ful one by Popple (1738,) bearing the certificate of Dr. Halley to its correctness; the admirable maps of D'Anville, De L'Isle and Bellin; those in the Atlas of Maxwell and Senex (1723); in Boyer's Political State (1721); in the History of Hudson's Bay, by Dobbs, the governor of that territory (1744); in the Histoire de la Nouvelle France, by Charlevoix (1744); in the System of Geography, by Bowen (1747); in the American Traveller (1769); in the American Atlas, by Jeffries (1778); in the History of the French Dominions in America, by Jeffries (1760); nor in the map of America, from the materials by Governor Pownal (1794) nor is there any allusion to such a line in the works to which these maps are attached, or in any other work or map of reputation published during the last century, save those above mentioned.

Of the works which may be considered as authorities, the following,comprising, it is believed, all in which a record or notice of such a transaction, if it had taken place, should be found, are entirely silent with regard to any decision or other act of commissaries appointed under the treaty of Utrecht, to settle the line of separation between the Hudson's Bay territories and the French possessions; viz. the collections of treaties by Dumont, Boyer, Martens, Jenkinson, Herstlet, and others; Actes, Mémoires, etc., concernant la Paix d'Utrecht, 1716, and Actes Negotiations, etc., depuis la Paix Utrecht, 1745,-two voluminous works, containing, it may be supposed, every public document, and notice of every act, connected with the negotiation of the treaty of Utrecht, and the consequent proceedings; Collection des Edits, Ordonnances, etc., concernant le Canada, Quebec, 1803, apparently a complete assemblage of all the most important public documents relative to Canada and the fur trade; Mémoires des Commissaires Français et Anglais, sur les possessions des deux Couronnes en Amérique, 1754 to 1757, which could not have thus omitted to notice this settlement of boundaries, if it had taken place; the Histoire de la Diplomatie Française, by Flassan, 1811, and the Histoire des Traités de Paix, by Koch and Schoell, 1817. To these authorities may be added, as equally silent on the subject, the Histories of England, by Tindal, Smollet, Belsham, Hughes, Mahon, Wade, the Parliamentary History, and the Pictorial History; the Histories of France, by Sismondi, Anquetil, and Lacretelle; Lord John Russel's Affairs of Europe since the Peace of Utrecht; the Histories of, and Memoirs on, Louisiana, by La Harpe, Dumont, Dupratz, Vergennes, and Marbois; the political works of Swift, Bolingbroke and Voltaire; and many other works relating to the History of the period at which this settlement of the northern limit of Louisiana is said to have been made. This is all negative evidence, indeed; but it is equivalent to a positive contradiction of the supposition that any settlement of boundaries between the Hudson's Bay Territory and the French possessions was made under the treaty of Utrecht; as such a transaction could not have escaped notice in all, or indeed in any, of the works mentioned in this paragraph, if it had taken place, and especially if it had been so notorious as the knowledge of it by those who asserted it would seem to indicate.

That commissaries were appointed to settle boundaries agreeably to the tenth article of the treaty of Utrecht, is certain: those of Great Britain were Messrs. Daniel Pulteney and Martin Bladen; those of France were Maréchal d'Estrées, and the Abbé Dubois. They were appointed and

met in Paris in the winter of 1719-20; but the archives of the two nations present. no evidence, that anything was concluded between them on any point; and Charlevoix, in his History of New France, says, with respect to the difficulties between the British and the Indians in Nova Scotia in 1722, "France took no part in this dispute, in order to avoid giving the slightest pretext for interrupting the good understanding between the two nations, which had been restored with so much difficulty; even the negotiations between the two courts, for the settlement of boundaries, ceased, although commissaries had been appointed for that object since 1719. Anderson, in his History of Commerce, and Macpherson, in his Annals of Commerce, both positively deny that any boundaries were settled under the treaty of Utrecht; "it being well known to all Europe, that France never permits her commissaries to determine such matters, unless with great advantage to herself."

G.

PAPERS RELATIVE ΤΟ THE AMERICAN ESTABLISHMENT OF ASTORIA, ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER.

(1.)

Letter from J. J. Astor, of New York, to the Honorable John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State of the United States.*

NEW YORK, Jan. 4th, 1823.

SIR, I had the honor to receive your letter of the 24th ultimo. Indisposition has prevented my acknowledging the receipt thereof at an earlier period.

