1821-1871.
The Company still King in the North-West -- Its Forts Described
-- Fort Garry -- Fort Vancouver -- Franklin -- Walla Walla --
Yukon -- Kamloops -- Samuel Black -- Mountain House -- Fort
Pitt -- Policy of the Great Company.
The Company, in yielding the sovereignty of the Great North-West to
Canada, was still a king, though crown and sceptre had been taken from
it. Its commercial ascendancy was no whit injured; it is still one of
the greatest corporations and the greatest fur company in the world.
But new interests have arisen; its pristine pride, splendour and
dignity, would now be out of place. The old lion has been shorn of its
mane, and his roar is now no longer heard in the Great North-West. It
no longer crouches in the path of progress determined to sell dearly
the smallest sacrifice of its ancient rights and privileges; it is
ready to co-operate with the settler and explorer, and all its whilom
enemies.
[Sidenote: Canada's debt to the Company.]
Yet, since 1871, its history has not been without many stirring
passages. Its long record of steady work, enterprise, and endurance,
has never been greater. Its commanding influence with the Indians, and
with a large number of the colonists, has enabled it to assist the
authorities in many ways and often in forwarding the public interests,
suppressing disorder and securing the good-will of the Red men who
inhabit Canada. The Great Dominion owes much to the Great Company.
The posts of the Company reach from the stern coasts of Labrador to
the frontiers of Alaska, and throughout this enormous region it yet
controls the traffic with the aborigines. To-day there are one hundred
and twenty-six posts at which this active trade is conducted, besides
those numerous wintering stations or outposts, which migrate according
to circumstances and mercantile conditions.
[Illustration: YORK FACTORY. ARRIVAL OF HUDSON'S BAY CO.'S SHIP.
(_By permission, from "Picturesque Canada."_)]
[Sidenote: Latter-day forts of the Company.]
The forts of the Company in Rupert's Land and on the Pacific, with few
exceptions, all resembled each other. When permanent, they were
surrounded by palisades about one hundred yards square. The pickets
were of poles and logs ten or fifteen inches in diameter, sunk into
the ground and rising fifteen or twenty feet above it. Split slabs
were sometimes used instead of round poles; and at two diagonally
opposite corners, raised above the tops of the pickets, two wooden
bastions were placed so as to command a view of the country. From two
to six guns were mounted in each of these bastions--four six or
twelve-pounders, each with its aperture like the port-hole of a ship.
The ground floor beneath served as a magazine. Within the pickets were
erected houses, according to necessity, store and dwelling being most
conspicuous.
[Illustration: FORT PELLY.]
The older forts have already been described. When Fort Garry was
constructed it became the Company's chief post and headquarters. High
stone walls, having round towers pierced for cannon at the corners,
enclosed a square wherein were substantial wooden buildings,
including the storehouses, dwellings, the Governor's residence and the
gaol. Some distance below Fort Garry, on Red River, was Stone Fort,
which comprised about four acres, with numerous buildings.
The chief establishment of the Saskatchewan district was Fort
Edmonton. It was of sexagonal form, with pickets, battlemented
gateways and bastions. Here were the usual buildings, including the
carpenter's shop, blacksmith's forge and windmill. At Fort Edmonton
were made and repaired, boats, carts, sleighs, harness and other
articles and appliances for the annual voyage to York Factory, and for
traffic between posts. There was also here a large and successful
farm, where wheat, barley and vegetables were raised in abundance.
How different was Fort Franklin, a rough, pine-log hut on the shore of
Great Bear Lake, containing a single apartment eighteen by twenty
feet! It was roofed with sticks and moss, and the interstices between
the logs were filled with mud.
[Sidenote: Fort Vancouver.]
In 1825 was built Fort Vancouver, the metropolitan establishment of
the Company on the Pacific. It stood on the north side of the Columbia
River, six miles above the eastern mouth of the Willamette. At first
located at the highest point of some sloping land, about a mile from
the river, this site was found disadvantageous to transport and
communication, and the fort was moved a few years later to within a
quarter of a mile of the Columbia. The plan presented the familiar
parallelogram, but much larger than usual, of about seven hundred and
fifty feet in length and five hundred in breadth. The interior was
divided into two courts, with about forty buildings, all of wood,
except the powder magazine, which was of stone. In the centre, facing
the main entrance, stood the Governor's residence, with the
dining-room, smoking-room, and public sitting-room or bachelors' hall,
the latter serving also for a museum of Indian relics and other
curiosities. Single men, clerks and others, made the bachelors' hall
their place of resort, but artisans and servants were not admitted.
The residence was the only two-storey house in the fort, and before
its door were mounted two old eighteen-pounders. Two swivel guns
stood before the quarters of the chief factor. A prominent position
was occupied by the Roman Catholic chapel, to which the majority of
the fort's inmates resorted, the dining-hall serving for the smaller
number of Church of England worshippers. The other buildings were
dwellings for officers and men, school and warehouses, retail stores
and artisan shops. The interior of the dwellings exhibited, as a rule,
an unpainted pine-board panel, with bunks for bedsteads, and a few
other simple pieces of furniture.
[Illustration: FORT SIMPSON.]
Another post on the Pacific, of different character and greater
strength, was Fort Walla Walla. It stood on the site of Fort Nez
Percé, which was established when the Indians attacked Ogden's party
of fur-traders here in 1818. The assault was repelled; but it was
found necessary as a safeguard to rear this retreat. Fort Walla Walla
was built of adobe and had a military establishment.
A strong fort was Fort Rupert, on the north-east coast of Vancouver
Island. For a stockade, huge pine trees were sunk into the ground and
fastened together on the inside with beams. Round the interior ran a
gallery, and at two opposite corners were flanking bastions mounting
four nine-pounders. Within were the usual shops and buildings, while
smaller stockades protected the garden and out-houses.
Fort Yukon was the most remote post of the Company. It was beyond the
line of Russian America, and consequently invited comparison with the
smaller and meaner Russian establishments. Its commodious dwellings
for officers and men had smooth floors, open fire-places, glazed
windows, and plastered walls. Its gun room, fur press, ice and meat
wells were the delight and astonishment of visitors, white and red.
[Illustration: YORK FACTORY.]
After the treaty of 1846, by which the United States obtained
possession of Oregon territory, the headquarters of the Company on the
Pacific Coast were transferred from Fort Vancouver to Fort Victoria.
This post was enclosed one hundred yards square by cedar pickets
twenty feet high. At the north-east and south-west corners were
octagonal bastions mounted with six six-pounders. It had been founded
three years earlier as a trading post and depot for whalers, and
possessed more than three hundred acres under cultivation, besides a
large dairy farm, from which the Russian colonies in Alaska received
supplies.
Old Fort Kamloops was first called Fort Thompson, having been begun by
David Thompson, astronomer of the North-West Company, on his overland
journey from Montreal to Astoria, by way of Yellowhead Pass, in 1810.
It was the capital of the Thompson River district, and one of the
oldest in all the Oregon region. After Thompson, hither came Alexander
Ross, who, in 1812, conducted operations there on behalf of Astor's
Pacific Fur Company. After the coalition in 1821, the veteran
fur-trader, John McLeod, was in charge of the Thompson River district.
Then came Ermatinger, who presided at Kamloops in 1828, when Governor
Simpson visited the fort and harangued the neighbouring Indians,
beseeching them to be "honest, temperate and frugal; to love their
friends, the fur-traders, and above all to bring in their heaps of
peltries, and receive therefor the goods of the Company."
[Sidenote: Legend of Kamloops.]
The post was not without thrilling legends and abundance of romance.
It was here that the Company's officer in command, Samuel Black, in
1840, challenged his brother Scot, and guest, David Douglas, the
wandering botanist, to fight a duel, because the latter bluntly, one
night, over his rum and dried salmon, had stigmatized the Honourable
Adventurers as "not possessing a soul above a beaver skin." Black
repelled in fury such an assertion; but Douglas refused to fight. He
took his departure, only to meet his death shortly afterwards by
falling into a pit at Hawaii, while homeward bound.
If this was the fate of the calumniator of the Company, that of its
defender was not less tragic; for soon after his display of loyalty,
while residing at Fort Kamloops, he was assassinated by the nephew of
a friendly neighbouring chief, named Wanquille, "for having charmed
his uncle's life away." Black's successor, John Tod, built a new fort
on the opposite side of the river, which differed but little from the
later fortresses of the Company. There were seven houses, including
stores, dwellings and shops, enclosed in palisades fifteen feet in
height, with gates on two sides and bastions at two opposite angles.
Early in 1848 a small post was erected by the Company on the Fraser
River, near a village of the Lachincos, adjacent to the rapids
ascended by Alexander Anderson the previous year. The fort was called
Yale, in honour of Chief Factor Yale, who was at that time in charge
of Fort Langley. It was the only post on that wild stream, the Fraser,
between Langley and Alexandria, a distance of some three hundred
miles. Two causes led to its erection: the Waiilatpu massacre in 1847,
and the conclusion of the Oregon Treaty of 1846, which placed the
boundary line several degrees north of the Lower Columbia.
[Illustration: FATHER LACOMBE.]
[Sidenote: Mountain House.]
Perhaps one of the most remarkable of the Company's posts was Mountain
House. "Every precaution known to the traders," writes a visitor of
thirty years ago, "has been put in force to prevent the possibility of
a surprise during 'a trade.' Bars and bolts, and places to fire down
at the Indians who are trading, abound in every direction; so dreaded
is the name borne by the Blackfeet, that it is thus their trading-post
has been constructed." Eighty years ago, the Company had a post far
south of the Bow River, in the very heart of the Blackfeet country;
but, despite all precautions, it was frequently plundered and finally
burnt down by the Blackfeet, and no attempt was since made to
construct another fort in their country.
The hilly country around Fort Pitt was frequently the scene of Indian
ambush and attack, and on more than one occasion the post itself has
been captured by the Blackfeet. The surroundings are a favourite
camping-ground of the Crees; and it was found difficult to persuade
the Blackfeet that the factors and traders there are not the active
friends and allies of their enemies. In fact, they regarded both Fort
Pitt and Fort Carlton as places belonging to another company from that
which ruled at Mountain House and Edmonton. "If it was the same
company," they were wont to say, "how could they give our enemies, the
Crees, guns and powder; for do they not give us guns and powder, too?"
