USA > Oregon > Multnomah County > Portland > History of Portland, Oregon : with illustrations and biographical sketches of prominent citizens and pioneers > Part 2
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EARLY HISTORY OF OREGON.
especially among the brave and daring Rocky Mountain trappers, hunters and traders was great, and gave them the first proof of the feasibility of making the journey to the Pacific shore by land.
When Great Britain became aware that the territory claimed by France in North America had been ceded to the United States, aux- iety was felt by that government and such of its subjects as were personally interested, as to the policy to be pursued to establish the British title to the country on the Pacific Coast north of Califor- nia. The Northwest and Hudson's Bay Companies were especially anxious as to the future of their interests in that region. The French and Spanish claims to the territory had been regarded as of little inn- portance, but when they were transferred to a nation both able and anxions to perfect the title by reducing the country to actual pos- session and moreover were supported by the mere claims of discoy- ery and occupation, the matter presented an entirely new aspect.
The race for possession by right of occupancy from this time on was prosecuted with vigor. Great Britain secured the first advan- tage in this direction. Simon Fraser, an English subject and agent of the Northwest Fur Company, established a trading post in 1805 at Fraser Lake, a few miles west of the point where Fraser River turns southward, bestowing the name of "New Caledonia" upon that region. At this time the Fraser, as before stated, was consid- ered to be identical with the Columbia and the post was supposed to be on the great stream, for the possession of which America and England a few years later were to become vigorous contestants. This idea was soon afterwards proven to be erroneous, but the fact re- mains that the post was the first established by the subjects of either country west of the Rocky Mountains. The first American settle- ment was made by a man named Henry who, in 1808, founded Fort Henry on the headwaters of Lewis or Snake River, the first of any kind on a tributary of the Columbia. The next was made by Nathan Winship and William Smith, representatives of a Boston Company, who, in June, 1810, selected a spot on the south bank of the Columbia, forty-five miles from its mouth which they called "Oak Point." Here they made some preparation to found a settlement, but the annual freshet of the river forced them to abandon the
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
undertaking. They then selected a higher site further down the river, but signs of hostility on the part of the Indians led them to give up the effort, and they returned to Boston. Thus it will be seen that the first settlements on the Columbia were made by Americans, but they were unimportant links in the chain of evidence which proved the original occupancy of the territory by Americans, compared to the settlement established by the Astor party in 1811.
After the independence of the United States was acknowledged by Great Britain, American ships were for many years practically barred from British ports. In seeking new haunts of commerce they sailed into the Western Ocean and during the early part of the present century took the lead in the fishing and fur trade of the Pacific. They sailed along the entire northwest coast, collecting furs to exchange for the fabrics of China, having a monopoly of this business long before the Hudson's Bay Company had established headquarters in this region. In addition to the fur trade they supplied the Spanish and Russian settlements along the coast with American manufactured goods. In dealing with the natives, the conduct of certain of these traders brought them into disrepute. For furs they exchanged with the In- dians whisky and fire arms. In this way several fierce tribes in the vicinity of the Russian settlements were furnished with deadly means of warfare and rendered dangerous and troublesome. Numerous complaints were made by the Russian government to the State De- partment, but the American traders were violating no law or treaty and the government could not interfere.
At this time John Jacob Astor was the central figure of the American fur trade, and being consulted about the matter, he pro- posed as a remedy that a permanent trading post be established at the month of the Columbia, that would be the headquarters for trade within the interior and along the coast, and that the business be concentrated in the hands of a company powerful enough to supercede the independent traders who had been the cause of irritation to Russia. To this plan President Jefferson and his cabinet gave their hearty approval. Thus encouraged by the government, Mr. Astor organized the Pacific Fur Company to carry out the enterprise which, while he believed it would be a highly profitable undertaking, he
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EARLY HISTORY OF OREGON.
intended should be purely American in character and of deep polit- ical significance. Although he was actuated by the idea of finan- cial gain, there can be no doubt he was also animated by a patriotic desire to see the United States gain control of the region, and that he believed this end could be more surely gained by the establish- ment of a permanent trading settlement. He dispatched two expe- ditions to the month of the Columbia; one by sea, in the ship Ton- quin, which arrived March 22, 1810, and one by land, under Wil- son Price Hunt, which did not arrive until nearly a year later.
