I Was Also Directed, As
Secretary Of The Treasury, To Write To You An Official Letter To
The Same Purpose.
On investigating the subject, it was found that
the Executive had no authority to give you any direct aid; and I
believe you received nothing more than an entire approbation of
your plan, and general assurances of the protection due to every
citizen engaged in lawful and useful pursuits.
You did effect the contemplated purchase, but in what year I do
not recollect. Immediately before the war, you represented that a
large quantity of merchandise, intended for the Indian trade, and
including arms and munitions of war, belonging to that concern of
which you owned one half, was deposited at a post on Lake Huron,
within the British dominions; that, in order to prevent their
ultimately falling into the hands of Indians who might prove
hostile, you were desirous to try to have them conveyed into the
United States; but that you were prevented by the then existing
law of non-intercourse with the British dominions.
The Executive could not annul the provisions of that law. But I
was directed to instruct the collectors on the lakes, in case you
and your agents should voluntarily bring in and deliver to them
any part of the goods above mentioned, to receive and keep them
in their guard, and not to commence prosecutions until further
instructions: the intention being then to apply to Congress for
an act remitting the forfeiture and penalties. I wrote
accordingly, to that effect, to the collectors of Detroit and
Michilimackinac.
The attempt to obtain the goods did not, however, succeed; and I
cannot say how far the failure injured you. But the war proved
fatal to another much more extensive and important enterprise.
Previous to that time, but I also forget the year, you had
undertaken to carry on a trade on your own account, though I
believe under the New York charter of the American Fur Company,
with the Indians west of the Rocky Mountains. This project was
also communicated to government, and met, of course, with its
full approbation, and best wishes, for your success. You carried
it on, on the most extensive scale, sending several ships to the
mouth of the Columbia River, and a large party by land across the
mountains, and finally founding the establishment of Astoria.
This unfortunately fell into the hands of the enemy during the
war, from circumstances with which I am but imperfectly
acquainted - being then absent on a foreign mission. I returned
in September, 1815, and sailed again on a mission to France in
June, 1816. During that period I visited Washington twice - in
October or November, 1815, and in March, 1816. On one of these
occasions, and I believe on the last, you mentioned to me that
you were disposed once more to renew the attempt, and to
reestablish Astoria, provided you had the protection of the
American flag; for which purpose, a lieutenant's command would be
sufficient to you. You requested me to mention this to the
President, which I did. Mr. Madison said he would consider the
subject, and, although he did not commit himself, I thought that
he received the proposal favorably. The message was verbal, and I
do not know whether the application was ever renewed in a more
formal manner. I sailed soon after for Europe, and was seven
years absent. I never had the pleasure, since 1816, to see Mr.
Madison, and never heard again anything concerning the subject in
question.
I remain, dear sir, most respectfully, Your obedient servant,
ALBERT GALLATIN.
John Jacob Astor, Esq.,
New York.
Notices of the Present State of the Fur Trade, chiefly extracted
from an article published in Silliman's Magazine for January,
1834.
THE Northwest Company did not long enjoy the sway they had
acquired over the trading regions of the Columbia. A competition,
ruinous in its expenses, which had long existed between them and
the Hudson's Bay Company, ended in their downfall and the ruin of
most of the partners. The relict of the company became merged in
the rival association, and the whole business was conducted under
the name of the Hudson's Bay Company.
This coalition took place in 1821. They then abandoned Astoria,
and built a large establishment sixty miles up the river, on the
right bank, which they called Fort Vancouver. This was in a
neighborhood where provisions could be more readily procured, and
where there was less danger from molestation by any naval force.
The company are said to carry on an active and prosperous trade,
and to give great encouragement to settlers. They are extremely
jealous, however, of any interference or participation in their
trade, and monopolize it from the coast of the Pacific to the
mountains, and for a considerable extent north and south. The
American traders and trappers who venture across the mountains,
instead of enjoying the participation in the trade of the river
and its tributaries, that had been stipulated by treaty, are
obliged to keep to the south, out of the track of the Hudson's
Bay parties.
Mr. Astor has withdrawn entirely from the American Fur Company,
as he has, in fact, from active business of every kind. That
company is now headed by Mr. Ramsay Crooks; its principal
establishment is at Michilimackinac, and it receives its furs
from the posts depending on that station, and from those on the
Mississippi, Missouri, and Yellow Stone Rivers, and the great
range of country extending thence to the Rocky Mountains. This
company has steamboats in its employ, with which it ascends the
rivers, and penetrates to a vast distance into the bosom of those
regions formerly so painfully explored in keel-boats and barges,
or by weary parties on horseback and on foot. The first irruption
of steamboats in the heart of these vast wildernesses is said to
have caused the utmost astonishment and affright among their
savage inhabitants.
In addition to the main companies already mentioned, minor
associations have been formed, which push their way in the most
intrepid manner to the remote parts of the far West, and beyond
the mountain barriers.
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