The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-05-26

'hcn, as 10 this geographical division Of the country
WIN saying that our title TO these is better than tina
OF the British, but that neither 10 perfect for want o
settlement; and that now, proposed in 1924, the,
should follow the fate OF the continental divisions
front Of which they le.
Frazet's river and its valley, known in north west
ern geography se New Cali donna, is the next d.
visisa of the disputed country to which shall ask
the attention. OF the Senate. Il is river Of about
thousand miles 10 length, following its windings,
rising in the Rocky mountains, opposite tho head oil
the Unjigah, or Peace river, which h9Ss into the
Frozen ocean in latitude about 10. The course Of
this river e nearly north and south, rising in ati.
tude 65, Sowing south 10 near latitude 40, and
along that paIGel, and just north OF IL, 10 the gull
OF Georgia, into which IL falls behind Vancouyer's
island. The upper part OF this nyer is good 70,
navigation the lower half plungng through volcanic
ehssn,s Ia mountains Of rock, Is wholly unnayiga,
bic for any species Of eran. This river was diseoy.
cred by Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1893, was SET
tied by the Northwest Company la 1906, and soon
covered by their establishments from head to mouth.
No American or Spaniard had ever lefl track upon
this river or It's valley. Our claim to il, as far as
can see, rested wholly upon the treaty with Spain
Of 1879 and her claim rested wholly upon those
discoveries among the islands, the value Of which,
as coaferring claims upon the continent Il has been
my province 70 show in our negotiations with Rus
STA in 1924 Al the time that we acquired the Spanish
claim 10 Fazer's river II had already been dis
covered twenty-six years by the Britishi had
been settled by them for twelve years wa known
by British namei and no Spaniard had ever made
a track on ia banks. New Caledonia, or Western
Caledonia, was the name which Il then bore; and it
30 happens that an American citizen, a native Of
Vermont respectfully kuoSn To the senator's now
present from that State, and who had spent twenty
years Of his life in the hyperborean regions OF
Northwest America, in publishing an account Of
his travels and sol0urnlngs IN that quarter actually
published description Of this New Caledonia as
a British province at the very moment that we were
getting IL from Spain, and without the least suapi
eion that Il belonged to SPAIN | speak Of Mr.. Da-
vid Harmon, whose journal Of nineteen years resi-
denes between attitudes Al and IS IN Northwestern
America, was published at Andover, In his native
State IT, the year 1890 the precise year after we had
purchased this New Caledonia from the Spaniards.
read not from the volume itself which Is not in the
library OF Congress, but from the London Quarter
ly Review, January number, 1922, as reprinted at
Boston; article, WESTERN CALEDONIA.
The descent oiths Peace river through deep chasm the
rer above mentioned the pore1 country behind
them, TO which they gave the " New Caledonia-a
name, howeVer, which, being already occupied by the
Austaaslans might be changed 10 that Of
Wsdsrn Calsdoaid. This passage lies in latitude 50 de.
grees 10 minutes Mackenzie had crossed the Rocky chain
many before in latitude 81 degrees and descended
large river flowing to the southwark named Tscoutche
Jesse which he conceived to be the Columbia but Is
known empty itsefsbout Brch bay OF vancouver
latitude ~ degrees whereas the mouth Of the Columbia
lies In 40 degrees 10 minutes Another river called the
Caledonia rares riyer) holding parable course 10 the
Tacoutche Tesss Columbia falls into the sea near the
Admiralty Inlet Of vancouver in Latitude - degrees and
form, natural boundary between the territory Of Cal
Continued line on the same parallel With he aIs Of The
Woods and leaving about tw degrees Of Latitude between
1t and the Columbia Its northern boundary may be taker
In latitude 81 degrees close the Of the Rus
alan settlements The length therefore, will be about
and the breadth from the mountains TO the Pacific from
3sn TO $50 geographical miles.
