356 



CHAPTER XVII. 

 1823 to 1844 



Few Citizens of the United States in the Countries west of the Rocky Mountains 

 between 1813 and 1823 — Trading Expeditions of Ashley, Sublette, Smith, Pilcher, 

 Pattie, Bonneville, and Wyeth — Missionaries from the United States form Estab- 

 lishments on the Columbia — First Printing Press set up in Oregon — Opposi- 

 tion of the Hudson's Bay Company to the Americans; how exerted — Contro- 

 versy between the United States and Russia — Dispute between the Hudson's 

 Bay and the Russian American Companies; how terminated — California; Cap- 

 ture of Monterey by Commodore Jones — The Sandwich Islands; Proceedings of 

 the Missionaries ; Expulsion of the Catholic Priests, and their Reinstatement by a 

 French Force — The Sandwich Islands temporarily occupied by the British. 



It has already been said, that, during the ten years immediately 

 following the dissolution of the Pacific Fur Company, and the 

 seizure of its establishments on the Columbia by the British, few, 

 if any, citizens of the United States entered the countries west 

 of the Rocky Mountains ; although, within that period, the facilities 

 for communication between those countries and the settled portions 

 of the American Union had been increased by the introduction of 

 steam vessels on the Mississippi and its tributary rivers. Nearly 

 all the trade of the regions of the Upper Mississippi and the 

 Missouri was then carried on by the old North American Fur 

 Company, at the head of which Mr. Astor still remained ; and by 

 another association, called the Columbia Fur Company, formed in 

 1822, composed principally of persons who had been in the service 

 of the North-West Company, and were dissatisfied with their new 

 masters. The Columbia Company established several posts on the 

 upper waters of the Mississippi, the Missouri, and the Yellowstone, 

 which were, however, transferred to the North American Company, 

 on the junction of the two bodies in 1826. The Americans had also 

 begun to trade with the northernmost provinces of Mexico, before 

 the overthrow of the Spanish authority in that country ; after which 

 event, large caravans passed regularly, in each summer, between 

 St. Louis and Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, on the head- 

 waters of the River Bravo del Norte. 



