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

from its mouth that 1t large river, he sscsndsd
eighteen miles and cast anchor upon the Len bank at the
he had dseoysrsTeS Il his river and Of the asg6borns
country and ser having tracked with the natives he
the sea- after met Captain Vancouver, who
sailing under the orders Of the British government in search
eovery which he had made and communicated the
chart Of which he had drawn up Vancouver seat his
miles, took possession Of Il the of his Brtshne
majesty gave the name Of Columbia and to the bay
bay Since this period the country has been much IRE.
! qusntrdi especially by Americans.
This brief and plain account Of the discovery
The Columbia is valuable for showngi frat, that
discoveIs the river secondly, that showed il 10
British nsygators and thirdly. that Of those 10
, whom we showed Il Immediately claimed Il as Brit
. ish property. We shall soon SEQ that the British
government or its agents in these parts, the North
west Company, gave no attention 10 this claim OF
Mr.. Broushton, so little crediiable TO his candor
and justice. Vancouver, like man OF honor, never
claimed Capt Gray's discovery, but assigned To
him the snuIe credit Of it, with thanks for his
muncauon Of IL 10 himself r.. .
The design Of Mr.. Astor's establishment is thus
spoken Of:
"Mr John Jacob Aston merchant OF New York who
carried alone the trade In fa to the south Of the
lakes Huron and superior and who had acquired by this
eonnsreea Prodgoas fortune believed he gould ys, aug
establishment Of which the entrepot should be at ts
mouth lie communicated his views 10 tbs agents oil the
Northwest Company he wished 10 make this estab
lshment In concert with them but asrsome negotiations
the watering partners , g'Ip.s... SS..I having n,
attempt alone. 1t essential 10 his success that he
should have persons ng accustomed TO trade with the In
dams and he did del ind them. Mr. Alexander
Mckay. rhs sans who had accompanied SIR Alexander
dacksnts in his yOysse.J man bold and enterPrising
Doaad Mackenzie heretofore In the service Of the North
west Company David stuart, and Robert stuart all Of
Canada did the same Finally In the winter Of 1910 Mr.
Wilson Price Hunt OF st. Louis the hssiasPPi having
Joined them they dssrnasd that The expedition should
take place the following spring
This shows a direct communication Of Mr.. Astor's
design TO the North west Company, and Of their re-
fIsal 10 act ia concert with him, because OF the
American character OF the enterprise also the
Why he employed many Canadians IN his service.
Il was for the sake Of having experienced traders TO
assist in conducting his business. IL shows also
that, among other Canadian gentlemen, he had EN-
y ployed Mr.. Alexander Mckay, the faithful COM
panion OF Sir Alexander Mackenzie IN his e1pedl-
luon TO the Pacific ocean in 1893. This gentleman
knew where Mackenzle's discoveries were, and
whether Mr.. Astor was about TO trespass upon
them. This, then, was the time 10 speak: on the
Icontrary the companion Of Mackenzie goes on 10
! assist in laying the foundation Of the American
colony on the Columbia
Mr.. Franchere proceeds
ut Is we'll to state that during sojourn In New York
and before leaving that city, Mr. Mckay believed would
prudent Mr. Jackson the minister plrnpotenary
ofhis Britannia Majesty In order to inform him Of the oh
what he should do In ois rupture between the
two powers niimsing to him that all British sub
dag Afer some none reflections Mr. Jackson said
him that were going to form mercantile establish
was that in case OF a between the two powers,
should be respected British subjects and traders Th,
answer appeared satisfactory and Mr. Mckay believed he
had nothing to fear from that quarter"
? This was in the year l60-seyenteen years after
the discoveries Of Mackenzie, and eight years after
e Mr.. Broughton took possession Of the Columbia in
the name Of his Britannia majesty; and at this time
the minister of Great Britain, on a special commu-
. nication made to him Of Mr. Asors design to occu-
a py the Columbia, has not word to say against 1t.
Op TO that time il had not occurred the British
i government that the Columbia river was theirs!
II The ship Tonquin, carrying the maritime part Of
the expedition, arrived at the m outh Of the Colum
o bia March 25th, 1911. The approach to the coas
e revealed nothing but lofty ranges OF mo untains
white with snow, through gap Of which the great
=. river Of the West entered the The weather
h was bad-he night dark-two boats had beer
/, swamped-no pilots, lights, or buoys-yet the cap
e tain "a rash man who afterwards blew up his ship
a at Nootks) entered safely, and anchored at mid
e night in a commodious harbor. On the 18th o
April after examining both sides Of the bay for the
2 best situation, site was chosen on the south side
e about for FIVE leagues from the sea- and the foun
l. dation Of Astoria began-a name in itself the badg,
"A Of American title On the 18th Of July, the young
Is Astoria received an important visit, which is thus
q described:
IAN ready at the day appointed flor an expedition
inerio and va were preparing to load the canoes
flag which rounding the point called by us TDngu
D. Pofat We ignorant who they might be, for we di
not look for people who (ss the reader
N remember to eros. the continent by the rout
which Captains Lewis and Clarke had followed in 1905.
al winter for this purpose the banks OF the Missouri
r. uncertainty banishel by the nearing Of tn
Is canoe, which landed little quay which ha
~ built to facilitate the unloading of vessel The fla
" which this carried the British flag; and her
n amounedto only nine persons in all man. quite wei
nj hn In
shore, and accostng without ceremony, told that
~ named David Thompson and one of the propr
70 etors of the Northwest Company We invited him to
to lodging which was in one end Of the shed on
being finished A.er the usual hosptaitie
during the preceding winter but that the deserton of
Of his men had obliged him to winter at the foot
the spring he had built and had come to
tabli'hmsnt He added that the ProprieoIs wnte,ing
had Of the mountains rather than enter into comp,
tion with condition that would promise not
trouble them in the trade the eastern sde and TO
tain what he said he produced letter to Mr. Williar
McGillivsay to the same effect
of furs: he had good qaadrant and during sojouTn
eight days which he made ut establishment he had
~ casion to make several astronomical observations"
~ This was a visit of great moment in the histor,
~ Of Astoria and in the consideration of the BIRTHS
~ claim to the Columbia, which has been latel
in brought forward. Mr.. Thompson was one Of tn
il Northwest Company, its astronomer, gentleman
a. science and character, to whom we are greatly in
~ debted for fixing important geographical position
!. in the interior Of North America He had crosse
~ the continent from Montreal simultaneously wit
= Mr.. Astors land expedition from st. Louis, but y
- higher latitude, and arrived few days before il
He came to the Columbia to give the information
10 Mr.. Astors agents that the Northwest Company,
80 avoid competition with them, would abandon al
rs their establishments west Of the mountains, pro
If vitled Mr. Astor would not interfere with them o
- the east. This proposal was agreed to. The val
:. ley of the Columbia left To the free enjoymer
~ Of the Americans and the extension Of posts to tn
~ =, mountains went on without question according Il
~ the original intention The Northwest Company
Y at that tlme no more than the British government
~, had happened yet to take it into its head that tn
!, Columbia river any part it, was British prop
q. erty
c. Mr. Astor's agents proceeded to the establishmer
Of interior posts and the despatch Of parties to hun
ed and trade up the Columbia to the mountains IN
he Okanakan, about six hundred miles up the mort
: side of the river and at the mouth Of the river Z