The Oregon Fur Trade
In 1808 Simon Fraser, employed by the Northwest Company, made his way across the Rockies and came down what is known now as the Fraser River to the Columbia. The next to come along was David Thompson, who was also employed by the Northwest Company. He too crossed the Rockies and made his way to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Columbia River. He reached the ocean in 1811 and found an American fur-trading company. This was the Pacific Fur Trading Company. It was the first permanent Euro-American settlement at Astoria.
John Jacob Astor found the American Fur Company in 1808, The Pacific Fur Company in 1810 and the South West Company in 1811. He was the first millionaire in American history.
Astor loaded a ship called the Tonquin with everything needed to sustain his fort on the Columbia. It sailed in September, 1810 under Captain Jonathan Thorn. The ship arrived in March, 1811. Astor also sent an overland party led by Wilson Price Hunt. The party departed from St. Louis in September, 1810.
Although the fort at Astoria seemed to be doing quite well when Thompson arrived, it was actually quite fragile. Supplies came few and far between. The men were driven by starvation. This led them to establish the Willamette Post to relieve some of the pressures. When the war of 1812 broke out the partners in the field at Astoria were afraid of their post being seized. In 1813 they sold out to the NorthWest Company.
In 1814 the Treaty of Ghent helped to end the war with Great Britain. The Americans thought that this meant that they still held claim to the Oregon country. In 1818 Captain James Biddle declared American possession of both shores of the estuary at the Columbia River.
In 1821 the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company merge. The new name was the Hudson's Bay Company because it was the older of the two. The Hudson's Bay Company's only concern was profit. To make the investors happy and ensure return on their money, the directors in London named George Simpson to superintend field operations. Simpson named Dr. John McLoughlin to serve as Chief Factor. Simpson and McLoughlin started what they called the brigade system. The mission of the brigade system was to eradicate the fur-bearing animals of the region. By doing this, they planned to an area with no furs so that Americans would get discouraged and turn back.
The indians had created the birch-bark canoe. They had started a war against their enemies and Champlain had to settle the argument.
He then creates the Green Mountain Boys, a group of over one-hundred-and-twenty militia settlers, most of which are from Vermont, Connecticut, New York, and New Hampshire. Together the Green Mountain Boys captured Fort Ticonderoga, a British fort in New York, south-west of Lake Champlain. The Boys yearned to take the fort, as the surplus of cannons and ammunition was greatly needed by the patriot armies. However, Allen’s men were not the only ones attempting to take Fort Ticonderoga. An officer from Massachusetts named Benedict Arnold was asked by the Massachusetts Committee of Safety to take the fort. They later decided to team up and take it because they knew that they would be stronger together. Ethan was still the leader of the large, now one-hundred-and-fifty person, group of men. The men faced another problem: the fort was on the other end of the lake, and to get across that lake, Allen had to find boats. Allen only found two boats, merely big enough to hold eighty men total. At sunrise, the men silently rowed across, and took the fort. The British were completely surprised, and the Green Mountain Boys succeeded. Not a single shot was fired, and no soldiers were killed from either side. By the end of the takeover, Allen was met by a startled, and pants-less, British lieutenant that demanded to know in whose name he had dared attack the fort. Allen then replied: “In the name of
George Washington contributed in helping establish a stable government after the adoption of the Constitution. Washington negotiated treaties to help stabilize the United States government. The first treaty was the Jay Treaty with Great Britain. This treaty was to address any loose ends that America had with its mother country including unfair trade policies, presence of British troops, and impressment of American sailors. Impressment was when the British would kidnap American sailors and force the sailors to work in their military under brutal conditions. Through the treaty, the U.S. realized on an international level how weak America appeared, as well as not have much negotiating power with Great Britain in the treaty. People disliked how the United States gave into Britain’s negotiations. Although the Jay Treaty did not do much for America, the Pinckney Treaty did. This treaty was negotiated with Spain, who controlled New Orleans at the time, and allowed the Unites States to use the New Orleans port to trade. This was considered a very successful accomplishment, as farmers in the Northwest Territory could now ship their goods down by the Mississippi River to trade. Washington also helped to
and link up with Burgoyne in Albany. The goal of this plan was to isolate
America had suffered numerous devastating losses, such as the capture of Washington D.C. The ratification of the Treaty of Ghent on February 17, 1815, ended the war. The war of 1812 was known as the second war of independence and was called the beginning of an era of partisan agreement and national pride, or the “Era of good feelings”. “The Era of Good Feelings” was an inaccurate label for the selected time period.
