# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 27/James Douglas on the Columbia, 1830-1849

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JAMES DOUGLAS ON THE COLUMBIA. 1830-1849 *
By PROFESSOR W. N. SAGE
University of British Columbia
There are few more trying positions in life than that of second in command , and James Douglas at Fort Vancouver found his case no exception to the rule . By his ability and force of character Dr. John McLoughlin dominated the Columbia District and shaped the policy of the fur trade beyond the Rocky Mountains , subject only to the orders of the Governor and Committee in London and the decision of the Council of the Northern Department of Rupert's Land, which met annually in the Red River Settlement or on the shores of Hudson Bay . When Douglas came to Fort Vancouver in 1830 he was still merely a clerk in the company's service , when he transferred the depot from Fort Vancouver to Fort Victoria in 1849 he as a chief factor and one of the lords of the fur trade . The years on the Columbia form the crucial period of the career of James Douglas . Yet it must be confessed that we know relatively little of Douglas ' life at Fort Vancouver . One obvious reason for this is that he was , very naturally , overshadowed by Dr. McLoughlin . McLoughlin was a striking personality . Every one who met him at the great depot on the Columbia was im pressed by the old doctor , and many visitors have left vivid descriptions of him . But references to Douglas are much less common . He was in a subordinate position, and it was
only when Dr. McLoughlin was absent that we find his indefatigable assistant accorded much prominence . It should not be inferred that McLoughlin deliberately kept Douglas in the background . It is merely that it is extremely difficult to study the orbit of a satellite in the full glare of the sun!
Before attempting to outline what is known of Douglas ' career on the Columbia it will be well briefly to set forth the salient points of his early life . According to a summary entered in his handwriting in an account book kept when he was in New Caledonia , and now a treasured possession of his daughter , Mrs. Dennis Harris of Victoria , B. C., James Douglas was born on June 5 , 1803. The place of birth is not stated , but the Douglas family maintains that it was in Lanarkshire , Scotland . A search of the Edinburgh records has not yet established this point — the name , James Douglas , being a common one in Lanarkshire . From the old account book we know that Douglas left England on board the brig “ Matthews ” on May 7 , 1819. He was entering the service of the North West Company , although he had not yet completed his sixteenth year . After spending the winter of 1819-1820 at Fort William on Lake Superior , he was sent to Fort Isle á la Crosse , in what is now north ern Saskatchewan . In 1821 the North West Company amalgamated with the Hudson's Bay Company and young Doug las entered the service of the new and reorganized company . Four years later he was transferred to New Caledonia , where , after a brief period at Fort McLeod on McLeod's Lake , he was stationed at Fort St. James on Stuart Lake . He remained five years in New Caledonia , during which time he married Amelia Connolly , daughter of William Connolly , chief factor at Fort St. James . The date of his marriage was April 27 , 1828 .
Douglas was rather unfortunate in his relations with the Indians at Fort St. James , and twice was forced to deal with most serious situations . On the first occasion his life was in danger , and if Mrs. Douglas and Mme. Boucher had not in the nick of time placated the natives with liberal presents it is more than probable that the
career of Douglas would have come to an abrupt and in glorious termination . The second incident is much more obscure . All we know of it is the cryptic entry in the old account book : “ ( 1828 ) Nov. 3. Monday assaulted by the Indians of Fraser Lake. ” Father Morice is of the opinion." that Douglas ' transfer to the Columbia was brought about as the result of these difficulties with the natives . Possibly it was a cause , but the determining factor seems to have been the retirement of Edward Ermatinger from an important post at Fort Vancouver .
