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Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela dtait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6X6 film^es. □ Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible D Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuitlet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 filmdes d nouveau de fa^on d obtenir la meilleure image possible. D Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl6rr, i., pp. 477-8. See also Itel. dela N. F. 1672-3, pp. 42-4, 47-51, 55 ; De la j. ' •tlicrk, i., p. 143. \ ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. Pago 132, line 2 after '; Cana.Ia," insert "According tj. 01, nuxon, m his lirituh Empire in Amcrtca, the French ha.l. this^year made a Hett ement some diHtanc. up the MooHe River, l.y which to intercept V5- 1- na *"'- In'lian traffic with the Bay " l.lo, lino 36, read 1073. ' " 149, note *, lino 2, read censure. 150, note, line .'5, read p\ac6e. line 27, read cette. lines 30 31 and 32, read Nemiscau. line 33, for e, read et ; rcarf lieues. Page 150, note, line 37, rend lieues. ir/. 1- ... line 42, rmr/ tr^s. lf.O, hne 16, after " it" insert - is." ^' }ln' 1- " '^' ''^"'' affected. 180, line 16, rend a half century later. 181, note, line 4, rra,/ Maricourt. last line but one, read Mitnmres ; for c read a. .jf KEPOKT OTSr THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PEOVINCE OF ONTARIO. The claim of the Dominion Government is understood to be. tliat the Meridional line drawn due North, from the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, forms the Western Boundary of Ontario, and that the lands' height of the northern watershed of the St. La^vrence, is the Northern Boundary. The Government of Ontario deny both propositions ; and contend, that the Western limit is the Rocky Mountains ; that the North-western limitary line lies north of the Ssakatchewan ; and that the North-eastern line lies in the vicinity of Hudson's Day. These limits are hereinafter stated with greater minuteness of detail. The proper location of the disputed Boundaries depends upon the proper construc- tion of Statutes, Treaties, Orders in Council, and Royal Proclamations, interpreted by the aid of contemporaneous facts, and by well-established principles of public law. Before citing any of those public documents from which the true limits of Ontario are to be gathered, and in which those limits are, with more or less distinctness, set forth, it will be advpntftgeous to state the boundaries Canada had while in the possession of France, im- mediately before the seven years' war began. It will also be proper to point out with precision how much of Canada was transferred to England by the Treaty of Paris in 176.3, and how much was retained by France. It will be proper to show the actual limits of the Province of Quebec under the Act of 1771 ; to point out the changes made by the Treaty of 1783, by which the whole of the south-westorn part of the Province was ceded to the United States ; to show how that country was, at the beginning of her national existence, unable to fulfill her treaty obligations ; how, in consequence of this failure, the English Govern- ment con&id>:^red themselves in no way bound by the boundary stipulations, but entcl'tained the project of retaining that portion of Canada which had been surrendered to the United States, — a part to bo retained as British territory, and a part to be held by mutual arrange- ment for the benefit of the Indian tribes ; how the English Government believed that a large part of the population of the United States wouM prefer to be subjects of the British Crown rather than citizens of an unsettled and, for a time, somewhat disjointed Republic ; to point out that with this object in view the British Government continued to hold possession of the northern portion of the United States Territories, the inhabitants of which were governed under the Crown by the commandants of the various military posts, some of whom were made Lieutenant-Governors, and at whose posts civil governments were ost^Iilished ; that with BOUNDARIES OF THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO. this object in view it was proposed to divide thu old Province of Quebec, leaving the eastern "Jj Jtl portion to be governed by the civil law of France, and cmbraclnfj; in the western Province fl NewfoJ not only all of the Province of Quebec, west of the separating line, but all of the country H IiJ conamonly known as Canada, to its utmost limit, whether it was British or United States JH countrJ Territory by the Treaty of 1783; that this policy, so far as it affected the territory which H Gibaul had been ceded to the United States, was abandoned by the Treaty of 17'J4 (commonly known 9 and tliii as Jay's Treaty), in conseijuence of the war witii the French Ilepublio, and the altered mk countrj position of Spain towards Great Britain and the United States; but that the said policy did 9 Inl not involve any diminution of the territories remaining in the Province of Upper Canada, Wt he, witl north of the international boundary. An endeavour will be made to point out the proper ;3 which 1| location of our north-eastern limit, as provided by the Treaty of Utrecht. English and Fkkncii Chauters. If we weiB to look to the charters granted at various times by the Crowns of Eng- land and France to navigators and mercantile adventurers, we should discover that there was scarcely any portion of North America, between the Gulf of Mexico and the Polar Sea, which had not been granted by each to some of its own subjects. In 1-tOG John Cabot and his three sons obtained from Henry VII. a Patent, em- powering any one of them, or their deputies, to sail into the Eastern, Western, or Northern Sea to search for Islands, Countries, or Regions, before unseen by Christian people ; to affix the banners of England on any place that they might discover ; and to possess and occupy the countries so discovered, as the vassals of the English Crown.* In 1498 a new Patent was issued by the same Monarch to John Cabot, but contain- ing less ample privileges.f Under the first of the.se Patents the coast of Labrador was visited; and under the second, the eastern coast of North America was explored from the northern part of Labrador to the southern boundary of the State of Maryland. The second expedition of the Cabots was connected with plans for settlements. Provision was made for emigration to the new world, and a limited monopoly of the colonial trade was conceded. A third Patent, with larger concessions, was issued to, in part, the same patentees. The adventurers derived no profit from their exploration.-*, and navigation for a time languished ; yet these expeditions wtre never entirely relinquished. The Normans, the Biscayans, and the Bretons frequented the fisheries on the American coast shortly after the discoveries of the Cabots,;}: but from the fragmentary records which have been preserved of mercantile adventure.-*, the Ei "sh mariners seem not to have wholly resigned to a rival nation the advantages arising from their discoveries.§ * Hakluyt III. pp. 25, 26 ; Chalmers' PcliticBl Annals, pp. 7, 8. t Ilakliiyt III. jp. 30, 31. J Charlevoix. Hist, de la Nouv. Fr. Vil. I. p. 3. § See the account of the Pirate Nutt, in Forster'8 Life of Sir J. Elliot. Vol. I., pp. 41-75. ENGLISH AND FRENCH f'HARTERS. es. a tim6 lerican wliich wholly It was about tho year 1504 that the flshcrmcn of northern France visited the coaats of Newfoundland.* In 1523, Jean Vernzzano, under a Commission from Francis I., took possession of the country between the thirty-third and forty-seventh dei^'rees of north latitude; and io 1535, Gibnult and Laudonniere, by authority of Charles IX , founded Carolina in the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth degrees of north latitude, under a Commission to inhabit and cultivate that country.f In 1G03, Champlain was enijjaged in tho exploration of the St. Lawrence;' and in 1609, he, with two other Frenchmen, explored Lake Champlain and the country of the Iro<|Uois, of which he took formal possession in tho name of Henry IV. of France. In the years Kill and 1G12 he explored Lake Huron, entered Saginaw Bay, vi-sited tho various tribes of Indians upon the lake, passed down the Detroit River, cxploi-ed Lake Erie, and, throughout this extent of country, laid the foundation of French sovereignty in tho valley of the St. Lawrence. Champlain, for many years, prosecuted the fur trade where Boston now stands ; and also to the eastward along the coast, towards the Bay of Fundy, for at leust ten years before any English had settled there. | It was not until 1606 that a Charter was granted by James I. to Sir Thomas Gates and his associates, for the territories between the 34th and 35th degrees of north latitude. Tho associates had excepted from their grant all territories in the adiud possession of other Chris- tian Princes. No Charter granted by the Crown of either England or France recognised in the natives of the continent any right which the grantees were bound to respect. § In November, 1603, Henry IV. granted to Sieur de Monts a Patent for North America between the fortieth and forty-sixth parallels of north latitude ; and in the following year aa exclusive charter for the fur trade of Canada up to the fifty -fourth degree of north latitude. j| As early as 1620, the English Parliament and the English Courts had refu.sed to recog- nize the validity of a title to vast regions, founded upon a grant from the Roman Pontiff, or upon discovery, unless followed by occupation and settlement. The practical recognition of this principle prevented conflicts for the exclusive posse.s.sion of the whole eastern shore of the Continent.^ England, in time, obtained undisputed possession of the country from the sea coast to the Alleghany Mountains and from the Kennebec river in Maine to the St. Mary's river on the northern boundary of Florida.* In 1604, Poutrincourt established a colony at Port Royal (now Annapolis) in Acadia, which was surprised and broken up by Samuel Argall, in 1613.t In 1608, the French occu- pation of the valley of the St. Lawrence was renewed. The King issued a new Commission to De Mont£ to plant a settlement in Canada. Ho also gave him a monopoly of the Fur * Thorne. Divers Voyages, Hakluyt Society, pp. 43-47. t Chiilniers, S1,S2. Haltluyt, III. pp. 250-297. N. Y. II. Soo. Col., Vol. I. pp. 45, 46. 2Gd ser. t Voyages do Champlain. Hazard I. p. 45. S Champlain, 42. Hazard, l.p. 45. I! L'Escarbot, I. Chalmers, 82. Champlain, 99. . "[Debates House of Commons, 1620, 1621. Vol. I. 250, 251. *See Roborl.son's History of Araoriea, Bks. 9 and 10. lianoroft's History of U. 3. Vols 1 and 2. t Argall's expedition. N. Y. Hist. Soc. ' M S. EXTENT OF FRENCH POSSESSIONS IN NOUI'II AMERICA. Trade for one year.* Quebec was founclcd one year after the Plymouth company had planted a colony of forty-five persons on tho Kennebec river. Chief Junticc I'opham, the principal patron of the colony, died the same year ; llaleigh (Jilbcrt withdrew to En<,'land to take pos- sesHion of some property, of which he had become heir; and tho colony at onoo returned to England.! Tlie London Company obtained n new Charter tho following year, which ga o them, so far as the King could give, an absolute title to a strip of territory 100 miles in width, and stretching from the Atlantic westward to the South Sea.J The IMymouth Company enjoyed a nominal existence until 1G20, but they did not succeed in planting, in their American pos- sessions, a permanent colony.§ Extent of tiik Fuencii Possessions in North America. France, early in the seventecDth century, obtained possession of the whole valley of the St. Lawrence, and before the close of tho century she had taken formal possession of the whole country from the shores of Fludson's Bay to the Alleghany Mountains, and the whole valley of the Mississippi from the source of that river to the Gulf of Mexico. L'Escarbot, an advocate of Paris, in his " Histoirc de la Nouvelle France," published in IGO'J, defines the boundaries of the French possessions in North America, as extending " on the west to the Pacific Ocean, on the soutli to the Spanish West Indies, on the east to the North Atlantic, and on the North to the Frozen Sea."|| Baron La Ilonton, whose " Memoirs of Travels in North America " embraced the cle- cade between 1G83 and 1G93, says : — " All the world knows that Can.ada reachjs from the 39th to the G5th degree of north latitude, that is, from the south of Lake Erie to the north side of Hudson's Bay, and from the 284th to the 33Gth degree of longitude, viz., from the River Mississippi to Cape Race fFeix I to reckon in all the cmtntries that lie to the north-west of Canada, I should find it larger than Europe; but I confine myself to what is discovered, known, and owned — / mean to the cotintries in ivhich they have forts, maga- zines, missionaries, and small settlements^^ Captain Vetch, (a British officer, at one time Governor of Nova Scotia,^ writing in 1708, says: — " As to the situation of the country possessed by the French in North America, and commonly all comprehended under the prevailing name of Canada, the seat and residence of their Governor-General being upon the place properly so called — its situ- ation is from about 5<1 degrees of north latitude to tlie eastward of Port Nelson, in the country of the Escimoes, extending itself all the way south-west to the mouth of the Mississippi river, which falls into the Bay of Appalachio, in the great Bay of Mexico, about the latitude of 28 degrees and 30 minutes, comprehending as it goes, :Dih-. lU-tory N. Y. Vol. III. p,,. 1-9. + Chalmers, 25. Hazard 1, \i\<. 58-72. S Bancroft'H HiHt. U. S., vol. 1. Ma.si-. Hint. Col., vol. xix., 5-11. 