It was a grand monopoly, but it must be said of it that no kingly power ever ruled over savage subjects with such wisdom and discretion. Of necessity, they treated their savage workmen kindly, but they managed to make them fill the coffers of the Hudson Bay Company with a wealth of riches, as the years came and went. Their lives and safety and profits all depended upon keeping their dependents in a good humor and binding them to themselves. The leading men of the company were men of great business tact and shrewdness, and one of their chief requisites was to thoroughly understand Indian character.
They managed year by year so to gain control of the savage tribes that the factor of a trading post had more power over a fractious band, than could have been exerted by an army of men with guns and bayonets. If, now and then, a chief grew sullen and belligerent, he was at once quietly bought up by a judicious present, and the company got it all back many times over from the tribe, when their furs were marketed.
It was the refusal of the missionaries of Oregon to condone crime and wink at savage methods, as the Hudson Bay Company did, which first brought about misunderstanding and unpleasantness, as we shall see in another place.
It was this power and controlling influence which met the pioneer fur traders and missionaries, upon entering Oregon. They controlled the savage life and the white men there were wholly dependent upon them.
In 1811 an American fur company at Astoria undertook to open business upon what they regarded as American soil. They had scarcely settled down to work when the war of 1812 began and they were speedily routed.
In 1818 a treaty was made, which said, "It is agreed that any country that may be claimed by either party on the Northwest coast of America westward of the Stony Mountains shall, together with its harbors, bays, creeks and the navigation of all rivers within the same, be free and open for ten years from the date of the signature of the present convention, to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two powers; it being well understood that the agreement is not to be construed to the prejudice of any claim which either of the two high contracting parties may have to any part of said country; nor shall it be taken to affect the claims of any other power or state to any of said country; the only object of the high contracting parties in that respect being to prevent disputes and differences among themselves."
That looked fair and friendly enough. But how did the Hudson Bay Company carry it out? They went on just as they had done before, governing to suit their own selfish interests. They froze out and starved out every American fur company that dared to settle in any portion of their territory. They fixed the price of every commodity, and had such a hold on the various tribes that a foreign company had no chance to live and prosper.
It so continued until the ten-year limit was nearly up, when in 1827 the commission representing the two powers met and re-enacted the treaty of 1818, which went into effect in 1828. It was a giant monopoly, but dealing as it did with savage life, and gathering its wealth from sources which had never before contributed to the world's commerce, it was allowed to run its course until it came in contact with the advancing civilization of the United States, and was worsted in the conflict.
With the adoption of the Ashburton treaty the Hudson Bay Company was shorn of much of its kingly power and old time grandeur. But it remained a money-making organization. Under the terms of the treaty the great corporation was fully protected. This Ashburton treaty was written in England and from English standpoints, and every property and possessory right of this powerful company was strictly guarded. The interests of the company were made English interests.
Under this treaty the United States agreed to pay all valuations upon Hudson Bay Company property south of forty-nine degrees; while England was to make a settlement for all above that line. The company promptly sent in a bill to the United States for $3,882,036.27, while their dependent company, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, sent in a more modest demand for $1,168,000. These bills were in a state of liquidation until 1864, when the United States made a final settlement, and paid the Hudson Bay Company $450,000 and the Puget Sound Company $200,000.