A History of Oregon, 1792-1849: Drawn From Personal Observation and Authentic InformationGray, W. H. (William Henry)
History
A History of Oregon, 1792-1849: Drawn From Personal Observation and Authentic Information
Gray, W. H. (William Henry)
Frontier and pioneer life -- Oregon; Oregon Territory -- History
I apprehend, from a careful review of all this testimony of the
forty-one witnesses who were on the part of the Hudson's Bay Company,
and the forty-two on the part of the United States, that the whole
policy of the company has been thoroughly developed; yet, at the same
time, without a long personal acquaintance with their manner of doing
business, it would be difficult to comprehend the full import of the
testimony given, though I apprehend the commissioners will have no very
difficult task to understand the humbuggery of the whole claim, as
developed by the testimony of the clerks in London and the investigation
at head-quarters. As to the amount of award, I would not risk one dollar
to obtain a share in all they get from our government. On the contrary,
a claim should be made against them for damages and trespass upon the
American citizens, as also the lives of such as they have caused to be
murdered by their influence over the Indians.
The telegraph has informed us that the commissioners have awarded to the
Hudson's Bay Company, $450,000, and to the Puget Sound concern,
$200,000. We have no change to make in our opinion of the commissioners
previously expressed, as they must have known, from the testimony
developed in the Puget Sound concern, that that part of the claim was a
fictitious one, and instituted to distract the public and divide the
pretensions to so large an amount in two parts. That the commissioners
should allow it can only be understood upon the principle that the
Hudson's Bay Company were entitled to that amount as an item of costs in
prosecuting their case.
No man at all familiar with the history of this coast, and of the
Hudson's Bay Company, can conscientiously approve of that award. Our
forefathers, in 1776, said "millions for defense, but not one cent for
tribute," which we consider this award to be,--for the benefit of
English duplicity and double-dealing, in the false representations they
made at the making of the treaty, and the perjury of their witnesses.
CHAPTER XI.
Quotation from Mr. Swan.--His mistake.--General Gibbs'
mistake.--Kamaiyahkan.--Indian agent killed.--I. I. Stevens
misjudged.
The gigantic fraud of slavery fell, in our own land, in the short space
of four years; but that of this company--holding and destroying as many
lives as the African slave trade--holds its own, and still lifts its
head, under the patronage of a professed Christian nation; and claims to
be an honorable company, while it robs and starves its unnumbered
benighted Indians, and shuts up half of North America from civilization.
At the same time it has obtained $650,000 for partially withdrawing its
continued robberies of the American Indians within the United States,
after implanting in the savage mind an implacable hatred against the
American people.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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