LAST PHASE OF OREGON BOUNDARY 169
with those of the whole Pacific Northwest. It was originally formed in 1670 and received from Charles the Second of Eng- land a charter securing to them
"the sole trade and commerce of all those seas, straits, bays, rivers, lakes, creeks, and sounds, in whatsoever lati- tude they be, that lie within the entrance of the straits commonly called Hudson's Straits, together with all lands and territories upon the countries, coasts and confines of the seas, bays, etc., aforesaid, that are not already actually possessed by or granted to any of our subjects, or pos- sessed by the subjects of any other Christian prince or state." 3
After the cession of Canada to Great Britain by France in 1763 many traders began to compete with the great Company in their business of bartering with the Indians for furs, espe- cially in the new territories of the west. These individual spec- ulators eventually formed the North-West Fur Company of Montreal. The result of the competition between the servants of the two corporations was deplorable. The Indians were corrupted by liquor; dark stories are told of what white men did to each other in the scramble for the gains of this exceed- ingly profitable employment, and the supply of furs was in some danger of giving out through indiscriminate slaughter. By 1821 the unwisdom of this strife was recognized and an amalgamation took place. A license was obtained granting exclusive trading rights in the regions west and northwest of the old grant. The North-West Company lost its identity, and in 1838 the Hudson's Bay Company procured a new license for monopoly trading rights in the western lands for twenty- one years. This was not renewed on its expiration in 1859. The license of 1838 defined the territory affected thus:
"The exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in all such ports of North America to the northward and to the westward of the lands and territories belonging to the United States of America as should not form part of any of our provinces in North America, or of any lands or territories belonging to said United States of America, or to any European Government, State or Power." 4
3 See Ency. Brit, llth Ed. Art Hudton'i Bar Company.
4 Quoted in "TA* Trnty of Washington" by Caleb Cuthing p. 217.
