T. C. ELLIOTT
32
Fraser and Stuart, partners of the North West Company in I annex extracts from Mr. McMillan's rethe year 1808. port and as this country appears to be rich in fur bearing animals we have it in contemplation to form permanent es14 to push our discoveries tablishments therein next Summer, to the Northward both inland and on the Coast, and to embark a considerable capital in endeavoring to secure to Great Britain the benefits arising from an exchange of British manufactures for the produce of that Country with its numerous inhabitants.
In compliance with a wish expressed by you at our last interview Governor Simpson when at Columbia abandoned Fort George on the South side of the River and formed a new Establishment on the North side about 75 miles from the mouth of the River at a place called by Lt. Broughton Belle vue Point. 15 Governor Simpson named the new establishment "Fort Vancouver" in order to identify our claim to the soil and trade with Lt. Broughton' s discovery and survey. He considers the soil and climate of this place to be so well adapted for agricultural pursuits, that in the course of two or three years it may be made to produce sufficient grain and animal provisions to meet not only the demands of our own trade but to almost any extent that may be required for other purposes; and he considers the possession of this place and a right to the navigation of the River Columbia to be quite necessary to our carrying on to advantage not only the trade of the upper parts of the Columbia River but also that of the country interior from the mouth of Eraser's River and the Coasting Trade, all of which can be provisioned from this Place. Under existing circumstances I respectfully submit to your consideration whether it might not be advisable to endeavor to arrange a boundary line between Great Britain and the United States in that country to the West of the Rocky Mountains more especially as the attention of Congress has been called to the subject, and in an American map lately published the line of Lat. 49 is continued from the Rocky Mountains to the Sea Coast, and the Country to the South of that line is described to be United States Territory, which at some 14 Fort Langley on the Fraser river was established by James McMillan in July, 1827.
15 This identification of Bellevue Point adds interest to the historic site of Fort Vancouver; from, the narrative by Mr. Broughton or Captain Vancouver It is hardly correct that Fort George was is difficult to locate this Point. abandoned, however, for a trading post was maintained there until 1849 or 1850, when taken over by the U. S. army and custom officer*. it