James Douglas was in his twenty - seventh year when he took up his residence on the Columbia . He had already been once at Fort Vancouver , in 1826 , when he accompanied his future father - in - law , Connolly , who brought the brigade from New Caledonia to the new western depot of the company . Then he had merely been a visitor , now he was to become an important part of Dr. McLoughlin's efficient system . The post he held was that of accountant , and by nature he was eminently fitted for this work . Careful, systematic , and methodical he possessed infinite patience and a great mastery of detail . The rough drafts of his letters , preserved in the Archives of British Columbia , are full of corrections and erasures . His literary style , though clear and usually concise , was always rather stilted . One contemporary writer has referred to his " sesquepedalian diction . ”
He worked hard and consistently , and never wished to abandon a task when it was only half done . Such a man was sure to win the approbation of Dr. McLoughlin . Sowearenotat all surprised to read in a letter of Archibald McDonald to Edward Ermatinger, dated February 20, 1831: " James Douglas is at Vancouver & is rising fast in favour.” As accountant it was part of Douglas' duties not only to keep the books of the depot but usually in the spring to accompany the annual express which left the fort on the Columbia in March and made its way across the mountains to far-off York Factory on Hudson Bay. In 1832 and 1833 he
made his journey with the books." 1 In 1835 he was invited to attend the meeting of the Council of the Northern Department of Rupert's Land to be held at Fort Garry in the Red River Settlement . This invitation was tantamount to a notification that Douglas would be advanced to the rank of chief trader , since only chief factors and a limited number of invited chief traders attended the sessions of Council . Francis Heron , a chief trader stationed in the Columbia District , was also invited to attend the council. Accordingly Douglas left Fort Vancouver on March 3 , 1835 , and accompanied the express as far as Carlton House on the North Saskatchewan . From Carlton , Heron , Douglas and their party rode across the prairies to the “Stone Fort," one of whose gates still stands in the heart of the modern city of Winnipeg . On June 3 , 1835 , James Douglas received the long desired commission of chief trader . In the list of appointments for the Columbia District for 1835 , Douglas ' name appears last among the commissioned officers at Fort Vancouver . His five years as keeper of the books had not been in vain !
Douglas ' journal of the 1835 express is preserved in the Archives of British Columbia . It is in pencil , written up by Douglas from day to day as he traveled , and often is most difficult to read . In places it is indecipherable . One must confess that it is rather a dull journal , although there are a few interesting descriptive passages , especially one which deals with Mossy Point on Lake Winnipeg . When on his return journey up the Athabaska River Douglas made an interesting test of the relative merits of boats and canoes in stemming the heavy current . The boats were successful , for we read that Douglas next day left Fort Assiniboine with three boats , nine men to a boat , on his way to Jasper House . He arrived back home at Fort Vancouver early in November , having traveled about six thousand miles , by boat and canoe , on horseback and even on snowshoes when 1Archibald McKinlay met Douglas at York Factory in 1832 . In 1833 Archibald McDonald writes to Edward Ermatinger that " Douglas goes out with the books this spring.” McDonald to Ermatinger, February 20 , 1833 . Original letter in the Archives of British Columbia .
crossing the Rocky Mountains . But to him the journey was commonplace enough . By 1835 it had long since lost its novelty . For several years it had been anticipated that Dr. McLoughlin would proceed to England to confer in person with the Governor and Committee . He had been entitled to leave of absence in 1833 and had not availed himself of it in spite of the fact that Duncan Finlayson had been sent to the Columbia in 1832 in order to relieve him . But in February , 1837 , the Governor and Committee issued instructions that the Doctor was to journey to England and the Council of 1837 passed a resolution to that effect . Finlayson had left the Columbia in the spring that year , So it came about that James Douglas was placed in charge of the depot when Dr. McLoughlin was absent . According to the sixty -seventh resolution of the Council of 1837 Douglas was empowered to make a l l appointments o f “ the Gentlemen attached t o Fort Vancouver and the lower establishments o f the Co lumbia
likewise the Coasting Trade , Expeditions , Shipping , & c . , a s h e may consider expedient . ” I t was a great honor for Douglas t o receive this recognition , but Governor Simp son knew him t o b e a careful , methodical man , who would see that the instructions o f the Governor and Committee o r of the Governor - i n - Chief and the Council o f the Northern Department , which really meant the commands o f Sir George Simpson , were carried out t o the letter . Simpson had first met Douglas a t Fort St. James i n 1828 and had already re newed the acquaintance o n several occasions , and i t may b e inferred that he considered Douglas much more likely t o obey orders and t o avoid embarking o n new and dangerous policies affecting the fur trade o n the coast than was his aggressive and independent chief , Dr. John McLoughlin . For between McLoughlin and Simpson there was no love lost . They differed o n trade policy . Simpson did not wish t o erect new posts on the North West Coast , but 2 Archibald McDonald t o Edward Ermatinger , April 8 , 1837 , post script . “ —It would appear o f the two Factors , Finlayson i s the one going out , & will not I dare say again i n a hurry cross the Mountains t o relieve the Dr..... " This letter i s t o be found among the Ermatinger Letters i n the Archives of British Columbia.