11 iliatoire de la Nouvelle France, !Miirc fj'E-t. ^ Pinkerton's Collection, Vol. .xiii their 1 on till' river Si Su| North ^1 Til tcrritorj serve as i colonies I and Loij TluL Lawrencl EXTENT OF FRENCH POSSESSIONS IN NOUTII AMERICA. their part of Nowf.mnfUanfl, tho Islanil of St. Peter, Aca• b<>i-i on account of the riot and dis- order which they occasioned. They threatened them with severe punishment if they failed to obey. These threats proved abortive. The only effect they had was to cau.se these daring adventurers to curry their peltries to the border towns in the English colonies, especially to Albany, instead of to Montreal and the other trading posts in Canada. The Canadian Gov- ernment adopted the licensing system, which wa.s generally adhered to. No Canadian was suffered to trade with the Indians in their country without a license from the Governor, and subject to such regulations as the license ordained. The whole country was divided into hunts, and no license authorized the holder to trade in furs beyond the limits of a single hunt. The liccn,se forbade the holder under severe penalties to hunt or to trade beyond his assigned limits. || When the Governor had issued for any hunt as many licenses as its commerce would well bear, it became necessary, as the number of hunters and fur traders increased, to extend tho dominion of France over the possessions of more distant nations. In time these licenses * Captain Votcli to Lords of Trade aud Plantatinns, 1708, Poirnaa .MSS. Vols. I. and IV. + Entiok's History, Vol. 1. Bancroft, Vol. 3, ch. 8, Eng. cd. Secret Journals f Congresj, Vol. 4. I In the Dr?! vulumo of Entick'i! History will be found much of the correspondence relating to the dis- puted boundaries. + See the Letters of Frontenao and tho Letters of Ducheeneao to the Marqnig de Signeloy. Paris Ar- chives, 1st, Vol. I. pp. 15.3-165 ; Vol. II. p. 64, p. 128 ; 2nd, sr. Vol. II. p. I, p. 57. § 2 Sr. Vol. VI. p. 85 ; Orders du Roi au sujet de !a traite do Canada. N. Y. Col. Doc. Vol. IX. p. 131. II Pownall on the Colonies, Vol. 2 : Parkman's Old Regime, p. 305 : Archives de Paris, 2Sme s6rie, VoL 6, p. 85 ; Vol. 7, p. 338 ; 3(5me, Vol. 6, pp. 13, 22, 57, 274; VoL 8, p. 943 : BougainvUle's Memoirs; also numerous papers in N. Y. Hist. Documents. EXTENT OF FRENCH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. T '» were issued to a particular class — " Military officers and the descendants of a decayed nobil- ity." They were generally well educated, polished in their manners, and fond of exercising authority. lu their employment they had n few clerks, chiefly natives of the Province. These possessed a KuflScient amount of instruction to enable them to exchange with the In dians articles of European merchandise for their furs. They caTied these goods into the remotest districts of tlie Indian countries. They wintered with the savages and returned the next season, after the opening of navigation, with the peltries which powde; and lead, rum and tobacco had purcliased. Each clerk was accompanied by a number oi' voi/a/jeurs or engafft's, who were hardy, poor, and ignorant, and who, from boyhood, had led a vagabond life. For a long time but twenty-five licenses were granted each year, and when the favoured recipient of the license did not wish to go into tlie Indian country, he sold Iiis license to some merchant of Quebec or Montreal. The price received was usually six hundred crowns. Each license authorised the possessor to send two canoes into the Indian country. Each canoe was manned by three voyageurs. The goods required were valued at 500 crowns to the canoe, with an addition of 15 per cent. The furs brought back in a successful venture were valued at 8,000 crowns. The merchant received, of this sum, GOO crowns for hi., license, 1,000 crowns for his goods, and 40 per cent, on the balance of the sales, being 2,5<)0 crowns more — in all, 4,1G0 crowns. The remaining 3,840 crowns were divided among the six voyageurs. The tempting prospect of the rapid accumulation of large fortunes which the fur trade aflforded, drew Intendants and Governors into silent partnerships with speculative traders, es- pecially at those posts which were farmed out for the King. The borders of the Province were constantly enlarged. This policy was continued up to the hour of its surrender. It was to the corrupt connection of the leading ofiicials witli tlie trade, that Montcalm largely attributes the conquest of Canada.* There cannot be a doubt that many of the French Voyageurs besides M. Perrot and the Due L'Huts had explored a large part of the country nortii and west of Lake Superior, at a very early day, but of their adventures we have no account, because they were not suffi- ciently educated to record them. We have occasionally inridcntal allusions in public docu- ments, in works on geography, and in memoirs, which prove this to have been the case, and to some of these allusions reference may be made. Paulle Jeune, in a letter to his superior, M.Vincent, written in September, 1G40, says: " In the neighbourhood of this nation, (the Winnebagoes) are tlie Nadouessi (Sioux), and the A.ssinneporas (As.siniboines) ... I will say, by the way, that tlie Sieur Nicolet, inter- preter of the Algonquin languages for gentlemen of New France, has given me the names of these nations vhom lie hits visited, for the nmst part in their own eountries." But it was not wholly through the instrumentality of tlic fur traders that the French authorities, at a very early period, actjuired an accurate knowledge of so vast an extent of country. As early as 1041, Jogues and ilaymbault ]ircached to the Indians at the outlet of Lake Superior.t A few years later, the Irocjuois Confederacy waged a war of extermination againsll LarT;e destroy Daniel] nants intercoj no sool for a til Ottawiil tremit_\| La Poll W| rcturnej dangersi the sigl tales of North, ■» Letter to Mnrshnll. Hello Islo. N. Y. Col. Due, vol. IX. Ueliitioii, 1041. Vimont. Bitncroft'.s U. States, Vol. II, oh. 20, EXTENT OF FRENCH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. against the Eries, the Hurons and the Ottawas. The Eries were wholly exterminated. Larn;e numbers of the Hurons and the Ottawas perished. The village of St. Joseph was dsstroyud. The villages of St. Ignatius and St. Louis shared the same fate. Fathers Jogues, Daniel, Br<>beuf, nnd Gabriel Lalleraand were put to death. For a time, the scattered rem- nants of the Hurons were collected in the Grand Manitoulin Isle. The Iroquois had, in their intercourse with the people of New Amsterdam, learned the use of firearms, and they had no sooner done so, than they asserted theii* superiority in every direction. They, for a time, overawed the colonists of the St. Lawrence ; and the terrified Hurons and Ottawas fled, some to a place called Chagouamigon or La Pointe, at the south-western ex- tremity of Lilke Superior, and others beyond the Mississippi. Those who settled at La Pointe were almost immediately followed by missionaries and traders.* While the Indians wora disposing of their peltries, the two young Frenchmen who had returned with them, entertained voyageurs with stories of their adventures, th^ir exposure to dangers, and their narrow escapes. The cupidity of merchants and traders was awakened at the sight of their numerous packs of valuable furs, and the zeal of ecclesiastics with their tales of numerous villages of Sioux to the west, and of the Knistenaux and other tribes of the North, who were still strangers to the Christian faith. Thirty young Frenchmen, whoso imaginations were excited by these stories, equipped themselves to accompany the Indians to their own country, to bring back the beaver skins taken in the distant wilderness. Fathers Leonard Garreau, and Gabriel Dreuilettcs, who were well versed in the Huron and Algon- quin languages, were sent as religious instructors. They embarked with the Indians on their returning voyage. But the whole party were attacked by a band of the Lower Iroqouis ; Father Garreau was killed ; and the party were driven back.t , But the French at even an earlier date were not wholly ignorant of the northern Indians. Paul Regenneau, the Superior of the Huron missions, observes that, " to the North of the Hurons, there are several Algonquin nations, who never cultivate tiie earth, but sustain them- selves altogether by the chase or by fishing. These nations occupy the country up to the North Sea, which we judge to be distant from us in a straight line more than three hundred leagues ; l)ut ot this, we have no other knowledge of those nations except that derived from the report made to us by the Hurons and some of the nearer Algonquins irho r/o flicrc to trade for ]h:ltnis and bcarcra, irliich are found there in ijreut ahundanee"\ From this statement it will be seen that the northern Indians found a market for their furs at Quebec and at Montreal, and many of them who came directly to Montreal, lo dispose of their furs, were subsequently met by the French traders upon the shores of Hudson's Bay. Ill irif)',), several fur trailers went to ({rceii Bay. Two of them passinl the winter upon the .slionvs of Lake Superior. They explored tli(! country and visitcil the surround- ing tribes. Tliey found, at six days' journey to the south-west of Laki' Siqicrior, a remnant of the Huron Nation. These informed the Frenchmen that after having retreated from tlie Irocpiois, across mountains and rocks, tlirough the depths of these vast and * Rdliiti.in fit 1«')(. 16(15, ]fifi(i-16(!7, l)y F. I,.; Mcrcii-r. t Pri'f.ice tothi' Uoliition nf Ifibb-iS, by Jciiii ilu Qiien^, .Sept. 7, 1050. Koliition ofld.^S-O. + liclatiot] of 11)47-8. 8 EXTENT OF FRENCH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. hi unknown forests, they at length arrived at a beautiful river, large, wide, deep, and resem- bling the great St. Lawrence ; where they found numerous villages of the Sioux. These two Frenchmen also described the Sioux of the plains, whom they claimed to have visited. In the following summer they returned to Queboc,with an escort of sixty canoes and three hundred Indians.* In 1660, the Rev. II. Menard, with eight other Frenchmen, went to the Huron settle ment of Chagouamigon or La Pointe. They left the Three liivers on the 28th of August, and they reached La Pointe on the 15th of October. They suffered greatly during the winter from extreme hardships. The Rev. R. Menard perished in the forest, on his way from La Pointe to the Moquet Islands, in the mouth of Green Bay. He was succeeded by the Rev. Claude Alouoz, who explored the shores of Lakes Superior and Nepigon. He travelled among the Sioux, far to the west of Fond du Lac, and in describing them, he gives for the first time the name if the great river Mississippi, of which the Indians told many marvellous stories, t '■ The French had a military post at the Baye des Piians as early as 1670, for in the Relation of that year it is stated, " that we found affairs there in a pretty bad posture ; that the savages were much soured against the French who were there trading ; that they treated them ill, roijbed them, and carried away their merchandise. The cause of this disorder was the treatment which the Indians received from the French soldiers. At what time the French first established a military stition at Le Baye does not seem cer- tain, but in 1684 Du L'Hiit was in command at this post." In 1666, M. Grosellier was roaming among the Assiniboines in the region of Lake Winnipeg, and was conducted by them, during that year or the year following, down the Nelson's River to the shores of Hudson's Bay.lj: '^ In September, 1669, Marquette took the place of Alouez, at La Pointe. At this time then besp( comp freel} Otta\ in the the Ii in w these Sionx Huroi • Rolrttion of 1659 fin, Rov. Chiuilc Voucher. t Relation of Ififi6-fi7, By F. ho Moreier 1 The JlissioD, which was first establishtd iit La Pointe or Chagouamigon by R. Menard in 1660, was re- established by (-'liule .-Vlou6z, '.at of October, 1665, iiud culled the Mission du Sainto Bsprite. Inl692Fron. tenac eeiit Sii.ur La Srneur to La Poiuto to build a fort and garrison it. La Gardour do Sainto Pierre, who was stationed hoto, was succeeded in cunimaud by Linctot in 1726. The fort, which was situated at the south end of Mn;;dalen Isliind, was rebuilt, and a garrison of HO soldiers Itept hero. The French were then at war with the Foses, and it was necefsary to pass to the country of the Sioux by this route. It was ocoupiod by traders, missionnricf, and officials. (Min, Hist. Col., Vol. 1, p. 319. Wis. Hist. Col., Vol. 4, p|i. 247- S. Smilh'.-^ tlist. Wisonusin. Shea's Iliijt. Am. Missions.) 2 In KJSt the (Joveruor of Canada (irilered Du L'Hr.t, wlio was coinmandaut at Clreen Bay, to return to Fort Niagara, to punish the Seiiecas and Cayugas, and to state liow many allies lie could bring. These Indians liad plundered seven canoes, owned by 14 I'Venclimen, who, with 1.5,000 pounds of goods, were going to trade with tlie Siou.'j. N. I'errot, who was trading with tlie Foxes, rendered him great assistance in collecting allies. In 1686, the Governor of Canada ordered Du L'Hut to proceed to the Detroit river and watch whether the Engli-'h passed into I.alto St. Clair. In obedience to this order Du L'Hut left Oreen Bay (Bave des Puants) and, with fifty armed men, e.'-lablished a fort, called Fort St. Joseph's, im the River St. Clair, near tt) where F''ort Gratiot now stands.; (See Memoir of Tonty, and N. Y. H. Col., Vol. IX. pp. 2r>o, 261, 327, :i62-364, 402.) t N. Y. H.Col. V.,1. IX. p. 797. 3 On some of tho o! i Froiiiii m i|i.s the '.'igcou river was calle 1 Rivi{re Grosellier, Ho seem? to have Ictii tbi; fir.'i I'reuchiiiaii ol inito who went into the A ji.,iboino country. ,Seo Jolfery's map. EXTENT OF FRENCH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. 9 time there were about 1,500 Ottawa and Huron Indians residing tliere. The Sioux were then in the possession of the shores of Lake Superior. Marquette sent them presents ; he bespoke their friendship for the French and the Indians who might lie found in tlieir company. Ha asked from them leave for the French and their Indian guides to pass freely to the country of the Assiniboines and the Knistini^aux. The emigration of the Ottawas and Hurons to La Pointe had greatly facilitated the explorations of the French in the region of Lake Superior and the Upper Mississippi. But in the spring of 1671, the Indians at La Pointe had treacherously murdered and eaten some of the Sioux, with- in whose dominions for nearly twenty years they had found a peaceful retreat. After these deeds of treachery and cruelty, they weie obliged to fly from the vengeance of the Sioux warriors to the banks of the Saut Ste. Marie and the shores and islands of Lake Huron.* ' In 1670 La Salle in traversing the country south of Lake Erie discovered the River Ohio, wliich he traced as far as the rapids at Louisville, or, as some say, to the Mississippi.t In 1G70, The Intendant Talon ^sent M. de Saint Lusson, as Ins sub-delegate to the Saut Ste. Marie, to take possession of all the surrounding country which had been explored on behalf of the Crown of France.:}: Nicholas Perrot, who had explored a great portion of the country .is far west as the Mississippi River, was asked by the Intendant to lead M. Lusson to that coimtry. They reached Montreal in October. They wintered among the Amikonets, a tribe of Otta- was, on the Great Manitoulin Island. They also saw the Siiuteux. M. Perrot was well acquainted with the Indian languages, and explained to them the purpose of their mission. He dispatched messengers to the various tribes in the vicinity of the Falls, inviting them to assemble at the Saut. They visited various Indian tribes on the shores of Lake Michi- gan, whom they urged to be present at the Falls of St. Mary's, when formal possession of the country was taken. They sailed thither. They were accompanied as far us Green Bny by Chiefs of the Sacs, the Foxes, the Pottawattamies, Kickapoos, the Miamis and the Winnebagoes. Upon their arrival at the Saut, they found that the Chiefs of the Knisti- neaux, the Monsonis, as well as those of various other northern tribes, had already assem- bled. A cross was set up in their presence. The arms of France were fastened to a cedar tree hard by. The numerous tribes there represented put themselves iimlcr the pro- tection oj (lie King of France. Here Saint Lusson with his sword in one hand, and a sod of earth in the other proclaimed that he took possession, " in the name of Louis XIV. King of Fiance and Navarre, of Sainte Marie du Saut, Lakes Huron and Superior, the Is- land of Manitoulin, amJ all the countries, rivers, lakes, and streams, contiguous and adja- cent thereto, discovered or not, and extending to the sea upon the north, the west, and the south." The French had, at that time, a square fort of cedar i)ickets at the Falls of * Neil's Hist, of Minnesntn, pp. Ill, 112. Also, Rolation of 1576-71. 