So on after the arrival of the Tonquin, the erection of a fort was begun on the south side of the river at a spot named "Point George" by Lieutenant Broughton. This they christened "Astoria" in honor of the founder and promoter of the enterprise. The name is perpetuated by the rise and growth of the thriving city which marks the spot where America first planted her foot upon the disputed territory of Oregon.
The Northwest Fur Company upon learning of Astor's plans, and realizing the strong hold the American Government would have upon the territory in dispute, should those plans succeed, sent a party overland to counteract them. But this party did not arrive until three months after the fort was built, and at once returned. The war of 1812 gave the English company another opportunity. A second party was dispatched overland, which reached Astoria in the spring of 1813, bringing intelligence of the hostilities and the disheartening fact that an English war vessel was on the way to capture the fort. Under stress of circumstances the entire stock of furs was sold to the agent of the Northwest Company. Three months later the fort was surrendered to the commander of the Rac- coon, who had come for the purpose of capturing it. The Ameri- can flag was lowered to give place to the British colors, and the name of Astoria was changed to Fort George.
The failure of Mr. Astor's plans in a national point of view was of 11111ch significance. It retarded the settlement of Oregon for many years. The maintenance of Astoria as a commercial point, such as Astor designed it should be, would have given the United States so strong a claim upon the country that little ground for contest of title would have remained for any other nation.
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
The American government made no effort to retake the captured fort until the close of the war of 1812, when, under the treaty of Ghent, which stipulated 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 the treaty, shall be re- stored without delay." Mr. Astor applied to the government for the restitution of his property, since he wished to resume operations on the Columbia River and carry out the plan of American occupation which had been so well begun. In July, 1815, notice was given the British government that steps would be taken to re-occupy the cap- tured fort, but no official response was received. For two years no active measures were taken, but in 1817 the United States govern- ment despatched the war sloop Ontario to the Pacific, to receive the surrender of the fort in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Ghent. This brought matters to a crisis, and a spirited discussion of the subject of title to the country followed, involving the question of abstract rights by discovery and absolute right by possession, both parties claiming under both titles. The claim of the United States was four fold: First, as a portion of Louisiana, purchased from France in 1803; second, by right of discovery by the Spanish ex- plorers Ferrelo in 1543, and later by Perez, Aguilar, Heceta, Bodega, Quadra, and others, the benefit of whose discoveries accrued to the United States by the Florida purchase made in 1819, though the title was not asserted in the first negotiations, as the settlement was made subsequent to the first temporary settlement; third, by the dis- covery of the Columbia River by Captain Robert Gray, in 1792; and fourth, by reason of the explorations of Lewis and Clark and the es- tablishment of forts at AAstoria and two other points by the Pacific Fur Company. It was denied that the sale of these forts under duress of threatened capture by a man of war was such as to affect the right of the United States to the benefits to be derived from settle- ments made by its citizens, especially since the terms of peace pro- vided that the forts should be surrendered to the United States gov- erment. On the contrary, Great Britain claimed that the country north of the forty-second parallel was originally discovered by Francis Drake in 1578. To make this claim effective it was necessary to
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EARLY HISTORY OF OREGON.
