East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1917-09-22

Ron region, and the Spanish cession
was thought to strengthen that claim.
Russia, in 1924. abandoned all claim
to the territory south Of flfty-four de-
grees and forty minutes north lati-
tude. This left stretch of coast
more than twelve and one-half de-
grees in extent which was now clear
of all claims except those Of Great
Britain and the United States but the
British claim was not so easy to get
rid of as were those Of Russia and
Spain.
Active discussion of these conflict
1 ing claims of Great Britain and the
United States began as early as 1915,
after the close of the war of 1912, dur
| ing which the post at Astoria. estab-
Iished by the Astor company in 1911,
was taken possession of by a British
naval force. Under the treaty of peace
OF 1914. the United States claimed the
right to the restoration of Astoria.
/ 1t was in this manner that the So
called Oregon question destined to
| trouble the two countries for an en-
| tire generation, had its rise. In 1919
/ a treaty was entered into at London
! by which first. the northern boun-
dary of Louisiana was declared to run
| from the Lake of the Woods west
/ ward to the crest Of the Rocky noun
tains along the forty-ninth parallel of
| latitude; and second the country
/ west OF the Rocky mountains to the
| Pacific was declared to be free and
! open to the trade and settlement of
/ both Americans and Englishmen. This
was known as the Joint occupation
agreement. and It was to run for a
period of ten years. At that time no
! one thought seriously of occupying
I OREGON country except for the fur
| trade. But this trade was so profit
| E BILE that the great fur companies,
] both English and American. tried to
! get control of IT Mr.. Astor was first
| on the ground with a plan OF con-
recting the trade OF the Columbia
valley with the Mississippi by means
| Of a chain of posts. All furs secured
| west Of the Rockies were to be car
/ ried to Astoria. also the furs secured
| by tra ders along the coast TO the north
! and to the south pr the Columbia
were to be assembled there. Thence
| his ships would carr them to China
and the far east to be exchanged for
silks and tea and other valuable goods
| for the markets OF the Atlantic coast.
! Astor made a good beginning, but his
| losses incident to the war were very
great and when in 1918 Astoria was
| formally restored to the United
| States, he did not see fit to revive his
| trade there.
The Northwest and Hudson Bay
! Companies.
! The Northwest Company of Cana
da was on the ground when Astor's
party retreated from the Columbia.
and in fact that company had bought
the furs and other property OF the
Astor Company prior to the coming OF
the English warship which formally
took possession of the post in the
name of the British king. The trade
which Astor had begun was therefore
carried on and extended by the
Northwest Company. After few years
this company was absorbed by or uni
ted with the older Hudson Bay Com
pany, and in 1924. Doctor John Nc
LouEhlin. the company's agent for the
entire trans-Rocky mountain country,
! built Fort Vancouver on the Columbia
nearly opposite the mouth of the Will
lamette river as the headquarters for
| the western trade.
! Vancouer was thus the metropolis
! OF vast woodland empire. From its
wharves went forth each spring the
companies of traders and trappers,
| whose duty it was to ascend the great
river and its branches In search of
| beaver skins and Indian trade The
4 fleets OF batteaux returned to Van
! couver in the fall laden deep with furs
destined for the oriental market.
Doctor McLouEhlin was a type Of
! benevolent despot who ruled kindly
! but firmly over traders, trappers,
rivermen, Indians and settlers alike
surprisingly complete. Rival traders
| found themseles wholly unable to dis
! pute his sway. In trade matters he
was inflexibe. But as n man. in his
dealings with strangers of every de-
scription, whether trader, missionary
90 colonist he was always kind
thoughtful and generous. In fact, the
early American settlers in the Oregon
country long ago agreed to call him
the Father of Oregon"
American Pioneers.
Tho fur company ruled over Ore
gon for about the space of one gen
Grafton. Their business is at best
temporary: for when a country is
wanted for the making of farms and
! homes. the Indian trader and the
trapper find their occupation gone,
! In Oregon, as everywhere else in Ann
erica, the real development of the
| country began when the fur trader
was forced to give way to the farmer
And though the Indian trade "pion-
eered the wav for civilization" it was
the frontier farmers, who now began
to cross the plains and mountains
year after year with their trains of
wagons and cattle, who were to he
the real builders of our state. We
must not forget however that these
pioneer farmers were in turn pre-
ceded or guided by missionaries who
were striving to carry the light of
| Christianity to the beniGhted Indians |
! of Oregon. Poth Protestants and |
| Catholics planted their mission sta |
tions in the Oregon country. and |