lawrence, or the lakes and streams which feed or fall into it.
The unhappy feature of the matter was that a great part of the second article of the treaty of 1783 was drawn up in complete ignorance of the geography of the country. It is so full of contradictions that it became impossible afterwards to lay down a line which should follow that article literally. In this dilemma the only fair method of solving the difficulty was to return to the principles which governed the framing of the article.
Red River Cart.
Red River Cart.
The Treaty of 1783.
At the close of the Revolution the chief aim of the American negotiators, as is evinced throughout their correspondence,was to obtain a recognition of the right of their country to the western territory as far as the St. Lawrence on the north, and the Mississippi on the west. When the British Government acceded to this proposition it was regarded by the Americans as an important concession, and their plenipotentiaries proceeded upon that concession as the principle on which their boundary towards Canada, after it had struck the St. Lawrence, was to be defined. They brought the line from Nova Scotia to the St. Lawrence, and then followed up the main stream of the river to what they believed to be its principal source, and what was supposed to approach the nearest to the source of the Mississippi. In fanciful conformity to this intention, the second article of the treaty of 1783, after having carried the line to Lake Superior, stipulates that it shall be continued onwards through the middle of certain water communications to the north-west point of the Lake of the Woods, and thence due west to the Mississippi. The fact, however, is that the waters of the Lake of the Woods feed streams which fall into Hudson's Bay, but have no communication with any waters which fall into Lake Superior. It is also a fact that a line drawn due west from the Lake of the Woods would never reach the Mississippi, which lies far to the south of such a line.
But there was a reason for such egregious blundering. The country had never been surveyed by men of science. Its physical features had been derived from the vague and inaccurate accounts of ignorant traders and bushrangers, which had formed the basis for the current maps. These laid down a large river running from the Lake of the Woods and falling into Lake Superior. If there had been such a river in existence, there can be no doubt, from the body of waters contained in the Lake of the Woods, that it would have been a much larger stream than any of the feeders of Lake Superior. It was therefore most natural that the negotiators should suppose the Lake of the Woods to be the main source of the St. Lawrence. At the same time this must have appeared to them the point at which the waters of the St.Lawrence approached the nearest to the source of the Mississippi, because in the maps of the bushrangers the Mississippi is laid down as rising four or five degrees of latitude farther north than it does in fact, and as coming within a short distance of the Lake of the Woods on the west.
As the negotiators in Paris in 1783 reposed the greatest confidence in these crude productions of the cartographer, is it surprising that the second article of the treaty should be full of inconsistencies? On any other supposition the intention of the negotiators would be fatuous and incomprehensible.
Examination of American claims.
This brings us to the whole point involved in the American contention, which deprived Great Britain and the Company of a vast territory to which the United States possessed no shadow of right. Where the limits of a country have never been ascertained the conquest of the contiguous and encroaching territory may be justly considered as establishing the bounds originally claimed by the victorious nation; and this was the case with regard to Canada and the territory of the Company. But where between two powers there have been no defined limits, and no conquests have determined the claims of either, the pretensions of both might be fairly adjusted by laying down as a rule that "the priority of right should be considered as vested in each, to the respective countries, which each have either principally or exclusively frequented."
The Spaniards west of the Mississippi never extended their establishments nearly so far north as latitude 42, while the Hudson's Bay limits were long frequented by the English. On what ground, therefore, could the Americans, the successors merely to the rights derived from the Spaniards, claim all the country of the Sioux, the Mandans and many other tribes on the upper branches of the Missouri?
Nevertheless the States, after their purchase of Louisiana, continued to put in claims for a more northerly and westerly boundary, with what ultimate result we shall see. It is only pertinent to remark here, that nothing could be more absurdthan the idea that Spain ever contemplated the cession of any territory on the Pacific Ocean, under the name of Louisiana.
The interior river waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin had attracted the attention of the Company even before the American trappers had reached them, and traders remained there in unmolested possession long after the Russians had left the country. The feeble frontier guard could do nothing but protest, and ultimately when the trappers had nearly exhausted the outlying districts and desired to penetrate into the centre of the State, the American Government admitted them under an agreement with the Hudson's Bay Company, whereby a tax of fifty cents was to be paid for each beaver skin.
A year before the amalgamation the north-west coast for the first time engaged the attention of the American Government,[113]and what came to be known as the Oregon Question had its birth. The States possessed no title to the country, but a strong party believed that they had a right to found by occupation a legitimate title to a large portion of the territory in question. The matter was brought up at several sessions of Congress, and the utmost was done by such legislators as Floyd and Benton to flog it into an active issue. It was claimed that "the United States, through Spain, France and her own establishments, had the undisputed sovereignty of the coast from latitude 60° down to 36°." A bill was introduced for the occupation of the Columbia, grants of lands to settlers, and regulation of Indian affairs. But the Government was by no means so sure of the wisdom of such a proceeding; the bill was repeatedly shelved. The restoration of Fort George (Astoria) by the British was one of the strong arguments used.
