Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/112

 100 LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE ties until the time of the negotiations for the treaty of Ghent. Once, in 1812, Samuel L. Mitchell, a Congressman from New York, in addressing the House upon the Naval Establishment, referred to the commercial activity of his countrymen : "Their activity," he said, "has really wrought wonders. While some are exploring the high latitudes of the Southern continent . . . . a fourth plants the seed of empire on the banks of the Northwestern Columbia.'^ This reference to John Jacob As- tor's unprofitable venture of 1811 brings us to another link in the chain of evidence which later statesmen used to demonstrate the claims of the United States to the disputed territory. Astor's attempt was a more pretentious scheme to capture some of the lucrative trade in furs than those which were un- dertaken by men financially less able to bear the burden of large outlay with little immediate return. The Missouri Fur Company, formed by a group of traders in 1808, was obliged to suspend its operations in 1810, the same year in which the Pacific Fur Company (Astor's company) was organized. The Pacific Fur Company was financially stronger than its only rival, the North- West Company of Montreal, from which op- position was anticipated, and the latter tendered to Astor a third interest in the Canadian company to secure his coopera- tion, an offer promptly rejected. The planting of a factory at the mouth of the Columbia River was carefully planned and adequate equipment made it possible for trading operations to be undertaken from the headquarters at Astoria in the summer of 1811. Operations had scarcely begun and not enough business had been done to cover the expense of inaugurating the enterprise when the War of 1812 broke out, and) as an incident in that contest the American company's possessions were transferred to the North- West Company so that Astoria, renamed Fort George, came under British control. Except for the form of the transfer it would be unnecessary in this preliminary sketch to pursue the point further, but the method raised an 9~Ibid, isth Cong, ist Ses., Pt I, 868.