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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1886)
160 THE WEST SHORE. FUR TRADE OF THE PA0IFI0 COAST. (CONCLUDED IV ). rTMIE monopoly chartur of the Hudson's Bav Com I wy granted in 1821, whon the two rival English i. companion wore consolidated, would have expired in 1842, but in 1838 the company obtuinod a now gram ior twenty-ono years. Turn gave it an absolute monopoly of tnulo in all English territory lying between jiuiwon a way ami tne raoino, which thon included, un dr the troaty of joint occupation with the United HbiUm, the whole of that vast region known as "Oregon," embracing tn0 present Oregon, Washington, Idaho am a iHirtion of Montana. Tlio lone eon teat tory was terminate by treaty between tho United States and Great Britain in 181ft, the forty-ninth parallel lte ing agrood Uxn an the international line. Ab this loft Vancouver, me groat Headquarter of tho company, in that portion belonging to the United States, it becamo necessary to muko a complete change of base of ojiora tioni. Anticipating such a contingency, the company had established a jxmt on Vancouver Island, in 18i:t, which waa named Victoria," in honor of the young i Angianii, ami to tins it waa decidet to remove a quickly aa jxmsihk Of course some time was re quired for tho company to proorly wind n) iU affairs at Vancouver, Fort Boise, Fort Hall, Fort Walla Walla, Fort Colville and other stations on American soil, nnd iv waa not until mu tliat a complete withdrawal was made. Tho treaty provided for the protection of thoso interest and isosory right, so far as actual use and occupation extended, and for their purchase by the u...M nwiu ine nmison a Hay Company withdrew in 18f7, and filed a claim for l,R82,0:t!.37 against the United KtaK and tho Pugot Hound Agricultural Com pany also claimed ll.HW.OOO.OO. These were finally ml j'umUmI in 1H04, the former receiving W.IO.OOO.OO and tho latter WO,O(K).0O, low than one-seventh of the original amount claimed The charter of tho oompany expired in 1859, and was not renewed, and since that time the Hudson's Bay Company ha had no secial privilege, in the vast re. gion lying to Uie west of it original grunt! dominions. W hen Canada confederated, in 18ft8, provision was made for incorporating the territories of the Hudson Bay Oorany into Uie Confedoratioa In 180 they were transferred to tho British Government for ll.SOO 000 00 and the following year were incorporated into the Do! minion of Cana,k Since that time the great corpora, tton. which had for two centime held autocratio away over an empire larger than the whole of Europe, ha. been but a private com,,,,-, enjoying no advantage. "W th,r trml..r aave Uiom given by its great capital longex,M.ru.nce, thorollt!U .ystcnatio organirati.m ami prestige with U.e naUve tribe. One-twenUeth of the original grant, as well a. valuable tract around the varum. jhU, were confirmed to Uie omjwiy in f, impa, and are now h-ld by it a. aU.luto property Ureal qiuuLUo. of fun. are .hipped to Loudon Lu! I ally from Victoria, Montreal and York Fort, tke latter being the time-honored headquarters on Hudson's Bay. Its collection of peltries is sold at auction in London, in January, Mnreh and September of eneh yenr. London is the greatest fur market in the world, and receives much of the products of Asia and Europe, the majority of those from North America, Chili, Peru, Buenos Ayros and Africa. Thither, too, are taken the fur seals of Capo Horn, South Shetland and Alaska, and Uie hair seals of New Fouiidhmd. Other important marts are Leipsic, in Germany, Nijni-Novgordd, Kasan and Irbit, in European Russia, and Kiachta, in Siberia, on the bor der of China, whore an immense trade is carried on be tween the Russians and Chinese. China has always Iwen an excellent market for furs, and when the fur trade first began on the American coast a century ago, Canton was the port to which every ship laden with pel trios bent hor sails. In 18(17 the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000.00, and by this means the valuable seal fisheries of that region foil into the hands of Ameri cans. In 1870 the Alaska Commercial Company was granted a monopoly of the sealing industry in Alaska, for a term of twenty years. Thoir operations are con fined to tho PribylolT islands (St George and St Paul), generally known as tho Seal islands. For this privilege tho company pays an annual rental of SfSfiOnn M . tax of 2.(i5 on each soal taken, the quantity being lim ited to one hundred thousand annually. This limit is nearly reached every year, makinc a tobd revBinm f , ww ' a - twmmw wr VUU government of about MOO.OOO.OO.' All other persons are 1-n.uiuinHi, unoor severe penalties, from catching the fur oal anywhere within the limits seal are caught in considerable quantities off the coast of Washington Territory and Vnnnnnvor Tuln.,,1 i i twenty schoonors being engaged in this work during the ..,. o..,u. more or less clandestine fishing in Alas kan waters is carriod Bcult since the government has but one vessel to guord wnu a vuousana miles or sea coast The most im portant animal not thus nrotnkwl V ln : u, of which alout five thousand are caught annually in A Inula Tliiu i- i t' .i . ... . iinomiw nan a million dollars in the whoUwale market and as usual witi, , 11 i I IUIO, UiUUV time, that when made up for wear. Nearly half this eaten ,8 maae near the center of the Aleutian islands, within a radiu. of the hills of the central group. The sealing fleet alluded to a operating off the Straits of Fuca also catches a num. ber of these valuable fur.l . . ww. ugnuionvuiUUlHr cml Company, by reason of iU seal monopoly, is the best equipiod for this business, and in consequence noarly mnnoiMJlize the soa-otk.r n xt.i. - -.v,u w null. X 11 U lionil- west rrrn ing Company, a Portland institution, has a number of post in Alaska, whore are collected fur of all kimls, except seal, and wlmrA are pm-ked and fish oil manufactured. The Hudson'. Bnv Company, and the Northwest Trading Company ar the '