, 1859-12-02
OENrnAL LAND OFFICE,
Sept 90, 1859. !

0NrnAL LAND OFFICE,
Sept 30, 1859.
tr-la rHros. Eaq. SuTrsyOT General:
- -Arriioation has been made to the
l-rFinrri u he Rev. J. B. A. Brouil-
- - i-rruriiou1 70 the Surveyor Gene
81 Il Wa1tinrinn Territory 10 survey and
= rr.n uhai 4 knoun as the "St. James
Oarl Mirliou- claim, In virtue Of the
rrfr.sraa oftach claims by the lst section
fnr 80 q CougrcEs, approved Aug. IA,
fn11 ortatilrhing "tho territorial govern
- Il ururon.H n which Il is declared
49, a. t.ils 10 The land, not exceeding
af1 urrra. ~ occupied as missionary
rrr-rs anrug the Indian tribes in said
trrrrry. iorsther with the improvements
ftruu.. h confirmed aud established in
a. srrulai religious societies to which said
ni.i1aaTy stations respectively belong"
n ioCaiion Of this mission places it on
. tari e country which II is understood
- lea claimed under the Sd article Of
- treaty concluded 10 lS46 between the
urirf States and Great Britain, 10 which
d i srrocd that 'the poSsessory rights Of
~ mudtoub Bay Company, and Of all
nIiIl1h subjects who may be already in
- oocupation Of land, or other property
hufully acquired within the said territory,
AL bs respected"
We gather from q connected plat Of the
Tufriory, that the country on which these
''pa1lcEsory" rights existed is on the north
de Of the Columbia river, extending from
toguthips 3 to north, range l west, and
township north, ranges 2 and east, en-
hTacing some 10000 acres.
II e claimed, on the part Of the mission,
that these possessory rights are now ex-
tinct, by the expiration Of the Charter, on
he SOth May last, Of the Hudson's Bay
Company; and in support Of this averment,
rciersnve Is made to the report Of the Sc
lsct Committee on the Hudson's Bay Com
pany, communicated from the Commons to
The Lords in ihe year 1857, and dispatches
Of the 10th July, and l4th August, 1858,
from the British Minister, Sir Edward B,
Lytton, 10 Governor Douglas Of British
Columbia. The report distinctly shows
ths pOssessory right was merely a license
70 the Company TO trade-did not convey
utle 10 the soil; and one Of the dispatches,
q 10th July, 1858, according to the tran
script furnished by Rev Mr.. Brouillet, ex-
plicitly declares that "the legal connexion
Of the Hudson's Bay Company with Van
coaVer's Island, will shortly be severed by
the resumption Of the Grown of the grant
of the soil, and adds, that "the legal rights
On the continent opposite terminates in
May next" (ls50.)
The posessOry privileges thus shown to
b extinct, the title Of the United States is
disencumbered, and becomes absolute in
the premises, and consequently they are no
longer an impediment to the survey Of the
lands formerly covered thereby.
You will, therefore, proceed to extend
the lines Of the public surveys over the
tract Of country in question, where the
aforesaid possessory privileges have be-
cone extinct; will make regular returns Of
survey, and transmit approved township
plats thereof, laying of the Mission, on the
pTinaples laid down in the 9th section oil
tho act Of Congress, approved 9th Sep
tember, 1850, U. S. Statutes, Vol. 8, page
t9s, and appropriately representing it on
he plat Of the township in which the same
nay be situated, and will Of course proper.
D. designate on the official plats the tracts
reserved by the United States for military
o. other purposes
Very respectfully,
Your obt serv't,
JOS. S. WILSON,
AcliRg Commissioner