The strength of the Company throughout the vast region where their
rule was paramount, was rather a moral strength than a physical one.
Its roots lay deep in the heart of the savage, who in time came to
regard the great corporation as the embodiment of all that was good,
and great, and true, and powerful. He knew that under its sway justice
was secured to him; that if innocent he would be unharmed, that if
guilty he would inevitably pay the penalty of his transgression. The
prairie was wide, the forests were trackless, but in all those
thousands of miles there came to be no haven for the horse-thief, the
incendiary or the murderer, where he would be free, in his beleaguered
fastness, to elude or defy Nemesis. The Company made it its business
to find and punish the real offender; they did not avenge themselves
on his friends or tribe. But punishment was certain--blood was paid
for in blood, and there was no trial. Often did an intrepid factor,
trader or clerk, enter a hostile camp, himself destitute of followers,
walk up to the trembling malefactor, raise his gun or pistol, take
aim, fire, and seeing his man fall, stalk away again to the nearest
fort.
"This certainty of punishment," it was said, "acted upon the savage
mind with all the power of a superstition. Felons trembled before the
white man's justice, as in the presence of the Almighty."
That sense of injustice which rankled in the bosoms of the other
Indians of the Continent, causing them to continually break out and
give battle to their tormentors and oppressors--a warfare which, in
1870, had cost the United States more than five hundred million of
dollars, could not exist. The Red men, as Red men, could have no
well-founded grievance against the Company, which treated white and
red with equity.
[Sidenote: The Great Company's Policy.]
"I have no hesitation in attributing the great success attendant for
so many years upon the Indian policy of the Hudson's Bay Company,"
wrote an American Commissioner, Lieutenant Scott, in 1867, "to the
following facts:--
"The savages are treated justly--receiving protection in life and
property from the laws which they are forced to obey.
"There is no Indian Bureau with attendant complications.
"There is no pretended recognition of the Indian's title in fee-simple
to the lands on which he roams for fish or game.
"Intoxicating liquors were not introduced amongst these people so long
as the Hudson's Bay Company preserved the monopoly of trade.
"Prompt punishment follows the perpetration of crime, and from time to
time the presence of a gunboat serves to remind the savages along the
coast of the power of their masters. Not more than two years ago the
Fort Rupert Indians were severely punished for refusing to deliver up
certain animals demanded by the civil magistrate. Their village was
bombarded and completely destroyed by Her Britannic Majesty's gunboat
_Clio_."
What was the direct consequence of such a policy? That among distant
and powerful tribes trading posts were built and maintained, well
stocked with goods tempting to savage cupidity, yet peacefully
conducted by one or two white men. There was not a regular soldier in
all this territory (except the marines on shipboard and at Esquimault)
and yet white men could hunt through the length and breadth of the
land in almost absolute security.
[Illustration: GATEWAY TO FORT GARRY.
(_Drawn by Edmund Morris, from a Photo taken in 1877._)]
Search all Europe and Asia, and you will find no parallel to the
present sway of the Company, for it feeds and clothes, amuses and
instructs, as well as rules nine-tenths of its subjects, from the
Esquimaux tribes of Ungava to the Loucheaux at Fort Simpson,
thousands of miles away--all look to it as to a father.
The communication with the outside world is slight, yet the thread
that binds is encrusted with hoar frost, reaching far away to that
little island in the North Sea which we call Britain. If these strong
men, immured for years in the icy wildernesses are moved by the news
which reaches them twice in the year, through a thousand miles and
more of snow, it is British news. Kitchener's victory at Khartoum sent
a patriotic thrill through thousands of bosoms six months after it
became known to the Englishman who is content to live at home.
THE HUDSON'S BAY POSTS.
In their Report of 28th June, 1872, the Governor and Committee report
the details of the varied posts from Ocean to Ocean of the Hudson's
Bay Company, as follows:--
_Statement of Land belonging to the HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY,
exclusive of their claim to one-twentieth of the Land set out
for settlement in the "Fertile Belt."_
========================+====+==========================+=======
| | | Acres
DISTRICT. | | POST. | of
| | | Land
------------------------+----+--------------------------+-------
Lake Huron | 1 | La Cloche | 6,400
Temiscaminque | 2 | Kakababeagino | 10
Superior | 3 | Long Lake | 10
United States | 4 | Georgetown | 1,133
| | |
Manitoba, or } | 5 | Fort Garry | 500
Red River Settlement } | 6 | Lower Fort | 500
| 7 | White Horse Plains | 500
Manitoba Lake | 8 | Oak Point | 50
Portage la Prairie | 9 | | 1,000
| | |
Lac la Pluie | 10 | Fort Alexander | 500
| 11 | Fort Frances | 500
| 12 | Eagles Nest | 20
| 13 | Big Island | 20
| 14 | Lac du Bennet | 20
| 15 | Rat Portage | 50
| 16 | Shoal Lake | 20
| 17 | Lake of the Woods | 50
| 18 | White Fish Lake | 20
| 19 | English River | 20
| 20 | Hungry Hall | 20
| 21 | Trout Lake | 20
| 22 | Clear Water Lake | 20
| 23 | Sandy Point | 20
| | |
Swan River | 24 | Fort Pelly | 3,000
| 25 | Fort Ellice | 3,000
| 26 | Qu'Appelle Lakes | 2,500
| 27 | Touchwood Hills | 500
| 28 | Shoal River | 50
| 29 | Manitoban | 50
| 30 | Fairford | 100
| | |
CUMBERLAND | 31 | Cumberland House | 100
| 32 | Fort la Corne | 3,000
| 33 | Pelican Lake | 50
| 34 | Moose Woods | 1,000
| 35 | The Pas | 25
| 36 | Moose Lake | 50
| 37 | Grand Rapid Portage | 100
| | |50 Acres
| | |at each
| | |end of
| | |Portage
SASKATCHEWAN | 38 | Edmonton House | 3,000
| 39 | Rocky Mountain House | 500
| 40 | Fort Victoria | 3,000
| 41 | St. Paul | 3,000
| 42 | Fort Pitt | 3,000
| 43 | Battle River | 3,000
| 44 | Carlton House | 3,000
| 45 | Fort Albert | 3,000
| 46 | Whitefish Lake | 500
| 47 | Lac la Biche | 1,000
| 48 | Fort Assiniboine | 50
| 49 | Lesser Slave Lake | 500
| 50 | Lac St. Anne | 500
| 51 | Lac la Nun | 500
| 52 | St. Albert | 1,000
| 53 | Pigeon Lake | 100
| 54 | Old White Mud Fort | 50
| | |
ENGLISH RIVER | 55 | Isle à la Crosse | 50
| 56 | Rapid River | 5
| 57 | Portage la Loche | 20
| 58 | Green Lake | 100
| 59 | Cold Lake | 10
| 60 | Deers Lake | 5
| | |
YORK | 61 | York Factory | 100
| 62 | Churchill | 10
| 63 | Severn | 10
| 64 | Trout Lake | 10
| 65 | Oxford | 100
| 66 | Jackson's Bay | 10
| 67 | God's Lake | 10
| 68 | Island Lake | 10
| | |
NORWAY HOUSE | 69 | Norway House | 100
| 70 | Berens River | 25
| 71 | Grand Rapid | 10
| 72 | Nelson's River | 10
| | |
ALBANY | 73 | Albany Factory | 100
| 74 | Martin's Falls | 10
| 75 | Osnaburg | 25
| 76 | Lac Seul | 500
| | |
EAST MAIN | 77 | Little Whale River | 50
| 78 | Great Whale River | 50
| 79 | Fort George | 25
| | |
MOOSE | 80 | Moose Factory | 100
| 81 | Hannah Bay | 10
| 82 | Abitibi | 10
| 83 | New Brunswick | 25
| | |
RUPERT'S RIVER | 84 | Rupert's House | 50
| 85 | Mistassing | 10
| 86 | Temiskamay | 10
| 87 | Woswonaby | 10
| 88 | Meehiskun | 10
| 89 | Pike Lake | 10
| 90 | Nitchequon | 10
| 91 | Kamapiscan | 10
| | |
KINOGUMISSEE | 92 | Matawagauinque | 50
| 93 | Kuckatoosh | 10
| | |
LABRADOR | 94 | Fort Nascopie | 75
| 95 | Outposts do | 25
| 96 | Fort Chimo (Ungava) | 100
| 97 | South River, Outposts | 30
| 98 | George's River | 50
| 99 | Whale River | 50
|100 | North's River | 25
|101 | False River | 25
| | |
ATHABASCA |102 | Fort Chippewyan | 10
|103 | Fort Vermilion | 500
|104 | Fort Dunvegan | 50
|105 | Fort St. John's | 20
|106 | Forks of Athabasca River | 10
|107 | Battle River | 5
|108 | Fond du Lac | 5
|109 | Salt River | 5
| | |
MCKENZIE RIVER |110 | Fort Simpson | 100
|111 | Fort Liard | 300
|112 | Fort Nelson | 200
|113 | The Rapids | 100
|114 | Hay River | 20
|115 | Fort Resolution | 20
|116 | Fort Rae | 10
|117 | Fond du Lac | 10
|118 | Fort Norman | 10
|119 | Fort Good Hope | 10
|120 | Peel's River | 10
|121 | Lapierre's House | 10
|122 | Fort Halkett | 100
------------------------+----+--------------------------+------
WESTERN DEPARTMENT.
===============+========================================+======
| | Acres
DISTRICT. | POST. | of
| | Land
---------------+----+-----------------------------------+------
VANCOUVER'S | 123| Victoria, including Town Lots, |
ISLAND | | about | 70
| 124| Esquimault (Puget's Sound |
| | Company's Land) | 2,300
| 125| Uplands Farm | 1,125
| 126| North Dairy Farm | 460
| | |
BRITISH | 127| Fort Alexander | 100
COLUMBIA | 128| Fort George | 100
| 129| Fraser's Lake | 100
| 130| Stuart's Lake | 100
| 131| McLeod's Lake | 100
| 132| Connolly's Lake | 100
| 133| Babine | 100
| 134| Chilcotin | 100
| | Five other places | 100
| 135| Fort Dallas | 50
| 136| Fort Berens | 50
| 137| Fort Shepherd | 100
| 138| Fort Simpson | 100
| 139| Salmon River | 50
| 140| Langley and Langley Farm | 2,220
| 141| Yale, sundry small blocks |
| 142| Hope | 5
| 143| Kamloops | 1,976
| 144| Similkameen | 1,140
| | Barkerville } | Town
| | Quesnel } | Lots.
