Map of the region surrounding the Columbia District

The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal Fur. The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America (the term refers to the land not the ocean British North America consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary It was established by the North West Company and later became part of the Hudson's Bay Company, under which it became known as the Columbia Department. For the grocery chain see The North West Company. The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal The Oregon Treaty of 1846, along with the sharp decline in the fur trade in the 1840s, marks the effective end of the Columbia Department. The Oregon Treaty, officially known as the Treaty with Great Britain in Regard to Limits Westward of the Rocky Mountains, Buchanan-Packenham

North West Company

Beginning in 1807, David Thompson, working for the North West Company, explored what would become the Columbia District. David Thompson ( April 30, 1770 &ndash February 10, 1857) was an English-Canadian fur trader surveyor and map-maker known In 1811 he located Athabasca Pass, which became the key overland connection to the emerging fur district. Athabasca Pass (el) is a high Mountain pass in the Canadian Rockies. ^[1]

Starting in 1810 the American Pacific Fur Company challenged the North West Company's operations in the Columbia District, establishing a number of trading posts. The Pacific Fur Company was founded June 23, 1810, in New York City The North West Company was able to buy the entire operation of the Pacific Fur Company in 1813.

In 1815 the North West Company's business west of the Rocky Mountains was officially divided into two districts, the older New Caledonia district in the northern interior, and the Columbia District to the south. Main article History of British Columbia New Caledonia was the name given to a district of the Hudson's Bay Company that comprised the territory largely Also in 1815 the New Caledonia district began receiving the bulk of its annual supplies by sea from the lower Columbia rather than overland from Montreal. By 1820 the North West Company operated six posts on the lower Columbia River and its tributaries, including Fort George (Astoria), Fort Nez Perces, Fort Okanagan, Spokane House, Flathead Post, and Fort Kootenay. ^[2]

Under the North West Company the Columbia District was bounded, roughly, by the southern edge of the Thompson River on the north, and by the southern and eastern limits of the Columbia River basin. The Thompson River is the largest Tributary of the Fraser River The Columbia River (known as North and west of the Thompson was the New Caledonia fur district, in what is now north-central British Columbia. Main article History of British Columbia New Caledonia was the name given to a district of the Hudson's Bay Company that comprised the territory largely British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C

In the Treaty of 1818 between the U. The Convention respecting fisheries boundary and the restoration of slaves between the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, also known as the S. and Britain, the two powers agreed that each had free and open access the region, which the U. S. generally referred to as the Oregon Country. Oregon Country or Oregon (to be distinguished from the American State also called Oregon) was a predominantly American term referring to

The North West Company found the Native Americans of the Columbia region generally unwilling to work as fur trappers and hunters. For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States. The company depended upon native labor east of the Rocky Mountains and found it difficult to operate without assistance in the west. For this reason the company began, in 1815, to bring groups of Iroquois, skilled at hunting and trapping, from the Montreal region to the Pacific Northwest. The Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the "League of Peace and Power" the "Five Nations" the "Six Nations" or the "People of the Longhouse This practice soon became standard policy and was continued for many years by both the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company and was essential for the extension of the fur trade into much of the Columbia basin. The Iroquois were intended not only to support company personnel but, it was hoped, teach local natives the skills of hunting and trapping, and convince them to take up the work. This effort was largely unsuccessful. The reason generally given for the unwillingness of the natives to take up trapping and hunting was that their way of life was highly focused on salmon and fishing, and that the abundance of salmon resulted in little incentive for taking up hunting and trapping. Instead of cooperation there were altercations between the Iroquois and local natives. In 1816 parties of the North West Company, including a number of Iroquois, explored the Cowlitz River valley and the Willamette Valley, reaching as far south as the Umpqua River. The Cowlitz River is a River in the state of Washington in the United States, a Tributary of the Columbia River. The Willamette Valley () is the region in northwest Oregon in the United States that surrounds the Willamette River as it proceeds northward from its emergence The Umpqua River (UHMP-kwah on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately long Both exploring expeditions ended with violent clashes between the Iroquois and local natives. ^[3]

The North West Company was unchallenged in the fur trade of the region from 1813 to 1821, when it was merged with the Hudson's Bay Company. During this period the company put into practice the system designed by the Astorian's Pacific Fur Company. A supply ship arrived each spring at Fort George (Astoria). Fur brigades from the interior of the Columbia and New Caledonia districts would converge on Fort George each spring. Furs were loaded on the ship and supplies carried back to the interior. The ship would then carry the furs to Canton, China, where furs would be exchanged for tea and other goods, which were then carried to Britain, completing a global circuit. Guangzhou ( Jyutping: Gwong²zau¹; Yale: Gwóngjàu) is the Capital and a Sub-provincial city Company letters, reports, and personnel were generally conveyed overland along a route between Fort George and Fort William on Lake Superior, making use of Athabasca Pass. Fort William was a city in Northern Ontario, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. ^[4] Later, under the Hudson's Bay Company, the York Factory Express used this route, reoriented to York Factory on Hudson's Bay. The York Factory Express, usually called "the Express" and also called the Columbia Express, was a brigade operated by Hudson's Bay Company in York Factory was a settlement located on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada at the mouth of the Hayes

