it trafficked, and his account of the wonderful mail-carriage in its semi-annual expeditions, furnish many lively and entertaining sketches. The Earl of Southesk was substantially the guest of the Bay Company in 1859 and 1860, when he made the journey described in his Saskatchewan and the Rocky Mountains, A Diary and Narrative of Travel, Sport, and Adventure, during a Journey through the Hudson's Bay Company's Territories (Edinburgh, 1875). He had been promised its aid and furtherance as an inducement to his trip, and he received from it all needed help. As the title of the book shows, he was an amateur explorer and huntsman, with the spirit of free adventure. He describes with vividness and geniality the incidents of travel and the camp, and adds many interesting facts about the natural history of the region, its wild animals and the natives, giving us many sketches from his own pencil.1 We find quite as much a summary of existing knowledge as of personal observation and experience in H. M. Robinson's Great Fur Land, or Sketches of Life in the Hudson's Bay Territory. With numerous Illustrations from Designs by Charles Gasche (New York, 1879). The book is written with much vivacity, and will have a charming interest for readers who seek for romantic narrative and sketches of wild life. He gives us very full particulars about the more recent operations and government of the Hudson Bay Company, without any reflections on its policy or administration, generally commending it for fairness and for wise and kindly dealing with the Indians. He presents with great vividness the scenes and conditions of life; the characters and habits of red men, white men, half-breeds, voyageurs, hunters, and traders; the modes of travelling by canoe or dog-sledges; life in the company's posts in summer and winter; the hunting expeditions; methods of trapping; accounts of the fur trade; a winter camp; the gayeties of wild festive scenes among the half-breeds; the mode in which traffic is carried on, and some statistics of the peltries. THE official and personal writings which have thus been surveyed involve, of course, the details of the history of the Hudson's Bay Company. Synoptical surveys of this history, with the extension of their field through the Indian territory and to the Pacific, will be found in H. H. Bancroft's Northwest Coast (ch. 14, etc.), and in Barrows's Oregon (ch. 6 and 12), where are particularly contrasted the opposing systems of settlement and of the trade for furs as brought into rivalry, to the advantage of the former in the saving of Oregon to the American Union (see ante, Vol. VII.). Bancroft gives a separate chapter (ch. 15) to collating the evidence about "Forts and Fort Life." All general histories of Canada and of Arctic exploration necessarily touch the subject. The best bibliography of the company's history can be picked out of the list of publications prefixed by Bancroft to his Northwest Coast. Some of the less important ones are grouped together in his vol. i. p. 457. Cf. also the section on Hudson's Bay in Chavanne's Literatur über die Polar-Regionen (Vienna, 1874). The bibliography of the explorations in the Northwest may be primarily followed in Bryce's paper on "Journeys in Rupert's Land," in the Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, 1886. The mass of periodical literature can be gleaned through Poole's Index, p. 611, and Supplement, - the best condensation of the history being found perhaps in the Westminster Review (July, 1867), on "The last great monopoly." 1 There is an enumeration of the typical maps of the Hudson Bay region in Winsor's Kohl Collection of Maps, section iv. No. 6 of the Papers of the Manitoba Hist. Soc. is devoted to the sources of the history of the Canadian Northwest. As regards the respective rights of the Hudson's Bay and Northwest Companies to the trade of the Winnipeg country, the question turned upon the validity of the parliamentary grant to the Hudson's Bay Company for an extension of their trade westerly of Rupert's Land, as against the rights inherited, or assumed by the Canadians as accruing by the accession of the rights of France, through exploration, before the cession of the country and its advantages to England by the Peace of Paris (1763). But the Hudson's Bay Company also claimed to have preceded the French in this region, by sending through it a young explorer, Henry Kelsey, in 1690.2 Vérandrye's explorations in 1731-49 were the earliest for the French (see references, ante, Vol. V. 567-8). La Franche first explored the route between Lake Superior and Hudson's Bay, 1738For a summary of overland explorations from 1640 to 1786, see ch. 19 of Bancroft's Northwest Coast, vol. i. The London Mag. in 1761 gave a map of the straits of St. Mary and Michillimackinac to show the situation and importance of the two westernmost settlements of Canada for the fur trade. 