Mobile register and journal., 1845-02-19


 Montreal in cuhsequence oI having heard of the pro. ject of the Pacific Fur Company and win the design of anticipating II. On their way dowa they buIlt huts hoisled flags aud bestoN names by way ofta. ng possession for their Sovereign. They ariye at Astoria some months after the post had been esab- shed and were treated with great kindness by their former associates, then partners in the new Company Messrs. M Dougall, Mackay and Stuart. This Com. pany established he first Briiiah trading osts o The CoiHmba; and yet they had been anticipated by Mr. Asiors Company. which, m the course of the sum- mer. bu'll several other trading posts the interior of ihe country, one al the Okauagan, the Colum. ba, and 400 miles from it's mouth.
 The party from St. Lotus, under Mir Hunt, as- cended the Missouri to the of the ArIckara In- dians, near the Great Bend, and thence pursued their journey by land the Rocky Mountains Cross ing the ridge the 45h degree of latitude, they descended branch of the Lewis to the Columbia and reached Astoria in the spring oi 1872 News was very received of the entire destruction of the Tonqun, with her and cargo near Nootka Sound. On the 9th of May, 1872, the Ahip Beaver with supplies and reinlorcements arrived at Astoria from New York; and Mir. Hunt went in her to visit the Russian settlements, leaving the post in charge of MT. m'Doug Il. one Uf the Scotch partners who had been long Tn the service ot the Northwest Com pany. In January, 1913, news of the declaration of war by the U. States against Great Britain reach ed Astoria by persons sent lrnm New York and in June MT. M'favish, one of the partners of the Northwest Company, arrived from Canada bringing rumors of the approach of British naval force to l take possession of the mouth of the Columbia. This announcement received Tth evident atisfaction by M'Dougall and his brother Britons, three of whom l immediately left the Pacific Company and entered into the service of the rival Northwest Company The rest of the partners resolved 10 follow their ample, unless supplies should arrIye from York. l The Lark, sent out with prov sions. was wrecked | near the Sandwich Islands and thus supplies came. About this time Mr. Hunt, having sent from the llussan settlements a cargo of furs 10 Canton, chartered Ut Wahoo the Albati oss of Boston and proceeded in her 10 Astoria, with o ihe decla- ration of war. T ough al first astounded by the re- solution oi his pariaers, he at last coincded and again sailed for the South Pacific. At one of the Washington Islands he learned that a British suua dron on it's way to Astoria, ,upon which he has tened thither in the American brig PedIar, arriving | Feb 28, 18l4
 menIs had been already decided On the 7,h of Oc- tober, 1913, Messrs. McTayish and Stuart. with a body of men in the service of the Northwest Compa- ny, reached Astoria, destitute of provisions and am nunilion. while the occupants of the fortified post | were supplied with boib They brought information however, winch proved 10 be correct, that an armed | ship, the lsaac Todd, fitted out by the Northwest Company al London, was on her way to the Colum- bia, undercnnvos of rigae, to destroy eury thing American in haf quarter They prepared to purchase the establishment and 10 engage their own services all persons conceded with il, which the partners at Astoria. under McDongall. assened: and agree ment was sign,d Oct. l6, 1913, by winch cali the establishments furs and property" of the Pacific Company were sold to the Northwest Company for about SA0,000. While this transfer was going on, the British so,p of war Raccoon, Capt. Black, en- tered the Columbia te capture the fort. He found the U. S. flag waving ihe factory, which al once su,rendeedb by McDouga The Captain rais- ed he British flag and, with great furmaty changed lhe name of he port from Astoria to port Gorge This whole affair was managed by McDougall, who refused dehnd the place snd accept aid in doing SD rendered fy the Indians in the vicinity. Three mouths afterwards, on the 2Slh February, 1874, Mir Hunt arrived m the brig Pedlar, 10 convey the pro periy of the Company to Canton. He found McDou gail in charge of the factory, agent of thai Company, bvt as a partner Of the Northwest Com pan, and lr had only, therefore, to close its con eerns, and turn back to the United Smtes by way 0 Canton, whiher ihe rest of the Company proceeded across the Continent. - -.
 Such are he crcuDstances attending the establish nen and downfall of this important trading post l will be seen, from the narrative, to have been ih, first post established on the waters of the Co
 umba; thohgh it's chief importance, in connection with the rival claims to the ownership of Oregon arises from its relation the fourth argument urged by the United States. We shall refer to this in ou next article upon this subject.