Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/167

 phase of its vast business was neglected. No element of success, no matter how small or questionable, was forgotten. There was a local governor residing in America with headquarters at York factory, with jurisdiction over all the establishments of the company, together with sixteen chief factors, twenty-nine chief traders, five surgeons, eighty-seven clerks, sixty-seven postmasters, five hundred voyageurs, besides sailors on sea-going vessels, and over two thousand common servants engaged in trapping, mechanic arts, and farming. And besides this army of skilled white men, all armed for war, if war was necessary, was the vast population of native Indians who were at all times subservient to the company, furnished nearly the whole of its business in the furs caught and traded for goods. No exact amount can of course be given of its wide extended business, reaching from Hudson bay to the Pacific ocean, but an accounting by the company to its stockholders for four years commencing with 1834 and ending 1838 is interesting, as showing the vast business, done as follows:

Making a grand total of twenty-three million, four hundred and eighteen thousand, one hundred and nine animals destroyed in four years. If we multiply those figures by ten, we get an approximate estimate of the total destruction of animal life by this great company in the forty years of its hey-day of prosperity. Think of the great natural wealth of a region that could stand the destruction of two hundred and thirty millions of wild creatures by a single fur company in forty years.

As may be readily seen, the power and influence of this company over the condition and future relations of the country it ruled over was absolute and invincible. It was operated for profits solely. The young men were encouraged to take wives from among native women for no other purpose than to give them power and influence with the Indians, to get their furs and prevent anybody else from getting them. Alcoholic liquors were used to a certain extent, and by some factors more than others. Chief Factor, Dr. McLoughlin of the Oregon department has a record of great care and prudence not only in handling the natives, but in not