thought that the steamer “ Beaver " should be employed to collect the furs from that region . McLoughlin preferred to build new forts , since he mistrusted the efficiency of the steam vessel . There were other points of difference as well . Both men were inclined to be autocratic within their respective spheres, and although Simpson was technically McLoughlin's superior , the old Doctor greatly resented interference in the affairs of the Columbia by the aggressive little Governor . Douglas in a way owed a divided duty . His debt to McLoughlin was too great for him to turn against him unless an issue was raised which demanded that Doug las choose between his loyalty to the company and his devotion to the Doctor . But it would never do for a young and very ambitious man to incur the enmity of Governor Simpson . McLoughlin was partial to French Canadians and supported Papineau in his stand for the rights of his people . The Doctor even had a good word for Papineau after the rebellion had broken out in 1837. But Douglas was always on the side of law and order and must have been pained at the frank statements of his chief regarding the “arch rebel."
Governor Simpson , on the other hand , was knighted by the British Government in 1839 in recognition of his services to Canada in connection with the Rebellions of 1837-38.
One need not wonder that Douglas wished to secure the support of this powerful autocrat of the fur trade without embroiling himself in any way with his friend and benefactor.
Few events of importance occurred during Douglas' tenure of office at Fort Vancouver , 1838-1839 . The express which arrived at the depot on November 28 , 1838 , brought two Roman Catholic missionaries , the Reverend Fathers Blanchet and Demers , who reported that they were " received with every demonstration of respect by James Douglass, Esq. , who commanded that post during the absence of Dr. McLoughlin in England . " During the summer of 1839 the arrival of H. M. S. “ Sulphur , ” a surveying vessel under the command of Sir Edward Belcher , caused Douglas con 3De Smet , Oregon Missions , p . 18.
a siderable annoyance . Sir Edward considered Oregon a British possession , and was much disturbed when he dis covered that Douglas would not supply his men with fresh meat and vegetables. He evidently had expected to find British fortifications on the Columbia , since he records in his “ Narrative " that " no Fort Vancouver exists ; it is merely the mercantile post of the Hudson's Bay Company. " Among the Douglas papers in the British Columbia Archives there is a manuscript book dating from this period entitled “ Establishment of Servants , Columbia District , Out ( f i t ) 1839. " Most o f the entries are i n Douglas ' hand writing , and the whole book throws light upon the internal organization o f the Hudson's Bay Company west o f the Rocky Mountains . One entry states that the number o f men a t Fort Vancouver on March 1 , 1839 , was one hundred and thirty - five , but this evidently includes men connected with the express and the Snake Country expedition . The Fort Vancouver establishment i s elsewhere given a s eighty - eight men , exclusive o f the commissioned officers , clerks , surgeon , apprentices and postmaster . The establishments o f the other forts are also recorded , and i t i s interesting that i n two cases , Fort Hall and Fort Boisé , Douglas has added a note “ reduce . ” Economy was always a watchword with the company and James Douglas evidently quite approved o f e policy . This manuscript book contains also drafts o f letters re lating t o the carrying out o f the terms o f agreement entered into o n February 6 , 1839 , a t Hamburg , Germany , between Sir George Simpson , representing the Hudson's Bay Com nany , and Baron Ferdinand Wrangall , o n behalf o f the Russian American Company . The Hudson's Bay Company was t o lease the fur trade on the mainland of Alaska for ten years and t o pay a rent o f two thousand seasoned land otter skins , “ taken o r hunted o n the west side o f the Rocky Mountains during the said term o f Ten years . " The Rus 4Belcher , Narrative o f a Voyage Round the World i n Her Majesty's Ship Sulphur , during the years 1836-42 , volume I , page 295 . " E . H. Oliver , editor , The Canadian North - West , Its Early Develop ment and Legislative Records , volume I I , page 793. The full text o f the Russian American agreement i s given o n pages 791-96 .
