Walter Noble Sage

“ On June 3 , 1835 , James Douglas received the long desired commission of chief trader . In the list of appointments for the Columbia District for 1835 , Douglas ' name appears last among the commissioned officers at Fort Vancouver . His five years as keeper of the books had not been in vain !
Douglas ' journal of the 1835 express is preserved in the Archives of British Columbia . It is in pencil , written up by Douglas from day to day as he traveled , and often is most difficult to read . In places it is indecipherable . ”

“ McLoughlin was partial to French Canadians and supported Papineau in his stand for the rights of his people . The Doctor even had a good word for Papineau after the rebellion had broken out in 1837. But Douglas was always on the side of law and order and must have been pained at the frank statements of his chief regarding the “arch rebel."
Governor Simpson , on the other hand , was knighted by the British Government in 1839 in recognition of his services to Canada in connection with the Rebellions of 1837-38. ”

“ Such a man was sure to win the approbation of Dr. McLoughlin . Sowearenotat all surprised to read in a letter of Archibald McDonald to Edward Ermatinger, dated February 20, 1831: " James Douglas is at Vancouver & is rising fast in favour.” As accountant it was part of Douglas' duties not only to keep the books of the depot but usually in the spring to accompany the annual express which left the fort on the Columbia in March and made its way across the mountains to far-off York Factory on Hudson Bay. ”

“ Sir George Simpson , who visited California during this same year , 1841 , prophesied in his narrative that the country would soon fall to either the American or the Brit ish , for the foreigners outnumbered the Mexicans ten to one , monopolized the trade of the country and controlled its resources . That Douglas actually considered the pos sibility of becoming a Mexican citizen and settling in Cali fornia is evident from a letter written by him on April 20 , 1841 , to Alexander Caulfield Anderson , a clerk in the com pany's service . ”

“ Douglas remained for three years at Fort Vancouver after the resignation of Dr. McLoughlin had taken effect . During this time Peter Skene Ogden ranked as his superior officer . But Ogden was often away from the depot and Douglas was left in charge . American settlers were coming into the Puget Sound region and it was evident that the days of the company in Oregon were numbered . North of the International Boundary it was still possible for the Gov-
ernor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay to maintain a fur trading empire . ”

“ The only advantage of the money transaction over the payment in kind , will arise from the facility of transmitting the former , which will bring it to account a few months sooner , than we could manage to do with furs , this how ever is a consideration of little weight compared with the ultimate gain on the Beaver . ”

“ Sir Edward considered Oregon a British possession , and was much disturbed when he dis covered that Douglas would not supply his men with fresh meat and vegetables. He evidently had expected to find British fortifications on the Columbia , since he records in his “ Narrative " that " no Fort Vancouver exists ; it is merely the mercantile post of the Hudson's Bay Company. " Among the Douglas papers in the British Columbia Archives there is a manuscript book dating from this period entitled “ Establishment of Servants , Columbia District , Out ( f i t ) 1839. " ”

“ This manuscript book contains also drafts o f letters re lating t o the carrying out o f the terms o f agreement entered into o n February 6 , 1839 , a t Hamburg , Germany , between Sir George Simpson , representing the Hudson's Bay Com nany , and Baron Ferdinand Wrangall , o n behalf o f the Russian American Company . The Hudson's Bay Company was t o lease the fur trade on the mainland of Alaska for ten years and t o pay a rent o f two thousand seasoned land otter skins , “ taken o r hunted o n the west side o f the Rocky Mountains during the said term o f Ten years . ”