deny that the prior voyage of Ferrelo had extended as far north as the Oregon line. Since the coast had also been explored by Cook and Vancouver, and had been visited by Meares and other English fur traders, all between 1775 and 1793, these facts were urged as supplementing the original discovery of Drake. It was also neces- sary to deny that Gray had discovered the Columbia River, and to do this it was claimed that the entrance of the river by him was but one step in a series; that the discovery was a successive one, partici- pated in by Heceta, Meares, Vancouver, Gray and Broughton. Brit- ain's claim by right of possession was based upon the establishment, in 1805, of a fort on Fraser Lake by an agent of the Northwest Company, and the purchase by the same company, of the property of the Pacific Fur Company. The Northwest Company then held pos- session of the Columbia region by means of forts at Astoria and other points along the river. With these rights and equities on both sides, a complete surrender by either was impossible, and after full discus- sion a treaty of joint possession for ten years was agreed upon, Octo- tober 20, 1818, by which nominal possession of Astoria was given to the United States, but actual possession and ownership was to remain in the Northwest Company. " By this act," says Judge Deady, "the two high contracting parties virtually admitted to the world, that neither of them had any perfect or acknowledged right to any country westward of the Stony Mountains, or that at most, they had but a claim of right to some undefined part of that comparatively unknown region. This convention, apparently acting upon the admission that neither party had any definite right to the country and that like any other unsettled and unowned portion of the globe it was open to oc- cupation by the first comer, expressly recognized the right of the people of both nations to occupy it, for the time being, at pleasure."
Thus was sanctioned that occupation of the country by Great Britain which was practically commenced in 1813 by the transfer of the property and business of the Pacific Fur Company to the Northwest Fur Company; and from that date until the government of the pioneers was established, trade, commerce and colonization were decidedly in favor of Great Britian. The English sought to oc- cupy the country for the purpose of carrying on the fur trade with
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
the natives. It was to be kept from the plough and the sickle and preserved as a breeding ground for fur-bearing animals, except so far as the limited necessities or convenience of the fur traders might otherwise require. For several years the Northwest Fur Company was the dominant power in the country. Its operations were con- ducted on a thorough system by which it was soon developed into a powerful and wealthy corporation. All its managing agents were in- terested partners, who naturally did their utmost to swell the bus- iness. In the plenitude of its power,-about 1818,-it gave employ- ment to two thousand voyagers, while its agents penetrated the wilderness in all directions in search of furs. Meanwhile the older Hudson's Bay Company was becoming a strong competitor for the possession of the fur regions of Oregon. The struggle for suprem- acy became very bitter. The two companies had grown too large to be tolerant of each other, and mutual hostility springing out of a fierce spirit of commercial rivalry finally led to a state of actual war in which each sought to destroy its competitor by actually killing the men and by exciting the Indians to do so. Parliament realizing the precarious state of affairs put an end to the bloody fend, in 1821, by consolidating the rival companies under the name of " The Hon- orable Hudson's Bay Company." By this measure was created an organization far more powerful than either had been before, and England gained a united and potent agent for the advancement of hier interests in America.
A short time prior to consolidation the Northwest Fur Company established a post on the north bank of the Columbia, some miles above the mouth of the Willamette, which was christened Fort Van- conver. In 1823 the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company was removed from Fort George (AAstoria) to Fort Vancouver, the lat- ter being a more eligible and accessible point for sea-going vessels, and the center and natural converging point of trapping parties com- ing down the Columbia from the vast wilderness to the east. Here for full twenty years this great corporation held almost undisputed sway. It had its factors, agents, traders, voyagers and servants, all working in perfect harmony to advance the interests and increase the powers of this giant monopoly, and to destroy every competitor who
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EARLY HISTORY OF OREGON.