1 Marquette returned with the Ilurons to Pointe St. Iguiice, ou the north shore of the straits of Maohillimac- kinao, and the Ottawas fled to tJrent Manitoulin Island, whither they wore aceompuniod by Louis Andre, who cstrtlilished the Mission tf St. Simon at their now abode. These two missions were, thorelore, cstubliahed in 1171. 1 See Parkman's Discoveries of the Great West. pp. 22, 2.3. I Lettro do Talon h. Cuibort, Oct., 1667. vl 10 EXTENT OF FRENCH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. St. Mary ; and Saint Lusson had been ordered to explore the country, to discover its mineral resources, especially its mines of copper.* In 1670 and 1671 La Salle discovered the Illinois, and in this year the Jesuit mission- aries made a complete map of the coast of Lake Superior.f About this time Marquette learned from the Illinois Indians, who had been driven beyond the Mississippi by the Iroquois, and who came yearly to La Pointe to trade with the French, of the great river which they crossed in their journey. He purposed exploring it, but the sudden flight of the Hurons and Ottawas, in 1671, from that place, indefinitely post- poned his project. J ' The early fur traders at Green Bay, or, as it was then called, Baye des Puans, discov- ered that many Indian tribes resorted thither as a favourite fishing station, and that for this reason it was well adapted to become a station for carrying on the fur trade. § The Jesuits also selected it as a missionary station, and Father Claude Alouez was sent hither in 1G69 to found the mission of St. Xavier.-|| He was joined by Dablon the following year. They explored the surrounding country. They ascended the Fox River. They crossed Lake Winnebago. They vi.sited the towns of the Mascoutins an 1 the Mianiis, whom they found livitig together. Here they again heard of the existence of the great river M issi.'ssippi. In 1671 they explored the country of the Foxes.ir 111 1673 Joliet was sent by Governor Frontenac to di!?cover the Mississippi. Marquette was chosen to accompany him. Joliet went ti Michillimackinac, and called at l-'oint St. Iguace for Marquette, who had continued to reside there with the Hurons since their flight from La Pointe. With two canoes and five voyagours, and with the necessary supply of smoked meat and Indian corn, they began their voyage on the 17th of May.* They passed up the Menomonie River, and down the Wisconsin, to the Mississippi, which they reached on the 17th of June, having been just one month in making the voyage. Tliey explored the Missis- sippi as far as the mouth of the Arkansas. In 1G74, Joliet returned to Quebec. He lost the, sigh * See N. v., Hist, Doc, Vol. IX, 63, B7, 70, 7fi, 88, 97, 803, 804. ProcCs Verbal which is given, Relation 1670, p. 2. t Perrot. Mciiioirue, 119, 120. La Salle's Memorial to Frontenac : N. Y. Hist. Doc, vol. 9, 787, 789. J Relation, 1670-7i. Neilc's Hist, of Minnesota, pp. Ill, 112. 1 Mar(iiiott« took the place of Alouor, at Li Pointoon .Sjptomb.jr 13, Ififi'J. [lo sayn : " I sent them (the Sioux) a present by an interpreter to tell them to recognise the Frenchman everywhere, anil not to kill hira or the Indians in his company ; that the black gowns wish to pass .u thy country of the Assinipones, and to that of Kilistinaux ; that ho was already with the Outagames (the Fo.xos), and that ho was going this fall (lfift9) to the Illinois, to whom they should leave a Iree passage. . . . Would ihat all these nations loved Ood as much as they feared the French. § Smith's History of Wisconsin. 2 J5ayo des Pnans alwayH remained the centre of an extensive trade. Nnmerons bands of Indians as- sembled at this post. The French always kept a garrison here. At the time of its surrender to the Knudish it containe the French « J'lvcnuiicnt : — " The intere.-*ts of reliKion, of the ser\-ice, and of the colony, are involved in the maintenance of this establishment (Iexico. Limits of Louisiana. It has already been mentioned that, in the spring of 1702, Bienville sailed for France. On ship-board he wrote a memorial upon the Valley of the Mississippi. He clearly indicates his views in reference to the future government of Louisiana. He would circumscribe the limits of Canada. He says the Sioux are useless where they are ; that there are about 400 men of the Assiniboines and Knisteneaux, who trade at Fort NeKon on Hudson's Bay, who may be prevented doing so. He recommends the establishment of three posts : one on the Arkansas, one on the Ohio, and one on the Missouri, with one oflBcer and ten soldiers at each ; that at these posts the French should be encouraged to settle ; that they should be permitted to trade with the Indians, and encouraged to establish tanneries to prepare the buffalo and deerskins for transportation ; and that no Frenchman should be allowed to join the Indians in their hunts, as it keeps them hunters, as is seen in Canada. He recommends the removal of the Indians of the Upper Mississippi to new places of abode, so as to cut otf the fur trade of Western Canada, and divert it to the Gulf. He informs the Minister that " It will be abso- lutely necessary that the King should define the limits of this country, in relation to the Government of Canada. It is important that the commiuulant of the .Mississippi should have a report of those who dwell upon the rivers that fall into the Mississippi, and principally thtjse * La Harpe's Historical Journal. Hist. Ool. Louisiana. Part III. Memoir, M. O'loerville, Minn. M fSee M. Bellio's iveoiarques Sur le Carte de I'Auierique Septentriooale, p. 124. 2 M: 18 LIMITS OF LOUISIANA. of tho River Illinois. Tho Canadiiins intiinato to the Havaj^cs that they out;ht not to listen to us, )iut to the (icivernor oflJanada, who always speaks to them with laru;e presents ; that tho Governor of the Mississippi is lunan, and never sends thcni anytliin\u alw, ;iH8. 1 Xdt thu Uivt'v Illinois, liut the country so called ; that is, northward to the southern hank of the Ohio. 2 That is, all the country south of the Ohio and the Missouri, from New Mexico to (.'urolina. + French's Hist. Col. of Louisiana, pt. Srd, p. IHit. LIMITS Mp LoriSIAXA. 1^ ablin? it to execute all the nppctiliitions it in:ij- uidcrtake, we have pivi-n. granted and con- ceded, do give, ^Tant, nnd concede t" it, by the>e prei«ent letters and forever, nil the lands, C088tH, ports, havens nnd islands, wliieli cnm[>ose our Province of Louisiana, in the same way Mnd extent as we have granted them to M. C'rozaf, by our letters patent of 14th September, 1712."* Here wo have Loui. iana with the same boundary line stparalinfr it from Caiw«la, which was laid down in ITIL'. Shortly after. Illinoi> was added, by an ordinance ot the King and Council of State, to the (Jovernnicnt <>f Louisiana. The following; is the ordinance : — • The Kinir in Council, havinj,' under consideration the letters patent in fotm of an edict of the month of Auji;u8t last, establishing^ a commercial company under the name of the Western Company, together with those of the 14th September, 1712, frranted to Sieur Crozat, and beingof opinion that it would be conducive to the service of the Kinir, and of use and advan- tage to the Western Company, to extend the Government of the Province of Louisiana, /;// addiiHj to it the countri/ of the savtKji'n oill"! thf Illinois ; the report beins^ read and every- thing considered. His Majesty in Council, on the advice of the Duke of Orleans, his uncle. Regent, has united and incorporated the country of the savages to the Government of the Province of Louisiana, desires and intends that the said Western Company shall enjoy the lands comprised under the said country in the same way that it ought to enjoy those granted to it by the said letters patent in the month of Augu>t 1 is^ : and that the coniniaudants, oflBcers, soldiers, habitants, and others who are or wlio may be in the said country, will recog- nise the authority of the General in command of Louisiana, and yield obedience to him without any kind of opposition, on pain of disobedience. Done at the King's Council of State, in the presence of His Majesty, held at Paris on the twenty-seventh of September, 1717. (Signed) Philippeaux. On the 19th June, 1719, the King notified the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Lieutenant- (itovernor of New France; le Sieur BcL'on, Inteudant ; and the officers of the Superior Coun- cil at Quebec, to read and publish the letters in form of edict of August, 1717, establishing the Western Company, and the arret of the Council of the 27th of September, 1717, incor- porating the Company of the Illinois with Louisiana, and ordering them to be kept and observed according to their form and tenor, notwithstanding any edicts, declarations, arrets, ordinances, rules, usage, and other things contrary thereto, from which we have derogated, and do by these presents derogate. . (Signed) Louis. By the King : The Duke of Orleans, Regent, present." t In the beginning of October, 1718, M. De Boisbriant set out from Mobile to take com- mand of the Illinois country, and in December, 1719, M. De Bienville, the Governor of Louisi- ana, received a letter from M. Dutisne, written at Kask; :kias the previous month, giving an account of his travels to the villages of the Misso'iris, the Ossages, the Panis, and the Pailouchas, tribes of Indians who are marked upon the maps of the period as residing south of the Missouri river. The Osswires resided upon the river bearing their name; the Mis- hi * French's Hist. Col. ol Louisiana, part ."Jrd, p 49. t Edits, ordinances, &c. Jour. I, pp. 375, 376. 20 LIMITS OF LOUISIANA. !''iii souris between the Ossage and Kansas rivers, upon the south bank of the Missouri ; the Panis upon the northern branch of the Kansas river ; and the Padouchas upon the southern branch of the same river. The explorations undertaken, the settlements formed, and the military and trading posts established, no less than the description given in the patents quoted, indicate the extent of country over which the local authorities of Louisiana undertook to exercise jurisdiction.* In October, 1718, Benard dela Harpe went to Cadodoquia, on the Red River, with fifty men, with orders to establish a post there, and to ascertain the number of Indian tribes in that country. He built a fort. He visited Natchitoches, where he found a fort hr d been built and M. lilondel was in command. The Western Company recommended their officers to have a good understinding with the Governor of Canada in reg.ird to their Indian wars. They ordered that the fort built by M. Boi^briant, in Illinois, should be called Fort Chartres; that at Biloxi, Fort Louis ; that at Mobile, Fort Cond6. The fort built by La Salle, at St. Ber- nard's Bay, had been destroyed by the Spaniards, as being within the limits of Mexico, and there was no successful attempt on the part of France at any subsequent time to take possos- Bion of the coast west of the Sabine River.' In 1723, the Company of the Indies succeeded the Western (Company in the possession of the government of Louisiana, ami they governed it until 1732, when it was again surren- dered to the Oown of France, and was again ma le " dependent on the general government of New France, as it was previous to the grant to the Company." ' They divided the Province into nine civil and military districts. These districts wore : Alibamons, Mobile, Biloxi, Natchez, New Orleans, Yizoo, Illinois, Arkansas, and Natchitoches. Each of these districts was pro- tected by a fort, and was under the jurisdiction of a ('ommandant and Judge, who adminis- tered its civil and military aifairs. The Judge administered justice accordiug to the custom of Paris, which was declared to be the law of the Piovince.f It will be observed that all these districts except Illinois lie to the south of the Ohio and Missouri rivers. Illinois, the country occupied by the Indians of that name, — as will be seen from the arr6t of the Council of September, 1717, in which it is spoken of as "the country cf the savage:! called the Illinois" — embraced the country between the Illinois and the Wabash rivers. That the country east of the Wabash was regarded as a part of Canada, is shown by • Bernard de In Harpe's Historical .rnuinal. f French'* Hi.i. Col. liouisiana, Part III. p. 84. 1 Louis XV. to MM. tie BeauharnoLs and Hocquart, Governor and Intendent of Canada. Marley, May 8th, i7;n. " They are to l)e informed that Hin Majesty has accepted the surrender of the Province of LouiRiana and the Illinois country fr4 he etiually able to send his orde.j to it, and to be informed of what occurs there in regard to the Indi.'ius. MM. de Beuuharnois and Hocquart will (sxaniine whether it be projier to leave this comitry in its present state, or to disconnect it from the Government of Louisiana, as was the case before it had l)een granted to the Company. They will be careful to report on that point, and state the reasons for and against, whereupon His Majesty will com- municate his intentions." Archives de Paris, Ibre sorie, vol. viii. p. 128. '1 EXTENT OF CANADA. 21 the fact that the French post on the loft bank of that river was included in the Capitulation of the Marquis of Vaudreuil, as beinr; within the limits of Canada, while those of the Illinois country were not. So much of the territory then claimed by France, as was not expressly included within the boundaries of Louisiana, remained a part of Canada. It is no doubt true that other boundaries than those mentioned, have been given by geographers who have loo)- ' rather at the physical features of the country possessed by France in North America, than to those public acts of the King and his Ministers, by which the limits of Canada and Louisiana were legally determined. Thus the boundary as laid down on the map of Franquelin, made in 1684, runs along the height of land south of Lake Erie, and thetce follows the heads of streams flowing into Lake Michigan. It then runs north-west and is lost in the countryof the Assinepoelles. It seems to have been founded upon the Prods Verbal by which La Salle took possession of the Mississippi Valley. The map of Coronelli, published in 1688, lays dow.i the whole as Canada, or La Nouvelle France. Delisle's map of 1739 embraced, in Canada, the country north of the Ohio and the Missouri, John Senex's map of 1710 takes into Canada a large part of the country south of the Ohio, and west of the Alleghany Mountains ; but the boundaries on all these must give place to those inaiciucJ uy the King's instructions, by Acts of Governmental authority, and by the King's Patents already alluded to. |uo and le seen ountry abash iwn by ly, May Imisiana (1 here- lit upc-n listy lia.s lii.siuna. ltd Henri |harni)is Lnect it ley will 111 ccmi- ExTENT OF Canada. Besides the explorations and acts of taking formal possession of the country which are mentioned above, the French had, during the second half of the seventeenth century, explored the country from the St. Lawrence and its lakes to Hudson's Bay. They claimed that the Hudson's Bay was within the limits of New France. What were the intrinsic merits of the respective claims of England and France upon the northern border of Canada, will be con- sidered hereafter. The western extension of French authority has now been given up to the period when the war of the Spanish Succession beiian, and which war was closed by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It was argued by the English that, as the Treaty of Utrecht provided for the appoint- ment of Commissaries both by England and France, for the purpose of settling the disputed boundaries between their respective possessions, and as this treaty was again renewed by that of Aix la Chapelle, no acquisitions subsequently made by France by military occupation or actual settlement could improve or strengthen her right to any portion of the continent which was claimed both by England and France. These observations point more particularly to the occupation of western New York, and the upper part of the valley of the Ohio, which will be considered at a later period. The progress will now be shown of French discoveries and colonization, within the territories France had before occupied, and also her discoveries to the west and the north-west, where the country was unknown to the English, and where no complaint was ever made of French aggression. At Detroit, Sandusky, St. Joseph's, Michilimackinac, Bayc des Puans, Prairie du Chieri, Vincennes, Ouatanon, at various points in the Illinois country, French settlements were formed before 1730 ; and at most of these before 1713. % 22 EXTENT OF CANADA. . I In 1716, MM. de Vaudreuil and Befi;on addressed the French Government in favour of extending their explorations westward to the Pacific ocean.