, 1861-02-28

REPORT OF JAMES IILTON, Esq,
SarreyOr General, UPoa dis etaim, Of tie Puget
Sound icri,nfard! COmpaRg
OFFICE SrRvEYoR GENERAL, ". IT,
Oyml in, W.T., Dsc sth, 1858.
CON'R GEN LAND OFFICE,
Washington City, d. c.:
respectfully beg leave to sub.
nit the following report:
The c are but two claims in Washington Ter.
ritory known as the p. $. Cos claims. One,
called the Ncsgually, being bounded Oh the west
by the shores Of Puget Sound, oil the north by
tue timbcrrd lands south Of the Puyallup river,
on the east by the dense timber that extends
thence TO the western base of the Cascade Noun
tains, and on the south side by tue NiSqualy
river.
On this claim the Company have now several
t'"usand sh' cp, in charge "f Shepherds, aid per-
hagS few hundred cattle Jerq ndiUTG.
/ The other claim, called the Cowlhz Farms, is
near the forks Of the Cowltz river, and contains
about $500 acres Of highly arabic land.
The Nisqually claim consists Of u very extern
sive plain, being generally prairie, with arabic
lands upon the bottoms, or low shelves Of tbs
prairie, but its general character is not fertile; il
is considered admirably adapted to the raising
OF cattle, and much Of the land is also suitable
for &, ain.
The prairie is very irregular in shape-has
many belts Of timber in aud through il, and
growth Of small oak, Of excellent quality, is
thlnly scattered over much Of it,
The Claim, as defined by the map, contains
about $4,000 acres. Of which about 50, 900
acres are prairie or oak openings and the rest
den forest Of fir, cedar and other conifGrous
woods; the bottoms on the Nisquay and other
large streams are very fertile.
The laige and flouriSlIing town Of Steilacoom,
co !tai''ins about 300 inhabitants, and the L. s.
" Fort StciiacoOm," which is the head quarters
Of the Puget Sound Military District. situated
about two mi Is distant from the town Of Stella.
COON, and about 200 American settlers having
iar'Ds ~ seady process Of improvement, are
upon this Nisqualy calm Of theCompany's.
Many Of the old scr, arIs Of thc Hudson Bay
Company, and almost all Oi the r. 5. Agricul.
tural Company, have long since become Ameri.
can citizens by virtue Of our naturalization laws,
and are residing upon farms within the alleged
limits Of the p. S. Ag. Co.'S Nisqually claim, un.
der the former donation and pre-empion laws
To some extent the same is true in regard to
the small claim at the COwlitz.
None Of these American settlers have felt any
doubt as TO their rights, as against the p. S. Ag
Go. An early settlement Of the matter is cer-
Alnly desirable, although practically the Com.
i'any have ling since withdrawn from a hopel,ss
contest with the American settlers, and lately
nave sought to secure me Of the most desira.
ole tracts, such as Fort Nisquay. aud some cul.
uVated farms, by causing their more trusted
agents and employees 10 become naturalized, aud
take their choice farms in parcels of 160 acres
each, as pre- emptors. This was apparently to
save them from being SO taken by those not in
the coniidencc Of the Company.
This COtnnanv inae m. annrar IN have anv
charter, nor ,lo they exhibit any original dona.
lion OF title to lands either lrUm the British crown
or fr0m the Aboripincs
consider that there is no provision BY which
British suIjecis can derive title except through
the crown.
There is no evidence Of any attempt to derive
title from the Grown, and apprehend il was
not competent, under the joint occupation Of
this country, under the convention Of 1918,
known as the treaty Of joint occupation, for
either subjects Of Great Britain, or citizens q
the United States, to legally acquire title to land
from one only Of these nations
II does not appear from the "deed Of settle
ment, or from any other proceeding or papers,
that the company had ever taken possession Of
or claimed by metes and bounds the lands since
claimed, until called upon In 1858, by Surveyor
Gcner Preston, Of Oregon.
II appears that their occupation was like that
Of any other settlers upon Indian lands to be
used as required at the time, and at the time tine
settlements were made BY the Puget Sound Ag
Co., the only British subjects who could legally
occupy the country were the Hudson Bay Com
pany in It's corporate capacity, and under its H.
enc. Tsl f'. -
Il is IN proof that at the treaty Of 1916, the
2. ). Ag. Go. was in occupation Of an indefinite
"a &c Of land-that Il had houses and sheep
folds, cattle pens some fcncil z and improvements