42. The history of the North West Company, formed at Montreal in 1787 by uniting various trading interests, can be followed in The origin and progress of the Northwest Company of Canada, with a history of the fur trade, as connected with that concern (London, 1811). Up to this time the main features of their career had been their occupation of the Red River district in 1788; the explorations of Mackenzie in their interest in 1789; the secession of the X Y Company in 1796; its reunion with the parent body in 1804; the contract with the Astor people in 1810; their building their first fort on the Columbia in 1811. They bought out the Astoria post in 1813. The book just cited has a map exhibiting the principal trading stations of the Northwest Company; and another map, showing these stations, with the routes of the traders from Fort William,3 on Lake Superior, is given in Alexander M'Donell's Narrative of Transactions in the Red River Country (London, 1819). The issue between the rival companies came with the grant to the Earl of Selkirk, by the Hudson's Bay Company, of a tract in this Winnipeg region. Before applying to the Bay Company, Selkirk got the opinion of Romilly and others that the company was competent to make such a grant (Bryce's Manitoba, 147; Mills' Boundaries of Ontario, p. 404; House of Commons' Report, 323). The map in M'Donell's Narrative shows the extent of this territorial grant, as was claimed. Selkirk by this time had become a large owner of the Hudson's Bay Company. Of the conflict which ensued between the servants of the two companies, on the part of the Northwest Company to expel the Selkirk colonists, and on the part of the Hudson's Bay Company to protect them, we have a good account of a looker-on in Ross Cox's Adventures on the Columbia River (London, 1831; New York, 1832); but the trials which followed in the Canadian courts give us the conflict of testimony: Report of the Proceedings connected with the disputes between the Earl of Selkirk and the Northwest Company at the Assizes held at York, in Upper Canada, October, 1818. From minutes taken in Court (Montreal, 1819; reprinted, London, 1819). Report of trials in the Courts of Canada relative to the Destruction of the Earl of Selkirk's Settlement on the Red River, with observations. By A [ndrew] Amos (London, 1820). This is accompanied by a map of the Red River settlement as it was in 1816. The publications of this period are hardly impartial. They espouse one side or the other. What may be considered the official representation of the Northwest Company is A Narrative of Occurrences in the Indian Countries of North America since the connection of the Earl of Selkirk with the Hudson's Bay Company, and his attempt to establish a colony on the Red River; with a detailed account of his Lordship's military expedition to, and subsequent proceedings at, Fort William (London, 1817).4 The protest on Selkirk's part can be found in his Sketch of the British fur trade in North America; with observations relative to the Northwest Company of Montreal (London, J. Ridgeway, 1816), which originally appeared in the Quarterly Review, October, 1816; and in the publication in his interest, compiled by John Halkett, and called a Statement respecting the Earl of Selkirk's Settlement upon the Red River; its destruction in 1815 and 1816; with observations upon a recent publication entitled “A narrative of occur rences in the Indian Countries," etc. (London, 1817). It is accompanied by a map by Arrowsmith, showing the Winnipeg country. The letter book of Captain Miles Macdonell at the Selkirk Settlement, 1811–12, is given in Brymner's Report on the Canadian Archives, 1886. 1 Cf. also Canadian Monthly (v. 273); Cornhill Mag. (xxii. 159); "La traite au Nord-ouest et quelques notes sur la compagnie de la Baie Hudson, par L. A. Prud'homme," in the Revue Canadienne (Jan., 1887, p. 16); and Emile Petitot on "The Athabasca District," with a map, in the Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc. (Nov., 1883). 2 Bryce's Manitoba; Manitoba Hist. Soc. Papers, no. 4. 3 We have a picture of life at Fort William, the Northwester's principal post, in Ross Cox's Columbia River, and particularly in Gabriel Franchère's Voyage à la Côte Nord-ouest de l'Amerique Septentrionale pendant les années 1810-1814 (Montreal, 1820), of which there is an English translation by J. V. Huntington (New York, 1854). He had been one of the Astor expedition, and his natural story was much in Irving's mind, apparently, when he wrote his Astoria. Cf. John Strachan's Letter to the Earl of Selkirk on his settlement at the Red River, near Hudson's Bay (London, 1816), and Alexander M'Donell's Narrative of Transactions in the Red River Country from the Commencement of the Operations of the Earl of Selkirk till the summer of the year 1816 (London, 1819). 