* In the following year the Government of France approved of the plan. M. tie Vaudreuil was instructed to establish tliese posts ; but he was re(|nired to do so without any expense to the King. This had been done by La Salle during his travels of discovery. The policy was still adhered to, as it was thought t'.iat those who founded them would be sufficiently indemnified by a monopoly, for a time, of the Indian trade. In 1717 M. de Vaudreuil caused^Sieur de la Noiie, to set out with eight cannons to prosecute this scheme of discovery. He instructed Lieutenant de la Noiie " to establish the first post at the River Kanastigoya, (Kannnistiqua) lo the north of Lake Superior, where a fort had been many years ljet'on> erected l)y l)u L'Hut, after which he was to go to Lake Takanca- mionoiiis (Rainy Lake), to establLsh a second post, and to acquire through the Indians the information necessary for the establishment of a third post at the Lake of the Assenipoles. It seems that Lieutenant Robert de la Noiie was furnished with fifty voyageurs, eight of whom were to be left at each of the posts to be establislu'd, and twenty-six others were to proocciite the discoveries from Lake Winnipeg, westward to the Pacific Ocenn.' In 1719, Vaudreuil writes u letter to the iMinister, informing him that he hud not in t/iis year received a letter of Lieutenant Sieur La Noiie ; that lie had sent Sieur Pachot to the country o/' the Sioux, to make peace between this nation and the Uristineaux ; that Sieur Pachot had not yet returned to Chagoaniigon (La Pointe) at the time the last canoes had left there, and that he hud not been informed of the success of his voyui; ; that ho supposed Sieur de la Noiie ',v!is waiting for the return of Sieur Pachot to render an account to the Governor of what he hud done in the execution of the orders of which he had charge, and which then he would not be able to do when Sieur Pachot shall arrive at Kamanistiquia, as the season will have been too far advanced. The Governor of Vaudreuil expresses the opinion that the ab- sence of Pachot will prevent La Noiie from going this your to Rainy Lake, but that that officer will find means to bring to his post the savages who are accustomed to go and trade at Hudson's r):iy.+ Nothing of a later date has been found iu reference to La Noiie's enterprise. drye. autli'. whiel MarL urtic Ncjiit be a ' Arcliivf. ilu Piiris, 3ein .serie, vol vi. fip. .')2!), S.SO. 1 C^iiimcil de Marine, "tli l)uceiii))er, 1717. !^[e.s.sieul•s de Vaudreuil iiud Begon haviuf; written last year, that tlie diseovory df tlie Wewteru Sea would l>e ailvantaj,'eous to tlie C'olouy, it was ajiiiruved that to reach it, M. de Vau. fi4fi. EXTENT OF CANADA. 23 ■a It would sp-Mn from Vaudreuil's letter that La Noile had already established a post at Rainy L^ike, and that he was waiting the return of Sieur Pachot before settiuy out on his journey to Ills own establishment. The next expedition of which an authentic account is to be found is that of M. Veren- drye. Tlio account of the explorations of iM. Varennes de la Verendrye are unquestionably iiuthentic. They are taken from the unpublished memoirs and letters of Verendrye and others which are among the Marine Archives at Paris, the substance of which were jmblished by Pierre Marsxry, the keeper of those archives, in the il/oH«7e?«r, during the autumn of 1852. From these articles, it appears that, in 1728, M. de la Verendrye, who was then in command at Lake Ncpigon, having received, from various sources, accounts of the existence of a river running towiird the west, believed tlrjt it would lead to the discovery of the Pacific Ocean. He se- cured the services of a trusty and courageous Indian guide, well qualified for leading a convoy. M. de la Verendrye went down to Quebec in order to discuss with the Governor this project of exploring at first the River Assiniboiue and afterwards the river situiited towards Lake Winnipeg, which was supposed to be about 5U0 leagues from Kamanistiquia, thinking tliat, from the height of land, hi; would liud a river that would lead him to the sea. The Governor at once comprehended the importance of such an exploration, and favour- ably received (be jproposals of ^L de la Verendrye. M. de Beauharnois having cx- exaniined with the Engineer, Chaussegros de Lery, the map sent by the Indian Ochagach, selected by M. de la Verendrye as his guide, thought, as well as the Engint-er, that New France being crossed by two great rivers which take their rise toward the centre, one of which runs to the east, and the other, the .Mississippi, runs toward the south, that there could not bo a region more than 700 or 800 leagues wide, to the west, without being also crossed by a great river. The Marf[uis de Beauharnois after having examined the chances and difficul- ties of such an enterprise, thought proper, before traversing such vast and unknown regions, that M. de la Verendrye should himself see how the matter stood, and should establish at any rate a post in the country beyond the regions hitherto explored. This, it was hoped, would enable him, in his subsequent explorations, to go forwavd with less difficulty on account of the intercourse he might have with the Indians. The Governor undoubtedly hoped, that being once in a position to speak with a better knowledge of the facts, he would obtain from the King adequate protection for those who would devote themselves to the enterprise. M. de Beauharnois, acting upon this impression, instructed' M. de la Verendrye to go forward and establish a post at Lake Winnipeg, taking with him 50 men and a missionary ; and he gave him the benefits and privileges of the fur t/ade, to enable him to overcome tiie difficulties of this establishment. Impatient to commence, M. de la Verendrye, by a compact signed I3th May, 1731, in the presence of the Governor of Montreal, associated himself with some men who made the necessary advances of merchandise and equipments, and after havin„ reached Michillimackinac, where he took with him Father Messager as a missionary, he arrived on the l()th of August at the grand portage of Lake Superior, 50 leagues to the south -south- west of Kamanistiquia. M. de la Verendrye did not fail to perceive the dangers and expenses connected with such a discovery. This did not. however, hinder him from again offering his services as well as those of his nephew, and three sons, to the Minister in order to commencf his explorations. Two years after the departure of M. de la Verendrye, 10th October, \Ti7t, the Governor and If! 24 EXTENT OF CANADA. the Intendant (Hocquart), wrote to M. do Maurepas that M. de la Jemerays, nephew of M. de la Verandryc, liad represented to them that His Majesty would bear the necessary expen- diture ; that the Western Sea could easily be discovered, as they were at Jjake Winnipeg; but that for them and their associates they were unable to bear the expenditure, having lost already 43,000 francs ; that the voyageurs refused to go forward, if the wages already due them were not paid ; and that their creditors declined to make the necessary advances, without which, they could not continue their journey. They informed the Minister that an expendi- ture of 3U,000 francs, with the supplies which could be taken from the Royal Stores, would meet the expenditure for three years' explorations. They say that in virtue of the compact requiring Verendrye to establish a post beyond the limits hitherto known, they cannot compel him and his party to go further than Lake Winnipeg, which is more remote than was at first believed. The response of the French (!ourt was, that it was not proper for the King to in- cur the expenditure suggested ; and that those who were at the head of the enterprise ought to be in a position to continue it through the profits of the fur trade. Almost the same answer was again given on the 12th of April, 173.). The die was cast. M. de la Verandrye had now either to abandon his projected discoveries, or to pursue them at his own risk and peril, without other means than the privilege of the trade. In this alternative he chose that part which braves dangers and imposes sacrifices, lie was still in debt for his first equipment ; and he incurred additional obligations for the second. Ho had in his employment, already, his nephew and his three sons. He prepared his fourth, who was then 18 years of .age, to accompany his brothers the following year, by putting him to the study of land-surveying and map-drawing, that he might be the better fitted for assisting him in the enterprise in which he had embarked, and in which, in spite of numerous obstacle.^, he, by an undaunted energy, obtained sufficient success to win for himself, as geograpliical discoverer, an enduring renown. The Governor, seeing Verendrye overwhelmed with financial difficulties, gave him leave in the year 1735 to farm to the traders, for three years, the posts which he had established ; but he was not to trade at these posts, Jind he was to devote all ills attention to his pro jected discoveries. This was done, but it seldom furnished him with means adecjuate to his requirements. He considered hiiuself happy when he had not to endure the most cruel privations. After twelve years of disheartening difficulties and sacrifices, M. de la Verendrye had succeeded ic exploring only the country between Lake Winnipeg and the Ilocky Mountains, and from the sources of the Yellowstone River to the north branch of the .Saskatchewan. If we follow M. de la Verendrye in his discoveries after he reached Kaministiquia in 1731, wliere Lieutenant Kobertel de la Xoiie had in 1717, for a second time, established a fort, we shall see that his party pressed forward that same year to Rainy Lake, where they built Fort St. Pierre at its outlet. They then crossed Lake of the Woods, and built on one of its shores, in 1732, Fort St. Charles; then going through Lake Winnipeg, they estab- lished a fort five leagues up one of its rivers. They then crossed River Winnipeg, which they called River Maurepas, and they erected there a fort in 1734, named Fort Maurepas. Upon the River Assiniboine, then called the St. Charles, they built Fort la Reiue the 3rd of October, 1738. This was a kind of advanced post. The River St. Pierre, an affluent of the Assiniboine, was the centre of the trading establishments and the point of departure lor the expeditions which the discoverers were to undertake to the North and to the South. It « ■§ KXTENT OF CANADA. 25 I I'c hiid .utains. an. (uia in ished II •e tlicy on one estab- wLich irepas. le 3rd lent of ire lor h. It is by this river that they descended to the country of the Mandans, In 1742 they turned to the UppcrMishOuri, and tiience ascondin^' it as far as the Yellowstone, they traversed the country of the Snake Indians. After exploring the country to the northward, — the date of which explorations cannot be accurately fixed, — they crossed Lake Dauphin, or Manitoba, and the Lake of Swans, explored the River des Biches, and ascended the Saskacchewan, which they named Poskoiac, as far as its forks. They built two forts in these countries — the one at Lake Dauphin, the other on the River des Biches, which was called Fort Bourbon. In 1730, one of the sons of Verendrye with all his party, consisting of twenty-one men, were massacred on an island in Lake of the Woods. A party of five Canadian voyagcurs, who came upon their bodies some days after, saw, lying upon robes of beaver, the heads of Frenchmen, the most of which had been scalped. The Missionary, Father Anneau, who was one of the company, had one knee upon the ground, an arrow in his head, his breast open, iiis left hand upon the ground, his right hand up. Le Sieur de la Verendrye was lying upon his stomach, the back carved to bits with a knife, a spade was forced into his loins ; the body was headless, and ornamented with garters and bracelets of porcupine quills. The elder Veren- drye was, at the same time, in great destitution at Fort St. Charles, and he learncii then, too, of the deatli of M. la Jemerays his nephew. Had it been possible to remedy such a loss, the courage and the ardour of his remaining sons would havp ''one it. But the numbers of the expeditionary force were now so much reduced, that their weakness retarded their operations. It was in 1743 that the eldest son of Verendrye and his brother explored the country to the Rocky Mountains. This expedition lasted from the 29th of April, 1742, to the 2nd of July of the following year, when they reached Fort Charles the point from which they had set out. In this expedition there were but four men, who traversed the country. Sixty years before it was visited by Lewis and Clark. They reached the Rocky Mountains through the valley of the Yellowstone River. They came in sight of these mountains on the first of Jan- uary, 1743. Twelve days later they reached their base, and were preparing to ascend them. They hoped from their ^umnlits to behold the western sea, but a large number of the Indians who accompanied them were going upon !an expedition against the Snake tribe. Finding, liowever, the lodges of this tribe deserted, and fi-aring that tl eir enemies had gone to attack their own villages in their absence, they at once rc^olvod to return. The Chief of the Bow Indians endeavoured to dissuade then>, buttu no purpose; and the Chevalier de la Verendrye and his party were obliged to return witii them. On their return they took possession of the country of the Upper Missouri, on 19th of .March, 1743. They buried,/or that purpose, on a hill near their fnrt, a plate of lead engraved with the King's Arms. To commemorate their journey they elevated a pyramid of stones in the name of the Gmernor of Canada. Although they had not discovered the western sea, they did establish the title of the King of France upon