402 AMERICAN CITIZENS IN OREGON. [1844. 



hemp, flax, and some other vegetables, and grass for cattle, tolerably 

 well, and it may be considered fertile when compared with other 

 parts of the continent situated so far north : it is, however, deficient 

 in wood, and notwithstanding all the advantages held out to the 

 inhabitants, there is no prospect that it will ever become profitable 

 or useful, either to the Hudson's Bay Company or to the British 

 government, in any way ; and least of all, " in the event of diffi- 

 culties occurring between Great Britain and the United States of 

 America," to provide for which seems to be one of the objects of the 

 Company in fostering it. 



There is no reason to believe that the British government has 

 made grants of any nature in the countries west of the Rocky 

 Mountains, except that to the Hudson's Bay Company, which is 

 merely a license to use those countries, in common with American 

 citizens. The company has however allowed many settlements to 

 be formed by its retired servants ; and has also encouraged associ- 

 ations of British subjects, its own servants and others, to make es- 

 tablishments for farming and grazing on a large scale. The earliest 

 of these establishments were in the valley of the Willamet, south 

 of the Columbia, where the British were soon outnumbered by the 

 Americans, and now compose a very inconsiderable part of the 

 population. The larger establishments, besides those at Fort Van- 

 couver, are situated in the prairies about Bulfinch's Harbor, and 

 around Nasqually, one of the Company's posts at the southern 

 extremity of Puget's Sound, and near the head waters of the Cow- 

 elitz River, midway between Nasqually and Vancouver. On what 

 terms these establishments have been founded is not publicly 

 known ; it may however be supposed that they would not have 

 been undertaken without some assurance , from the British Govern- 

 ment, that the persons interested would be maintained and pro- 

 tected, or in any event be indemnified for their expenses and labors. 



Of the American citizens in Oregon very little can be said as yet. 

 They are all engaged in agriculture and other matters immediately 

 connected with that branch of industry ; and according to the most 

 recent accounts, have established for themselves a provisional system 

 of government, according to the constitution of their native republic. 

 With their neighbors of the Hudson's Bay Company, they seem to 

 live on good terms, and will probably so continue as long as the 

 Columbia River separates the territories occupied by the two parties. 

 The Americans will have no objection to settlers from any quarter : 

 but it may be doubted whether their attempts to extend their estab- 