---------------+----+-----------------------------------+-------
APPENDIX.
THE CHARTER INCORPORATING THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
_Granted by His Majesty King Charles the Second, in the 22nd Year of
his Reign, A.D. 1670._
CHARLES THE SECOND, by the grace of God, King of England,
Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c.
To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting:
Whereas our dear entirely beloved Cousin, Prince Rupert, Count
Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria and Cumberland, &c.;
Christopher Duke of Albemarle, William Earl of Craven, Henry Lord
Arlington, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sir John Robinson, and Sir Robert
Vyner, Knights and Baronets; Sir Peter Colleton, Baronet; Sir Edward
Hungerford, Knight of the Bath; Sir Paul Neele, Knight; Sir John
Griffith and Sir Philip Carteret, Knights; James Hayes, John Kirk,
Francis Millington, William Prettyman, John Fenn, Esquires; and John
Portman, Citizen and Goldsmith of London; have, at their own great
cost, and charges, undertaken an expedition for Hudson's Bay in the
north-west part of America, for the discovery of a new passage into
the South Sea, and for the finding some trade for furs, minerals, and
other considerable commodities, and by such their undertaking have
already made such discoveries as to encourage them to proceed further
in pursuance of their said design, by means whereof there may probably
arise very great advantages to us and our kingdom.
And whereas the said undertakers, for their further encouragement in
the said design, have humbly besought us to incorporate them, and
grant unto them and their successors the sole trade and commerce of
all those seas, straits, bays, rivers, lakes, creeks and sounds, in
whatsoever latitude they shall be, that lie within the entrance of the
straits commonly called the Hudson's Straits, together with all the
lands, countries and territories upon the coasts and confines of the
seas, straits, bays, lakes, rivers, creeks and sounds aforesaid, which
are not now actually possessed by any of our subjects, or by the
subjects of any other Christian Prince or State.
Now know ye, that we, being desirous to promote all endeavours tending
to the public good of our people, and to encourage the said
undertaking, have, of our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere
motion, given, granted, ratified and confirmed, and by these presents,
for us, our heirs and successors, do give, grant, ratify and confirm,
unto our said Cousin, Prince Rupert, Christopher Duke of Albemarle,
William Earl of Craven, Henry Lord Arlington, Anthony Lord Ashley,
Sir John Robinson, Sir Robert Vyner, Sir Peter Colleton, Sir Edward
Hungerford, Sir Paul Neele, Sir John Griffith and Sir Philip Carteret,
James Hayes, John Kirk, Francis Millington, William Prettyman, John
Fenn and John Portman, that they, and such others as shall be admitted
into the said society as is hereafter expressed, shall be one body
corporate and politic, in deed and in name, by the name of "The
Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's
Bay," and them by the name of "The Governor and Company of Adventurers
of England trading into Hudson's Bay," one body corporate and politic,
in deed and in name, really and fully forever, for us, our heirs and
successors, we do make, ordain, constitute, establish, confirm and
declare by these presents, and that by the same name of Governor and
Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay, they
shall have perpetual succession, and that they and their successors,
by the name of The Governor and Company of Adventures trading into
Hudson's Bay, be, and at all times hereafter shall be personable and
capable in law to have, purchase, receive, possess, enjoy and retain
lands, rents, privileges, liberties, jurisdictions, franchises and
hereditaments, of what kind, nature or quality so ever they be, to
them and their successors; and also to give, grant, demise, alien,
assign and dispose lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and to do and
execute all and singular other things by the same name that to them
shall or may appertain to do; and that they and their successors, by
the name of The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading
into Hudson's Bay, may plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered,
defend and be defended, in whatsoever courts and places, before
whatsoever judges and justices and other persons and officers, in all
and singular actions, pleas, suits, quarrels, causes and demands
whatsoever, of whatsoever kind, nature or sort, in such manner and
form as any other our liege people of this our realm of England, being
persons able and capable in law, may or can have, purchase, receive,
possess, enjoy, retain, give, grant, demise, alien, assign, dispose,
plead, defend and be defended, do, permit and execute: and that the
said Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into
Hudson's Bay, and their successors, may have a common seal to serve
for all the causes and businesses of them and their successors, and
that it shall and may be lawful to the said Governor and Company, and
their successors, the same seal, from time to time, at their will and
pleasure, to break, change, and to make anew or alter, as to them
shall seem expedient.
And further we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and
successors, we do ordain that there shall be from henceforth one of
the same company to be elected and appointed in such form as hereafter
in these presents is expressed, which shall be called the Governor of
the said Company; and that the said Governor and Company shall or may
select seven of their number, and in such form as hereafter in these
presents is expressed, which shall be called the Committee of the
said Company, which Committee of seven, or any three of them, together
with the Governor or Deputy Governor of the said Company for the time
being shall have the direction of the voyages of and for the said
Company, and the provision of the shipping and merchandises thereunto
belonging, and also the sale of all merchandises, goods and other
things returned, in all or any the voyages or ships of or for the said
Company, and the managing and handling of all other business, affairs
and things belonging to the said Company: And we will, ordain and
grant by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, unto the
said Governor and Company, and their successors, that they, the said
Governor and Company, and their successors, shall from henceforth for
ever be ruled, ordered and governed according to such manner and form
as is hereafter in these presents expressed, and not otherwise; and
that they shall have, hold, retain and enjoy the grants, liberties,
privileges, jurisdictions and immunities only hereafter in these
presents granted and expressed, and no other: And for the better
execution of our will and grant in this behalf we have assigned,
nominated, constituted and made, and by these presents, for us, our
heirs and successors, we do assign, constitute and make our said
Cousin Prince Rupert, to be the first and present Governor of the said
Company, and to continue in the said office from the date of these
presents until the 10th November then next following, if he, the said
Prince Rupert, shall so long live, and so until a new Governor be
chosen by the said Company in form hereafter expressed: And also we
have assigned, nominated and appointed, and by these presents, for us,
our heirs and successors, we do assign, nominate and constitute the
said Sir John Robinson, Sir John Vyner, Sir Peter Colleton, James
Hayes, John Kirk, Francis Millington and John Portman to be the seven
first and present Committee of the said Company, from the date of
these presents until the said 10th day of November then also next
following, and so on until new Committees shall be chosen in form
hereafter expressed: And further we will and grant by these presents,
for us, our heirs and successors, unto the said Governor and Company,
and their successors, that it shall and may be lawful to and for the
said Governor and Company for the time being, or the greater part of
them present at any public assembly, commonly called the Court
General, to be holden for the said Company, the Governor of the said
Company being always one, from time to time elect, nominate and
appoint one of the said Company to be Deputy to the said Governor,
which Deputy shall take a corporal oath, before the Governor and three
or more of the Committee of the said Company for the time being, well,
truly and faithfully to execute his said office of Deputy to the
Governor of the said Company, and after his oath so taken, shall and
may from time to time, in the absence of the said Governor, exercise
and execute the office of Governor of the said Company, in such sort
as the said Governor ought to do: And further we will and grant by
these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, unto the said
Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's
Bay, and their successors, that they, or the greater part of them,
whereof the Governor for the time being or his Deputy to be one, from
time to time, and at all times hereafter, shall and may have authority
and power, yearly and every year, between the first and last day of
November, to assemble and meet together in some convenient place, to
be appointed from time to time by the Governor, or in his absence by
the Deputy of the said Governor for the time being, and that they
being so assembled, it shall and may be lawful to and for the said
Governor or Deputy of the said Governor, and the said Company for the
time being, or the greater part of them which then shall happen to be
present, whereof the Governor of the said Company or his Deputy for
the time being to be one, to elect and nominate one of the said
Company, which shall be Governor of the said Company for one whole
year then next following, which person being so elected and nominated
to be Governor of the said Company, as is aforesaid, before he be
admitted to the execution of the said office, shall take a corporal
oath before the last Governor, being his predecessor, or his Deputy,
and any three or more of the Committee of the said Company for the
time being, that he shall from time to time well and truly execute the
office of Governor of the said Company in all things concerning the
same; and that immediately after the said oath so taken he shall and
may execute and use the said office of Governor of the said Company
for one whole year from thence next following: And in like sort we
will and grant that as well every one of the above-named to be of the
said Company of fellowship, as all others hereafter to be admitted or
free of the said Company, shall take a corporal oath before the
Governor of the said Company or his Deputy for the time being to such
effect as by the said Governor and Company or the greater part of them
in any public Court to be held for the said Company, shall be in
reasonable and legal manner set down and devised, before they shall be
allowed or admitted to trade or traffic as a freeman of the said
Company: And further we will and grant by these presents, for us, our
heirs and successors, unto the said Governor and Company, and their
successors, that the said Governor or Deputy Governor, and the rest of
the said Company, and their successors for the time being, or the
greater part of them, whereof the Governor or Deputy-Governor from
time to time to be one, shall and may from time to time, and at all
times hereafter, have power and authority, yearly and every year,
between the first and last day of November, to assemble and meet
together in some convenient place, from time to time to be appointed