attempted to trade with the natives for peltries and furs. Its policy was one of uncompromising hostility toward every person or com- pany who interfered with its traffic, or who questioned its exclusive right to trade with the natives within the territory of Oregon. It had at the time the treaty of 1846 was made, twenty-three forts and trading posts judiciously located for trading with the Indians and trappers in its employ. It had fifty-five officers and five hundred and thirteen articled men under its control, all working together to main- tain its supremacy and power. The Hudson's Bay Company and all of its servants within the limits of Oregon were, moreover, under the protecting care of the British government. Parliament, at an early day after the joint occupation of the country commenced, had ex- tended the colonial jurisdiction and civil laws of Canada over all British subjects within the disputed territory. Magistrates were ap- pointed to adıninister and execute those law, who exercised juris- diction in civil cases where the amount in controversy did not exceed £200 sterling, and in criminal cases the same magistrates were au- thorized to commit persons accused of crime and send them to Can- ada for trial. In all matters of mere police and trade regulation the company exercised an authority as absolute as that of the Czar of Russia, and flogging was a common punishment which any officer from the governor of the company down to the petty clerk of a trad- ing fort might inflict upon any one of the rank and file of employes.
From 1823 to 1845 Dr. John McLoughlin1 was chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company west of the Rocky Mountains. He was, in many respects, a grand character, and time has proven how just
1 Hon. William H. Rees, an Oregon pioneer of 1844, and personally ac- quainted with Dr. McLoughlin, in an address before the Oregon Pioneer Associa- tion in 1879, said of him : "Dr. McLoughlin was no ordinary personage. Nature had written in her most legible hand pre-eminence in every lineament of his strong Scotch face, combining in a marked degree all the native dignity of an intellectual giant. He stood among his pioneer contemporaries like towering old Hood amid the evergreen heights that surround his mountain home-a born leader of men. He would have achieved distinction in any of the higher pursuits of life. He was born in the District of Quebec, Canada, in 1784, of Scotch parentage, reared under the influ- ence of the Angelican or Episcopal Church, of which he remained a member until November, 1842. At that date he became connected with the Catholic Church, of which he continued a devout communicant during the remaining years of his long
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
was his exercise of almost unlimited power. For more than two decades he did more than anyone else to preserve order, peace and good will among the conflicting and sometimes lawless elements of population, and well fitted was he to govern both by fear and love. So absolute was his authority that prior to the settlement of the Willamette Valley by Americans, no legal forms were thought nec- essary, except such as made by the company's grants, full power being given to the chief actor and council to try and punish all offenders belonging to the company or within the Hudson's Bay territory. Dr. McLoughlin settled all disputes, and the Canadians and other servants of the company yielded without question to his right to judge and punish. He was a strict and stern disciplinarian, yet his nse of authority was rarely, if ever, abused. Purely personal interest would have led him to throw every obstacle in his power in the way of settlement of the country by American citizens, but his kindness of lieart would not permit him to refuse aid to those in distress, and the early American emigrants found in him one who at the sacrifice of his own interest was ever ready to lend them assistance and pro- tection. His humanity in this regard caused him to be misrepre- sented in England and brought him into so much disfavor with the Hudson's Bay Company that he was finally compelled to resign his position.
It has been deemed necessary thus fully to describe the great power and firm foothold secured in Oregon by the Hudson's Bay Company, in order to give an adequate idea of the great task which lay before any American company which might seek to compete with
and eventful life. Dr. MeLoughlin had received a liberal education and was a regu- lar bred physician, in statue above six feet, weighing some 250 pounds; his head was large, his commanding eye of a bluish gray, a fair forid complexion; his hair had been of a sandy color, but when I first met him at Vancouver, in the fall of 1844, then sixty years of age, his great, luxuriant growth of hair was white as snow. A business requiring a residence among the wild native tribes necessarily made the regulations governing the service of the company partake more of the martial than the civil law. Dr McLoughlin was a strict disciplinarian and in his bearing decid- edly military in suggestion ; his standard of honor was unviolated truth and justice. The strong distinguishing traits of his character were true courage, a clear, quick perception and firm reliance. He never hesitated in taking upon himself great responsibilities when in his judgment occasion required it. The regulations of the
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EARLY HISTORY OF OREGON.