The Columbia District under the North West Company was only marginally profitable at best. There were numerous problems at many posts. The only consistently profitable areas were the Kootenay and Snake countries. New Caledonia produced many furs, but its remoteness made it costly to operate. Nevertheless, the North West Company succeeded in creating a functional network oriented to the Pacific via the Columbia River. Another important legacy was the construction of Fort Nez Perces on the Columbia River near its confluence with the Snake River. Fort Nez Percés, sometimes also spelled Fort Nez Percé (with or without the accent and later known as (Old Fort Walla Walla was a fortified fur trading Fort Nez Perces would long remain a strategic site, located at the junction of a variety of trails leading to vastly different regions. The fort became an important center for the procurement of horses, a base for expeditions far to the southeast, and a focal point for fur brigades preparing to journey through the Columbia River Gorge. The Columbia River Gorge is a Canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ^[5]

Hudson's Bay Company

The North West Company was merged with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821. Operations west of the Rocky Mountains were reorganized and the fur districts of New Caledonia and Columbia were merged in 1827 under the name Columbia Department. ^[6] The name New Caledonia continued continued to be used for the old northern district, and in time came to be used for areas such as the Fraser Canyon and the Lower Mainland. fountaincanyon10jpg|thumb|400px|right|View of Fraser Canyon looking upstream from Fountain British Columbia The Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

In 1825 the Hudson's Bay Company built Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River to serve as the headquarters of the entire Columbia Department. Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's With the signing of the Oregon Treaty in 1846, however, the U. The Oregon Treaty, officially known as the Treaty with Great Britain in Regard to Limits Westward of the Rocky Mountains, Buchanan-Packenham S. -British boundary was fixed on the 49th parallel. The U. S. soon organized its portion as the Oregon Territory. The Oregon Territory is the name applied both to the unorganized Oregon Country claimed by both the United States and Britain (but normally referred to The administrative headquarters of fur operations, and of the Columbia Department, then shifted to Fort Victoria, which had been founded in 1843 in anticipation of the results of the dispute. Victoria (vɪkˈtɔɹiə is the capital city of British Columbia. In addition to Fort Vancouver, Fort Nez Percé (near present-day Wallula, Washington), Fort Langley, Spokane House, Fort Colville, and Kamloops House were other major trading posts in the district. Fort Nez Percés, sometimes also spelled Fort Nez Percé (with or without the accent and later known as (Old Fort Walla Walla was a fortified fur trading Wallula is a Census-designated place (CDP in Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. Fort Langley, is a Parks Canada National historic site, a former Trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, now located in the village of Colville is a city in Stevens County, Washington, United States. Kamloops is a city in south central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the two branches of the Thompson

After 1846 New Caledonia became loosely applied as a name for the remainder of the British coast north of Puget Sound, which had been Columbia Department as far north as at least Queen Charlotte Strait (Forts Simpson and McLaughlin were administered from Fort St. James, the capital of New Caledonia). Queen Charlotte Strait is a Strait between Vancouver Island and the Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Fort St James is a town and former fur Trading post in north-central British Columbia, Canada. Even though part of the Columbia District, the unchartered territory of the remainder of the Columbia District after 1846 became informally referred to as New Caledonia, such that in the Fraser Canyon in 1858 and farther north in the Cariboo during the 1860s, were referred to as being New Caledonia, as also had been Fort Langley since 1827. The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, (also Fraser Gold Rush) occurred in 1858 after Gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia The Cariboo Gold Rush was a Gold rush in the Canadian province British Columbia. Fort Langley is a village with a population of 2700 and forms part of the Township of Langley. By then the Columbia District proper had been more than halved and the name had fallen into relative disuse, until revived when the new Mainland Colony needed a name.

With the creation of the Crown Colony on the British mainland north of the then-Washington Territory in 1858, Queen Victoria chose to use Columbia District as the basis for the name Colony of British Columbia, i. The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories that are under the Sovereignty of the United Kingdom, but which do not form part of the United Kingdom The Washington Territory was a historic Organized territory of the United States that was formed in February 8, 1853 from the portion of the Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The Colony of British Columbia was a Crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1871. e. the remaining British portion of the former Columbia District.

In their British Columbia Chronicle, historians Helen B. Akrigg and G. P. V. Akrigg coined the term "Southern Columbia" for the "lost" area south of the 49th Parallel, but this has never come into common use, even by other historians.

Historical figures of the Columbia District

• David Thompson
• John McLoughlin
• Sir James Douglas
• Samuel Black
• Peter Skene Ogden
• Chief Nicola (Hwistesmetxe'qen)
• Chief Seattle (Sealth)

See also

• Oregon Country
• Oregon boundary dispute
• Colony of Vancouver Island
• History of British Columbia
• History of Oregon

References

External links

• "Fort Vancouver Cultural Landscape Report" produced by the US National Parks Service.

Further reading

• Meinig, Donald W. The Great Columbia Plain: A Historical Geography, 1805-1910.