by the said Governor of the said Company, or in his absence by his
Deputy; and that they being so assembled, it shall and may be lawful
to and for the said Governor or his Deputy, and the Company for the
time being, or the greater part of them which then shall happen to be
present, whereof the Governor of the said Company or his Deputy for
the time being to be one, to elect and nominate seven of the said
Company, which shall be a Committee of the said Company for one whole
year from thence next ensuing, which persons being so elected and
nominated to be a Committee of the said Company as aforesaid, before
they be admitted to the execution of their office, shall take a
corporal oath before the Governor or his Deputy, and any three or more
of the said Committee of the said Company, being their last
predecessors, that they and every of them shall well and faithfully
perform their said office of Committees in all things concerning the
same, and that immediately after the said oath so taken, they shall
and may execute and use their said office of Committees of the said
Company for one whole year from thence next following: And moreover,
our will and pleasure is, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and
successors, we do grant under the said Governor and Company, and their
successors, that when and as often as it shall happen, the Governor or
Deputy Governor of the said Company for the time being, at any time
within one year after that he shall be nominated, elected and sworn to
the office of the Governor of the said Company as is aforesaid, to die
or to be removed from the said office, which Governor or Deputy
Governor not demeaning himself well in his said office WE WILL to be
removable at the pleasure of the rest of the said Company, or the
greater part of them which shall be present at their public assemblies
commonly called their General Courts, holden for the said Company,
that then and so often it shall and may be lawful to and for the
residue of the said Company for the time being, or the greater part of
them, within a convenient time after the death or removing of any such
Governor or Deputy Governor, to assemble themselves in such convenient
place as they shall think fit, for the election of the Governor or the
Deputy Governor of the said Company; and that the said Company, or the
greater part of them, being then and there present, shall and may,
then and there, before their departure from the said place, elect and
nominate one other of the said Company to be Governor or Deputy
Governor for the said Company in the place and stead of him that so
died or was removed; which person being so elected and nominated to
the office of Governor or Deputy Governor of the said Company, shall
have and exercise the said office for and during the residue of the
next year, taking first a corporal oath, as is aforesaid, for the due
execution thereof; and this to be done from time to time so often as
the case shall so require: And also our will and pleasure is, and by
these presents for us, our heirs and successors, WE DO GRANT unto the
said Governor and Company, that when and as often as it shall happen
any person or persons of the Committee of the said Company for the
time being, at any time within one year next after they or any of them
shall be nominated, elected and sworn to the office of Committee of
the said Company as is aforesaid, to die or to be removed from the
said office, which Committees not demeaning themselves well in their
said office, we will to be removable at the pleasure of the said
Governor and Company or the greater part of them, whereof the Governor
of the said Company for the time being or his Deputy to be one, that
then and so often, it shall and may be lawful to and for the said
Governor, and the rest of the Company for the time being, or the
greater part of them, whereof the Governor for the time being or his
Deputy to be one, within convenient time after the death or removing
of any of the said Committee, to assemble themselves in such
convenient place as is or shall be usual and accustomed for the
election of the Governor of the said Company, or where else the
Governor of the said Company for the time being or his Deputy shall
appoint: And that the said Governor and Company, or the greater part
of them, whereof the Governor for the time being or his Deputy to be
one, being then and there present, shall and may, then and there,
before their departure from the said place, elect and nominate one or
more of the said Company to be the Committee of the said Company in
the place and stead of him or them that so died, or were or was so
removed, which person or persons so nominated and elected to the
office of Committee of the said Company, shall have and exercise the
said office for and during the residue of the said year, taking first
a corporal oath, as is aforesaid, for the due execution thereof, and
this to be done from time to time, so often as the case shall require:
And to the end the said Governor and Company of Adventurers of
England trading into Hudson's Bay may be encouraged to
undertake and effectually to prosecute the said design, of our
more especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, we have
given, granted and confirmed, and by these presents, for us,
our heirs and successors, DO give, grant and confirm, unto the
said Governor and Company, and their successors, the sole trade
and commerce of all these seas, straits, bays, rivers, lakes,
creeks and sounds, in whatsoever latitude they shall be, that
lie within the entrance of the straits, commonly called
Hudson's Straits, together with all the lands and territories
upon the countries, coasts, and confines of the seas, bays,
lakes, rivers, creeks and sounds aforesaid, that are not
already actually possessed by or granted to any of our
subjects, or possessed by the subjects of any other Christian
Prince or State, with the fishing of all sorts of fish, whales,
sturgeons and all other royal fishes, in the seas, bays, inlets
and rivers within the premises, and the fish therein taken,
together with the royalty of the sea upon the coasts within the
limits aforesaid, and all mines royal, as well discovered as
not discovered, of gold, silver, gems and precious stones, to
be found or discovered within the territories, limits and
places aforesaid, and that the said land be from henceforth
reckoned and reputed as one of our plantations or colonies in
America, called "Rupert's Land."
And further we do, by these presents for us, our heirs and successors,
make, create, and constitute the said Governor and Company for the
time being, and their successors, the true and absolute lords and
proprietors of the same territory, limits and places, and of all
other the premises, saving always the faith, allegiance and sovereign
dominion due to us, our heirs and successors, for the same to have,
hold, possess and enjoy the said territory, limits and places, and all
and singular other the premises hereby granted as aforesaid, with
their and every of their rights, members, jurisdictions, prerogatives,
royalties and appurtenances whatsoever, to them the said Governor and
Company, and their successors for ever, to be holden of us, our heirs
and successors, as of our manor at East Greenwich, in our County of
Kent, in free and common soccage, and not in capite or by Knight's
service, yielding and paying yearly to us, our heirs and successors,
for the same, two elks and two black beavers, whensoever and as often
as we, our heirs and successors, shall happen to enter into the said
countries, territories and regions hereby granted.
And further, our will and pleasure is, and by these presents, for us,
our heirs and successors, we do grant unto the said Governor and
Company, and their successors, that it shall and may be lawful to and
for the said Governor and Company, and their successors, from time to
time, to assemble themselves, for or about any the matters, causes,
affairs, or business of the said trade, in any place or places for the
same convenient, within our dominions or elsewhere, and there to hold
Court for the said Company and the affairs thereof; and that also, it
shall and may be lawful to and for them, and the greater part of them,
being so assembled, and that shall then and there be present, in any
such place or places, whereof the Governor or his Deputy for the time
being to be one, to make, ordain and constitute such and so many
reasonable laws, constitutions, orders and ordinances as to them, or
the greater part of them, being then and there present, shall seem
necessary and convenient for the good government of the said Company,
and of all governors of colonies, forts and plantations, factors,
masters, mariners and other officers employed or to be employed in any
of the territories and lands aforesaid, and in any of their voyages,
and for the better advancement and continuance of the said trade or
traffic and plantations, and the same laws, constitutions, orders and
ordinances so made, to put in use and execute accordingly, and at
their pleasure to revoke and alter the same or any of them, as the
occasion shall require: And that the said Governor and Company, so
often as they shall make, ordain or establish any such laws,
constitutions, orders and ordinances, in such form as aforesaid shall
and may lawfully impose, ordain, limit and provide such pains,
penalties and punishments upon all offenders, contrary to such laws,
constitutions, orders and ordinances, or any of them, as to the said
Governor and Company for the time being, or the greater part of them,
then and there being present, the said Governor or his Deputy being
always one, shall seem necessary, requisite or convenient for the
observation of the same laws, constitutions, orders and ordinances;
and the same fines and amerciaments shall and may, by their officers
and servants from time to time to be appointed for that purpose, levy,
take and have, to the use of the said Governor and Company, and their
successors, without the impediment of us, our heirs or successors, or
any of the officers or ministers of us, our heirs, or successors, and
without any account therefore to us, our heirs or successors, to be
made: All and singular which laws, constitutions, orders, and
ordinances, so as aforesaid to be made, we will to be duly observed
and kept under the pains and penalties therein to be contained; so
always as the said laws, constitutions, orders and ordinances, fines
and amerciaments, be reasonable and not contrary or repugnant, but as
near as may be agreeable to the laws, statutes or customs of this our
realm.
And furthermore, of our ample and abundant grace, certain knowledge
and mere-motion, we have granted, and by these presents, for us, our
heirs and successors, do grant unto the said Governor and Company, and
their successors, that they and their successors, and their factors,
servants and agents, for them and on their behalf, and not otherwise,
shall forever hereafter have, use and enjoy, not only the whole,
entire, and only trade and traffic, and the whole, entire, and only
liberty, use and privilege of trading and trafficking to and from the
territory, limits and places aforesaid, but also the whole and entire
trade and traffic to and from all havens, bays, creeks, rivers, lakes
and seas, into which they shall find entrance or passage by water or
land out of the territories, limits and places aforesaid; and to and
with all the natives and people inhabiting, or which shall inhabit
within the territories, limits and places aforesaid; and to and with
all other nations inhabiting any the coasts adjacent to the said
territories, limits and places which are not already possessed as
aforesaid, or whereof the sole liberty or privilege of trade and
traffic is not granted to any other of our subjects.