it in its chosen field. Long before the period of joint occupancy of the territory had expired British control had become well nigh complete. The interest of the United States had not been promoted in any way, except as already stated by the Florida purchase of 1819, which carried with it the Spanish title to the territory north of the forty- second parallel. In Congress, however, the Oregon question was spasmodically discussed and much correspondence passed between the two governments. The United States urged its Spanish title as its right to the country by original discovery, also that the month of the Columbia River was ours by dual right of discovery and settlement, and, therefore, following the general rule which had been observed by European nations in colonizing America, all the country tributary to the river and its confluents was also subject to our dominion. As the Columbia sweeps northward to the fifty-third parallel, it was urged that, by this title alone, the government had undisputed right to the whole region lying between the forty-second and fifty-third parallels. In 1820 Russia asserted exclusive title on the coast from the Arctic Ocean as far south as the fifty-first parallel; a claim which was protested by both England and the United States, but in the ne- gotiations which followed, the Russian title was fully acknowleged by both governments, as far south as fifty-four degrees and forty minutes, which at once became the northern limit of the claim of the United States.
As the ten-year period of joint occupation drew to a close, new commissioners were appointed by the two governments to effect a set- tlement of title to the disputed territory, but after much discussion
Hudson Bay Company required its officers to give one year's notice of their intention to quit the service. This notice the Doctor gave at the beginning of 1845 and the following year established himself upon his land claim in Oregon City, where he had already built a residence, large flouring mill, saw mills and store houses. Having located his land claim in 1829, he first made some temporary improvements thereon in 1830. These enterprises gave to the pioneer town quite a business-like appear- ance at the time of my arrival in the country, and employment to quite a goodly number of needy emigrants. The Doctor's religion was of that practical kind which proceeds from the heart and enters into the duties of every-day life ; his benevolent work was confined to no church, sect nor race of men, but was as broad as suffering humanity; never refusing to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and provide for the sick and toil-worn emigrant and needy settler who called for assistance at his old
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND,
they were unable to agree upon a boundary line, and, in 1827, a new treaty was signed extending the period of joint occupation indefinitely, to be terminated by either party upon giving one year's notice. Thus, again, the settlement of the question was left to time and chance.
In the meantime the British government, through the agency of the Hudson's Bay Company, had gained a tangible foot hold in Ore- gon by actual occupation, and so strong and powerful was this com- pany that it crushed all effort at competition. A few American fur traders did make the attempt to contest the field with the great English corporation, but through lack of unity of purpose and com- bination of capital they were driven to the wall. The first of these American traders was J. S. Smith, agent of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, who, with several associates, came in 1825. He and his party were attacked by the Indians, a number were killed and the venture proved, in every way, unsuccessful. Smith was followed by a second party of American trappers led by Major Pitcher. They came in 1828, but shared the same fate as their predecessors, all but three of them being murdered by the Indians. The next band of American trappers was led by Edwin Young, who, a few years later, became one of the first and most energetic settlers in Oregon. In 1831 the old American Fur Company, which had been so long man- aged by Mr. Astor, established trading posts in Oregon, at which time the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was also operating in this field. Strong rivalry sprang up between the two companies, which was intensified in 1833, by the appearance of two other competitors in the persons of Captain B. L. E. Bonneville and Nathaniel J. Wyeth.
Vancouver home. Many were the pioneer mothers and their little ones whose hearts were made glad through his timely assistance, while destitute strangers, whom chance or misfortune had thrown upon these then wild inhospitable shores, were not permitted to suffer while he had power to relieve. Yet he was persecuted by men claiming the knowledge of a christian experience, defamed by designing politicians, knowingly misrepresented in Washington as a British intriguer, until he was unjustly deprived of the greater part of his land claim.
Thus, after a sorrowful experience of man's ingratitude to man, he died an hon- ored American citizen, and now sleeps upon the east bank of the Willamette, at Oregon City, in the little yard which encloses the entrance to the Catholic Cathe- dral, beneath the morning shadow of the old gray cliffs that overlook the pioneer town of the AngloAmerican upon the Pacific Coast ; here resting from his labors
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