THE ROARING FORTIES 125 



interference and furnish some indication of a 

 desirable boundary. British occupation was 

 carried out by the Hudson s Bay Company, 

 which established a chain of posts along the 

 Columbia River from the ocean to the moun 

 tains, with other posts to the northward and 

 the southward. This famous company absorbed 

 in 1821 its rival, the Northwest Company, of 

 Montreal, and thereafter possessed a monopoly 

 of all trade throughout British America to the 

 west and north of Canada. Of government for 

 this vast territory there was none save that fur 

 nished by the agents of the company. As a 

 commercial enterprise the company was suc 

 cessful. As a promoter of colonization it was 

 worse than useless. Its interest lay obviously 

 in maintaining the conditions that produced 

 the most furs; settlements and civilization were 

 not among such conditions. Hence all the 

 reports and all the influence of the great com 

 pany were strongly adverse to any influx of 

 settlers either* overland from the provinces or 

 by way of the ocean. 



American occupation of the Oregon territory 

 began with the establishment of Astoria as a 

 fur-trading post at the mouth of the Columbia 

 just before the War of 1812. Seized by the 