You request information of arrangements made, at or about 1814, by the North-West Company and citizens of the United States, by which that company became possessed of a settlement made at the mouth of Columbia River by citizens of the United States. The settlement to which you allude, I presume, is "Astoria," as I know of no other having been made at or near the mouth of that river. Several circumstances are alleged, as having contributed to the arrangement by which the North-West Company became in possession of that settlement, but chiefly to the misuse of the confidence which had been placed in Mr. Mc Dougal, who, at the time the arrangement was made, and at the time my agent, Mr. Wilson P. Hunt, was absent, acted as sub-agent.

I beg leave briefly to state, that contemplating to make an establishment, at the mouth of Columbia River, which should serve as a place of depot, and give further facilities for conducting a trade across this continent to that river, and from thence, on the range of north-west coast, &c. to Canton, in China, and from thence to the United States, arrangements were accordingly made, in 1810, for a party of men to cross the

* Documents accompanying President Monroe's message, January 27th, 1823.

continent for the Columbia River. At the same time, I fitted out the ship Tonquin, carrying twenty guns and sixty men, commanded by the late Captain Thorn, lieutenant in the United States navy. The ship sailed in September, 1810, having on board the means for making an establishment at Columbia, where she arrived on the 22d of March, 1811. They landed, found the natives friendly, and built a fort, erected a house, store, &c. This being accomplished, Captain Thorn left thirty men in possession of the place, to await the party who were to make the voyage over land; these, also, happily arrived, though not till several months after. On or about the 1st of June, Captain Thorn left Columbia River, with a view to make some trade on the coast, and then to return to the river; but, unfortunately, Thorn never returned. At about two hundred miles north of Columbia, he put in a bay to trade with the natives. Not attending to the precautions necessary, as he had been instructed to do, to guard against an attack, he suffered a whole tribe of Indians to come on board and about his ship. An attack was made; he was overpowered: fire was communicated to the magazine, the ship was blown up, and every soul on board or near her perished.

In 1811, I fitted out another ship, the Beaver, carrying twenty guns, with a duplicate cargo to the ship Tonquin, and sixty or seventy men. The Captain [Sowles] was instructed to sail for the Columbia River, and in search of the men who were sent across the continent, as also of the Tonquin. The Beaver sailed from this in October, 1811, arrived at Columbia in May following, found the establishment, and landed such men, goods, provisions, &c., as the establishment was in need of. My instructions to the captain were, that, after supplying the establishment, he should proceed to Chatka,* a Russian settlement, for the purpose of trade, and then return to Columbia, take what furs we had, and proceed to Canton, and thence to New York. He accordingly left Columbia, (and, most unfortunately, Mr. Hunt, of Trenton, New Jersey, my chief agent, left the river with him,) sailed, as directed, for the Russian settlement, and effected their object; but, instead of following instructions to return to Columbia, he sailed direct for Canton, leaving Mr. Hunt at one of the Sandwich Islands, to await the arrival of another ship, which I had promised to send from this in 1812. The ship Beaver arrived at Canton, and received there the news of the war. I had sent orders to the captain to return to Astoria; but he was fearful of being captured, and remained safely at Canton till the war was over, when he came home. In conse quence of the war, I found it inconvenient to send a ship in 1812, but I did send one, the Lark, early in 1813, with directions to the captain to sail for Columbia River, and to stop at the Sandwich Islands for information. Being within a few days' sail of those islands, the ship, in a squall of wind, was upset, and finally drifted on the beach of one of those islands, a wreck,-ship and cargo totally lost. Here was met Mr. Hunt, who, after all the information he received, and my great desire to protect the establishment at Columbia River, procured an American vessel, took some provisions, sailed, and arrived in Columbia River. He there learned that Mr. McDougal had transferred all my property to the North-West Company, who were in possession of it by a sale, as he called it, for the sum of about fifty-eight thousand dollars, of which he retained fourteen

Sitka, or New Archangel, the chief establishment in Russian America.

thousand dollars, for wages said to be due to some of the men. From the price obtained for the goods, &c., and he having himself become interested in the purchase, and made a partner of the North-West Company, some idea may be formed as to this man's correctness of dealings. It will be seen, by the agreement (that of which I transmit a copy) and the inventory, that he sold to the North-West Company eighteen thousand one hundred and seventy and a quarter pounds of beaver at two dollars, which was at that time selling in Canton at five and six dollars; nine hundred and seven otter skins at fifty cents, or half a dollar, which were selling at Canton at five to six dollars per skin.

