Had He Been Seconded By Suitable Agents, And
Properly Protected By Government, The Ultimate Failure Of His
Plan Might Yet Have Been Averted.
It was his great misfortune
that his agents were not imbued with his own spirit.
Some had not
capacity sufficient to comprehend the real nature and extent of
his scheme; others were alien in feeling and interest, and had
been brought up in the service of a rival company. Whatever
sympathies they might originally have had with him, were
impaired, if not destroyed, by the war. They looked upon his
cause as desperate, and only considered how they might make
interest to regain a situation under their former employers. The
absence of Mr. Hunt, the only real representative of Mr. Astor,
at the time of the capitulation with the Northwest Company,
completed the series of cross purposes. Had that gentleman been
present, the transfer, in all probability, would not have taken
place.
It is painful, at all times, to see a grand and beneficial stroke
of genius fall of its aim: but we regret the failure of this
enterprise in a national point of view; for, had it been crowned
with success, it would have redounded greatly to the advantage
and extension of our commerce. The profits drawn from the country
in question by the British Fur Company, though of ample amount,
form no criterion by which to judge of the advantages that would
have arisen had it been entirely in the hands of the citizens of
the United States. That company, as has been shown, is limited in
the nature and scope of its operations, and can make but little
use of the maritime facilities held out by an emporium and a
harbor on that coast. In our hands, besides the roving bands of
trappers and traders, the country would have been explored and
settled by industrious husbandmen; and the fertile valleys
bordering its rivers, and shut up among its mountains, would have
been made to pour forth their agricultural treasures to
contribute to the general wealth.
In respect to commerce, we should have had a line of trading
posts from the Mississippi and the Missouri across the Rocky
Mountains, forming a high road from the great regions of the west
to the shores of the Pacific. We should have had a fortified post
and port at the mouth of the Columbia, commanding the trade of
that river and its tributaries, and of a wide extent of country
and sea-coast; carrying on an active and profitable commerce with
the Sandwich Islands, and a direct and frequent communication
with China. In a word, Astoria might have realized the
anticipations of Mr. Astor, so well understood and appreciated by
Mr. Jefferson, in gradually becoming a commercial empire beyond
the mountains, peopled by "free and independent Americans, and
linked with us by ties of blood and interest."
We repeat, therefore, our sincere regret that our government
should have neglected the overture of Mr. Astor, and suffered the
moment to pass by, when full possession of this region might have
been taken quietly, as a matter of course, and a military post
established, without dispute, at Astoria. Our statesmen have
become sensible, when too late, of the importance of this
measure. Bills have repeatedly been brought into Congress for the
purpose, but without success; and our rightful possessions on
that coast, as well as our trade on the Pacific, have no rallying
point protected by the national flag, and by a military force.
In the meantime, the second period of ten years is fast elapsing.
In 1838, the question of title will again come up, and most
probably, in the present amicable state of our relations with
Great Britain, will be again postponed. Every year, however, the
litigated claim is growing in importance. There is no pride so
jealous and irritable as the pride of territory. As one wave of
emigration after another rolls into the vast regions of the west,
and our settlements stretch towards the Rocky Mountains, the
eager eyes of our pioneers will pry beyond, and they will become
impatient of any barrier or impediment in the way of what they
consider a grand outlet of our empire. Should any circumstance,
therefore, unfortunately occur to disturb the present harmony of
the two nations, this ill-adjusted question, which now lies
dormant, may suddenly start up into one of belligerent import,
and Astoria become the watchword in a contest for dominion on the
shores of the Pacific.
Since the above was written, the question of dominion over the
vast territory beyond the Rocky Mountains, which for a time
threatened to disturb the peaceful relations with our
transatlantic kindred, has been finally settled in a spirit of
mutual concession, and the venerable projector whose early
enterprise forms the subject of this work had the satisfaction of
knowing, ere his eyes closed upon the world, that the flag of his
country again waved over "ASTORIA."
APPENDIX
Draught of a Petition to Congress, sent by Mr. Astor in 1812.
To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States, in Congress assembled,
The petition of the American Fur Company respectfully showeth:
THAT the trade with the several Indian tribes of North America
has, for many years past, been almost exclusively carried on by
the merchants of Canada; who, having formed powerful and
extensive associations for that purpose, being aided by British
capital, and being encouraged by the favor and protection of the
British government, could not be opposed, with any prospect of
success by individuals of the United States.
That by means of the above trade, thus systematically pursued,
not only the inhabitants of the United States have been deprived
of commercial profits and advantages, to which they appear to
have just and natural pretensions, but a great and dangerous
influence has been established over the Indian tribes, difficult
to be counteracted, and capable of being exerted at critical
periods, to the great injury and annoyance of our frontier
settlements.
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