And we, of our further Royal favour, and of our more especial grace,
certain knowledge and mere motion, have granted, and by these
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do grant to the said
Governor and Company, and to their successors, that neither the said
territories, limits and places hereby granted as aforesaid, nor any
part thereof, nor the islands, havens, ports, cities, towns, or places
thereof or therein contained, shall be visited, frequented or haunted
by any of the subjects of us, our heirs or successors, contrary to the
true meaning of these presents, and by virtue of our prerogative
royal, which we will not have in that behalf argued or brought into
question: We straightly charge, command and prohibit for us, our heirs
and successors, all the subjects of us, our heirs and successors, of
what degree or quality soever they be, that none of them, directly or
indirectly do visit, haunt, frequent, or trade, traffic, or adventure,
by way of merchandise, into or from any of the said territories,
limits, or places hereby granted, or any or either of them, other than
the said Governor and Company, and such particular persons as now be
or hereafter shall be of that Company, their agents, factors and
assigns, unless it be by the license and agreement of the said
Governor and Company in writing first had and obtained, under their
common seal, to be granted upon pain that every such person or persons
that shall trade or traffic into or from any of the countries,
territories or limits aforesaid, other than the said Governor and
Company, and their successors, shall incur our indignation, and the
forfeiture and the loss of the goods, merchandises and other things
whatsoever, which so shall be brought into this realm of England, or
any of the dominions of the same, contrary to our said prohibition, or
the purport or true meaning of these presents, or which the said
Governor and Company shall find, take and seize in other places out of
our dominion, where the said Company, their agents, factors or
ministers shall trade, traffic or inhabit by the virtue of these our
letters patent, as also the ship and ships, with the furniture
thereof, wherein such goods, merchandises and other things shall be
brought and found; and one-half of all the said forfeitures to be to
us, our heirs and successors, and the other half thereof we do, by
these presents, clearly and wholly, for us, our heirs and successors,
give and grant unto the said Governor and Company, and their
successors: And further, all and every the said offenders, for their
said contempt, to suffer such other punishment as to us, our heirs and
successors, for so high a contempt, shall seem meet and convenient,
and not be in any wise delivered until they and every of them shall
become bound unto the said Governor for the time being in the sum of
one thousand pounds at the least, at no time then after to trade or
traffic into any of the said places, seas, straits, bays, ports,
havens or territories aforesaid, contrary to our express commandment
in that behalf set down and published: And further, of our more
especial grace, we have condescended and granted, and by these
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do grant unto the said
Governor and Company, and their successors, that we our heirs and
successors, will not grant liberty, license or power to any person, or
persons whatsoever, contrary to the tenor of these our letters patent,
to trade, traffic or inhabit, unto or upon any of the territories,
limits or places afore specified, contrary to the true meaning of
these presents, without the consent of the said Governor and Company,
or the most part of them: And, of our more abundant grace and favour
of the said Governor and Company, we do hereby declare our will and
pleasure to be, that if it shall so happen that any of the persons
free or to be free of the said Company of Adventurers of England
trading into Hudson's Bay, who shall, before the going forth of any
ship or ships appointed for a voyage or otherwise, promise or agree,
by writing under his or their hands, to adventure any sum or sums of
money towards the furnishing any provision, or maintenance of any
voyage or voyages, set forth or to be set forth, or intended or meant
to be set forth, by the said Governor and Company, or the most part of
them present at any public assembly, commonly called their General
Court, shall not, within the space of twenty days next after warning
given to him or them by the said Governor or Company, or their known
officer or minister, bring in and deliver to the Treasurer or
Treasurers appointed for the Company, such sums of money as shall have
been expressed and set down in writing by the said person or persons,
subscribed with the name of the said Adventurer or Adventurers, that
then and at all times after it shall and may be lawful to and for the
said Governor and Company, or the more part of them present, whereof
the said Governor or his Deputy to be one, at any of their General
Courts or general assemblies, to remove and disfranchise him or them,
and every such person and persons at their wills and pleasures, and he
or they so removed and disfranchised, not to be permitted to trade
into the countries, territories, and limits aforesaid, or any part
thereof, nor to have any adventure or stock going or remaining with or
amongst the said Company, without the special license of the said
Governor and Company, or the more part of them present at any General
Court, first had and obtained in that behalf, any thing before in
these presents to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.
And our will and pleasure is, and hereby we do also ordain, that it
shall and may be lawful to and for the said Governor and Company, or
the greater part of them, whereof the Governor for the time being or
his Deputy to be one, to admit into and to be of the said Company all
such servants or factors, of or for the said Company, and all such
others as to them or the most part of them present, at any Court held
for the said Company, the Governor or his Deputy being one, shall be
thought fit and agreeable with the orders and ordinances made and to
be made for the government of the said Company: And further, our will
and pleasure is, and by these presents for us, our heirs and
successors, we do grant unto the said Governor and Company, and to
their successors, that it shall and may be lawful in all elections and
by-laws to be made by the General Court of the Adventurers of the said
Company, that every person shall have a number of votes according to
his stock, that is to say, for every hundred pounds by him subscribed
or brought into the present stock, one vote, and that any of those
that have subscribed less than one hundred pounds, may join their
respective sums to make up one hundred pounds, and have one vote
jointly for the same, and not otherwise: And further, of our especial
grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, we do, for us, our heirs
and successors, grant to and with the said Governor and Company of
Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay, that all lands,
islands, territories, plantations, forts, fortifications, factories or
colonies, where the said Company's factories and trade are or shall
be, within any of the ports or places afore limited, shall be
immediately and from henceforth under the power and command of the
said Governor and Company, their successors and assigns; saving the
faith and allegiance due to be performed to us, our heirs and
successors, as aforesaid; and that the said Governor and Company shall
have liberty, full power and authority to appoint and establish
Governors and all other officers to govern them, and that the Governor
and his Council of the several and respective places where the said
Company shall have plantations, forts, factories, colonies or places
of trade within any of the countries, lands, or territories hereby
granted, may have power to judge all persons belonging to the said
Governor and Company, or that shall live under them, in all causes,
whether civil or criminal, according to the laws of the kingdom, and
to execute justice accordingly; and in case any crime or misdemeanor
shall be committed in any of the said Company's plantations, forts,
factories, or places of trade within the limits aforesaid, where
judicature cannot be executed for want of a Governor and Council
there, then in such case it shall and may be lawful for the chief
factor of that place and his Council to transmit the party, together
with the offence, to such other plantations, factory or fort where
there shall be a Governor and Council, where justice may be executed,
or into this Kingdom of England, as shall be thought most convenient,
there to receive such punishment as the nature of his offence shall
deserve: And moreover, our will and pleasure is, and by these
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, we do give and grant unto
the said Governor and Company, and their successors, free liberty and
license, in case they conceive it necessary, to send either ships of
war, men or ammunition into any of their plantations, forts,
factories, or places of trade aforesaid, for the security and defence
of the same, and to choose commanders and officers over them, and to
give them power and authority, by commission under their common seal,
or otherwise, to continue to make peace or war with any prince or
people whatsoever, that are not Christians, in any place where the
said Company shall have any plantations, forts or factories, or
adjacent thereto, and shall be most for the advantage and benefit of
the said Governor and Company and of their trade; and also to right
and recompense themselves upon the goods, estates, or people of those
parts, by whom the said Governor and Company shall sustain any injury,
loss or damage, or upon any other people whatsoever, that shall in any
way, contrary to the intent of these presents, interrupt, wrong or
injure them in their trade, within the said places, territories and
limits granted by this Charter: And that it shall and may be lawful to
and for the said Governor and Company, and their successors from time
to time, and at all times from henceforth, to erect and build such
castles, fortifications, forts, garrisons, colonies or plantations,
towns or villages, in any parts or places within the limits and bounds
granted before in these presents unto the said Governor and Company,
as they in their discretion shall think fit and requisite, and for the
supply of such as shall be needful and convenient to keep and be in
the same, to send out of this kingdom to the said castles, forts,
fortifications, garrisons, colonies, plantations, towns or villages,
all kinds of clothing, provisions or victuals, ammunition and
implements necessary for such purpose, paying the duties and customs
for the same, as also to transport and carry over such number of men
being willing thereunto, or not prohibited, as they shall think fit,
and also to govern them in such legal and reasonable manner as the
said Governor and Company shall think best, and to inflict punishment
for misdemeanors, or impose such fines upon them for breach of their
orders as in these presents are formally expressed: And further, our
will and pleasure is, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and
successors, we do grant unto the said Governor and Company, and to
their successors, full power and lawful authority to seize upon the
persons of all such English, or any other our subjects, which shall
sail into Hudson's Bay, or inhabit in any of the countries, islands or
territories hereby granted to the said Governor and Company, without
their leave and license, and in that behalf first had and obtained, or
that shall contemn and disobey their orders, and send them to England;
and that all and every person and persons, being our subjects, any
ways employed by the said Governor and Company, within any the parts,
places and limits aforesaid, shall be liable unto and suffer such
punishment for any offences by them committed in the parts aforesaid,
as the President and Council for the said Governor and Company there
shall think fit, and the merit of the offence shall require, as
aforesaid; and in case any person or persons being convicted and
sentenced by the President and Council of the said Governor and
Company, in the countries, lands or limits aforesaid, their factors or
agents there, for any offence by them done, shall appeal from the
same, that then and in such case it shall and may be lawful to and for
the said President and Council, factors or agents, to seize upon him
or them, and to carry him or them home prisoners into England, to the
said Governor and Company, there to receive such condign punishment as
his case shall require, and the law of this nation allow of; and for
the better discovery of abuses and injuries to be done unto the said
Governor and Company, or their successors, by any servant by them to
be employed in the said voyages and plantations, it shall and may be
lawful to and for the said Governor and Company, and their respective
President, Chief Agent or Governor in the parts aforesaid, to examine
upon oath all factors, masters, pursers, supercargoes, commanders of
castles, forts, fortifications, plantations or colonies, or other
persons, touching or concerning any matter or thing in which by law or
usage an oath may be administered, so as the said oath, and the matter
therein contained be not repugnant, but agreeable to the laws of this
realm: And we do hereby straightly charge and command all and singular
our Admirals, Vice-Admirals, Justices, Mayors, Sheriffs, Constables,
Bailiffs, and all and singular other our officers, ministers, liegemen
and subjects whatsoever to be aiding, favouring, helping and assisting
to the said Governor and Company, and to their successors, and their
deputies, officers, factors, servants, assigns and ministers, and
every of them, in executing and enjoying the premises, as well on land
as on sea, from time to time, when any of you shall thereunto be
required; any statute, act, ordinance, proviso, proclamation or
restraint heretofore had, made, set forth, ordained or provided, or
any other matter, cause or thing whatsoever to the contrary in anywise
notwithstanding.
In witness whereof we have caused these our Letters to be made Patent.
Witness ourselves at Winchester, the second day of May, in the
two-and-twentieth year of our reign.
By Writ of the Privy Seal.
PIGOTT.
THE ALASKA BOUNDARY LINE.
It has been said that but for the Hudson's Bay Company British
Columbia would not have been preserved to the British Crown. On the
Imperial frontier to the far north and west the Company early
established its posts, and vigorously sought to maintain them against,
first, Russian, and afterwards American, aggression.
[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF SOUTH-EAST ALASKA
(_showing points in controversy_).
(_By permission of Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers of the
"Atlantic Monthly."_)]
The American purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 included a strip
of the coast (_lisière de côté_) extending from north latitude 54° 40'
to the region of Mt. St. Elias. It was generally understood that this
strip was separated from the British possessions by a mountain range
(then believed to exist) parallel to the coast, as in event of this
range being too remote, by a line parallel to the windings
(sinuosities) of the coast, nowhere greater than ten marine leagues
from the same.
There is nothing to lead one to suppose that the strip of coast was
designed to be continuous from the parallel of 54° 40' north latitude.