I estimated the whole property to be worth nearer two hundred thousand dollars than forty thousand dollars, about the sum I received in bills on Montreal. Previous to the transaction of McDougal, we had already established trading posts in the interior, and were in contact with the North-West Company. It is now to be seen what means have been used by them to counteract my plan. It is well known that, as soon as the North-West Company had information of my intention and plan for conducting my commercial operations, they despatched a party of men from the interior, with a view to arrive before my people at Columbia. These men were obliged to return without effecting their object. In the mean time, representation was made to their government as to the probable effect of my operations on their interest, and requesting to interfere in their behalf. This being in time of peace, the government did not deem it advisable so to do. So soon, however, as war was declared, these representations were renewed, aid was asked from the government, and it was granted. The Phoebe frigate, and sloops of war Raccoon and Porcupine, were sent from England, with orders to proceed to Columbia River, and destroy my property. They sailed from England early in January, 1813. Arriving at Rio Janeiro, Admiral Dickson ordered the Phoebe frigate, with one of the sloops, to pursue Captain Porter in the frigate Essex, and the sloop of war Raccoon, to the Columbia. She arrived there, took possession in the name of the king, and changed the name of the place from Astoria to Fort George. Previous to this, the North-West Company had despatched another or second party of men to the Columbia. They arrived there in the absence of Mr. Hunt; McDougal gave them support and protection, and they commenced, after some time, to negotiate with this gentleman.

The reasons assigned by him for his conduct will be seen by an extract of a letter said to have been sent by a Mr. Shaw, of the North-West Company, and of which I send you a copy. The plan by me adopted was such as must materially have affected the interest of the North-West and Hudson's Bay Companies, and it was easy to be foreseen that they would employ every means to counteract my operations, and which, as my impression, I stated to the executive of your department as early as February, 1813, as will be seen by a copy of the sketch of a letter which I wrote to the secretary of state, and to which no reply was given. On repeated application, some time after, aid was promised me; but I believe the situation of our country rendered it inconvenient to give it. will observe that the name of the Pacific Fur Company is made use of at the commencement of the arrangements for this undertaking. I preferred to have it appear as the business of a company, rather than that of an individual; and several of the gentlemen engaged - Mr. Hunt, Mr. Crooks,

You

Mr. McKay, McDougal, Stuart, &c. were, in effect, to be interested as partners in the undertaking, so far as respected the profit which might arise but the means were furnished by me, and the property was solely mine, and I sustained the loss, which, though considerable, I do not regret, because, had it not been for the unfortunate occurrence just stated, I should have been, as I believe, most richly rewarded; as it will be seen that the difference of price in the beaver and otter skins alone, say what I received, and the value of them at Canton at that time, is about sixty thousand dollars. The copy of the agreement, inventory, and extract of Shaw's letter, you will please return to me.

(2.)

I am, sir, &c.,

JOHN JACOB ASTOR

Agreement between the Agents of the Pacific Fur Company and the NorthWest Company, for the Transfer of the Establishments of the Former, on the Columbia River, to the Latter; concluded on the 16th of October, 1813.

THE association heretofore carrying on the fur trade to the Columbia River and its dependencies, under the firm and denomination of the Pacific Fur Company, being dissolved, on the 1st of July last, by Duncan McDougal, Donald McKenzie, David Stuart, and John Clarke, with the intention to abandon the trade in that quarter, it is hereby agreed, concluded, and settled upon, of their own free will and consent, by Duncan McDougal, acting for himself and in behalf of his associates, namely, Donald McKenzie, David Stuart, and John Clarke, on the one part, and John George McTavish and John Stuart, acting for themselves and in behalf of the North-West Company, on the other part, that the following agreement and settlement take place between them, and be binding and obligatory in the manner, and subject to the terms and agreements, hereinafter specified and contained. Now, therefore, it is hereby mutually agreed and concluded, by and between the said parties to these presents, and they do hereby mutually covenant and agree, to and with each other, in manner following, that is to say:

ARTICLE 1. The party of the former part hereby covenants and agrees to deliver, or cause to be delivered, the whole of the establishments, furs, and present stock in hand, on the Columbia and Thompson's Rivers, as soon as the necessary inventories can be taken, unto the said party of the latter part, or any other person or persons appointed by them to represent the North-West Company, to receive the same at the prices and rates concluded and agreed upon as hereinafter specified, in article fourth.

ART. 2. In consideration of article first being duly and faithfully performed by the party of the former part, they, the said John George McTavish and John Stuart, for themselves and on behalf of the NorthWest Company, do bind and oblige themselves and the said North-West Company, or their agents, to pay or cause to be paid, unto the said Duncan McDougal, acting for himself and in behalf of his associates, as before mentioned, his attorneys, assigns, or order, the amount of the sums arising from the sale, according to article first, and the rates hereinafter