12 The Fur Traders. 



along the Pacific coast." These vessels would run in near 

 the shore and anchor and wait for the nativas to come off 

 in their canoes with their peltries; and when trade was 

 exhausted in one place, would sail on to another. Having 

 collected a sufficient cargo of skins they would make their 

 way to China, where they would sell their furs and lay in 

 a stock of teas, nankeens, and other merchandise to carry 

 back to Boston on their return, after an absence of from 

 two to three years. 



The Russians, instead of making casual trips, established 

 regular trading stations in the high latitudes along the 

 Northwest Coast of America and on the Aleutian Islands, 

 under the control of a company incorporated by the Rus- 

 sian government, with a capital of $250,000 and exclusive 

 trading privileges. The Russian crown at this time claimed 

 sovereignty over all the territory in which its traders were 

 operating, on the plea that the land had been discovered 

 and occupied by its subjects. The company referred to w^as 

 called the Russian Fur Company, and succeeded sixty or 

 more smaller organizations that, up to that time, had 

 divided the Pacific coast traffic among them. The head- 

 quarters of the company were at Sitka. It was dissolved 

 in 1867, after the sale of Alaska to the United States. 



As China was the great market for furs collected in this 

 quarter the Russians had another great advantage over all 

 their competitors, as they did not have to take their peltries 

 to Canton for distribution through the empire, but were 

 able to carry them on their own vessels by a shorter jour- 

 ney direct to those parts of the Chinese Empire where they 

 were chiefly consumed, at a considerable saving in time and 

 cost of transportation. 



The Columbia commanded by Captain Gray of Boston 

 was one of the American ships trading along the north- 

 west coast in 1792. At latitude 40° 19' north, she entered 

 the mouth of a large river, and anchored in a beautiful bay. 

 The river, which was later named the Columbia, was after- 

 wards explored by Vancouver, to whom Captain Gray had 

 spoken of his discovery. 



The French in Canada began to dream of a northwest 

 passage to the Pacific as early as 1670, but the first attempt 

 to find an overland route across the continent was made 

 by Captain Jonathan Carver, in 176"}, with the sanction of 