sian post on the Stikine River was to be taken over by the Hudson's Bay Company and a new post was to be estab lished on the River Taku . Douglas was sent by the company in the spring of 1840 to carry out the instructions of the Council of 1839 relative to the trade agreement. Hubert Howe Bancroft long ago published Douglas ' account of this voyage on the stout little “ Beaver ," but the letters in the manuscript book shed new light on this venture of the com pany . Douglas met Governor Kopreanoff , the Russian Governor , at Sitka on May 25 , 1840 , and after a long discus sion arranged liberal terms with him . That Douglas was a keen bargainer may be judged from the following notes jotted down in the ever valuable book : " To inform Dr. McLoughlin that we can get a Beaver in exchange for an Otter at Sitka , which will make us a very handsome profit on the Columbia Otters , as the following sketch will show thus 2000 Land Otters at 23 . £ 2 300.0.0 2000 Large Beavers at 34 / — . £ 3400.0.0 Balance in favour of exchange .... £ 1100.0.0 " The only advantage of the money transaction over the payment in kind , will arise from the facility of transmitting the former , which will bring it to account a few months sooner , than we could manage to do with furs , this how ever is a consideration of little weight compared with the ultimate gain on the Beaver . ” From a long despatch adressed to Dr. McLoughlin from " Fort Tako " on July 13, 1840, it is evident that the new post was not established on the Taku River but at a point thirty miles south . Douglas thus describes it : .It possesses a safe harbor of easy access , abund ance of good timber , together with the important advantage of being directly on the highway of trade , and at a conven ient distance for the Natives of Chilcat and Cross Sound ; while should it be desirable hereafter we can push into the interior with as much facility from this point as if the establishment had been at the entrance of Taco ." The natives of this unfavored region , - it rained inces 66
santly that summer and the sun was rarely seen — were very astute traders and demanded two blankets for a beaver skin . Douglas would offer only one blanket for a beaver and steadily refused to change his tariff. The natives threatened to take their skins away and trade them for slaves , but in the end they submitted and accepted one blanket . According to the arrangements concluded between the companies , furs brought from points on the mainland to Forts Stikine and Taku belonged to the Hudson's Bay Com pany , but a l l furs purchased from natives inhabiting the islands were t o be held i n trust for the Russian American Company . The Russians , on their part , were t o limit their trade t o the natives of the islands and t o forward all furs obtained from mainland Indians t o the British company's posts . The arrangement seems t o have worked satisfac torily enough , but that there was some friction may be i n ferred from a passage i n a letter addressed b y Douglas o n August 2 4 , 1840 , t o Governor Etholeny , i n which h e com plains that h e has heard that the Russians have been buying furs from the natives o f Cross Sound . Douglas even threat ens the stoppage o f the annual rent o f otter skins , i f this proved t o b e the case . Governor Etholeny rather resented some passages i n this letter for we find Douglas writing t o him from Fort Vancouver o n May 2 2 , 1841 , i n a most con ciliatory fashion , a s the following extract will show
" Permit me t o remove a n impression acquired perhaps from the last letter I had the honour o f addressing you from Tako
the extract i n your letter o f the 12th Novr . gains a force and point i n translation which the original was not intended t o convey . I t was not meant t o substantiate a n offensive charge , but simply declarative o f reputed fact with its remoter consequences . We repose the fullest confidence i n the honour and rectitude o f your intentions and I am sorry i f any expression i n my letter has excited a question o n that subject . The friendly relations existing o n the part o f both Companies demand a free interchange o f opinions o n a l l points affecting these relations
based o n this prin ciple my communication was frank and unreserved , but
W. N. SAGE 1 certainly without any design of expressing a want of con fidence .” Douglas left Fort Taku on August 25 , 1840 , proceeded to Fort Stikine , and then made his way down the coast to Fort Langley . He arrived at Fort Vancouver on October 2nd and found the long awaited parchment conferring upon him the rank of Chief Factor . At the early age of thirty seven he had received the highest honor obtainable in the service of the Great Company . The only other chief fac tors who had resided on the Columbia were Dr. McLoughlin , Peter Skene Ogden and Duncan Finlayson . Two months later the new Chief Factor was sent on a delicate mission to California . The objects of that expe dition were stated by Douglas as follows in the " Trading Expedition MS . " , now in the Bancroft collection : " We are to proceed with an adventure of goods to Cali fornia , with the view jointly of purchasing the produce of that country and forwarding a large herd of live stock by the overland route to the Columbia , under escort of a party of 30 officers and men now on board the vessel . We have also circumstances of a political nature in view , which may or may not succeed according to circumstances , but in the event of success the results will be important . " From letters preserved in the British Columbia Ar chives it is now possible to state what those “ political ob jects " were . It is best to allow Douglas to tell the story in his own words by quoting the letter addressed by him to Governor Alvarado of California : “ H. H . B . Coy's Barque Columbia Bay of Monterey , 11th Jany 1841 . " To His Excellency Juan B. Alvarado Govr Genl of the Departments of Upper and Lower California &c&c&c " Most Excellent Sir “ The clear , full and Confidential exposure of the respect ive views of your Government and of the Honble Company ,