5 Cf. also Arrowsmith's Map exhibiting the New Discoveries in the Interior Parts of North America, inscribed by permission to the Hon. Company of Adventurers of England trading in Hudson's Bay (London, 1798-1811). After Selkirk returned to England, in 1818, a motion was made in the House of Commons for all the official papers in the recent troubles, and in 1819 they were printed. Selkirk died in 1820, and the next year the two companies were united, preserving only the name of the Hudson's Bay Company, and Sir George Simpson became governor. This story is told at length in Bancroft's Northwest Coast, ii. ch. 15. John West's Substance of a journal during the residence at the Red River Country and frequent excursion among the Northwest American Indians, 1820-1823 (London, 1824), and Keating's Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's Lake (Lake Winnepeek) in 1823 (London, 1825), become now of interest. The later writers are variously inclined in their sympathies. Alexander Ross's Red River Settlement, its rise, progress, and present state, with some account of the native races and its general history to the present day, by Alexander Ross (London, 1856), is on the side of the elder company; and the same position is temperately sustained in George Bryce's Manitoba, its infancy, growth, and present condition (London, 1882).1 The story of the Red River events, as well as the subsequent career of both companies after their enforced union, is sufficiently told, and with a good many helpful references, in Bancroft's Northwest Coast, with the aid of some manuscript accounts, as well as of the great mass of printed material. The story of the Northwest Coast is further continued by Bancroft in his Oregon and in his British Columbia. The question of commercial intercourse with the Winnipeg country led to an exploration of the country between Lake Superior and the Red River settlement, of which a Report 2 was published, with a Map of a part of the valley of Red River, north of the 49th parallel, to accompany a Report on the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition, by H. Y. Hind. Of late years it has become a debatable question whether the route from Europe through Hudson's Bay may not be made commercially serviceable through a considerable part of the year. (Cf. Robert Bell's "Commercial Importance of Hudson's Bay" in the Roy. Geog. Soc. Proc.,. October, 1881, with a map; W. Skelford in the National Rev., London, vii. 541; C. R. Tuttle's Our North Land (Toronto, 1885), ch. 28; Science, vii. 278; Charles N. Bell's Northern Waters, Winnipeg, 1885; and some papers published by the Manitoba Historical Society: no. 1, Navigation of Hudson's Bay; no. 2, The Hudson's Bay Route.) The rebellions in the Red River region, which followed upon the creation of the Province of Manitoba, fall on a later period than this volume is intended to embrace, but the sources of their history involve the results of the final extinction of the Hudson's Bay Company as a great monopoly.3 An account of the fur trade along the Pacific is the essential body of Bancroft's Northwest Coast, which is of use in tracing the transactions of the Hudson Bay Company in those regions, with its abundant references. He says in his preface: — 'During the summer of 1878 I made an extended tour in this territory for the purpose of adding to my material for its history. Some printed matter I found, not before in my possession. I was fortunate enough to secure copies of the letters of Simon Fraser, and the original journals of Fraser and John Stuart; also copies from the originals of the journals of John Work and W. F. Tolmie, the private papers of John McLoughlin, and a manuscript History of the Northwest Coast by A. C. Anderson. Through the kindness of Mr. John Charles, at the time chief of the Hudson's Bay Company on the Pacific coast, I was given access to the archives of the fur company gathered at Victoria, and was permitted to make copies of important fort journals, notably those of Fort Langley and Fort Simpson. But most important of all were the historical and biographical dictations taken from the lips of several hundred of pioneers and earliest furhunters and settlers then living, by a short-hand reporter who accompanied me in my travels, and which were afterward written out, severally bound, and used in the usual way as material for history. "It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the importance of this information, given as it was by actors in the scenes represented, many of whom have since departed this life, and all of whom will soon be gone. To no small extent it is early historical knowledge absolutely rescued from oblivion, and which, if lost, no power on earth could reproduce. Conspicuous among those who thus bear testimony are Mrs. Harvey, who gave me a biographical sketch of her father, Chief Factor McLoughlin; John Tod, chief for a time of New Cale 1 He gives a list of his authorities. Cf. Donald Gunn's Hist. of Manitoba to 1835, with a continuation to its admission to the Dominion by C. R. Tuttle (Ottawa, 1880); Alexander Begg's Creation of Manitoba and the history of the Red River Troubles (Toronto, 1871); and John Macoun's Manitoba and the Great Northwest (1883). 