Studies in American History 
207 
Saskatchewan, but their places were rapidly filled by pioneers 
from the East and from Europe who came on American rail- 
roads to Minnesota, and transferred to canvas-covered wagons 
for the remainder of the distance to the exhaustless wheat 
lands. 
When Congress met, in December, 1869, the subject of 
relations with Canada arose at once. The Senate asked the 
President to furnish information concerning recent negotia- 
tions in regard to a reciprocity treaty, and twelve days later 
requested copies of correspondence bearing on pending rela- 
tions with England since the rejection of the claims conven- 
tion in the previous April. The President replied to both 
resolutions. On the subject of reciprocity there had been no 
formal negotiations nor correspondence, and all conversation 
relating to it had been too informal for a report. The Grant 
administration decided to investigate the situation on the 
northwest border. On December 30, 1869, Fish, who had 
succeeded Seward as secretary of state, sent James W. Taylor 
to the Red River region on a special and strictly confidential 
mission^^ to secure information upon the following subjects: 
(1) full details of the revolt against the Canadian confedera- 
tion and the expulsion of McDougall; (2) the geographical 
features and commercial affinities of the Selkirk, Saskatch- 
ewan, and Columbia districts; (3) the character and disposi- 
tion of the population; (4) the existing routes of commerce 
between Canada and the United States; (5) the political re- 
lations of the several British possessions between Minnesota 
and Alaska; (6) the general question of the commercial and 
political relations between Canada and the several provinces. 
At the same time both in December, 1869, and in January, 
1870, Fish in his conversations with Thornton was urging the 
entire withdrawal of Great Britain from Canada as a basis 
for the immediate settlement of the Alabama claims. Thorn- 
ton replied that altho the Canadians did not desire it, “We 
are ready to let them go whenever they shall wish.” In 
January, 1870, Fish informally called his attention to the 
original copy of a paper which had recently appeared in the 
newspapers, purporting to be a memorial from the inhabitants 
of British Columbia and urging the transfer of the colony 
to the United States. At the same time he suggested that 
8 Special Missions, III. Five weeks later Taylor’s Repor t of 52 pages was sent to 
the Senate. {Senate Executive Documents, No. 33, 41-2, February 2, 1870.) 
