26Oi CONTRIBUTIONS to the HISTORY of the PACIFIC
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
26oi CONTRIBUTIONS to the HISTORY of the PACIFIC NORTHWEST THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY W. D. VINCENT CONTRIBUTIONS to the HISTORY of the PACIFIC NORTHWEST THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY W. D. VINCENT Spokane Studj? Club Series PUBLISHED BY THE STATE COLLEGE OF WASHINGTON 1927 PREFATORY STATEMENT By E. A. BRYAN T«HE successful business man who is endowed with historical sense and a passion for research has a unique opportunity, not possessed by the recluse, of contributing to regional history. The wide range of the business man's contacts, possessed as he is of the means for col lecting and preserving rare books, manuscripts and illus trative material, and even of travel throughout the region for the verification and classification of historical data, enables him to give a broad, accurate, and common sense interpretation to the history of the men and things of an earlier day. Mr. Vincent has for many years been a student of Northwestern history and has been a collector of its source material and an intelligent expositor of its earlier phases. From time to time he has given to his fellow members of the Spokane Study Club the results of his studies. This paper on the Hudson's Bay Company is one of five such papers read to the club which the State College of Washington will publish as series A, of "Con tributions to the History of the Northwest." THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY By W. D. VINCENT 1 HAVE been an adventurer. When I undertook the venture of preparing this paper on the "Great Company" I did not know the perils and pleasures into which my reading would carry me. My own literary workmanship is of such a poor quality that it will be impossible for me to convey to your imagination the things that I have seen and dreamed. For again I have stood in the office of the Great Company in Hudson's Bay House, London, and have thought of many of its ancient associations. Again I have grasped his hand and talked with Sir Donald in the Montreal office. I have heard Peter Bell, the Chief Factor who was drowned when the "Islander" was lost near Juneau, discuss overland communication. I have heard Wilson tell of his wonderful Newfoundland Dog, and Cotter describe the cod run on the Laborador, and heard my dear old friend, Gigot, describe the Plains Indians. I have listened to servants of the Company whose lives on the surface are uneventful, though through those lives run the mysteries of the North. In my day dreams, I have seen the bateau, the canoe, the kayak, the omiak laden with furs, paddled toward the trading posts. I have cabined by the Mistisinni and smelled the birch log smoke. I have eaten pemmican on the trail and blubber in the igloo. I have seen the seal and bear, the deer and fox, the marten and mink, and many animals whose furs one by one become pelts and whose pelts one by one become bales destined to that great auction place in London. All of this is by way of introduction to the study of the history of the "Governor and Company of Adven turers trading into Hudson Bay," generally known as the Hudson's Bay Company, but familiarly known as the "H. B. C," jokingly referred to as, "Here before Christ." One of the most interesting periods in the history of the development of our civilization is that of the seventeenth century, and among the phases of develop ment in that century is that of land discovery resulting in the extension of Empire. The Royal Charters issued by the kings and queens of England during that period could be studied with very gratifying results as to their influence on the growth of the British Empire. In 1600 a Charter was issued to the Governor and a company of merchants of London trading in the East Indies. They were given exclusive right in the entire space of land and sea between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn—the whole of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This Company maintained its existence until 1858. At about the time a Charter was given the East India Company, a Charter was given to the Plymouth Company, which afterward became the New England Council and exploited the shores of North Virginia. The title of "The Governor and a Company of Ad venturers of the City of Westminster for the Plantation %c — of the Islands of Providence or Catalina, Henrietta or Andrea, and Adjacent Islands Lying upon the Coast of America," will give an idea of the operations of one of the Companies at that time. Among the many Companies whose charters were issued in that century none has better stood the test of time, has better proved the wisdom and foresight of the members of the original Company, than that of the Hud son's Bay Company, whose Royal Charter was issued May 2, 1670. Think of the history of the Anglo-Saxon race for the past two hundred fifty-seven years! At the beginning of that period civilization was emerging from • the dawn following the Middle Ages into the morning light of the present era. The spirit of adventure had quickened the quest for trade and discovery. Even then England had become Mistress of the Seven Seas. The lure of the land in the unknown interior of North America was enticing. The human instinct to adventure was actively alive. The London merchants sent their ships to every shore. They put their money into any venture that promised either profit to them or glory to the Empire. Generally speaking, there were two classes of Charters, those issued to the "Governor and Adventur ers" and those issued to the "Governor and Merchants." The Hudson's Bay Company existed under one of the Charters issued to the "Governor and Adventurers." This great company had its beginning in the activities of two Frenchmen. Cardinal Richelieu sponsored the organization of "The Company of 100 Associates," who were granted a monopoly of the trade of the St. Lawrence in New France. Champlain was made Governor of the Territory. The English under Kirk besieged Quebec. Champlain awaited supplies for the Company from France. The besieging English captured the supplies and forced the surrender of Champlain, who was taken to England, and after the signing of a treaty, returned to Quebec as Governor of the French Colony, and became active in exploration and missionary work. This is mentioned simply on account of Champlain having founded the town of Three Rivers, and the fact that it was in the year of Champlain's death that Radisson was born. Rad- isson's life is interesting. He is an outstanding character in history and fiction. There is, I presume, a natural law of compensation that follows through the lives of men and nations. The French and English were at that time antagonistic in everything. In the march of time England was to fight for France. It was in the beginnings of the Great Comp any that the French and English were welded into a great people—the Canadians. Radisson and his brother-in-law Groseilliers were typical of the kind of men composing companies to whom charters were granted. Radisson was an adventurer; Groseilliers was a trader. As a boy Radisson had lived with the Iroquois, having been captured and afterward adopted by one of their chiefs. He had made two journeys to the West. With Grosseilliers he had made a third ex pedition which lasted two years, extending as far West as Lake Nipigon. In the year 1661, without the permission of the authorities, these two men started on a fourth voyage, this time exploring the north shore of Lake Superior and in all probability penetrating into the coun try west of Lake Superior. Upon their return to Quebec, Groseilliers was made a prisoner on the charge of illicit trading. The two partners were fined £4000 for the pur pose of building a fort at Three Rivers and £6000 to go into the general funds of New France. The injustice of such an exorbitant fine aroused them to great effort to secure a remission of the fine. The two men went to Paris to secure relief and while there urged that an expedition be sent out to explore Hudson Bay, of which they had heard so much from the Indians. Their efforts in Paris were unsuccessful. They returned to Quebec grieving over their failure but still believing in the opportunity offered by a voyage to the Bay. In 1664 the two adventurers went to Boston, then the center of English enterprises in America, and persuaded some Boston merchants to outfit a New England ship in which they sailed for the Hudson Bay, going as far as the entrance of Hudson Straits. The Master of the ship refused to go farther and gave up the voyage. It might have been timidity on his part or, in that locality, it might have been cold feet, especially after seeing a forty foot tide. Another attempt was made to secure ships—another disappointment, but while in America they met an English official who be lieved in their story. He took them to England and obtained an audience with the King, who granted them the use of a ship with which to make their long planned trip. The King's cousin, Prince Rupert, became interested in the enterprise and with a company of the nobility financed the expedition. Two ships were secured and in 1668 the voyage was begun.