Trading Beyond the Mountains: The British Fur Trade on the Pacific, 1793-1843

446 Pages·1997·34.386 MB·English

by  Richard Somerset MacKie

Trading
Beyond the Mountains
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Richard Somerset Mackie
Trading
Beyond the Mountains
THE BRITISH FUR TRADE ON THE PACIFIC
1793-1843
UBCPress / Vancouver
© UBC Press I997
Reprinted I998, 2000
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written
permission of the publisher, or, in Canada, in the case of photocopying or other
reprographic copying, a licence from CANCOPY, 900 - 6 Adelaide Street East, Toronto,
ON M5C IH6.
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper °°
ISBN 0-7748-0559-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 0-7748-0613-3 (paperback)
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Mackie, Richard 1957-
Trading beyond the mountains
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7748-0559-5 (bound) - ISBN 0-7748-0613-3 (pbk.)
i. Simpson, George, Sir, i792?-i86o. 2. Hudson's Bay Company - History. 3. Fur
trade - British Columbia - Pacific Coast - History. 4. Fur trade — United States -
Pacific Coast - History. 5. Northwest Coast of North America. I. Title.
FC32O7-M32 1996 97i.i'i'o2 096-910486-3
Fio6o.8.M32 1996
Financially assisted by the Province of British Columbia through the British
Columbia Heritage Trust.
UBC Press gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support to its publishing program
from the Canada Council, the Province of British Columbia Cultural Services Branch,
and the Department of Communications of the Government of Canada.
UBC Press
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To Cathy, Juliet, and Raphael
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Contents
Figures, Maps, and Tables I viii
Acknowledgments I xi
Introduction I xv
CHAPTER i The North West Passage by Land / 3
2 Managing a New Region / 35
3 George Simpson and a New Pacific Commerce / 44
4 Nature Here Demands Attention / 69
5 From Fort Vancouver to the Vermilion Sea / 95
6 The North West Coast / 123
7 New Markets for New Exports / 151
8 Columbia Country Produce / 184
9 Beyond the Mere Traffic in Peltries / 218
10 Crisis in the Fur Trade / 244
11 Simpson's Reorganization / 257
12 The Native Foundation of Trade and Labour / 283
Conclusion I 311
Notes I 325
Bibliography I 379
Index I 399
Figures, Maps, and Tables
FIGURE i Henry Warre, Hauling up a Rapid,
Les Dalles des Morts, 1845 / 27
2 Henry Warre, Fort Colvile in August 1844 I 53
3 Henry Warre, Going through Rapids I 62
4 Henry Warre, Ascending the Rocky Mountains,
1846 / 63
5 Henry Warre, Mount Hood from Les Dalles, 1845 / 84
6 Mervyn Vavasour, Plan of Fort Vancouver, 1845 / 9^
7 Henry Warre, Sandstone and Basaltic Rocks on the
Snake River I 106
8 Alfred Miller, The Rendezvous near Green River ...
Final Destination of the American Fur Company
Caravan, 1837 / 109
9 'North West Coast of America from Lat. 52° to
Lat. 57°3o',' showing islands and capes / 128
10 Fort Simpson. I 130
11 Plan of Fort Vancouver, circa 1846 / 152
12 Fran9ois Edmund, lies Hawaii, Honorourou capitate
de'Oauahou Vu de Mouillage, 1839 / 158
13 The Sea Town and Port Yerba Buena in St. Francisco Bay
in California, circa 1842 / 177
14 The Russian American Company Headquarters at Sitka,
nineteenth century / 182
15 Paul Kane, A View of Fort Vancouver, Looking South,
1846 or 1847 / I^7
16 Edward Belcher, Canoe, Columbia River, 1839 / 190
17 Henry Warre, Salmon Net Fishing, Head of the Cascades
on the Columbia River, 25 August 1845 / I9I
Figures, Maps, and Tables be
18 Edward Mallandaine, Interior of Fort Langley Yard
Looking South Showing 'The Hall,' 15 December 1858 / 229
19 Paul Kane, Crossing the Straits of Juan de Fuca,
1847 / 26°
20 'Columbia River, by Thomas Sinclair in 1831.
Cape Disappointment in Lat. 46.17.30 N.
Longitude 123.53.00 W.' / 264
21 Henry Warre, Cape Disappointment at the Mouth of the
Columbia River, 1845 / 272
22 Henry Warre, Fort Victoria, 27 September 1845 / 27^
23 Henry Warre, The Bay of Fort Victoria,
27 September 1845 / 279
24 Henry Warre, H.B.Cos. Settlement & Fort Victoria on
Vancouver^ Island, Straits Juan de Fuca, 1845 / 280
25 Paul Kane, Fort Victoria and an Indian Village, 1847 / 288
26 William McMurtrie, Indian Graves, Victoria, c. 1853 / 310
MAP i Hudson's Bay Company districts, 1830
(after Arrowsmith) / xvi
2 Principal English place names of the
Columbia Department / xix
3 Major explorations, 1778-1812 / 6
4 The Columbia Department of the North West
Company, 1821 / 19
5 The North West Company's Columbia District
(redrawn from Alexander Ross map, 1821) / 25
6 Physiographic regions of western North America / 71
7 Climatic regions of western North America / 72