Columbia (District, British North America)

Beginning in 1807, David Thompson , who worked for the Northwest Company , explored much of the territory of the future District of Columbia. In 1811, he discovered the Athabasca Pass in the Rocky Mountains , which became the main access point to the region for the booming fur production. During his trip, Thompson camped near the mouth of the Snake River and on July 9, 1811, erected a sign announcing a claim to this territory from the UK and declaring the Northwest Company’s intention to build a trading post on this site. Continuing down the Columbia River , Thompson reached the mouth of Columbia on July 14, 1811, two months after the arrival of the Tonquin vessel of the Pacific Fur Company (a subsidiary of the American Fur Company John Astor). By the time Thompson arrived, Fort Astoria had already been partially built. Then the Northwest company built Fort Nez Perses. The Pacific Fur Company decided to make Fort Okanogan located north of Fort Okanogan the center of its operations in the interior of the continent, and Fort Astoria, along with other posts of the Pacific Fur Company, were sold to the Northwest Company. During the war of 1812, the reckless commander of the British ship Racoon "captured" the fort, which was already under British jurisdiction. The technical consequence of this was that under the Ghent Treaty, as part of the post-war settlement, the fort was returned to the United States, although no trade was resumed.

In 1815, all operations of the Northwest Company west of the Rocky Mountains were divided between two districts: New Caledonia in the north, deep in the continent, and Columbia in the south, with access to the Pacific Ocean. Since that time, New Caledonia began to receive the bulk of its annual cargo by sea through Colombia, and not by land from Montreal. In the north, the borders of Colombia ran roughly along the south bank of the Thompson River, and in the south, along the southern border of the Columbia River Basin. New Caledonia County lay north and west of the Thompson River. The Thompson River Region was an independent fur trade district centered around a trading post that later grew into the city of Kamloops ; this county served as a bridge between the counties of Columbia and New Caledonia. By 1820, the Northwest Company had six trading posts on the Columbia River and its tributaries.

In 1818, Great Britain and the United States signed a joint border convention that recognized Oregon land as a joint Anglo-American co-ownership. The Americans tried to do business in the region, but these attempts failed due to competition with the Northwest Company (and subsequently with the Gudson Bay Company). The only thing the Americans dominated was the marine fur trade, in which the furs were bought from Aboriginal ships sailing along the coast.

Having started operations in the region, the North-West company found that local Indians, whose life was based on fishing and salmon, did not want to turn into hunters and hunters of furs. The company's activities east of the Rockies were based on the activities of the Indians, and it was difficult for the company to work without such support west of the Rockies. Therefore, starting in 1815, the company began sending groups of Iroquois Indians from the Montreal region, who were experienced hunters, to the Pacific coast. Soon, this became standard policy, and the Hudson's Bay Company, which replaced the Northwestern company, continued this practice. It was hoped that the Iroquois would not only work for the company, but would also teach the art of hunting to the locals, who would also supply the company with furs, but these efforts remained fruitless: the local population did not want to change their lifestyle. Instead of the expected collaboration, clashes broke out between the Iroquois and the local Indians. So, in 1816, two lots of the Northwest Company, accompanied by the Iroquois, explored the Willamette River Valley and the Kauwitz River Valley , reaching the Umpkva River in the south; both expeditions ended in fierce battles between the Iroquois and local Indians. In addition to the Iroquois, the Northwest Company also began to engage the indigenous population of the Hawaiian Islands, and this practice was subsequently continued by the Hudson's Bay Company.

The Northwest company operated in Colombia from 1813 to 1821 with no rivals. The company used the system introduced by the US Pacific company . Every spring, a supply ship arrived from the United Kingdom at Fort Astoria. By this time, fur lots from New Caledonia and the interior of Colombia were gathering there. Supplies were transported to the interior of the continent, and furs were loaded onto a ship that sailed to China . In Guangzhou, furs were exchanged for tea and other Chinese goods, which were delivered by ship to the UK, completing a trip around the world. The letters, correspondence of the company and people were transported via the land route connecting Fort Astoria on the Pacific coast through the Athabasca Pass with Fort William on Lake Superior .

