Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 20.pdf/270

254 asking him for information which might be secured from the North West Company. The inquiry went to William McGillivray, but his brother Simon happened to be in Canada, having just arrived from England (see letter below, dated New York, November 15, 1817,) and together the Nor'westers made their answer. A copy (checked against the dateless original) with a subsequent note from Simon McGilivray, dated March 23rd, 1822, is used.

The explanatory note is given first, then the report of 1815:

"The Statement of which the following is a Copy was drawn up at Montreal in 1815, at the request of Sir Gordon Drummond, who had been applied to by the British Chargé d'Affaires at Washington for information on the subject of the settlement at the Colubia River for t seems that even at that early period the American Government took a very different view of the case from that which has been expressed by Lord Bathurst and from the ulterior measures of Government it is evident that they (the Americans) have carried their point as far as the restitution of Fort George.

"The opinion given by Lord Bathurst and by Mr. Gouldburn after the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent are perfectly in my recollection, but it is of little use now to refer to them further than to show how the American Government succeeds in establishing points and obtaining concessions.

(Signed) Simon McGillivray."

London, 23rd March, 1822."

"Statement relative to the Columbia River and adjoining Territory on the Western Coast of the Continent of North America. [1815]

"The claim of Great Britain to the Sovereignty of a considerable part of the Northwest Coast of America was orig-