The whole Of this country In fact lnersecet
with rivers and lakes that Nr Harmon thinks onesixf
part OF its surface may be considered water The arges
OF the latter yet visited named stuas lake, and Is sup
posed to be about 400 miles In circumference post hS
been established s margin In latitude degrees 30 min
north Longitude las degrees at Fifty miles TO tn,
westward Of this is FraIer lake, about eighty ninety
m lies in circumference: here too post established IL
1905 third Of sixty seventy miles In ccumlerenei
has been named McLeod lake the shore Of which for
has been built In latitude degrees north longitude Ia
degrees The OF this lake fall into the Peac,
river; hose flowing out Of the other supposed
empty themselves Into the Pacific and ars probably th
two rivers pointed out by Vancouver Point Essng
ton had occasion to observe in former article TIL
immense quantity of salmon which annually visit thes
lakes leave doubt whatever OF their communca
ton with the Pacc and the absence OF this fish from Nc
Leods lake makes it almost equally certain that It's Quite
is not into that The river flowing out Of Stuart
lake through the popuous tribes OF the Naeote
ainsI who that white people up in large boats
and the sea- which fully proved by the guns pots
CLOTH tar and other articles found in their possession
Most of the mountains of Western Caledonia clohs
with timber trees to their SUBMITS consisting prime
paly fspruce and other kinds Of FIR birch poplar aspen
cypress and generally speaking all those which foun
the opposite side OF the Rocky mountains The larg
animals common to North America such buffalo elk
moose, rendesr bears SC. not in this
territory but there scarcity OF the beaver otter
VERNE msrten foxes Of different kinds and the
fur animals any more than of wolves, badgers and pole
CATS fowls also Of all the descriptions found in Mort
America plentiful in Western Caledonia; cranes vis
them in prodigious numbers do swans busard geess
| and ducks"
This is the account given by Mr.. Harmon O
New Caledonia, and given Of it by him at the ex
mr. haf Ue air tha
title to it Of this Spanish title Of which the Span
iards never heard, the narrator seems to have bee
as profoundly ignorant as the Spaniards wer
themselves; and made his description Of New Caledo
MIA as Of a British possession, without any NOR
reference to adverse title than if he had bee
| speaking Of Canada. So much for the written de
| scrpton: now let us look at the map, and see hoy
1t stands there. Here is a map-a $40 40 map
which will show the features of the country, an
the names of the settlements upon it. Here is Fra
zer's river, running from $50 to AGO, and hero is
line of British posts upon it, from Fort Mcleod, Q
its head, to Fort Langley, at its mouth, and fror
| Thompson's Fork, one side, to Stuarts Fork, o
the other. And here are clusters of British names
imposed by the British, visible everywhere; Fort
George, ST. James, Simpson, Thompson Frazer
Mcleod, Langley, and others: rivers and lakes wit
the same names, and others; and here is Deserter
creek, so named by Mackenzie, because his guild
deserted him there in July, 1893; and here is In
4 "
people were the most friendly to strangers that
had ever seen; and here another called Rasca
village, so named by Mackenzie ffty-three year
ago, because its inhabitants were the most rascal
Indians he had ever SEEM and here is the Representa-
ton of that famous boundary line $40 40', whc
is supposed to be the exact boundary Of America
territorial rights in that quarter, and which happen
to include the whole Of New Caledonia, except M
Leods fort and the half Of Suar's lake, and sprnI
which IS left to the British, while we take tn
branch which flows from it. This line takes in al
rivers lakes, forts, villages See how it goes Star
ing at the sea, it gives us, by quarter of an inc
on the map, Fort Simpson, so named after tn
British Governor Simpson, and founded by III
Hudson Bay Company. Upon what principle "
take this British fort know not--except it be o
the assumption that sacred right and title ben
adiusted a minute, by the aid Of these 40 minute
so appositely determined by the Emperor Paul
charter to a fur company in 1899, to be on tn
straight line, the bad example of even slight devil
ton from il at the should not be allowed eve
| to spare British fort away up at Point McIntyr
| in Chatham sound On this principle we can vi
derstand the inclusion, by quarter of an inch q
| the map, of this remote and isolated British pos
The cutting in two Of Stuarts lake, which the liz
| 4 = hc n