Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/189



THE CEXTKNNIAL HISTORY OF ORRfiOX lO'.l

This loss w:is not cluii'gi'iiljle to the coiupetiiig; comitiiny, l)ut to the «;ii' fur wliirli the foiiipaiiy was not responsible. The canny Seotehnien ol' the Xorthwcst ( nin- pan\ inadr a pnillt of ahout sixty thousand dollars on the pui'diase besides get- ting rid ('if a roiiipcl iior ; and it ran be easily imagined Imw they cracked theii' dry jokes in every i)ost Irom Astciria to Montreal as they (piatt'ed the real old Scotch whiskey and I'elatt'd Imw Ihcy got in ahead of the Hi'itish jirivatccr and beat him out of a snug fortune. The British privateer, Raccoon, entered I be ( 'o- lumbia ri\<r on the 29th of November, forty-three days after the sale to the Scotchmen, but found not a rag of American property to seize, but contented himself by running up the British flag over Port Astoria.

When the American flag was hauled down at Astoria on December 12, 1iSl:i. the name of the place was changed to Fort George, and John McDonald, a senioi- pai'tner in the Northwest Company, and who came in on the British privateer as a passenger, was made governor of the post. He also at the same time as- sumed general control of the affairs of the Northwest Company west of the Rocky ninnntaius. Governor JMcDonald did not approve of the location at Fort George, anil after making a survey of the river on both sides, decided to build a fort on Tongue Point above Astoria, and immediately commenced work thereon, Gov- ernor McDonald declaring that this Tongue Point should be made the Gibraltar of the Pacific coast — a pointer which the Astorians of 1912 should keep in mind. The governor proposed a great many other reforms in matters on the Columbia river a hundred years ago ; but not being approved by his company he returned to Canada in the Spring of 1814. ' The whole country west of the Rocky moun- tains from the California line up to Alaska was now, so far as the fur trade was concerned, under the control of the Northwest Company of Canada, and so re- mained until it was amalgamated with the Hudson's Bay Company on March 26, 1821. At that date an agreement of partnership w'as entered into between these rival British companies whereby they should share equally the profits of the fur trade in Oregon for tweut3--one yeai-s, beginning with the combined capitals and outfits of both companies then in hand in 1821. Each company was to furnish an additional equal amount of capital, and profits were to be divided eciually. Upon this basis each company contributed one million dollars to the capital stock ; and all profits over ten per cent, annual dividends on the stock were to be added to the capital until it should amount to two and a half million dollars. This capital was divided into one hundred shares, forty of which were held by the chief factors and traders, and the balance by shareholders in Canada and England. This com- bination being consummated, the king of England by royal patent, dated Decem- ber 21, 1821, granted to the united companies exclusive trade with the Indians of North America according to the provisions of the Act of Parliament of July 2, 1821, which provides for and authorized this monopoly. And in addition to this monopoly of trade, the agents of the compan.y were commissioned as justices of the peace, with the jurisdiction of the courts of upper Canada extended from the head of Lake Superior to the Pacific ocean ; and whereby everj' British sub- ject west of the Rocky mountains was guaranteed the protection of the Britisli laws. As the boundary line between the United States and Great Britain had not then been settled, the British officers under the above Parliamentary grant claimed the rights to rule the country from the California line clear up to Alaska. And under this law and authority Dr.- John McLoughlin came to Oregon in 1824