the Upper Missouri, and extended the limits of Canada to the Rocky Mountains. This success, however, satisfied neither Verendrye nor his sons, because they feared to meet, through a route so far to the south, the Spanish posts without resolving the problem of the Western Sea. On this account, they decided to turn their course towards the north, where they discovered the Saskatchewan River five years later. M. de la Verendrye prepared to send his sons towards the north, but the conduct of the Government, which refused him every promotion, disgu.sted him. He believed himself to be the victim of systematic injustice. The Government, however, had been misled in refe- 20 EXTENT OF CANADA. U' I,,, rence to his discoveries. At tiie very time that the discoverers were worn down with exces- sive fatiji;uo and cnibiirrasscd by larire debts, they were represented to the Qovernmeat as being mainly en^;ij;ed in finding out tlie resorts of the beaver in that far-off region. In 1743, Verendrye returned to Quebec. He surrendered his Commission to the Government, in order that they might bestow it on those whom they believed to be more deserving of their favours. He was conscious of having done all in his power in the service of the King and for the good of the colony. He declared that the only personal advantage he had derived was a debt of 40,000 francs. After frequent reiuonstrancos by the Marqui.s dc Beauharnois, as to the injustice done Verendrye, he succeeded in securing his promotion to the rank of Captain, and Verendrye again entered the services of the Government as an explorer. In 1748, he had already left Quebec to continue his discoveries in the West. He had ascended the Saskatchewan to the forks, a place of resort every spring of the Christinau.x. He learned while there that the river rose a long distance to the west, among lofty mountains ; that a great lake lay beyond those mountains, the waters of which were unfit to drink. He was informed of all the movements of his suns, and was preparing himself, old as he was, to leave Montreal in the month of May, IT.OO, at a time when the navigation would be open in the upper country. He intended going with his sons to Poskoyac lliver ; ho purposed to build there a good fort. From tills place tliey were to set out the following spring, to explore the mountains and to visit the great lake beyond. He purpo.sed to proceed with all possible celerity, in order to winter at Fort Bourbon, but he did not live to again visit the North-West. His sons were denied the priv"oge of continuing the discovery. Beauharnois had left the country in 1740, and his able • id enterprising .successor, .M. dc la Galissonnicre,' I'.ad been recalled to act as a commis- si. ..er for the settlement of the disputed boundaries between the possessions of France and England in America. The Intendant Bigot having a partnership with M. de la Jonquiere in reference to these discoveries, and the trade of the western posts, the Verendryes were forced to yield to tlr-.r more powerful competitors. The honour of continuing the work of explora- tions was entrusted to two officers, M. Lamargue de Marin, who went towards the Missouri, and Ja(jues IjCgardeur de Saint Pierre, who went towards the north. The party of Saint Pierre went along the Saskatchewan, according to the design of Verendrye, and built Fort Jon- quiere at the base of the Rocky iMountains. The Christenaux burnt down Fort La Heine and were near massacreing Saint Pierre. His Lieutenant, Boucher de Nivcrville, was ill. Saint Pierre had set aside the urgent demand of the Verendryes to accompany him instead of De Niverville. De Niverville was dispatched by Saint Pierre to establish a post near the mouth of the Saskatchewan ; but he was obliged to stop on his way exhausted with the fatigues and privations to which the Verendryes had long been accustomed. A few of his men only suc- ceeded in reachin.f^ the Rocky Mountains in 1752. The expedition does not seem to have crossed tlie M ■" s. M. de Saint Pierre was recalled by tiie Marquis Du Quesne, who had snic 6 C / ' Jonquiere as Governor. M. de la Corne was placed by the new Goveru, •.. <>■. • .- ilj posts of the West. J I Misi Lou.o gainville wrote a memoir on the state of Canada in 1757, during 1 Govorniir mi interim, M. do la Jonquiere having been appointed Governor in 1746, but he did not enter apon hi.s duties fur more than two >tars. ^% EXTENT OF CANADA. 27 during i the period of the seven years' war.* Under the designation of La Mor d'Ouest, he writes as follows: — " La Mer d'Ouest is a pod that includes the Forts St. Pierre, St. Cliarlcs, Bour- bon de la Reine, Dauphin, Po.skoiac, and des Praires, all of which are built with Palisades that can give proteetion only against Indians." Fort Saint Pierre he describes as situated on Rainy Lake at five hundred leagues from Michillimackinac, and three hundred from Kaministiquoya to the north-east of Lake Superior. Fort St. Charles is situated sixty leagues from Fort St. Pierre, on a peninsula that goes far into Lake of the Woods. Fort Bourbon is 150 league.s from Fort ('harles, at the entrance of Poskoyac into Lake Winnipeg. Fort La Reine is situated on the right bank of the Assinil)oine River, sixty leagues from Fort l!iiiu'l)on. The route we are told to take in order to go through the ui)per part of the Missouri country is the AssiniVwine River. Fort Dauphin, at the distance of eighty leagues from Fort La Reine, is on Troubled Water River. Fort Poskoyac is built on the river of that name, at 180 leagues from the preceding one. It takes ten days to reach Nelson River from this fort. The Fort of the Prairies is eigiity leagues from Fort Pos- lioyac in the upper part uf the river of tiiat name. This post is farmed for the annual sum of 8,000 francs. The commanding officer is its farmer, fie has a fourth interest in i's trade. This post, says Hougninville, produces yearly from .300 to 400 bundles of furs. it is called " the Sea of the West," embracing as it did the wliole country from Rainy Lake to the Rocky Mountains, and from the North Saskatchewan to the Missouri, was in t le gift of the Governor-General of Canada, and was bestowed by him upon his favour- ites in a manner described by General Montcalm in his letters to Marshal Belleisle. At least two other forts were built by the French in that distant country, Fort Nepaween :ni(l Foit L,i Corne, botli of which stood near the forks of the Saskatchewan; but no mention is made of them in Bougainville's Memoirs. Of the seven forts about which he writes, and which are situated within the limits of the " post of the Western Sea," he -ays each was entrusted to the care of one or two officers, seven or eight privates, and eighty Canadian cntjiKji'^. This would make the population of this western post upwards 1)1' 700 Frenchmen in the year 1757. In this estimate are not taken into account the numerous courews das hois who paid little regard to the exclusive privileges of the fur trade granted by the Canadian authorities, and who, as Ihey usually sold their peltries to the farmers of the posts, were scarcely less profitable to them than the Indians them- selves. It is evident from the Memoir of Bougainville, who, at the time of writing was an Aide-de-Camp of General Montcalm, and who, therei'ore, had every opportunity to obtain authentic information, that the garrisons remained at the posts as long as the country was in the possession of France. When Major Rogers went to Detroit to accept the surrender, in accordance with the capitulation of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, he found Captain Beletre commandant there. He left Detroit shortly after to accept the surrender of Michillimackinac, to relieve the French garrison at that point. The storms and gathering ice of Lake Huron compelled him to return, so that the western forts upon the lake remtiined in the hand.s of the French until the following year. Lieutenant Gorell describes the taking possession of those western forts, but he makes no allusion to the French garrisons by which they were held. • Soe extracts from M. de Bou)i;ainville'8 Memoir ol the trading posts. f t. ! if-t 28 EXTENT OF CANADA. lie tells us in his journal, that Lieutenant Leslie of the 00th re/^iment with one sergeant, one corporal, one drummer, and 2") privates of the same regiment, were left at Michillimackinac, and that ho was left with one sergeant, one corporal, and 16 privates at (rreeii lliy. Fie says that he found the fort (juite rotten ; the stockade ready to fall ; the houses without roofs, and fire wood far oflF, and none to be had when the river closed. He makes no mention of any French ofl&cer or g ;rrison being there, although it is certain that Lieutenant Coutral had held this place not long before. The post of Ouip.tanon on the Wabash, was surrendered by Ensign Bayeul to Lieutenant Jenkins, who took possession with fifteen men. Ensign PauUy was made Commandant at Fort Sandusky ; Ensign Schlosser at Fort 8aint Joseph, at the south eastern entrance of Michigan ; Ensign Holmes at Fort Miamis. Although these forts were held by small garrisons of French troops up to the last, some of them seemed to have been withdmwn to the Mississippi before the English garrisons reached them. Montcalm complains of the incapacity of Vaudreuil, and the corruption of Bigot, the In- tendant. He declares that Bigot is engaged only in amassing a fortune for himself, his adher- ents, and sycophants ; that cupidity has seized officers and storekeepers ; that the Com- missaries on the Ohio, and with the Indians of the upper country, are amassing astonish- ing fortunes ; that if a fourth of what is supposed to be expended for the Indians, had been expended for them, the King would have had them all, and the English would have had none ; that Forts Niagara and Machault had been lost hcranse, then ^*'*'^ '^^<"' dripped of 400 of their best men f«r the sake of the fur trade* And M. Bougainville observes that the post of La Baye (Green Bay) had given in three years to MM. Rigaud and Marin, 312,000 francs ; and that at the time of M. Marin, who was associated with MM. de la Jonquiere and Bigot, the (lovernor and Intendant, it produced 150,000 francs per annum, besides paying all expenses. General Montcalm does not hesitate to say in his letters to the Minister of Wai', that the officials of France in Canada seem intent only on amassing a fortune, and arc indifferent to the fate of the Province. These facts are mentioned for the purpose of showing that those distant regions ex- plored by the Verandryes, by La Noiie, Saint Pierre, de Niverville, Pachot, Golor, Guiri- gas and de Moutbrun, were actually occupied by the French merchants, traders, and soldiers, from the period of theii^ discovery as a part of Canada, and subject to the author- ity of its Government, until ihe period of its conquest. It will hereafter be shown, that so much of this territory as lies north of the parallel of the sources of the Mississippi, as far as the Rocky ^lountains, was ceded by France as a part of Canada. Tlu> brief al)stract of French explorations which has been given, will show the extent of territory embraced within the limits of Canada and Louisiana respectively. It is now proposed to point out what portions of this territory were claimed by the Government of Great Britain as the rightful possession of the British Crown. .Acadi Cham] Knglai V Disputed Territories. The territory east of the New England States, and south of the lower St. Lawrence, was claimed by England under the twelfth Article of the Treaty of Utrecht, as a part of * N. Y., Hi. French West India Company, bearing date the 29th of .^pril, 1627 ; an J those of Louis XIV., to Monsieur Croisot, somotiuie since surrendered to the United India Coui|iany of France, upon wb'ch tliey liuild 'heir title to the Misniscippi. Many other instances of like nature might be given, were they necessiiry to the present purpose ; but these two which camprehend almost all Your Majesty's dominions in .America, may I'e sufficient to show the unlimited inclination the French have to encroach upon Your Majesty's territories in those parts." Lords of Trade and Plantations, 8th Sept., 1721, N. Y. Hist. Doc. Vol. V., p 619. * See Memoir by the Marquis De Dcnonville to Marquis Seignolay, 8th Nov. 1688. N. Y. Hist Doc. Vol. IX., pp. 303-305 ; .Archives le Paris, U-re S6rie, Vol. IV., p. 1. I Treaty of Aii-lat'hapelle, 17 tS. "Article V. All the conquests that have been made since the commencement of the [present] war, or which, since the conclusion of the prelimin.iry articles, sigu'd the 30th of April last, may have been or shall be made either in Europe, or the East and West Indies, or in any other part of the world whatsoever, being to bo restored without exception, in conformity to what was stipu- lated by the said preliminary articles, and by the decliinitioiis since signed, the liis^h i^ontracting parties en- gage to give orders immedintely for proceeding to that restitution the said parties solemnly renouncii:g. as well for themselves a.! their heirs and suc the Queen, 2nd ,hfio, IVn'J, Kng. MSS.. vol. III., pp. 362, 363; Lord- of Trade to Governor Burnet, 6 h June. l"22(Ilii 1), p. 473 ; Burnet to the Dukeof Neweai-tle. 9th Aug., 1724. pp. 511. 527, 531 ; toK IV., pp. 1, 3, 7, 17, 21, 22, 25, 45, 47, 74, 81, 92, 117-149, 153 ; Circular by Lord Ilolder- ness, p. 399. S See grant totheDake of Lennox ami others, of all North America between 40° and 48" of north latitude from sea to sea. by .Tames I., 1620 ; also Ivirl U arwirk's Patent from Plyiuouth Council, 1630. (Inint to I, ^r i Clarendon by CharUs II., iC.fi3, N. S. lietwceii 31" and 36'' north Intitule from sea to sea, — the Carolina-. (Irant by George II. to Lord Percival and twenty (itiiers, extending from the Savannah and Altamahato tiie South Sea. siiltuinlv !1. 13 ; Lord- jg., 1724. \\ llolder- \\ IntitU'if It to li'Tll Ihato tl.' DISPUTKO TKltHITdltlKS. ni mcnts. Tliey hud not, thereforo, spreiiil themselves over ro va^t nn extent of territory a^ had the colonists oC Frnnce. With the oxce])tion of a few ItiJiaii traders upon the border, they Irid not explored the country except where they ])urposed to colonize it. Tliey were not. liowover, willini.xsippi had been taken possession of from its source to the Gulf of Mexico.* The Iroi|uois Indians had been over awed by the buildini: of Fort Frontenac, and were anxious for an Enj,'lish alliance. It does not seem that the Indians understood the Treaty in the same sense as the English.t When the war of the Spanish Succession began, the chiefs of the Mohawks and the Oneidas came to Albany, and the English commissioners at this time coald produce 110 treaty, but they had made mention in their books of entry that these two of the coii- t'tderate tribes had placed their hunting-grounds under the protection of the English. Xo sooner was this done than they claimed that their hunting-grounds extended to Lake Xipissing.J The Indians no doubt hoped for aid in the destruction of Fort Frontenac. They wished to bring the northern Indians into subjection, and to secure to themselves tlie northern fur trade. Upon this promise to protect the Iroquois hunting-grounds, on somi; old English maps, such as -Teffery's and Peter Bell's, the whole of Upper Canada south of Lake Nipissin;^ is marked as a British possession, although it does not appear that the sovereignty of France was ever called in question by Great Britain.