The recent great development of the North-West has shown the singular
value of this strip, which the American authorities, ignoring the
exact possessions of the Anglo-Russian treaty of 1825, has assumed to
be their territory. Recent American writers have been quick to
perceive the weakness of their case, and one of these, writing in the
_Atlantic Monthly_, uses this language:
"Arbitration is compromise.... Once before a board of arbitration, the
English Government has only to set up and vigorously urge all its
claims, and more that can easily be invented, and _it is all but
absolutely certain_ that although _by tradition and equity_ we should
decline _to yield a foot of what we purchased_ in good faith from
Russia, and which has become doubly valuable to us by settlement and
exploration, our lisière will be promptly broken into fragments, and
with much show of impartiality divided between the two contracting
parties." The italics are mine. Tradition and (the American idea of)
equity are hardly equal to the language of a treaty negotiated so
recently as 1825.[130]
CONVENTION WITH RUSSIA.
His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, being
desirous of drawing still closer the ties of good understanding and
friendship which unite them, by means of an agreement which may
settle, upon the basis of reciprocal convenience, different points
connected with the commerce, navigation, and fisheries of their
subjects on the Pacific Ocean, as well as the limits of their
respective possessions on the north-west coast of America, have named
plenipotentiaries to conclude a convention for this purpose, that is
to say--His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Right Hon. Stratford Canning, a member of his said
Majesty's Most Hon. Privy Council, etc.; and his Majesty the Emperor
of all the Russias, the Sieur Charles Robert Count de Nesselrode, his
Imperial Majesty's Privy Councillor, a member of the Council of the
Empire, Secretary of State for the Department of Foreign Affairs,
etc., and the Sieur Pierre de Poletica, his Imperial Majesty's
Councillor of State, etc.; who, after having communicated to each
other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have
agreed upon and signed the following articles:--
Art. I.--It is agreed that the respective subjects of the high
contracting parties shall not be troubled or molested, in any part of
the ocean commonly called the Pacific Ocean, either in navigating the
same, in fishing therein, or in landing at such parts of the coast as
shall not have been already occupied, in order to trade with the
natives, under the restrictions and conditions specified in the
following articles.
II.--In order to prevent the right of navigating and fishing,
exercised upon the ocean by the subjects of the high contracting
parties, from becoming the pretext for an illicit commerce, it is
agreed that the subjects of his Britannic Majesty shall not land at
any place where there may be a Russian establishment, without the
permission of the governor or commandant; and, on the other hand, that
Russian subjects shall not land, without permission, at any British
establishment on the north-west coast.
III.--The line of demarcation between the possessions of the high
contracting parties, upon the coast of the continent, and the islands
of America to the north-west, shall be drawn in the manner
following:--Commencing from the southernmost point of the island
called Prince of Wales's Island, which point lies in the parallel of
54 degrees, 40 minutes, north latitude, and between the 131st and
133rd degree of west longitude (meridian of Greenwich), the said line
shall ascend to the north along the channel called Portland Channel,
as far as the point of the continent where it strikes the 56th degree
of north latitude; from this last-mentioned point the line of
demarcation shall follow the summits of the mountains situated
parallel to the coast, as far as the point of intersection of the
141st degree of west longitude (of the same meridian); and, finally,
from the said point of intersection, the said meridian line of the
141st degree in its prolongation as far as the Frozen Ocean, shall
form the limit between the Russian and British possessions on the
Continent of America to the north-west.
IV.--With reference to the line of demarcation laid down in the
preceding article, it is understood:--
1st: That the island called Prince of Wales's Island shall belong
wholly to Russia.
2nd: That wherever the summit of the mountains which extend in a
direction parallel to the coast, from the 56th degree of north
latitude to the point of intersection of the 141st degree of west
longitude, shall prove to be at the distance of more than ten marine
leagues from the ocean, the limit between the British possessions and
the line of coast which is to belong to Russia, as above-mentioned,
shall be formed by a line parallel to the windings of the coast, and
which shall never exceed the distance of ten marine leagues therefrom.
V.--It is moreover agreed, that no establishment shall be formed by
either of the two parties within the limits assigned by the two
preceding articles to the possessions of the other; consequently,
British subjects shall not form any establishment either upon the
coast, or upon the border of the continent comprised within the limits
of the Russian possessions as designated in the two preceding
articles; and, in like manner, no establishment shall be formed by
Russian subjects beyond the said limits.
VI.--It is understood that the subjects of his Britannic Majesty, from
whatever quarter they may arrive, whether from the ocean or from the
interior of the continent, shall forever enjoy the right of navigating
freely, and without any hindrance whatever, all the rivers and streams
which in their course towards the Pacific Ocean may cross the line of
demarcation upon the line of coast described in Article III of the
present convention.
VII.--It is also understood, that for the space of ten years from the
signature of the present convention, the vessels of the two powers, or
those belonging to their respective subjects, shall mutually be at
liberty to frequent without any hindrance whatever, all the inland
seas, the gulfs, havens, and creeks on the coast mentioned in Article
III for the purpose of fishing and of trading with the natives.
VIII.--The Port of Sitka, or Novo Archangelsk, shall be open to the
commerce and vessels of British subjects for the space of ten years
from the date of the exchange of the ratification of the present
convention. In the event of an extension of this term of ten years
being granted to any other power, the like extension shall be granted
also to Great Britain.
IX.--The above-mentioned liberty of commerce shall not apply to the
trade of spirituous liquors, in fire-arms or other arms, gunpowder or
other warlike stores; the high contracting parties reciprocally
engaging not to permit the above-mentioned articles to be sold or
delivered in any manner whatever, to the natives of the country.
X.--Every British or Russian vessel navigating the Pacific Ocean,
which may be compelled by storms or by accident to take shelter in the
ports of the respective parties, shall be at liberty to refit therein,
to provide itself with all necessary stores, and to put to sea again,
without paying any other than port and lighthouse dues, which shall be
the same as those paid by national vessels. In case, however, the
master of such vessel should be under the necessity of disposing of a
part of his merchandise in order to defray his expenses, he shall
conform himself to the regulations and tariffs of the place where he
may have landed.
XI.--In every case of complaint on account of an infraction of the
articles of the present convention, the civil and military authorities
of the high contracting parties, without previously acting or taking
any forcible measure, shall make an exact and circumstantial report of
the matter to their respective courts, who engage to settle the same
in a friendly manner, and according to the principles of justice.
XII.--The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications
shall be exchanged at London, within the space of six weeks, or sooner
if possible.
In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the
same and have affixed thereto the seals of their arms.
Done at St. Petersburg, the 16th (28th) day of February, in the year
of our Lord, 1825.
Stratford Canning.
The Count de Nesselrode.
Pierre de Poletica.
FOOTNOTE:
[130] T. C. Mendenhall, in _Atlantic Monthly_ for April, 1896.
GOVERNORS OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
His Highness Prince Rupert 1670-1683
H.R.H. James, Duke of York (afterwards King James II.) 1683-1685
John, Lord Churchill (afterwards Duke of Marlborough) 1685-1691
Sir Stephen Evance, Kt. 1691-1696
The Rt. Hon. Sir William Trumbull 1696-1700
Sir Stephen Evance, Kt. 1700-1712
Sir Bibye Lake, Bart. 1712-1743
Benjamin Pitt 1743-1746
Thomas Knapp 1746-1750
Sir Atwell Lake, Bart. 1750-1760
Sir William Baker, Kt. 1760-1770
Bibye Lake 1770-1782
Samuel Wegg 1782-1799
Sir James Winter Lake, Bart. 1799-1807
William Mainwaring 1807-1812
Joseph Berens, Junior 1812-1822
Sir John Henry Pelly, Bart. 1822-1852
Andrew Colville 1852-1856
John Shepherd 1856-1858
Henry Hulse Berens 1858-1863
Rt. Hon. Sir Edmund Walker Head, Bart., K.C.B. 1863-1868
Rt. Hon. The Earl of Kimberley 1868-1869
Rt. Hon. Sir Stafford H. Northcote, Bart., M.P. (Earl of
Iddesleigh) 1869-1874
Rt. Hon. George Joachim Goschen, M.P. 1874-1880
Eden Colville 1880-1889
Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, G.C.M.G. 1889-
DEPUTY-GOVERNORS OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
Sir John Robinson, Kt. 1670-1675
Sir James Hayes, Kt. 1675-1685
The Hon. Sir Edward Dering, Kt. 1685-1691
Samuel Clarke 1691-1701
John Nicholson 1701-1710
Thomas Lake 1710-1711
Sir Bibye Lake, Bart. 1711-1712
Captain John Merry 1712-1729
Samuel Jones 1729-1735
Benjamin Pitt 1735-1743
Thomas Knapp 1743-1746
Sir Atwell Lake, Bart. 1746-1750
Sir William Baker, Kt. 1750-1760
Captain John Merry 1760-1765
Bibye Lake 1765-1770
Robert Merry 1770-1774
Samuel Wegg 1774-1782
Sir James Winter Lake, Bart. 1782-1799
Richard Hulse 1799-1805
Nicholas Caesar Corsellis 1805-1806
Wm. Mainwaring 1806-1807
Joseph Berens, Junior 1807-1812
John Henry Pelly 1812-1822
Nicholas Garry 1822-1835
Benjamin Harrison 1835-1839
Andrew Colville 1839-1852
John Shepherd 1852-1856
Henry Hulse Berens 1856-1858
Edward Ellice, M.P. 1858-1863
Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson, Bart. 1863-1871
Eden Colville 1871-1880
Sir John Rose, Bart., G.C.M.G. 1880-1888
Sir Donald A. Smith, G.C.M.G. 1888-1889
The Earl of Lichfield 1889-1898
INDEX.