2 Henry Youle Hind's Northwest Territory. Reports of progress; with a preliminary and general report on the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan exploring expedition, made under instructions from the provincial secretary, Canada. Printed by order of the Legislative Assembly (Toronto, 1859); and the same author's Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857, and of the Assiniboine and Saskatawan Expedition of 1858 (London, 1860). 3 Cf. Alexander J. Russell's Red River Country, Hud son's Bay and Northwest Territories considered in relation to Canada (Ottawa, 1869; Montreal, 1870). Red River Insurrection; Hon. Wm. McDougall's Conduct Reviewed (anon.). The Red River Insurrection Reviewed; letters to Hon. Capt. Geo. Lightfoot Huyshe's Red River Expedition (London, 1871). S. J. Dawson's Report on the Red River Expedition of 1870, printed by order of the House of Commons. Reprint, with remarks on certain strictures published in England by an officer of the expeditionary force (Ottawa, 1871). Report of the Select Committee on the Causes of the difficulties in the Northwest Territory in 1869-70 (Ottawa.. 1874). donia; Archibald McKinlay, in charge of Fort Walla-Walla at the time of the Whitman massacre; Roderick Finlayson, once in charge of Fort Victoria; A. C. Anderson, road-maker, explorer, and historian." The English official record of the occupancy of Vancouver's Island is given in the Charter of Grant of Vancouver's Island to the Hudson's Bay Company, and correspondence, and the Report on the Grant from the Com. of the Privy Council for Trade and Plantations (1849); and in James Edward Fitzgerald's Charter and Proceedings of the Hudson's Bay Company with reference to Vancouver Island (London, 1849). The rivalries of the English and American traders are necessarily set forth by Bancroft.1 1 Bancroft's treatment of the Astoria enterprise is held to have a touch of spleen in it, by P. Koch in his paper on "Astoria and the Pacific Fur Trade," in the Magazine of American History, March, 1885, p. 289. Cf. Wm. Stur gis on the Northwest Fur Trade in Hunt's Merchant's Magazine, xiv. CHAPTER II. ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES. FOR BY CHARLES C. SMITH, Treasurer, Massachusetts Historical Society. OR two centuries after the unsuccessful voyages of Luke Fox and Thomas James, mentioned in an earlier chapter of this History,1 little interest was felt in the search for a northwest passage. The more important of the Arctic explorations in this period were carried on overland, under the auspices, in whole or in part, of the Hudson's Bay Company, and are described in another chapter.2 Meanwhile, however, in 1746, two small vessels were sent from England to make further discoveries in Hudson's Bay. These were the "Dobbs Galley," of one hundred and eighty tons, commanded by Captain William Moor, and the "California," of one hundred and forty tons, under Captain Francis Smith. They sailed from the Thames on the 20th of May. Their progress was slow, and they were able to go only a short distance up Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome before the lateness of the season compelled the captains to make arrangements for winterquarters. For this purpose a small creek was selected, about two miles from Fort York, the principal station of the Hudson's Bay Company. Here the crews built log huts on the shore, and remained from November until June, when the vessels were released from the ice. Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome, Wager Strait, and the entrance to what is now known as Repulse Bay, were then explored; but differences of opinion among the officers led to an early abandonment of the undertaking, and by the middle of August both vessels made sail for England. They anchored at Yarmouth on the 14th of October, 1747,- having been gone nearly a year and a half, — and entirely disappointed the large hopes and expectations awakened by their departure. A few years later an attempt was made by the British colonies in America to discover a northwest passage; and in the spring of 1753 a schooner of about sixty tons was fitted out in Philadelphia for this purpose, mainly through the exertions of Dr. Franklin. This schooner was called the "Argo," and was commanded by Captain Charles Swaine. Sailing in March, she encountered ice off Cape Farewell, but finally succeeded in 1 Vol. III. ch. iii. VOL. VIII. 2 See ante, ch. i. |