^ Of the Treaty of 1701 no record seems to have been preserved, and in 1726 Governor Burnet made a treaty at Albany with the Iroquois nations, obtaining a grant north o. Lakes Kric and Ontario, and on the south of these lakes a strip of country sixty miles wide, ixttndmg from Oswego to the Cuyahoga River, where Cleveland now stand.s. But France had not renounced her sovereignty over the country, and the rights of England uniler the Treaty of Utrecht could not be enlarged at the expense of France by any ar- rangement entered into with the savages thirteen years later. || * Tonty's Memoir. Archives do Paris, lire S6rie, vol. I., pp. 247, 2fi2 ; vol. IL, pp. 4, 9. 305, -317, .3S0 ; vol. III., pp. 263, 448 ; vol. IV., p. 179. K. Y. Hist. Doc, vol. IX., pp. 91, 98-103 ; vol. X., p. 349. Parkman'..^ Discoverie.'f of the Great West. t I'list.^i Jotinials ; Albaeli's Annals ; N. Y. Hist. Doc, viil. . :;: Banoroff s Hi.st. U. S., vol. III. S Sue also the map in Kntick'.s History, vol. I. \i. 106. I; Englis^li MSS., vol III, pi\ 515-.">S.5; X. Y. Hist. Doc, vol. . Archives de Paris, lere fvho ought to be, accounted subjects and friends of Britain or of France is a matter to be accurately and distinctly settled by the Com- missioners. Frequent correspondence took place both in Europe and America, between the Eng lish and French authorities, in reference to the true construction of this -^"ticle.* The English maintained two propo.^itions, neither of which seems tenable. They held that the French Government haci by this Article acknowledged the Five Nations as British subjects, and therefore their territory as a British possession. This the French Govern- ment denied. They pointed to tht* fact that many of them lived in the vicinity of Mon- treal, and had always acknowledged the sovereignty of France, and claimed the pro- tection of her Government ; that others lived in sections of country >N^hich France claimed as a part of her North American dominions ; that this Article of the Treaty ex- pressly provitled that what Indians were to be accounted subj ects and friends of the one nation, and the other was to be settled by Commissioners. The English Government further claimed, that it gave both to the Indians and the olonists within the doniiiiious of the King of England, the right to go into the territories of France for the purpose of trading with the Indians there. This, also, was denied by the French authorities. They conteinled that the Indians alone are to be untrammeled by the political divisions of the continent between France and England. The Article provides that the subjects of France are to neither hinder nor molest the five nations subject to the dominion of Great Britain, nor the natives of America who are in friendly alliance with them. A reciprocal obliga- tion is imposed upon the subjects of Great Britain. So far, the Article makes no provision for trade between the Indians of the two countries. It simply providos that the Indians in one part of the territory of Great Britain shall not be interfered with vr ile trading with those in another part, or with those in territories which are not thi' p'ssessions of either country. It further provides that the natives are to resort with equal freedom whenever they please, from the territories of the one country to the territories of the other. But nothing is said of any other class of the population having a like privilege. The French felt, as they were much less numerous than the English, that it would be absolutely necessary to exercise the utmost vigilance if they were to retain control over the Indian population in their extensive dominions. Governor Dongan, of New York, * Letters of Governor Burnet to the Board — French and English aftairs — M. de Longneuil'g interpretatiou of the lute Treaty, etc., Deo. 4, 1726. Eng MSS. Vol. VIII, p. 615. Archives de Paris l§re s6rie Vol. VII. pp. 479, 615, 624 ; also M. de la Galisgonniere to Guvtmor Clinton, Eng. MSS. Vol.4, p. 221. DISPUTED TERRITORIES. 8S nn early as 1685, licensed neveral persons, among whom was I^ Fontaine, a Canadian, to hunt beaver among the Indians of the North-West. A similar license was given to Cap- tain Koseboom, of Albany. They went as far as Michillimackinac. They were well re- ceived by the Indians, and invited to return every year. The Indians of the North-West (Icsired the Senecas to open for them a path to Albany. In September 1086, several parties, led byKoeeboom and La Fontaine, set out again. They were to winter among the S*>necas and go to ^Tichillimackinac in the spring. In tlie spring, a second party was organized, under Ma < : McGregorie, with Vaile as an in- terpreter. McGregorie was to overtake and lead both parties to the country of the Ottawas. From this second expedition they safely retumein them. Captain Roseboora and iiis party of twenty-nine whites and five Indians were taken by Durantaye, near Michillimackinac, and Du L'Hut and Tonty took McGregorie and his party of twenty-nine wliites, six Indians, and eight pri-soners in the St. Clair River. They were delivered to the Marquis de Denonville at Niagara. La Fontaine was shot, and the rest were sent to Fort Frontenac.*' To prevent a repetition of these adventures, they strengthened Detroit. Tiiey repaired Fort Frontenac. In 1678 La Salle had built a palli.ssade fort at Xiiigara.+ The Marquis de Denonville greatly enlarged and strengthened it in 1686, and for some time a garrison of 100 soldiers were kept there, but they were subsequently withdrawn. :J The fort was renewed in 1721. This fortress gave the French control over the commerce of the interior. It won for them the respect of the Iroquois, and it prevented the fur traders of Albany from making excursions into the upper country. MM. Vandreuil and Begon in a report to their government on this post say, that it is about four leagues from LakeEiie; that it is the only pass of the Indians who come from the upper countries; that there is a portage necessary to be made here about 12 miles in length, over which the Indians must carry their canoes. § In 1721 the Governor of New York informed the British Government that the French were building a fort at Niagara ; that Sieur de Jonquiere was strongly urging the Indians to abandon the English interest altogether ; that French flags had been hoisted on the capitol of the Senecas ; that these Indians were ready to revolt ; that priests and bliick- sniitlis had been sent among them ; that they were about being persuaded to prevent the English from passing through their country ; and that M. de Longueuil had gone thither for the purpose of inducing them to throw off their ancient allegiance to Great Britain. || The English complained that the French, by building Fort Niagara, had practically closed the road to Albany against a trade with the Western Nations, contrary to the J- • Tonty's Memoir. N. Y., His. Ool. Vol. III. pp. 250, i>2, 2.5«, 39-5, 43»-l, 434, 437, 438, 476. Vol. IX : 225, 297, ?02, 308, 318, 383, 1023. I Before Dongan's arrival in New York, but two of tiie colonists (Greenhalgh and his comrade) had ever gone as far west as the country of the Senecas. t Tonty's Memoir ; Falconer's Misaissippi ; ParkmaD't Di»coT?ri©8 of the West X N. Y. H. Col. Vol. 9 ; 287, 296 ; Archives do Paris, Jnd S«rie, Vol. 5, pp. 189,262. § Archives de Pariu 16re S6rie, Vol. VII, pp. 117, 197 ; N. Y. Hirt. Doe. VoL VL II Archives de Paris, 13re Serie, vol. VII., pp. 204-209. English UBS., rol. III., pp. 447, 448, 460, 473. N. Y. Hist. Doo. 3 ■ 11 m 34 DISPUTED TKRRITORIES. i M If stipulations in the Treaty of Utrecht ; that the fort stood on territory belonging to Indians subject to Great Britain, and where the English were better entitled to build than the French.' The Governor of Canada replied that the English had no claim to the country about Niagara ; that fifty years before, it had been occupied by La Salle, who had built a vessel there to navigate Lake Erie ; that His Majesty h7;<-75. § Recit. (les Voyages, l(i73-7") ; Spiirk's Life of La .Salle ; Parkman's Discoveries of the Groat West ; Albach's Annals ; Tonty's Memoir. ■.'"However, as tlie French arc convinced that ti rhartcr inthnut posnessioii ran nercr lie aUoxotd to fhaiiijc the fropcrtii of the siiil,tluii Imve emidoiml auntltcr artifice, and without cmbarraniiiiui thcuisclfcs about fon.icr diacoreries made by the sulijectn of other princes, hare built small fmis at the heads of lakes and rirers ali»i;i that cast tract of land from the ciitrii of the IHrir St. Laurence to the embouchure of the Misaissi)>jii, into the Jiaii of Mexico, )'ot so inuch with the intention, probably, to bound their otcn territories, as to secure what they o DISPUTED TERRITORIES. 35 These warlike Indians obtained no fixed possession of the regions which they pro- fessed to have wrested from neighbouring tribes. Nor is it easy to perceive what way their conquests could have affected any right which the French had acquired, according to the usages of civilized nations. To argue that the warlike invasions of the Five Nations of the countries of the various tribes of Indians between the Ottawa and the Mississippi Rivers effected a permanent transfer of the country, is to ascribe to them a consequence not ascribed by public law to similar invasions by the armies of civilized states* Although at one time the Peninsula of Upper Canada and the country as far as Michillimackinac was claimed by a Governor of the Province of New York as British territory, the English Government and the later representatives of the Crown in New York and Virginia, confined their claims to the westward of the colonies, to the south shore of Lakes Erie and Ontario, and to the valley of the Ohio.'f These pretensions the French resisted. They had long been in possession of northern and western New York. They had colonies and settlements upon the Mississippi, the Illinois, and the Wabash before the Treaty of Utrecht was negotiated. They had uniformly claimed the whole valley of the St. Lawrence and the whole valley of the Mississippi from the time of La Salle's discoveries. They pointed to the Forts at Crown Point and at Niagara, upon the Miamis, the Wabash, the Illinois, and the Mississippi, as evidences of their rights.| After the treaty of Aix-la-Ohapelle was concluded, the French undertook to erect a I: West ; aUowcd (s tihout rivet's )jii, into hat thcu h(m already (jot till a inore favourable juncture shall yive them occasion to make further intrusion upon their neifjhboiirn." Lords of Trade to the King, Sep. 8, 1721. N. Y. H, Doo. vol. V. pp. 619-20. " Ho (Count de Vorginnes) asked me how we went on with the English. I told him we divided upon two points, the Tories andj Penobscot, two ostensible points ; for it was impossible to believe that my Lord Shel- burno or the nation cared much about such points. I took out of mil pocket and shoived him the record of Oorcriior PomiaVs .totcmii act of burt/in;i a leaden plate with this inscrijition : — '" May 23rd, 1759, Province of Massachusetts Bay, Penobscot, Dominions of Oreat Britain. Possessi'jn corflrmcd by Thomas Powual, Governor."" " This was planted on the onst tide of the Kiver Penobscot, three miles above marine navigation. I showed him also the other records, — the laying out of Mount Desert, Mnchias, and all the towns to the east of the Kiver Penobscot." Adim's Diary, Nov. 10, 1782, vol. III. p. ;W4. *" Ciinque.ft doo? njt per ite give the cnnqweror plenum doininum ft utile, hut a temporary right of pos- session and government." 2. Dallis's U.S. Sup. Court, Rep. 488. I "Colonel Dongan's lotta' will notify you sufficiently of his pretensions, which extend no less than from the lakes inclusive to the South Sea. .Missilemackiniic is thuiis. They have taken its latitude; have been to trade there with our Outawas and Huron Indians, who received them cordially Unfortunately wo had but very few Frenchmen at Missilimakinac at that time Sieur de la Durantnye did not overtake the Eng!i.«h who met the Senecas on theic way to join them and escort them through Lakes Erie and Ontario, until they should be beyond all ('-•leor of attack from us.. This union (of the Senecas and English) dates particularly from the year that M. Do La liarro went against the Senecas, for whilst he was on the march the S.necna ran to Orange to soo Colonel Doonan to roi|uest him to take them under his protection, giving themselves up to hiui by a public instrument, which was recorded and sent to England, and then I'e caused posts with the English arms to lie set r.p in all their villages I annex to this letter a memorial of our rights.... M. Talon had the originals of ou. entries iinci pos- session Doubtless he will have given them to my late Lord your father." M. Denonville to M. Seiguelay. N, Y. Hist. Dor., vol. IX., pp. 296-7. + Lrodhead's Niw York, Vol. II ; Bancroft's U. S., Vol III. iN. Y. Hist. Doc, vol IX ; see patent to La Salle; Letters of Frontenac, Vaudrenil and otheri in the Archives de Paris. I. I s - i 36 DISPUTED TERRITORIES. ■A it'!- N' 9Ji cordon of forts extending from the Bay of Fundy to Lake Erie, and along the Ohio and the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, for the purpose of protecting and holding the ter- ritory which they claimed as a possession of the Crown of France, against what they re- garded as British aggression. ^ Tn 1698, a branch of the Shawanese, offended at the French, established themselves upon the west branch of the Susquehanna ; and two years later they were received by William Penn, as a part of the people of his Province.* In 1724, the Delawarea mi- grated to the Ohio, and in 1728, the Shawanese followed them. They had no sooner gone beyond the mountains than the Canadian traders were amongst them, and M. Junquiere, a most able and skilful French emissary, visited them. He was already an adopted citizen of the Senecas, and he had crossed over from Lake Erie to these Indian tribes. In 1730, he induced them to go to Montreal to visit the Governor of Canada, and there receive presents from him.t On account of the hostility of the Iroquois, the French explorers, for several years, were cut off from Lakes Erie and Ontario. They were obliged to go to the Upper lakes and the Mississippi by the way of the Ottawa and French rivers. But the building of Forts Froutenac and Niagara re-opened the route to the west by these lakes. La Salle's route was the long and circuitous one to St. Joseph's River, through Lakes Huron and Michigan ; up this river to the nearest point of the Kankakee — a branch of the Illinois ; and down the Illinois to the Mississippi. In 1716, the western traders went from Lake Erie up the Miami, to the place where Fort Wayne now stands, and from thence to the Wabash. It was not until about the time of Jonquiere's visit to the Shawanese, that the route from Lake Erie to the Alleghany River was opened.