which I here represent , made in the course of several inter views , I have lately held with your Excellency , relative to the projected commercial enterprises of the said company in connection with the Californias , leaves no doubt in my mind of the ardent desire of the Departmental Government to aid and advance these views to their fullest extent, from a conviction of their ultimate advantage to the country ; and as far as I am individually interested , no more formal guarantee is necessary to assure me of these favourable dis positions , but since your Excellency was pleased , at my re quest , to permit me to address you this note , in reference to the subjects in question , and that I feel assured your re corded sentiments will possess great weight with the Honble Company , and moreover also greatly expedite our pros pective arrangements , I will take the liberty of concisely stating under three separate heads , the leading points of the propositions I had the honour of laying before you , and the substance of your Excellency's replies to these several propositions . " 1stly . If the Honble Hudsons Bay Company should determine to embark in the general commerce of this coun try , to sail one or more of their vessels under the Mexican flag , with any of their officers , in command , who may be come subjects of the Mexican republic , will the Government stand pledged to obtain with as little delay as possible , a removal of the legal disabilities which exclude the subjects and vessels of other nations from the coasting trade of the Mexican Territories . “ 2ndly . Will the Government also grant to the Honble Hudsons Bay Company a building lot , of the usual size , say of 100 varas on every side , of our own selection , in a con venient position for shipping and receiving goods, within the harbour of San Francisco , together with the common right of pasturage for the cattle and horses of the estab lishment . “ 3rdly. Will the Government also concede to the Honble Hudson's Bay Company the privilege of bringing to the Country a Party not exceeding 30 Beaver Hunters in order to extend their hunting operations into every part of the
W. N. SAGE Country ; provided that the persons in question , submit to the legal formalities and become subjects of Mexico— " In answer to the first proposition — I understand that His Excellency the Governor , promises to issue a trading license , in the usual form , to any or more of our vessels on their arrival at Monterey , when they will immediately pro ceed to San Blas for the regular papers of registry , as by law appointed ; and that his Excellency will issue letters of naturalization to one or more of the Honble Company's officers who may be placed in command of the vessels , so employed , on the coasts of the Californias . " “ In answer to the second proposition , I understand that his Excellency the Governor , offered in the first instance to grant a building lot , in any convenient part of the harbour of San Francisco , at our selection , with the common right of pasturage for the cattle and horses of the Establish ment , in the name of any of our officers who may become subjects of Mexico , and that in my last interview his Excel lency further offered to dispense with the latter condition and to permit the Honble Company to hold the said grant in their own name and right. " In answer to the third proposition — I understand that his Excellency , will permit the Honble Hudson's Bay Com pany to bring to this country the stated number of 30 Beaver Hunters , provided that such persons be brought to the regular ports of entry , and submit to a l l the legal forms o r naturalization , i n which case , they will b e licensed t o hunt i n all parts o f the frontier and receive passports from Gov ernment for that purpose . “ That the Government will also compel all such persons who may b e i n the service o f the said Company t o execute faithfully the conditions and stipulations o f their agree ments with the said Company . Having thus briefly noticed t o the best o f my recollec tion the substance o f your answers , Will your Excellency please t o state i f you conceive , that I have i n any particular , inadvertently fallen into error .
" I have the honour to be Your Excellency's most obedient and very humble Servant . “( sgd.) JAMES DOUGLAS . " It is unnecessary to comment on this letter . It sets forth in detail the policy of the Hudson's Bay Company . Douglas was making a bold bid for a large share , in the coasting trade of the Californias . The company was plan ning to erect a post at Yerba Buena , or San Francisco , and the sympathy of the departmental government was essen tial . Sir George Simpson , who visited California during this same year , 1841 , prophesied in his narrative that the country would soon fall to either the American or the Brit ish , for the foreigners outnumbered the Mexicans ten to one , monopolized the trade of the country and controlled its resources . That Douglas actually considered the pos sibility of becoming a Mexican citizen and settling in Cali fornia is evident from a letter written by him on April 20 , 1841 , to Alexander Caulfield Anderson , a clerk in the com pany's service . After pointing out the shortcomings of the Mexican government in California , Douglas adds these illuminating sentences : " Inviewof a l l these evils , I would nevertheless , cheer fully become a citizen o f that country provided I could d o s o i n company with a party o f friends respectable from their numbers , and powerful enough t o restrain oppression . “ The Government I ascertained are favourably disposed towards foreigners o f respectable character , and will give every encouragement i n their power t o such persons , i n fact I could have obtained a handsome grant o f land o n a simple application
