1806.1 FIRST BRITISH POSTS IN NEW CALEDONIA. 291 







not appear, from any evidence as yet adduced, that any part of the 

 waters of the Columbia, or of the country through which they flow, 

 was seen by persons in the service of the North-West Company 

 until 1811 * 



In the mean time, several establishments had been formed by 

 citizens of the United States on the Columbia and its branches. 



Before the transfer of Louisiana to the United States, the trade 

 of the Missouri and the adjacent countries inhabited by the Indians, 

 had been granted by the Spanish government to Manuel Lisa, a 

 merchant of St. Louis, who continued to conduct it almost exclu- 

 sively until 1806. After the return of Lewis and Clarke, other 

 individuals engaged in the business, the competition between whom 

 occasioned many and serious disputes; until at length, in 1808, an 

 association, called the Missouri Fur Company, was formed among 



* Many interesting details respecting the proceedings of the North- West Com- 

 pany, and the geography of the parts of America in which its establishments are 

 situated, may be found in the journal of D. W. Harmon, a native of Vermont, who 

 was a partner in that company, and the superintendent of all its affairs beyond the 

 Rocky Mountains for several years. This journal was published at Andover, in 

 Massachusetts, in 1819, but is now nearly out of print: a review of it, containing 

 many curious extracts, may be seen in the London Quarterly Review for Janu- 

 ary, 1822. 



With regard to the dates of the earliest establishments of the North- West 

 Company beyond the Rocky Mountains, the following extracts from Harmon's 

 journal may be considered as decisive evidence : — 



"Saturday, November 24th, 1804. — Some people have just arrived from Montagne 

 la Basse, with a letter from Mr. Chaboillez, who informs me that two captains, Clarke 

 and Lewis, with one hundred and eighty soldiers, have arrived at the Mandan village, 

 on the Missouri River, which place is situated about three days' distance from the 

 residence of Mr. Chaboillez. They have invited Mr. Chaboillez to visit them. It is 

 said that, on their arrival, they hoisted the American flag, and informed the natives 

 that their object was not to trade, but merely to explore the country, and that, as soon 

 as the navigation shall open, they design to continue their route across the Rocky 

 Mountains, and thence descend to the Pacific Ocean. 



" Wednesday, April 10th, 1805. — While at Montagne la Basse, Mr. Chaboillez in- 

 duced me to consent to undertake a long and arduous tour of discovery. I am to leave 

 that place about the beginning of June, accompanied by six or seven Canadians, and 

 two or three Indians. The first place at which we shall stop will be the Mandan 

 village, on the Missouri River ; thence we shall steer our course towards the Rocky 

 Mountains, accompanied by a number of the Mandan Indians, who proceed in that 

 direction, every spring, to meet and trade with another tribe of Indians, who reside 

 on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. [This journey I never undertook : a 

 Mr. La Roque attempted to make this tour, but went no farther than the Mandan 

 village.] " 



At page 281, Harmon says, " The part of the country west of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, with which I am acquainted, has, ever since the North- West Company first 

 made an establishment there, which was in 1806, gone by the name of New Cale- 

 donia," &c. And in many places he speaks of Mr. Simon Fraser as having led the 

 first company of traders beyond the Rocky Mountains, in 1806. 