In the meanwhile Russia had declared that the north Pacific coast down to latitude 51° belonged to her exclusively. All foreign vessels were prohibited from approaching within a hundred Italian miles of any part of the coast. America protested,and between 1821 and 1824 negotiations were carried on between the two powers.
Russian claims.
Russia flatly asserted that the boundary question was one between herself and Great Britain, with which the Americans had no legitimate concern; and offered proofs that the treaty with Spain gave the United States a right only to territory south of 42°. A conclusion was, however, reached in the Treaty of 1824, by which the boundary was fixed at 54° 40', beyond which neither nation was to found any establishment, or to resort, without permission; while for a period of ten years both nations were to have free access for trade and fishery to each other's territory.
In the following year was concluded a treaty between Russia and Great Britain,[114]by which the former again relinquished her claim not only to the region below latitude 54° 40', but to the vast interior occupied by the Company up to the Frozen Ocean. No objection to this was urged by America, although some of her statesmen sought to take a hand in the matter, and proposed a joint conference. Great Britain's reply to this proposition was to decline to recognize the right of the United States to any interest in the territory in question. The recent promulgation of the Monroe doctrine had given offence not only to her, but to Russia as well, and both were prepared to combat American pretensions.
Although his Majesty's ministers had refused to treat for a joint convention, yet in 1824 negotiations were begun in London, between Great Britain and America, for the ownership of the northern Pacific coast. The British commissioners showed clearly that the Americans had no valid claim to the territory occupied by the Company.
Fur Train from the Far North.
Fur Train from the Far North.
Temporary arrangement between England and the States.
The mere entrance of a private individual, such as Captain Gray, into a river could not give the States a claim up and down the coast to regions which had been previously explored by officially despatched British expeditions like that of Cook. It was emphatically denied that the restoration of Fort Astoria, under the Treaty of Ghent, had any bearing on thetitle. Nevertheless, Great Britain was willing to accept as a boundary the forty-ninth parallel from the mountains to the Columbia (then known as McGillivray River), and down that river to the sea. But the Americans were obdurate; a deadlock ensued and the convention of 1818 remained in force. The Company repeatedly urged the Government not to abandon one inch of territory rightfully under the Crown, to the United States. Nevertheless, a settlement of the Oregon Question was highly desirable. If in spite of the treaty of 1818 the States should attempt to occupy the territory, war would be inevitable. If on the other hand the treaty should expire without any attempt at American occupation, Great Britain would be, by the law of nations, the party rightfully in possession. A new conference was held in London, in 1827; but it was impossible to agree on a boundary, and the only thing possible was a compromise to the effect that the treaty of joint occupation should be indefinitely renewed subject to abrogation at any time by either party on twelve months' notice. Thus thestatu quowasmaintained, and the Hudson's Bay Company remained in actual possession of the profits of the fur-trade for many years to come.
In 1828 Governor Simpson believed it advisable to make a general survey of the western posts, with the object of impressing peace and good-will upon the natives, and also to acquire a further knowledge of the needs and abilities of the Company's officers and servants in that quarter. This journey of the Governor, undertaken in considerable state, was from York Factory to the Pacific. He was accompanied by a chief factor, Archibald Macdonald, and a surgeon named Hamlyn. Fourteen commissioned gentlemen, as the chief factors and chief traders were called, and as many clerks, accompanied the party to the canoes, and amidst great cheering and a salute of seven guns, bade them God-speed. Simpson entered Peace River on the 15th of August, and reached Fort Vermilion in due course, three hundred and twenty miles from the mouth, which was then in charge of Paul Fraser. From here he proceeded to Fort St. James, the capital of Western Caledonia, and the chief depot for all the region north of the Fraser Forks to the Russian boundary, including the Babine country. Forts Alexandria, Kamloops and Vancouver were visited in due order, and in the following year Simpson returned east by way of the Columbia.
In an attempt to enter the Columbia River in 1829, the Company's ship from London,William and Ann, was wrecked on Land Island. Several of the crew escaped and landed on Clatsop Point, where they were immediately murdered by the natives, in order that the plunder of the vessel might be accomplished without interruption. News of the disaster was carried to Fort Vancouver, where the officer in charge, McLaughlin, sent messengers demanding a restoration of the stolen cargo. In response to this request, an old broom was despatched to the fort, with the intelligence that this was all the restitution the Clatsops contemplated. The schoonerColborewas therefore sent on a punitive expedition. Several of the tribe were wounded and a chief shot, after which theClatsops entered into a better frame of mind, and expressed contrition for their behaviour.