When Washington got there, the French claimed that they owned the land and refused to give it up. Washington reported this to Governor Dinwiddie, and was ordered to go back and construct a fort so they could defend their territory if there was a war against the French. While constructing a fort, named Fort Necessity, Washington and his men shot a small group of French men, because they would not leave the area. It turned out that they had shot French spies. A few days later, the French attacked the unfinished fort which resulted in Washington losing a third of his army.
Farmers who lived west of the Appalachian Mountains shipped all their surplus produce by boat down rivers that flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. In a treaty of 1795, Spain agreed to give Americans the "right of deposit" at New Orleans. This right allowed Americans to store in New Orleans, duty-free, goods shipped for export. Arks and flatboats transported a great variety of products, including flour, tobacco, pork bacon, lard, feathers, cider, butter, cheese, hemp, p...
...a out into the harbor. Then a few years later in 1775 soldiers were told there was an armory in concord and marched to it. While marching they came across minute men who are not soldiers but will fight to protect their homes.
Britain, like Spain, had permanent colonies, settlements, and claims in the new world. The one prized colony to their colonial chest was Canada, supplying fur, trade, and money to the British people. In regards to Britain’s currently existing colony, the Monroe doctrine professed no disavowal of the right of the British to manage their respective colony (Yale Law School). Yet, the British territorial claims in Oregon, supported by the notion of preexisting settlements by their fur trading company, was naturally at direct odds with the United States’ belief in Manifest Destiny. This issue already provided a reason for Monroe and Adam’s to be uneasy over British presence in the new world. It was in the national interest of the United States to put an end to the prospect of colonization of the Oregon
The time of westward expansion was filled of hardships and challenges for the citizens of America. They left their homes at their own will to help make life better for themselves, and would letter recognize how they helped our country expand. The people of the Oregon trail risked their lives to help better their lives and expand and improve the country of America. However, no reward comes without work, and the emigrants of the Oregon Trail definitely had it cut out for them. They faced challenges tougher than anyone elses during the time of westward expansion.The Emigrants of the Oregon trail had the the most difficult time surviving and thriving in the west because of environmental difficulties, illness abundance, and accident occurrence.
The morale boost amongst colonists didn’t last long. In 1763 a powerful Ottawa chief allied with several other Indian tribes waged war on the British capturing every fort west of Detroit forcing colonists east...
Great Britain and the United States together occupied the area between 1818 and 1846. Then Britain gave the Pacific Northwest below the 49th parallel to the U.S. Two years later, the U.S. created Oregon Territory, which included the future states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and part of Montana. Washington Territory, which included Idaho and western Montana until 1863 was separated from Oregon on March 2,1853, and gained statehood on November 11, 1889.
America had a newfound fervor for land already occupied by the Indians. Although the Treaty of Paris ended the war, in the west, war continued. In the treaty the British gave up all claims to the lands, but declared the Indians still owned their lands. America thought the Indians had no real claims to the land so they made treaties to legitimize American expansion.
Travel by land and water was both tedious and expensive. Transporting one ton of goods across states would cost around 100 dollars or 1,265 dollars in today’s money. In the 1790s, land routes connecting the east coast and the farther western regions of the United States were undeveloped. Along with this, when weather conditions were poor land routes could not support any sort of dependable shipping by wagon, or even travel by horseback. Natural waterways provided the most dependable method of transport west of Albany. Even travel by waterway in this time period was inconvenient because these water routes were unreliable due to shallow water and raging rapids.
The Treaty of Ghent supports the notion that the essential long-term national interests of both parties are the most important factor in peace treaty success. Both the United States and Great Britain clearly perceived that they had real grievances and cause for war in 1812. However, within a short time, both nations realized they had a greater interest in peace without regard to most of the issues that provoked the conflict.