HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY IN CALIFORNIA
By ALICE B. MALONEY
THE HUDSON's Bay Company played a dual role in the history of California between the years 1825 and 1845. The major part of the record of the company's activities, first, in its own pursuit of commercial gain, and second, as the instrument of England's hope to acquire the Californias, lie buried in the archives of that nation and in the files of the company at their headquarters in London. There remain the Mexican Provincial records of California, various records in Oregon, diaries and letters and recollections of officials and private individuals concerning the events of those stirring days of the 1830s and 1840s. From these, and from the published histories of Oregon and California, these sidelights of California's history when she played a part in the international scene have been gleaned. The spotlight moves from one character to another, but the whole stage is not yet illuminated.
The Hudson's Bay Company, oldest chartered company in the world, has been doing business in the far corners of the earth since 1670.[1] Upon its merger in 1821 with the North West Company, its officers took over the business of that company in the far northwest, including Fort George (Astoria) at the mouth of the Columbia River, and the coast trade of the Pacific.
There were rumors that the North West Company had established a trading post in California between the years 1814 and 1821, but these have never been substantiated. McTavish, one of the North West partners, was at Monterey April 22, 1814, with the Isaac Todd, and purchased provisions of all kinds and some livestock, including two bulls, two heifers, cocks, hens, and even a few Spanish cats. November 25, 1814, the North
West Company vessel Columbia arrived, and about the middle
- ↑ The date of the charter was May 2, 1670. The privileges granted were such as no other company ever enjoyed. Over a region of unknown extent it was given absolute proprietorship, supreme jurisdiction in civil and military affairs, the power to make laws and to declare war against pagan peoples and in fact nearly all the attributes of a sovereign and independent government; Chittenden, American Fur Trade, 1935, 90.