| As early as 1710, Governor Spottiswood, of Virginia, had explored the passes through the mountains. Virginia, too, had profited by the knowledge of the Indian hunters, who had discovered a pass by Wells Creek to the Ohio. It was by this pass that they carried their goods to the Indians in 1750. Governor Spottiswood sought to form a company, to whom were to be given a monopoly of Indian trade, who were to have been required to make ex- plorations and settlements, and to build forts through the western country, in order to hold it against the constant encroachments of the French. The people of Virginia opposed the mon- opoly ; and as nearly a thousand miles of forest separated Williamsburg from Cohokia, Kaskaskia, and other settlements in the Illinois country, nothing could be done.§ 1 Count de la Qalissonniere writes to Chevalier de Longaeil, Commandant at Detroit, that " ThouKb we be at peane, every attempt of the English to settle at River a la Roche, White River, the Beautiful River or any of their tributaries, must be resisted by force ; and should this fail, they must in every case be sum- moned to retire, and warned of the disasters which may overtake them should they not obey." — N. Y. Hist. Doo. Vol. X. •Bancroft's Hist. U. S, Vol. III. Parkman's conspiracy of Pontia«, Vol. I. Proud's Hist. Pennsylvania. + Bancroft's Hist. Vol. III. X Gov. Spottiswood's letter to the Board of Trade, 14th August, 1718, on the French Settlements of Lou s iana, and the route to them from Montreal. Pownall's MS., Vol IV. p. 158. Parkman's Discoveries of the Great West. Albacb's Annals. N. T. Hist. Doc, Vol. V. L. D. 22. Bancroft's Hist., vols. III. and V., Eng. Ed. See Governor Hunter on the eSeots of the French forts and settlements Sf Louisiana on British interests ; also Keith's project for preventing communication between the French settlements en the St. Lawrence and Hissitsippi, Pownall's MSS. vol. IV. tip, 106. 354.' DISPUTED TERRITORIES, 37 ..' >! f I Between 1748 and 1757, the British Government had made several large grants, which in the aggregate amounted to 3,000,000aore8 of land. Tliese grants were said to extend from the Alleghany Mountains to the border line of Canada ; but where this border line might be the grants did not state.* The French authorities became alarmed at the efforts of the English traders to carry on a traffic with the Indians ; at the numbers of persons who were crossing the mountains from Penn.sylvania fcr the purpose of settlement ; and at the large grants acquired by the companies, as already referred to, upon condition of colonization. Upon the 10th of May, 1744, Vau- dreuil wrote to the Government of France, pointing out the danger to the possessions of France of allowing the English to build trading houses among the Creeks, and other Indian tribes. In 1749, Galis.sonniere, the Governor of Canada, resolved to place in the valley of the Ohio evidences of the French possession of the country. Lieutenant Louis Celeron de Bienville was sent, with three hundred soldiers, to bury lead plates in the mounds and at the mouths of rivers, on which were engraved the claims of the King of France to both sides of the Ohio valley, f -' In 1716, the Governor of Virginia advocated the purchase of the Ohio valley from the Indians ; and the Due de Choiseul mentions that the London newspapers advocate the extension of colonization and settlement on the side of Acadia. The French were confirmed in their fears of British aggression. Galissonniere pointed out that if English demands, in reference to the limits of Acadia, were complied with, they could shut Canada from the sea ; and that if the Alleghanies were abandoned as the boundary be- tween English and French possessions, the English colonists, l)eing much the more numerous, would soon occupy the country about the lakes and along the Mississippi, and the French colonists would be confined to the north shores of Lake Ontario and the St, Lawrence. He urged upon his Government the necessity of providing for the immediate settlement of the Illinois country, Niagara, and Detroit. The Fort at Detroit was re- built and garrisoned. The Fort at Green Br.y was also reconstructed. A new fore was erected in the country of the Sioux. A stcne fort was ordered to be built at Toronto, and mctber on the south shore of the St. liawrence, at Ogdensburg.J III 1750, Galissonniere sent to the Franch Government a memorial advising a general system of fortifications for Canada and Louisiana. § In 1753, Fort Presqu' Isle was built. As soon as this fort was finished, the French marched southward, cutting a waggon-road twenty-one miles to the River Aux Boeufs, where they built another fort. They then ordered fifty men to the mouth of this river, and built a third fort at its junction with the Ohio. They armed these forts at first with Lou's- I Great * See Franklin's Worko, vol. IV,; Albaoh's Western AnnaU ; Bancroft's Hist. Vol. HI. ; Burk's Virginia ; Marshall's Hist. Kentucky. t Bancroft's Hist., vol. III. ; Eutick's History of the Seven Years' War, vol. I. ; N. Y. Hist. Doo , vol. IX.; Archives de Paris, Idro S$rie, vol. X., Proc6s-verbal de prise possession de la Belle rividro (Ohio), etc. ; Lettre lie M. Pnyzieulx, p. 169. 2 See the correspondence between Lords Albermarle and Holderness and Roui116, in referenoe to fear English traders s>>ized beyond the Ohio, whose goods were confiscated and themselves sent prisoners to RochoUe. Entick, vol. 1 pp. 45-49. : Archives de Tans leie S^rie, Vol. X. ; N. Y. Hist. Doc., Vol. IX. ; Bancroft's HUt, Vol III. § Archivoa de Paris, Idre S6rie, Vol. X., p. 361. •:.M 38 DISPUTED TERRITORIES. 4-'' 300 soldiers, but not long after they sent forward 1,200 more into the valley of the Ohio. Fort Median it was built a little later, opposite Fort Venango, and still later they com- p/eted Fort du Quesne.* Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, sent George Washington to the Commander of the French forces in the wilderness of north-western Pennsylvania, to demand from him his object in invading British territory in a hostile manner. The Governor directed Wash- ington to proceed to Logstown, on the Ohio ; to address himself to the Sachems of the Six Nations, to acquaint them of his orders, and to ask from them a sufficient number of their warriors to accompany him as a guard ; to ascertain the number of the French upon the Ohio and in the adjacent country ; how they were to be assisted from Canada ; what were their means of communication ; what was the time required ; what number of forts had they erected ; how were they garrisoned and appointed ; and what distance were they from each other.'f During Washington's absence, the Ohio (!!ompany, which had five years before re- •* Deposition of Coffin ; Albach's Western Annals, pp. 101-105. ^ It appears from Washington's Journal that on the 25th of November he met with a few French deserters, from whom he got intelligence that they were part of 100 men who had been sent with eight oanoes, laden with provisions, Irom New Orleans to Kaskaskias, with a promise of being joined there by an equal number cf French to convey them and their stores up the Ohio ; that the French had built four small forts between New Orleans and the Black Islands in the Ohio, having thirty or forty men each and a few small cannon ; that there wore thirty-flvo companies of soldiers at New Orleans ; that there was a fort at the Black Islands with eight guns and several companies ; that there was also a fort at the mouth of the Wabash, lie learned from an Indian irader that the French had built a fort on Lake Erie, at Presqu' Isle, and another at a small lake fifteen miles south, with a largo waggon-road between them. Washington arrived at Venango, an old Indian town at the mouth of French Creek, on the AUoghany, 4th December, 1753. He found the French colours hoisted on a house from which Ihey had driven the owner, John Frazcr. Here he met Captain Jonquiere, who told him they intended holding the Oh'o ; that it was their right ; that it had been discovered by La Salle eighty years before ; that ho had orders '.o mike all the English prisoners who attempted to trade upon the Ohio. Upon delivering to the French Commandant Governor Dinwiddle's letter, ordering him to retire from the dominions of His Brittannic Majisty, ho returned by Washington the following auHwer: — " Sir, — As I have the honour of commanding here in chief, Mr. AVashington delivered to me the letter which you v/rote to the Commander of the French troops. I should have been glad that you had given him orders, or that ho had been inclined to proceed to Canada to see our General, to whom it better belongs than to me, to set forth the evidence and the reality of the rights of the King, my master, to the lands situate along the River Ohio, and to contest the pretensions of the King of Great Britain thereto. I shall transmit your letter to the Marquis Du Guisnc, or Du Quesne; his answer will be a law to me. And if he shall order mo to communicate to you, sir, you may be assured that I shall not fail to despatch it forthwith to you. As to the summons you send mo to retire, I do not think myself obliged to obey it. Whatever may be your instruc- tions, I am here by virtue of the orders of my General ; and I entreat you, sir, not to doubt one moment but that I am determined to conform myself to them, with all the exactness and resolution which can be expected from the first officer. I do not know that in the progress of this campaign anything has passed which can be reputed an act of hostility, or that is contrary to the treaties which subsist between the two Crowns ; the continuation whereof so much interesteth and is as pleasing to us as the English. Had you been pleased, sir, to have descended to particularize the facts which occasioned your complaint, I should have had the honour of answering you in the fullest, and, I am persuaded, the most satisfactory manner, &o. LbOARDBUR DE ST. PiBRRB. From the Fort sur la Riviire au Boeuf, December 16, 1753. t See Dinwiddle's Letter of Instructions in Albaoh's Annals, p. 110. Entiok's History, vol. I. pp. 97, 98. ccivt meas estal Pier COUll tory. and Freii DISPUTED TERRITORIES, 39 ceivecl a grant of land from the British Government west of the mountains, had taken measures to erect a fort at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers, and to estaVilish a settlement at this point. When Washington returned with the letter of St. Pierre, the French Commandant, it was evident that the Frencii intended to hold the country as their rightful possession, and that victory alone could make it British terri- tory. The Virginians prepared for active hostilities, l)ut the Legislatures of New York and Pennsylvania, when called upon for aid, began discussing the question whether the French had really invaded British territory or not.* In the spring of 1754, M. Coutrecoeur, who had become Commandant of the French forces upon the Ohio, demanded the immediate surrender of the unfinished fortress of the Oliio Company. He asked the English by what authority they had come to fortify them- ^i'l\es within the dominion of the King, his master. He declared their conduct to be so contrary to the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, that he knew not to whom to impute such usurpation. He said the lands along the Ohio were the incontestable possessions of the King of France. Ensign Ward, who, with a few British troops, was then in change of the unfinished fort at the forks of the Ohio, was ordered to retire peacefully with his men from the dominions of the French King. Ward surrendered the fort and retired up the valley of the Monongahela River. The fort of the Ohio Company was at once finished by the French, and while in their possession was known as Fort Du Quesne. This act was followed by the defeat and death of Jumonville, and the surrender to the French of Fort Necessity, t By the Treaty of Utrecht, Article 12, " All Nova Scotia, or Acadia, with its ancient limits and with all its dependencies, was ceded to the Crown of Great Britain." Under this Article the English claimed the whole cnunti'y east of the Penobscot and south of the St. Lawrence, while the French maintained that Acadia, with its ancient limits, em- braced only a part of the peninsula which constitutes the present Province, and main- tained their right to the remaining part of the peninsula, together with the country south of tlie St. Lawrence and east of the Penobscot, as a part of Canada. The sovereignty of Acadia and its confines in the patent of De Monts (1G03) extended from the fortieth to the forty-sixth degree of north latitude. In 1604^, he established his colony at Port Royal. In 1G07, this patent was revoked, and a new patent issued to Poutrincourt, by Henry IV., of Port Royal. Port Royal was thus separated from the rest of the penin- sula. J In 1621, James I. granted a patent to Sir Wm. Alexander for all the country east of the St. Croix and south of the St. Lawrence.§ thus making a grant of a country which had before been granted by the French King and occupied by French colonists. France had greatly enlarged its boundaries and made it dej)endent upon Canada. England had never been in the possession of the shore of the Lower St. Lawrence, nor had the boundaries of Acadia or Nova Scotia while in her possession always been the same. I ■'1 ir, 98. * Washingtonj Journal. Proud's Hist. Pennsylvania. t Craig'e History of Pittsburg. Albaoh'a Annals. Bnglish MSS., vol. V. p. 4. Entick's History, vol. I. pp. 96-114. t Voyages de Champlain, pp. 40, 99. § Pownall MSS., Vol. IV. p. 253. 40 DISPUTED TERRITORIES. n A disposition was expressed on both sides in favour of a peaceful settlement of their territorial disputes. In September, 1750, William Shirley and William Mildmay were appointed Commissioners on behalf of Great Britain, and Gallissoniere and De Silhouette on behalf of France. They met at Paris for the purpose of determining the limits of the English and French possessions along their disputed boundaries in North America. The English Commissioners opened their case with a recitation of the 12th Article of the Treaty of Utrecht, in reference to the limits of Acadia. They gave as " the true boun- daries — on the west towards New England, by the River Penobscot, alias Pentagoet, be- ginning at its entrance and from thence drawing a straight line northwa'"d to the river St. Lawrence, or the Great River of Canada. On the north by the said river of St. Law- rence going along the south side of it to Cape Rosiers, situated at its entrance. To the east by the great Gulf of St. Lawrence from the said Cape Rosiers, running south-eastward by the Islands of Baclialas or Cape Breton, leaving these islands at the right, find the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the islands belonging thereto on the left, unto the Cape or Promon- tory called Cape Breton. And to the south, by the great Atlantic Ocean, drawing to the south-west from the said Cape Bre':on b" '""M^e Sable, taking in the island of that name, round about the Bay of Fundy, goes i " '•d to tlie country at the entrance of the River Penobscot «//«*■ Pentagoet." Tld ..ji>,ii Commissioners denieui- misaioDors. Conduit des Francoii< par rapport & la Nouvelle Ecosse, par T. Jefforys, Entick's Histdry, Vol. I. pp. 13-63. Banoroffs U.S., Vol. III. DISPUTED TERRITORIES. 