Columbia district. This party likewise conveys to the different forts along the route, goods suitable to the Indian trade; other parties take up supplies, as they may be required, to Wallawallah, two hundred and fifty miles above Vancouver; to Colville, six hundred miles above; to the fort at the junction of Lewis's river, seven hundred miles above; and to the south to the Fort McRoys, on the river Umpqua, in latitude 43° 50′ north; and, last year, chief trader McLeod took up to the American rendezvous, in about latitude 43° north, a large supply of British manufactures. This assemblage of American trappers and hunters takes place annually on the western side of the Rocky Mountains, generally in the month of July, and amounts to from four hundred and fifty to five hundred men, who bring the result of their year's labor to sell to the American fur traders. These persons purchase their supplies for the trappers at St. Louis; though, after being subject to the duties on these articles, (chiefly of British manufacture,) they transport their goods about one thousand four hundred miles by land, to sell to citizens of the United States within our acknowledged lines of territory. Last year, they met a powerful opponent, in the agent of this foreign monopoly, chief trader McLeod, who could well afford to undersell the American fur trader on his own ground, first, by having the advantage of water communication on the Columbia and Lewis's rivers for a distance of seven hundred or eight hundred miles; and, secondly, by introducing the goods free of duty, which is equal to at least twenty-five to thirty per centum; but a greater evil than this exists in the influence the Hudson's Bay Company exercises over the Indians by supplying them with arms and ammunition, which may prove, at some future period, highly dangerous to our frontier settlements. Besides this, the policy of this company is calculated to perpetuate the institution of slavery, which now exists, and is encouraged, among all the Indian tribes west of the Rocky Mountains.

"I shall refer to this more particularly hereafter. From what I have seen, I feel perfectly satisfied, that no individual enterprise can compete with this immense foreign monopoly established in our own waters."

These particulars in regard to the Hudson's Bay Company are fully confirmed by other testimony. They treat with personal civility such respectable Americans as visit their posts; but meantime they steadily pursue a systematic course for breaking up all undertakings of trade which compete with theirs, and for securing to themselves the absolute control of the Indians and the country. Thus, after giving an account

of all the posts of the Hudson's Bay Company, Mr. Wyeth

says;

'Experience has satisfied me, that the entire weight of this company will be made to bear on any trader, who shall attempt to prosecute his business within its reach; in proof of which is the establishment of the post at the mouth of the Big Wood river, which was done immediately after Fort Hall was built; and the fact, that a party was kept in the vicinity of Fort Hall, with an especial view to injure its trade, the whole time that it remained in the hands of its projectors. There has never been any successful trade in this country by the Americans, and it is only by trapping that they have been able to make any use of it; and in this they are much annoyed by the English traders, who follow them with goods, and do not scruple to trade furs from hired men, who, they are well aware, do not own them. I do not wish to charge this dishonest practice to them alone, nor do I know that they began it, for it is common to both parties, against the other, and also between the different parties of the Americans; but it results in the complete destruction of the American trade and business in the country. No sooner does an American concern start in these regions, than one of these trading parties is put in motion, headed by a clerk of the company, whose zeal is stimulated by the prospect of an election to a partnership in it, fitted out with the best assorted goods, from their ample stores, and men who have been long in the service of the company, and whose wages of many years are in its hands as security for their fidelity. Under these circumstances, we come in contact. If there are furs in the hands of the Indians, their superior assortment of goods will obtain them. The trappers who catch the furs are mainly fitted out on credit by the companies, and there are too many of them, who do not scruple to avail of an opportunity to sell their peltries for new supplies of luxury and finery, rather than pay their debts. In this way the American companies are broken up.

"It is not uncommon that the parties of the Hudson's Bay Company entirely disregard the treaties between the United States and Great Britain, and pass to the heads of the Missouri, within the acknowledged limits of the United States; this was done in the years 1833, '34, '35, and '36. I was informed, that this was contrary to the instructions of the company, but I think it was with their knowledge and consent.

"In conclusion, Iwill observe, that the measures of this company have been conceived with wisdom, steadily pursued, and have been well seconded by their government, and the success

has been complete; and, without being able to charge on them any very gross violations of the existing treaties, a few years will make the country west of the mountains as completely English as they can desire. Already the Americans are unknown as a nation; and, as individuals, their power is despised by the natives of the land. A population is growing out of the occupancy of the country, whose prejudices are not with us; and before many years they will decide to whom the country shall belong, unless in the mean time the American government make their power felt and seen to a greater degree than has yet been the case."

To which we add the following remarks by Mr. Irving. *

"Fort George, originally Astoria, which was abandoned on the removal of the main factory to Vancouver, was renewed in 1830; and is now kept up as a fortified post and trading-house. All the places accessible to shipping have been taken possession of, and posts recently established at them by the com

pany.

