[72] See our volume xxviii, p. 38, note 18.—Ed.
[73] The joint occupancy of Oregon was not determined by the provisions of the Treaty of Ghent, but by a separate convention made (1818) at London. The renewal occurred as Farnham states, by the convention of 1827 signed at London by Albert Gallatin on the part of the United States, and Charles Grant and Henry U. Addington for Great Britain; see Treaties and Conventions between the United States and Other Powers (Washington, 1889), pp. 415-418, 426, 427.—Ed.
[74] For Fort Vancouver see our volume xxi, p. 297, note 82; the early history of Fort George is narrated in our volume vi, p. 241, note 42. After the headquarters of the fur company were withdrawn from Fort George, it was maintained chiefly as a post of observation to report incoming vessels; a single clerk lived at this place, raised vegetables and flowers in his garden, and welcomed travellers. The foundations of Fort George were visible at Astoria as late as 1870, but are now entirely built over.—Ed.
[75] For Fort Nisqually see De Smet’s Letters in our volume xxvii, p. 386, note 203. Fort Langley was founded in 1827 upon the north bank of the Fraser, not far from the mouth; it was an important dépôt for supplying the interior posts. While James Yale was factor in charge the buildings were totally destroyed by fire (1840), but a new stockade was immediately erected. In 1858 Langley was the prospective capital of the newly-erected province of British Columbia, and a town site was surveyed about the fort; but being considered indefensible from a military point of view, and on the wrong side of the river, New Westminster was chosen instead and Fort Langley was abandoned.
Fort McLoughlin was erected upon the seacoast in 1833, and placed in charge of Dr. Tolmie; but the location was insecure because of the hostility of the neighboring Indians, and it was therefore abandoned in 1843, the effects being removed to the newly-established Fort Camosum at Victoria.—Ed.
[76] Fort Simpson, named in honor of Sir George, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s governor, was not upon Dundas Island, but on the mainland opposite. Its first site was six miles above the mouth of Nass River (1831). Three years later it was removed to the Chimsyan Peninsula, below Nass River—one of the finest harbors on the coast. It is still maintained as a Hudson’s Bay post, being known as Port Simpson; recent efforts have been made to make this a port of entry for Pacific Ocean traffic.—Ed.
[77] For Fort Fraser see ante, p. 56, note 68. Fort St. James, at the outlet of Stuart Lake (latitude 54° 26′ north), was built in 1806 by Simon Fraser amid a large population of Indians, and has been maintained continuously to the present. After the advent of the Hudson’s Bay Company, Fort St. James was made the emporium of New Caledonia, the residence of a chief factor. In 1828 it was visited by Sir George Simpson, who entered in proper state with buglers and bagpipers, the governor and his suite mounted, amid the welcoming discharge of cannon and musketry (A. McDonald, Peace River, pp. 24, 25). For two views of this post see Morice, Northern Interior of British Columbia, pp. 102, 110.
Fort McLeod is the oldest permanent post west of the Rocky Mountains. Founded in 1805 by Simon Fraser, it has maintained a continuous existence to the present. It was named for Archibald Norman McLeod, a colleague of its founder in the North West Company. Located on a lake of the same name, near the source of Finlay River, in latitude 55° north, it was chiefly useful as a supply post on the route from Canada via Peace River.
Chilcotin was founded (about 1828) on a river of the same name tributary to the upper Fraser, about latitude 52° as an outpost for Fort Alexandria (see ante, p. 44, note 53). Difficult of maintenance because of the troublesome character of the Chilcotin Indians, it was abandoned before 1850.
In addition to the posts mentioned, the Hudson’s Bay Company had in Farnham’s time within New Caledonia, Forts Babine, Connolly, and George—the latter on the upper Fraser, the two former on lakes of the same name in the far north.—Ed.