Agricultural and mercantile enterprise, 457
Alaska Boundary Line, 527
Albanel, Father, journeys to the north, 69
Albany, Fort, 149
" " Attack on, 135
" " Capitulation of, 137
" " renamed St. Anne, 142
" " The English regain, 153
" " Attacked by the French, 193
_Albany_, 212
" Fate of the, 292
Albemarle, Duke of, 42
Allemand, Pierre, 98
America purchases Alaska, 488
Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1825, 448
Argenson, D', 58
Arlington, Lord, letter to, 34
Ashburton, Lord, 456
Assiniboines, The, 222
" Radisson and Groseilliers first meet the, 26
_Astarte_, 321
Astor, John Jacob, 386
Astoria--Fort George, 387, 445
Astronomers at Hudson's Bay, 294
Athabaska, Fort, 426
Avagour, Governor M. d', 28
Back, Captain, 451
Bad Lake, The robbery at, 359
Baffin, expedition of, 47
Bailey, Charles, Governor of Rupert's Land, 70, 178
Balmerino, Lovat, and Kilmarnock, Lords, 260
Barillon, Sieur, 141
Barlow, Capt. George, commanding the _Albany_, 212
" Governor of Albany Fort, 193
Barre, M. de la, 110
" " receives letter from Lewis, 125
" " recalled, 129
Barrow, Sir John, 284
Beaver, Varieties of, 238
Beechy, Captain, 451
Bellicose instructions from the Company, 258
Berens, Thomas, 296
Bering, Capt. Vitus, commanding Russian expedition, 246
Bering's discoveries, 247
Bladen, Martin, 203
Bladen's description of the Commission, 205
Bois-Brulés, The, 383
Bolingbroke's letter, 203
Bonrepas, Sieur, 141
Boundaries between French and English territory, 216
Bourbon, Fort, 96
Bourdon, Jean, 55
Boyle, Robert, letter to, 43
_Brazen_, 392
Bridgar, Arrival of, 92
" John, Governor of the new settlement at Port Nelson, 89
" taken prisoner by the French, 134
Bristol, defence of, 37
Brown, Honorable George, 487
Browne, Sir Richard, 39
Butterfield's, Mrs. Mary, letter, 209
Button, Sir Thomas, pursues Hudson's discoveries, 46
Button's Bay, 47
_California_, 264
Callieres, M. de, memoir, 57
Canada, Conquest of, 279
" exerts pressure on the Company, 490
" Jurisdiction Act, 368
Canada's debt to the Company, 497
Cardwell, Mr., Colonial Secretary, 487
Carr, Robert, 33
Cartwright, George, 33
Catherine of Braganza, 63
Cession to Canadian Government, 493
Charles, Fort, 70
" Fort, Jesuit priest at, 77
" the First, 36
" the Second, 17
" the Second, death of, 129
Charlie's, Prince, stock confiscated, 261
Charlevoix, quotation from, 55
Charlton Island, winters at, 47
Charter, The Royal, 515
Chechouan River, discovers the, 76
Chesnaye, M. de la, 84
Chouart surrenders to Radisson, 120
_Churchill_, 248
" caught in the ice, 138
" captured by the French, 139
Churchill, Lord, succeeds King James as Governor of the
Company, 139
Clandestine trade, 283, 297
Coats, Captain, 283
" " Death by his own hand of, 284
_Colbore_, 447
Cole, Captain, 72
Colbert, M., 52, 228
Colonial neutrality, Negotiations for, 140
Coltman, Colonel, 423
Company's losses by French, 146
Comportier, Gauthier de, 128
Convention with Russia, 528
Cook, Captain, 340
Corrigal Case, The famous, 369
Council of Trade, 173
Couture, M., 28
Craven, Lord, 43
Crees, The, 220
Croix, Sieur de la, 125
Cumberland House built, 314
Dablon, Father, 56
Dallas, A. E., succeeds Simpson as Governor, 473
" Governor, issues a circular, 483
Davis, Captain John, 45
Duluth's letter to M. de la Barre, 125
Denonville's letter to Seignely, 149
Denonville, Marquis de, succeeds M. de la Barre as Governor, 129
" plans the capture of Fort Nelson, 150
Deputation goes to England, 489
_Dering_, 159
Diggs, Sir Dudley, 46
_Discovery_, 212
Dobbs, Arthur, 248
" and the North-West Passage, 263
" petition rejected by Parliament, 268
Dobbs' _Galley_, 264
Douglas, Fort, attacked, 399
" Thomas, Earl of Selkirk, 399
" T. M., Governor of Vancouver Island, 465
Drummond, Sir Gordon, Governor of Canada, 406
_Dryad_, 448
Duchesneau, Intendant, 86
" protests against English encroachment, 86
Duffell, 177
Duluth in the West, 125
" builds a fort on Lake Nepigon, 127
Duqué, commander of _Profound_, 159
Duquet, Sieur, King's attorney for Quebec, 58
East India Company, 18
" " transfer of Province of Bombay, 63
_Eddystone_, 392
Elgin, Lord, Governor-General of Canada, 462
Ellice, Edward, 432, 479
_Engageante_, 321
England at war with France, 361
English, departure of, 110
_Erebus_, 466
Esquimaux, first sight of the, 45
" The, 223
Expedition to explore the North-West Passage, 212
Fishery and Fur Company, The, 352
Fitzgerald, James, 296
Fletcher, Major, 423
Fort, construction of the first, 47
Forts, Building of stone, 280
Fox, Captain Luke, 47
France, Joseph la, 239
" War with, 257
Franklin, Expedition of, 449
" " Fate of the, 466
" Lieutenant, 427
French activity, 52
" fur trade, 21
" and English ships, meeting of, 159
French attack Fort Prince of Wales--1782, 320
" attack York Factory, 324
" declare war against England, 191
" encroachment on trade, 275
" prisoners taken by the _Churchill_, 138
" repulsed at Albany Fort, 193
" send fourteen ships, 150
" Surrender of the Company's ships to the, 143
" The, at Michilimackinac, 182
" The, capture a Company's ship, 130
Frobisher, Sir Martin, 45
" intercepts Company's Indians, 316
" escapes from York Factory, 428
_Furnace_, 249
Fur trade, 20
Furs, first sale of, 61
General Court held, 62
George the Fourth, 437
Ghent, Treaty of, 445
Gibraltar, Fort, captured, 408
Gillam, Zachary (Capt. of _Nonsuch_), 33, 43
" Benjamin, 98
" " meets his father, 99
Gladstone, Opposition of Mr., 463
Godey, Captain, attaché to Lord Preston, 112
Gorst, Thomas, secretary to Governor Bailey, 72
Government assistance, 366
Grant, Cuthbert, 385
Granville, Lord, 490
Green, Henry, 46
Grey, Earl, Letter to, 461
Grimington, Captain, 153
Groseilliers (Medard Chouart), 23
" Death of first wife, 24
" first marriage, 23
" first time in English capital, 34
" in Boston, 30
" second marriage, 24
_Hampshire_, 159
" goes down with nearly all on board, 161
_Happy Return_ sails for Hudson's Bay, 117
_Hardi_ goes to the bottom with all on board, 156
Hawke, Sir Edward, 296
Hays' Island fort, 104
" " " burned, 108
Head, Sir Edmund, 485
Hearne returns to England, 307
" blamed for surrendering, 323
Hearne's expedition of discovery, 300
" second expedition, 302
" third expedition, 305
Henry's expedition, 290
Henry, Prince, 46
Herault, Mlle. Elizabeth, 24
Herbert, Sir Edward, Lord-keeper, 39
Hobart, Lord, 368
Holder, John, 40
Holmes, Captain, 41
Horner, Captain John, discharged, 297
Horth's, John, meetings at, 62, 80
_Hudson's Bay_, 159
" " surrendered to the French, 161
Hudson's Bay Company apply for Vancouver Island, 464
Hudson's Bay Company, arms of the, 67
Hudson's Bay Company, List of nations visiting, 81
Hudson's Bay Company in difficulties, 361
Hudson's Bay Company obtains a new license, 438
Hudson's Bay Company, Plan to re-organize, 210
Hudson's Bay Company seek Act of Parliament to confirm charter
conferred by Charles II., 147
Hudson's Bay Company's claims, 196
Hudson's Bay Company's claims after Treaty of Ryswick, 189
Hudson's Bay Posts, The, 509, 510, 511, 512.
Hudson's Bay, The, Governor and Company of Merchants-Adventurers
charter from the King, 22, 51, 60
Hudson, Captain Henry, 46
" " " fate of, 46
Humes, Edward, captain of the _Merchant of Perpetuana_, 130
Hyde, Edward, afterwards Lord Chancellor Clarendon, 39
Iberville, captures two Company's ships, 143
" demands surrender of the fort, 164
" given the rank of lieutenant in the French Royal
Navy, 150
" goes to France, 152
" sails for home in the _Envieux_, 152
" sails for Quebec in the _Hampshire_, 140
" Sieur d', accompanies de Troyes on his expedition, 131
" takes Fort Nelson, 156
" treacherous plan, 144
_Imploy_ to sail in the spring, 65
Iroquois--English allies, 29
Ivett, Robert, 46
Imperial Parliament appoints Select Committee, 469
Indian treachery, 185
" country, 218
Indians as hunters, 230
" Effect of intoxication on the, 229
" Intelligence of the, 225
" liking for liquor, 228
" Superstition of the, 226
International Financial Association, 478
Isbister, A. K., 461
" Joseph, 258
Isle a la Crosse, Lake of, 317
James, Captain, 47
" King, applied to for protection, 139
Jesuits, Relations des, 21, 69
Joliet, Louis, 53
Jonquiere, Fort, 244
Jenyn's, Soame, letter to Pitt, 279
Ka-chou-touay, 121
Kamloops, Legend of, 503
Kas-Kidi-dah, chief of the Nodwayes, 72
Kilistineaux, makes treaty with the, 48
Kirke, Sir John, 25
Kelsey, Henry, recommended for bravery, receives sum of forty
pounds, 156, 179
" voyage, 179
Knight, Governor, 191
" Death of, 293
" Letter from the Company to, 212
L'Anglois, Jean, 58
Labau, Murder of, 355
Lack of military system Company's weakness, 491
Lacombe, Father, 504
La Couture, Sieur, 56
" " mythical voyage, 57
Lampson, Mr., 483
Law, John, 206, 208
Letters of marque to the Company's ships, 259
Lewis unwilling to oppose the English, 128
" proposes boundaries, 190
Lincoln, Earl of, 463
Louisburg, Fall of, 260
Lyddal, William, to supersede Bailey as Governor, 78
Mackenzie, Alexander, 329
" reaches the Arctic, 336
" sets out for the Pacific, 338
" Sir Alexander & Co., 349
Mackenzie's expedition to the Arctic, 333
" Sir Alexander, letter, 366
Maissoneuve (voyage from Rochelle), 23
Matonabee, 304
Maverick, Samuel, 33
Ménard, Réné, 27
Meuron, Colonel De, 407
" De, Regiment of, 407
Mezy is recalled, 52
Middleton, Captain Christopher, 248, 264
" explores for a north-west passage, 251
" has trouble with his men, 252
" Lord, 141
" returns without discovering the Passage, 253
Middleton's report, 220
Migichihilinons, 220
Milnes, Sir Robert, 368
_Merchant of Perpetuana_ captured by the French, 130
Monk, Lord, Governor-General of Canada, 486
Montreal merchants combine, 328
Moon, Captain, 142
Moor, Captain William, 264
Moose Factory, Capture of, 133
Moose River fort erected by the French, 73
" " first visit to, 75
" " Bailey at, 76
Mounslow, Captain, 192
Mountain House, 504
Mowat, Trial of, 371
_Musquash_, 248.