Under the Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1825, the Company possessed the free navigation of streams which, having their rise in British territory, crossed Russian territory in their course to the sea. The Company were not long in availing themselves of this privilege. Posts were successively erected, as far as the Stickeen River; but seven years afterwards there was yet no permanent post on that stream. It was, therefore, decided to establish one, and a brig, theDryad, was accordingly fitted out and despatched from Fort Vancouver. But in that year, 1833, the Russian Government had received the petition of its subjects to rescind the proviso in the treaty favourable to the British. The Company's enterprise in thus encroaching on Russian territory had alarmed Wrangel, who was then in charge of the Russian establishment[115]at Sitka, and he wrote to his superiors urging them to memorialize the Emperor. He alleged that the Hudson's Bay Company had violated its agreement to refrain from selling fire-arms or spirituous liquors to the natives—an allegation which was not founded on fact.
TheDryadappears.
Believing that the situation called for instant action, Wrangel did not wait to learn what course his Government would take in the matter, but at once despatched two armed vessels to the entrance of Stickeen River. A fort was hastily built on the site of an Indian village, guns were mounted, and the Company's expedition awaited. All unconscious theDryadforce approached. Suddenly a puff of smoke and a loud report arrested them, and several shots came from two vessels hitherto concealed in the offing. While the astonished captain and crew put the brig about, with a design to anchor out ofrange, a boat reached them from the shore, bearing an officer in Russian uniform. He protested in the name of the Emperor and the Governor of the Russian-American possessions, against the entrance of a British vessel into a river appertaining to those powers. The Company's agent attempted to argue the matter, but his representations went unheeded. The Russian was obdurate; they were all threatened with peril to their lives, and their vessel, if theDryaddid not immediately weigh anchor. There was consequently nothing to do but to return.
The Company was indignant at this outrage. The forts it had already built, together with the cost of fitting out theDryadand other vessels, besides a vast quantity of provisions and perishable merchandise sent into that country, had amounted to £20,000 sterling. The Emperor had granted the petition of the Russian Company; and both the British and the American Governments received notification that the clause in the treaty would terminate at twelve months' notice. But theDryadaffair took place before this decision was made public. The British Government very properly demanded immediate satisfaction, and for a time public interest was keenly aroused. The Russian Government merely consented to disavow the act of its officer; and issued instructions prohibiting further hindrance to the trading limits previously agreed upon.
The matter did not, however, receive settlement until 1839, in which year a convention was held in London to arrange the points long in dispute between the two companies. The matter was settled with despatch. The Hudson's Bay Company's claim for compensation was waived in return for a lease from the Russian Company of all their territory on the mainland lying between Cape Spencer and latitude 54° 40'. For this lease the Company agreed to pay an annual rental of two thousand land-otter skins, and also to supply the Russians with provisions at moderate rates.
In the last chapter, the expedition in 1819-20 of Lieutenant (afterwards Sir John) Franklin, was alluded to.
Franklin and his party reached Fort Chippewyan on the 26th March, after having travelled on foot eight hundred and fifty-six miles, with the weather so intensely cold that the mercury continually froze in the bulb. In July, 1820, they journeyed five hundred miles more to Fort Enterprise, where the party wintered, Back returning to Fort Chippewyan to procure supplies for the next season's operations. He was eagerly awaited, and when he arrived, in March, 1821, he had a tale of great hardship to relate. He had travelled over one thousand one hundred miles, sometimes going two or three days without food, with no covering at night but a blanket and deerskins to protect him from the fearful rigours of fifty-seven degrees below zero. In June the party started out from the Coppermine to reach the sea, which they did in eighteen days. Their subsequent sufferings were of the most dreadful description. When the survivors returned to York Factory, they had travelled five thousand five hundred and fifty miles by land and water; but their object was still unaccomplished.[116]
In 1825, Franklin entered upon a second journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, again accompanied by Lieutenant Back and Peter Dease, one of the Company's chief traders.
"The Governor and Committee took," says Franklin, "a most lively interest in the objects of the expedition, promised their utmost support to it, and forthwith sent injunctions to their officers in the fur countries to provide the necessary depots of provisions at the places which I pointed out, and to give every other aid in their power."
Franklin descended the Mackenzie and traced the coast line through thirty-seven degrees of longitude from the mouth of the Coppermine River, where his former survey began, to near the one hundred and fiftieth meridian, and coming within one hundred and sixty miles of the most easterly pointreached by Captain Beechy, who was exploring from Bering's Strait.