District of Columbia at the time of the Northwest Company could only be called profitable. Many trading posts had many problems. The only profitable areas were the Kutenay and Snake Rivers. In New Caledonia, many furs were mined, but the remoteness of this region made it more expensive. Nevertheless, the North-West company was able to build a functioning trading network, oriented by the Columbia River to the Pacific coast. Another important achievement of the company was the founding of Fort Nez Perses at the confluence of the Snake River and the Columbia River. Fort Nez Perses has long remained a strategically important place, located at the point of convergence of paths from very remote regions. The fort has become an important center for buying horses, a base for expeditions to the southeast and a stopping place for fur teams preparing to overcome the Columbia River Gorge. Trade in furs in China was unprofitable.

In 1821, the Hudson's Bay Company was forcibly merged with the Northwest Company. In the same year, the British Parliament passed a statute requiring the Company to enforce Upper Canada laws in Rupert Land and the District of Columbia. John McLaughlin, who was appointed Company Manager in the Department of Columbia in 1824, relocated the local headquarters to Fort Vancouver (near modern Vancouver ), which became the de facto political center of Colombia. McLaughlin applied British law to British subjects, maintained peace with the Indians, and tried to maintain law and order among American settlers. In 1827, the company reorganized activities in the region west of the Rocky Mountains: the districts of New Caledonia and Colombia were merged into a single Colombian division.

In 1825, on the basis of the former brigade, which carried out mail transportation between Fort Astoria (which was renamed Fort George) and Fort William on Lake Superior, the Express Trading Post York was created, linking Fort Vancouver and the York trading post on the coast of the Hudson Bay . Every spring, two brigades started from both ends of the route and moved towards each other, passing each other in the middle of the road. Each brigade had from 40 to 75 people and from 2 to 5 small boats; these brigades moved at breakneck (for that time) speed. The Indians who lived in the area of ​​the route often paid for goods because they helped to overcome waterfall areas and sections of rivers inaccessible for navigation. The 1839 report mentions that the route was covered in 3 months and 10 days, that is, the average speed of the "express" was 40 km per day. Thus, a system was established for the quick on-land delivery of supplies to intermediate forts and mail forwarding.

Supplies were usually delivered by ship every year to York and Fort Vancouver (both points tried to have an additional annual supply of supplies in case of a shipwreck, etc.), where instead of supplies the ships were loaded with furs. Furs from Fort Vancouver were sold in China, and furs from York were transported to London and sold at an annual auction. Meanwhile, the "express" brigades were delivering supplies to trading posts, collecting furs, and also presented status reports to McLaughlin. This continued until 1846.

The Hudson's Bay company has completely taken control of the fur trade in the region. The American fur company tried to compete for fur production by deploying operations in the Rockies, but the Hudson's Bay Company launched a war against it, contributing to the depletion of furs in that region and selling furs at a lower price. The Company also diversified its activities by cultivating agricultural products, salmon production, logging, etc. These products were in great demand in Russian America , Hawaii and in California, where the Company's sales offices were opened. At the peak of its activity, Fort Vancouver controlled 34 outposts and 24 ports, 6 ships and 600 workers worked for it.

When the Oregon Route began to function in the late 1830s, American immigrants reached the region, the number of which increased year by year. The rise in tension sparked a debate about the Oregon border . Both parties realized that in the end it was the settlers who would decide who would control the region, and the Hudson's Bay Company changed its policy (before it did not allow the founding of settlements, as this would have a bad effect on the fur trade). In 1841, by order of Company Manager George Simpson, James Sinclair sent 200 settlers west of the Red River Colony to secure the region with Britain, but it was too small and too late.

Signed in 1846, the Oregon Treaty divided the disputed territory between Britain and the United States. This completely destroyed the whole geographic logic of the work of the Columbia Division, since the lower part of the Columbia River went to the USA. The Company's operations center in the region was moved from Fort Vancouver to Fort Victoria , founded by John Douglas in 1843 just in case the company had the worst option for resolving the Oregon issue . The territory of Colombia has halved, and the name itself has become obsolete. These remnants of the territory were officially managed from Fort St. James in New Caledonia.

In 1858, British possessions on the North American continent, located north of Washington , were organized into a crown colony . Choosing a name for her, they remembered about the District of Columbia, and therefore she was named British Columbia .

• Mackie, Richard Somerset. Trading Beyond the Mountains: The British Fur Trade on the Pacific 1793-1843. - Vancouver: University of British Columbia (UBC) Press, 1997 .-- ISBN 0-7748-0613-3 .