McClintock, Captain, 466
McDonnell, Miles, first Governor of the new colony, 379
" surrenders, 399
McDonnell's proclamation, 395
McDougall, Honorable William, Minister of Crown Lands, 486
McTavish, Simon, 249
" " Death of, 352
McTavish, Governor, resigns, 485
Nadouichiouecs, Wintered with the, 26
Nekauba, Dablon reaches, 58
Nelson, Fort, Burning of, 151
" " Erection of, 93, 194
" " evacuated by the French, 202
" " surrendered to the French, 154
" " surrendered to the English, 157
" " surrendered to the French, 166
Nelson, Port, Fox landed at, 47
Nepisingues, 219
Nichols, Richard, 33
Nodwayes, 47, 71, 219
_Nonsuch_ anchors in Hudson's Bay, 45
" Set sail in the, 34
_Nonsuch_ weighs anchor, 44
" sails with cargo, 48
Norton, Governor, 250, 265
" Death of Governor, 312
New Amsterdam, into English hands, 20
New North-West Company, 349
New Severn Fort captured by the French, 143
North-West Association formed, 264
North-West Association, Expedition of the, 264
North-West Company, 328-330
North-West Company oppose Selkirk's scheme, 377
North-West Company partners arrested, 420, 427
North-West passage discovered, 468
North-Westers demand evacuation of Fort Douglas, 415
Oldenburgh, Letter written by, the secretary of the Royal
Society, 43
Ontario Boundary Commission, 59
Oregon question, The, 445
Ottawas, Make treaty with the, 48
" treaty, 459
_Owner's Love_, 159
Pacific Scheme, 477
_Palmier_, 158
Parliament and the North-West Passage, 263
Parliamentary enquiry, 269
_Pelican_, 158
Pelly, Sir J. H., 461
Pérouse, Admiral, 321
" La, in the Pacific, 344
Peter the Great, 244
" " " Death of, 245
Petition to the Lords of Treasury, 361
Phipps' letter to the Company, 123
Phipps, William, new Governor, 118
Pishapocanoes, 75
_Poli_, 156
Policy, The Great Company's, 506
Pond, Peter, 317
Pontiac at Detroit, 288
Pontchartrain, 152
" letter to the Marquis de Vaudreuil, 201
Portman, John, 43, 60
Preston's, Lord, letter to Rupert, 42
Preston, Lord, informed of the return of Radisson and
Groseilliers, 112
Preston, Lord, induces Radisson to join the English, 116
Prickett, Habbakuk, 46
Prettyman, William, 60
_Profound_, 159
Pulteney, Daniel, 203
Radisson and Groseilliers leave Quebec, 111
" arrives in London, 122
" arrives in Quebec, 85
" assisted by the Jesuits, 85
" captures Hays' Island fort, 104
" captures the _Susan_, 104
" " Fort Nelson, 105
" departs for Hudson's Bay, 117
" discovers young Gillam, 90
" first marriage of, 24
" in France, 83
" offers his services to the French Navy, 82
" overawes the Indians, 109
" Pierre, 23, 24, 65
" receives pension from the Company, 124
" sails from Hudson's Bay, 122
" takes John Bridgar, Governor of Fort Nelson,
prisoner, 106
Rae, Dr., Expedition of, 466
Red River claimed by United States, 440
Red River Settlement threatened Deadlock, 485
_Reformation_, 38
" loss of the, 39
Remin, Daniel de, Seigneur de Courcelles, 52
Resolution Isle sighted, 44
Reward offered for Radisson's capture, 123
Richmond, Duke of, Governor of Canada, 429
Riel, Louis, 494
Robertson, Colin, 386
" Governor, taken prisoner, 426
Robinson, John, Lord Bishop of London, 195
" Sir John, 43
Ross, Captain, 451
Rupert created Earl of Holdernesse and Duke of Cumberland, 37
" Fort, captured by the French, 134
" illness of, 43
" is sworn a member of the Privy Council, also the Tangier
Commission; is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society; is
appointed member of the Council of Trade; and also is a
member of the Royal African Company, 41
" second marriage of, 25
" sends for Groseilliers, 43
" sent to command the Guinny fleet, 41
" Prince, 20, 35
" Prince, granted charter by King, 50
" Prince, is paid a lump sum, 64
Rupert, Prince, death of, First Governor of Hudson's Bay
Company, 94
_Rupert, The Prince_, arrival of, 78
" " " sails from Gravesend, 51
" " " to sail in the spring, 64
" " " stuck in the ice, 96
" " " wreck of, 102
Rupert's River, 47
Russia looks toward the New World, 244
Russians on the west coast, 347
Russian-American Fur Company, 348
Russian claims, 445
Ryswick, Treaty of, 148, 168, 187
_Salamandre_, 156
Sanford, Robert, 175
Sargeant, Governor, 95, 135, 137
Saxon, Sir Charles, 429
_Sceptre_, 321
Scroggs, John, Captain of the _Whalebone_, 213
_Shark_, 264
_Seahorse_ captured by the press-gang, 268
Seignely, Marquis de, 84
Selkirk arrives at Fort William, 419
" captures " 421
" winters at " 422
" Death of, 432
" Lord, arrives in Canada, 406
" The Earl of, 371
Selkirk's immigrants arrive, 380
" project, 375
" proposal accepted, 378
Semple, Death of, 413
" Robert, 404
Semple's murderers, Trial of, 431
_Shaftesbury_, arrival of the, 78
Sharpe, Mr., Company's solicitor, 269
Shepherd, Captain, of the _Shaftesbury_, 78
Ships besieged by peddlers, 65
Shrewsbury, Duke of, 201
" Death of Thomas, 455
" " Sir George, 473
" expedition to the northern coast, 453
" Thomas, 453
" George, Governor-in-Chief of the amalgamated
Companies, 437, 447
Smallpox epidemic, 319
Smith, Cape, 47
" Smith, Francis, 264
" Donald Alexander, Governor, 496
South Sea Company, 208, 209, 211
Spanish claims, 346
" Main, The, 38
Spence, Governor, 267
Stanion, John, 261
Stanton, Governor, at Moose Factory, 177
Stickeen River, 448
Strange, Lord, 271
Strathcona, Lord, 496
Strike of the Company's men, 296
Strong, William, engaged as secretary to Rupert, 40
_St. Anne_, 87
" destruction of the, 106
St. Peter, Fort, 241
St. Simon, Sieur de, 69
_St. Pierre_, 87
" arrives at mouth of St. Lawrence, 110
" destruction of the, 106
" re-built, 107
Superior, Lake, 23, 219
" " reaches shore of, 26
_Susan_ returned to the New England Merchants, 111
Sutherland, Lord, 141
Tabiti Indians encountered, 75
Tadoussac, 86
Talon, Jean, Intendant, 22, 52, 69
" returns to France, 52
" writes Colbert, 53
Tast, Admiral, arrival of, 150
Thompson, David, 342
Three Rivers, 24
Territorial Rights, The surrender of, 487
_Terror_, 466
Tionnontates, or the Tobacco Nation, 26
Toronto merchants petition Legislative Council, 471
Treaty between Russia and Great Britain, 445
" of 1783, 442
" of neutrality, 140
" with Red River Indians, 425
Troyes, Chevalier de, 131
" Chevalier de, receives commission to drive the English
from Northern Bay, 131
" de, Expedition of, 132
Turbulent meetings at Hudson's Bay House, 496
Turner's exploration, 341
Union of the two Companies, 433
Upland Indians, 65
Utrecht, Treaty of, 199
Valiere, Sieur de, 56
Vancouver, Fort, 500
Vancouver Island granted to the Company, 464
Varennes, Death of, 243
" Peter Gauthier de, 150, 240, 241
" Sieur de, marries, 241
" sets out to explore the West, 241
" son reaches the Rockies, 243
Vaughan, Captain David, commanding the _Discovery_, 212
Vermilion, Fort, Attack on, 426
_Violent_, 158
_Wales, Prince of_, 392
" Prince of, 61
" Prince of, Fort, built of stone, 281
" Prince of, Fort, surrenders to the French, 321
Walker, Jeremiah, 66
William, King, declares war against France, 146
" Fort, 389, 418
" Fort, restored to the North-Westers, 424
" of Orange landed at Plymouth, 145
" the Third's accession to the throne, 146
_William and Ann_ wrecked, 447
Winnipeg, Lake, Meeting at, 232
_Weesph_, 158
_Welcome_, 249
Western Company, The, 183
West, Rev. Mr., principal chaplain, 437
Weymouth, Viscount, 296
_Whalebone_, 213
Wolseley, Lord, Expedition of, 495
York, Duke of, 20, 61
" " to succeed Rupert as Governor, 94
" " ascends the throne, 129
" Fort, Desperate condition of the French at, 194
" Factory, 232
" " surrenders to the French, 324
Yukon, Fort, 502
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
On page 55, arrét perhaps should be arrêt.
On page 103, Englishmen perhaps should be Englishman.
On page 166, Fort Anne perhaps should be Fort St. Anne.
On page 222, Matonabbee perhaps should be Matonabee.
On page 242, peace--leaving should perhaps be peace-loving.
On page 279, Secretary Pitts should perhaps be Secretary Pitt.
On page 321, and in the Index, Admiral Pérouse should perhaps
be La Pérouse.
On page 411, Anglaise perhaps should be Anglais.
On page 474, unrenumerative should perhaps be unremunerative.
The book uses both Medard and Médard.
The book uses both Serigny and Sérigny.