"The great capital of this association; their long established system; hereditary influence over the Indian tribes; their internal organization, which makes every thing go on with the regularity of a machine; and the low wages of their people, who are mostly Canadians, give them great advantages over the American traders; nor is it likely the latter will ever be able to maintain any footing in the land, until the question of territorial right is adjusted between the two countries. The sooner that takes place the better. It is a question too serious to national pride, if not to national interest, to be slurred over; and every year is adding to the difficulties which environ it.

"The fur trade, which is now the main object of enterprise, west of the Rocky Mountains, forms but a part of the real resources of the country. Besides the salmon fishery of the Columbia, which is capable of being rendered a considerable source of profit, the great valleys of the lower country, below the elevated volcanic plateau, are calculated to give sustenance to countless flocks and herds, and to sustain a great population of graziers and agriculturists.

66

Such, for instance, is the beautiful valley of the Wallamut ; from which the establishment at Vancouver draws most of its supplies. Here, the company holds mills and farms; and has provided for its superannuated officers and servants. This valley above the falls, is about fifty miles wide, and extends a great distance to the South. The climate is mild, being shelRocky Mountains, Vol. II. Appendix.

*

tered by lateral ranges of mountains; while the soil, for richness, has been equalled to the best Missouri lands. The valley of the river Des Chûtes is also admirably calculated for a great grazing country. All the best horses used by the company for the mountains are raised there. The valley is of such happy temperature, that grass grows there throughout the year, and cattle may be left out to pasture during the winter. These valleys must form the grand points of commencement of the future settlement of the country; but there must be many such, enfolded in the embraces of these lower ranges of mountains; which, though at present they lie waste and uninhabited, and to the eye of the trader and trapper present but barren wastes, would, in the hands of skilful agriculturists and husbandmen, soon assume a different aspect, and teem with waving crops, or be covered with flocks and herds.

"That company, therefore, still maintains an unrivalled sway over the whole country, washed by the Columbia, and its tributaries. It has, in fact, as far as its chartered powers permit, followed out the splendid scheme contemplated by Mr. Astor, when he founded his establishment at the mouth of the Columbia. From their emporium of Vancouver, companies are sent forth in every direction to supply the interior posts, to trade with the natives, and to trap upon the various streams. These thread the rivers, traverse the plains, penetrate to the heart of the mountains, extend their enterprises northward to the Russian possessions, and southward to the confines of California. Their yearly supplies are received by sea at Vancouver, and thence their furs. and peltries are shipped to London. They likewise maintain a considerable commerce, in wheat and lumber, with the Pacific islands, and to the North with the Russian settlements. Though the company, by treaty, have a right to a participation only, in the trade of these regions, and are, in fact, but tenants on sufferance; yet have they quietly availed themselves of the original oversight, and subsequent supineness, of the American government, to establish a monopoly of the trade of the river and its dependencies, and are adroitly proceeding to fortify themselves in their usurpation, by securing all the strong points of the country."

To the great mass of printed matter concerning the West, of which we have made mention, may be added the beautiful series of pictures, painted by Mr. Alfred J. Miller, of Baltimore, in 1838 and 1839, illustrative of the scenery of the Rocky Mountains, and the customs and sports of the natives and trappers in that region. And though Mr. Catlin's

invaluable collections and paintings were made chiefly in the Upper Missouri, yet the light they throw upon all the details of Indian life in that quarter, is of use in the study of the same objects beyond the mountains.

Such then is the history, such the present condition, of discovery, trade, and settlement beyond the Rocky Mountains. And here we pause. We have not, in this article, embraced within the scope of our examination, the expeditions of Long, Schoolcraft, McKenney, and others; because our object has been to develope the history of discovery west of the Rocky Mountains only. Nor have we discussed at all the diplomatic question of the nature and grounds of the (as we conceive) indefeasible title of the United States to the territory of Oregon. That point has recently engaged the attention of Congress; and we may have occasion to take it up hereafter; but we hasten to conclude this narrative, which has already reached great length, with a single observation.

In view of all the facts we have exhibited, we appeal to the sense, alike of honor and of interest, on the part of the United States, whether the rich country of Oregon shall be seized upon by Great Britain, and made hers through a course like that, by which she has become the oppressive mistress of the millions of Hindostan ; whether, by means of another monster monopoly, the Hudson's Bay Company, she shall be permitted to proceed to play the game of pretended commerce, but of real conquest, against the United States. The remedy for all this is easy, and peaceful. We have but to say, peremptorily, that the thing shall stop, and it will stop. Great Britain is not so secure against our power on this continent, but that, if we assume the decisive attitude which rightfully belongs to us, she will be well content to make sure of what is justly hers, by scrupulously abstaining from the claim to more, and from all projects of aggrandizement at our expense, whether in Maine, in Oregon, or elsewhere. Satisfied that the United States need but be true to themselves to remove all difficulty in the case of Oregon, we trust to see the executive government at length act in this business with spirit and decision, and that of its own motion; or if not so, yet impelled forward by the irresistible voice of the people and of Congress.