but my views are not yet fixed a s t o the future . ” One can only surmise that Douglas was waiting for the advent o f Sir George Simpson , who arrived the following August , before committing himself t o the Californian ven ture . The post a t Yerba Buena , established i n 1841 , was not a success , and the Hudson's Bay Company soon abandoned i t . But by the time i t was given up the American settlers were arriving i n Oregon i n ever increasing numbers , and after Champoeg and the events which followed , the issue
was never in doubt . Not only McLoughlin and Douglas were able to read “ the writing on the wall , ” but the Gov ernor - in - Chief, Sir George Simpson , as early as 1841 , be came convinced that the company should seek a site for a new depot on the south end of Vancouver Island . On his voyage to Sitka in that year Simpson noted the possibilities of this portion of the country , which he prophecied would become , in time , “ the most valuable section of the whole coast above California . " Douglas accompanied Simpson on this journey to Alaska , and it is evident from a little note book in the Archives of British Columbia , inscribed " Con tinuation of voyage to Sitka , " that Simpson talked freely with Douglas on matters relating to the policy of the com pany . It is rather typical of Douglas that he has , with characteristic care , placed on record the statements of the Governor - in -Chief on such crucial topics as the renewal of the company's exclusive license to trade , the possibility of the abolition of this monopoly by the action of the pro vincial legislature of Canada , and also the reorganization of the company to include a new and higher grade of commis sioned officers to be styled " Councillors . " Itisasafein ference that Simpson would not discuss such subjects even with a chief factor unless he was absolutely certain of his man . That Douglas considered himself at liberty to record notes of these conversations is noteworthy . Thus one is not surprised to learn that it was James Douglas who was despatched in 1842 to search the southern coast of Vancouver Island for a suitable site for the erection of the new depot of the company . Douglas chose the " port or canal of Camosack , " where under his direction Fort Victoria wa serected in March , 1843. But the depot was not moved north until 1849 , three years after the settlement of the boundary by the Oregon Treaty . Fort Vancouver still remained the center of the fur trade , and it witnessed stirring days while the Provisional Government was being established and the settler was displacing the fur trader in Oregon . In 1845 the Hudson's Bay Company accepted the ©Simpson , Narrative of a Journey round the World during the years 1841 and 1842 , volume I , page 182 .
Provisional Government and Douglas became a district officer . In that year McLoughlin tendered his resignation . Peter Skene Ogden and James Douglas became the Com mittee of management for the Columbia District . It is rather difficult to determine just what were the relations between McLoughlin and Douglas during the in tensely difficult period which preceded McLoughlin's resig nation . There is a suggestion abroad that perhaps Doug las was none too loyal to the man who had done so much for him . It is intensely difficult to substantiate this charge against Douglas , but it is equally difficult to prove that he was entirely guiltless in this regard . Possibly when the Hudson's Bay Archives in London are fully open to re search students and access can be had to Douglas ' letters to the Governor and Committee , if such letters do exist, one may be able to determine whether or not Douglas preferred his company to his friend . If he did perhaps he should not be judged too harshly . By nature he and McLoughlin differed fundamentally . McLoughlin became an Oregonian and his memory is still treasured in that great state . Douglas did not throw in his lot with the new commonwealth . From some of his later letters it is evident that he did not always sympathize with the American people . He was intensely British in feeling and later seems to have enjoyed his work as a British Colonial Governor . He may even have judged McLoughlin rather harshly . Certainly his reference to the great doctor after his death is not perhaps as warm and eulogistic as it might have been . But it was a trying time for both men , and Douglas was never one who would sac rifice what he considered his duty to his company even upon the most holy altar of friendship . Douglas remained for three years at Fort Vancouver after the resignation of Dr. McLoughlin had taken effect . During this time Peter Skene Ogden ranked as his superior officer . But Ogden was often away from the depot and Douglas was left in charge . American settlers were coming into the Puget Sound region and it was evident that the days of the company in Oregon were numbered . North of the International Boundary it was still possible for the Gov-
ernor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay to maintain a fur trading empire . But to do so they had to control Vancouver Island even at the expense of colonizing it . In the great year of the California gold rush the company obtained from the British Government a Royal Grant ceding Vancouver Island at the nominal rental of seven shillings a year on condition that colonists were brought out . About the same time Governor Joseph Lane formally proclaimed the establishment of Oregon Ter ritory as an integral part of the United States of America . In May , 1849 , Douglas left Fort Vancouver . It was the end of an era . The Hudson's Bay Company were abandoning their great depot on the Columbia !