41 left his company in charge of Ponte Grave, who with Charaplain and Champdore, were in- structed to exjilore the adjacent country. De Monts entered into new engagements with Poutrinconrt, who, accompanied by Escarbot, the historian, returned to Port Royal. The colony for a time was prosperous, but was broken up by Argall, as already stated, in 1613, In 1623 all Acadia, or Nova Scotia, was given in marriage with the daughter of Charles I. to the King of France. In 1627 it M'as retaken from the French by Sir 'David Kirk; but it was again ceded to France by the Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, in 1632. In 1654 it was again reconquered under Cromwell, who refused to surrender it. In 1662, Charles II., notwithstanding the remonstrances of the New England colonists and of Parliament, delivered it again to ' France, and it was confirmed to her in 1667, by the Treaty of Breda.' It was retaken by the colonists of New England in 1690, and restored to France by the Treaty of liyswick in 1697. It was again reduced by the English and colonial forces in 1710, and confirmed to the Crown of Great Britain, by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.* What England had a right to contend for, was the ancient limits of Acadia, and the ancient limits of Acadia did not embrace the country on the south bank of the St. Lawrence, nor any territory north of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude. England never had been in IKisse.ssion of the south siiore of the St. Lawrence as a part of Nova Scotia. Frequently as the sovereignty of Nova Scotia or Acadia had been changed, the country north of the forty-sixth parallel, whether a part of Acadia or not, while Acadia was a French province, \/m\ never been part of it when in possession of the English.t That England had a right to claim the whole peninsula of Acadia seems clear. Tiiat she had a right to claim the territory along the western coast of the Bay of Fundy, is fairly arguable. That she could claim the whole country to the St. Lawrence, under the Treaty of Utrecht, as Acadia, was prepasterous. For the purpose of showing that no such vast extent of country was intended to be ceded, the French Commissioners pointed out that it would place Canada at the mercy of Great Britain ; that she could shut it out from sea, and seize it the first f [granted tpe, and Inch ic'iu- Hi.*tory, ' Charles II. huring given to Sir William Berlioley, Lord Clarendon, and a few other courtiers, the whole of the southern part of the Continent, he granted to James, .Ouke of York, the country between Pcmaquid and the St. Croix. He revived the proprietary rights to New Hampshire and Maine, in order to obtain them for the Duke of Monmouth. He granted the country from the Connecticut River to the Delaware Bay, although it at the time was covered by the Tharter of Winthrop and the possession of Holland, to the Duke of York, The grant of Nova Scotia to Sir Thomas Temple was not revoked, while Acadia, with undefined limits was restored to the French. See Bancroft's Hist. Vol. I. p. 401, Eng. Ed. * Entick's History, ^Vol. I. pp. 174, 176. Convention passfie i la prise de Port Royal entre le Qeneral Anglais, Robert Sedgwick et le Sieur de la Verdure, oomme Capitaine Commandant au Port Royal pour le Rc'i de France, 1654. Archives de Paris 3dme S6rie, Vol. I. p. 1. Traduction informe de la concession faite par Oliver Cromwell aux Sieurs Chs. do St. Etienne, de la Tour, Baron d'Ecosse, Thomas Temple, et fluil. Crown, chevalier du pays ot territoiro de I'Aoadie et de partie dn pays nommfi le Nouvelle Ecosse, 1656, Ibid. p. 9. Cession par le Roy d'Angleterre au Roy de France, en execution du traite de Breda, Ac, Feb. 1668. Ibid r. 28. See also Ibid. pp. 31, 35, 39, 45, 50, and other papers in this volume. t Sir W. Alexander's Patent, Pownall MSS. vol. IV. p. 253. Capt. John Alden's Memorial to Lord Bell- mont on the boundaries of Nova Scotia, April 17P0. Ibid. 187 ; also p. 374. Haliburton's Nova Scotia, vol. I. p. (il. 42 DISPUTED TERRITORIES. r ifi favourable opportunity. The British Commissioners reply, " that the rights of one nation are not to be determined upon the apprehensions of another ; nor is Great Britain to have her possession of Nova Scotia or Acadia narrowed or pared down to the idea of the French commissaries, and reduced to the south-east part of the peninsula, merely because, if fully possessed and imprr /ed by Great Britain, it might give umbrage to the French settlements in Canada."*' A large extent of country lying south of the St. Law rence. Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie, and along the Ohio river was claimed both by the Crowns of England and of Franco. This territory the French were the first to explore and occupy. They regiirded the fur trade as a matter of the first importance. It was mainly to retain the exclusive control of this trade that they extended their trading posts and settlements from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains.t They had opened communications between the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi by the valley of the Ohio, in order that they might the better protect their western pos- sessions. They wished, both by the Mississippi and through the State of Maine, to retain access to the ocean throughout the year.;}: Cape Breton being in the poss^^ssion of France, the colonists of New England pressed upon the consideration of the mother country the necessity of colonizing Nova Scotia. They described its produce ; its capacious and safe harbours. They showed by its situation it might be made a barrier against the growing trade of France ; that it might serve to control the fur trade and the fisheries, and that it would effectually conn- | teract any expedition set on foot against the settlements to the southward upon the Atlantic coast. In March, 1749, an Order in Council was passed, " Providing for the better peopling and settling of the Province of Nova Scotia ; for establishing a civil government ; and for extending and improving its fishery." Cornwallis was made Gov- ernor. Sieur de la Oorne took possession of several places within the peninsula, which were within the limits of Cornwallis' jurisdiction. The Earl of Albemarle complained of the conduct of Jonijuiere upon the Ohio, andofLaCorne in Nova Scotia. The Marquis de Puysieulx promised to inquire into the matter. Soon after, the Earl of Albemarle re- ceived a copy of a letter written by M. Rouille to M. de la Jonquiere, in which he was requested to forbear committing hostilities against the subjects of England. But the French did not for a moment relax their efforts to complete their plan of erecting forts from the Bay of Fundy to the Mississippi.§ In January, 1755, France proposed to restore every thing to the state it was in before * Memoires, etc. before referred to. 1 " I told him (Count do Vorgenncs) that the grant of Nova Scotia by James I., to Sir William Alexander, bounded it on the Kiver St. Croix ; and that I was possessed of the authorities of four of the greatest gover- nors the King of England over had, Shirley, Pownol, Bernard and Hutchinson, and the learned writings of Shirley and Hutchinson in support of it," i.e., that Massachusetts reached beyond ][the Penobscot River. Adam's Diary, 10 November, 1782. Vol. III. p. 304. \ Numerods references might be given to the New York Hist. Dec, Archives de Paris, end to the his- tories of Qarneau, Bancroft, Brodhead, Charlevoix, and others. Oallissonniere's Memoir. § See Corrospondenoe in the Ist vol. of Entiok's History ; also Bancroft, vol. IIIi 1== ■Mh<' last w *l«bct'ore th< Ikno gove Icccd to at ■'lliiil witho 4|(> have b( ■fission ei ipeedy ace On t America Tlii-y prop |ci"ting it ti'wi.s of t liat the ot liich they llif cession fespoctive ( [ility might Sii.illy adjus On the 111 tenable. the south< |(< the twent; iiio and the |ml the Free rth of March riiis proposil The twc lijent stood h jiiivered to t iisition whic Irioat Britain [)f the Treaty, "TheC ' the savages l.< to say, the by the receive bf the inhabii bus well weigi ^lul Great Bn cell known, a ^lossoss and mi pver pretext n tanada, it is i DISPUTED TERRITORIES. 4S one iication tin to have ihe French ise, if fully ettleraents and Lake of Franco, led the fur ive control Atlantic to Mississippi estern pos- e, to retain V England izing Nova showed by 11 !e ; that it | ually coun- rl upon the [ig for the iiing a civil ade Gov- ula, which plained of e Marquis emarle re- ch he was But the ting forts in before . Alexander, batoBt gover- writings of |)8Cot River. to the his- %\w last war, and to refer all disputes to the Commissioners at Paris. They proposed that -fcctbre the enquiry began that " positive orders should be immediately sent to our respec- iivo governments forbidding them thereafter to undertake any new enterprise or to pro- ipcc'd to any acts of hostility, enjoining them on the contrary to put things without delay, ind without regard to the lands on the Ohio, on the same footing that they were or ought i^i have been before the last war ; and that the respective claims be referred to the Com- iBiissiou established at Paris, so :hat the two Courts might terminate the diflPerence by a llpeedy accommodation." m On the 22nd of January, the English Government replied that the west of North merica must be left as it was at the treaty of Utrecht, confirmed by Aix-la-Chapelle. licy proposed " that the possession of the lands on the Ohio should be restored to the (iting it was on at the conclusion of the Treaty of Utrecht, and agreeable to the stipula- )iis of the said Treaty which was renewed by that of Aix-la-Chapelle; and moreover, lilt the other posses-sions in North America should be restored to the same condition in liich they actually were at the signing of the said Treaty of Utrecht, and agreeable to cessions and stipulations therein expressed ; and then the method of informing the ^t'>poctive Governors and forbidding them to undertake any new enterprise or act of hos- iiity might be treated of ; and tho claims of both parties reserved to be speedily and iii.illy afljustcd in an amicable manner between the two Courts." On the 0th of February, France answered that the claims put forward by England were iitenable. She maintained that EiiL'land should desist from three points: from any claim the southern side of the basin of the river St. Lawrence, Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie ; the twenty leagues of country along the Bay of Fundy ; and to the lands between the hie and the Wabash ; and that the English .should retire east of the Alleghany Mountains, ml the French to the west of the River Ohio. This offer was agreed to by England, on the ih of March, provided the French would destroy all their forts on the Ohio and its branches. his proposition the French declined to accept. The two Governments failing to agree upon a basis for negotiation, the English Govern ent stood by what they regarded as their right under the Treaty of Utrecht. In a memorial elivered to the Duke de Mirepoix, on the 7th of June, 175.'), they observe : "As to the ex- osition which is made in the French memorial of the 15th Article of Utrecht, the Court of leat Britain does not think it can have any foundation, either by the words or the intentioa f the Treaty. "The Court of Great Britain cannot allow of this Article as relating only to the persons f the savages, and not to their country. The words of tho Treaty are clear and precise, that s to say, the Five Nations, or Cantons, are subject to the dominion of Great Britain ; which, y the received exposition of all treaties, must relate to the country as well as to the persons the inhabitants. It is what France has acknowledged in the most solemn manner. She well weighed the importance of this acknowledgment at the time of signing the Treaty, nd Great Britain can never give it up. The countries possessed by these Indians are very ell known, and are not at all so undetermined as it is pretended in the memorial. They iO«sess and make them over as other proprietors do in all other places What- ever pretext might be alleged by France in considering these countries as the appurtenances of .'anada, it is a certain truth that they belonged, and (as they have not been given up or made ■fi 44 DISPUTED TERRITORIES. Hi ■ *l DISPUTED TERKITORIES. 47 war, ana | iTowns o! Article. shall bd tes of tilt I ii him lii^ archive;. [nil, iie«'- \Ch7-iosts : but some of these are not expressly named in the Articles. They are embrace*! by the phrase " other posts." Early in 17G1 negotiations were carried on between France and Great Britain with a vitw to establishing " a safe, honourable and adt^quate i»eao' " b»-tween the two nations. * Hans Stanley embarked at Dover on the 24th of May as British Minister to treat with the French Court at Paris, and M. Bus.sy was at the same time sent to treat with the British Ministry at London. The negotiations were to begin u}>on the b^sis of a previous I corri'spondence, in which the Kings of both countries had declared their anxiety to put an end to the war. The last letter in this correspondence was written from Versailles on the 2()th of March, by the Due de Choiseul to Mr. Pitt, and was transmittetl by the hands of Prince Gallatzin, the Russian aml)assador at London. The object of the memorial was to put an end to the alliance between England and the King of Prussia, by establishing a separate peace with England. Mr. Pitt replied at once. He said the King desired peace, Imt he could not abandon the King of Prussia and his other allies. His letter \v;ts ac- II _ "Xbe Acadiuns were claimed to be Kritiah subjects aoder the Tre&ty of I'treebt. All were held to have 'I been guilty of treaeon id taking up arms on the side of France. I Granted. I l.fl 48 DISPUTED TERRITORIES. t. It i oorapanied by a memorial, acknowledging the objects which brought on the war between France and England to be totally foreign to the cause of the war upon the continent of Europe. On the 15th of July, France proposed : — I. The King cedes and guarantees Canaila to the King of England, such as it has been, and in right ought to be possessed by France, without restriction, and without the liberty of returning upon any pretence whatever against this cession and guaranty, and without interrupting the Crown of England in the entire possession of Canada. II. The King, in making over his full right of sovereignty over Canada to the King of England, annexes four conditions to the cession : — First. That the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion shall be maintained there, and that the King of Englai d will give the most precise and effectual orders that his new Roman Catholic subjects may, as heretofore, make public profession of their religion according to the rit^s of tl' ; Roman Church. Secondly. That the French inhabitants, or others who have been subjects of the King in Canada, may retire into the French colonies with all possible freedom and security ; that they may be allowed to sell their effects and transport their projjerty as well as their persons, without bdng restrained in their emigration on any pretence what- ever (except for debt) ; and the English Government shall engage to procure them the "^^ans of transportation at as little expense as possible. Thirdly. — That the limits of Canada with regard to Louisiana shall be clearly and iiiDily established, as well as those of Louisiana and Virginia, in such manner that after the execution of peace, there may be no more difficulties between the two nations, with respect to the construction of the limits with regard to Louisiana, whether with respect to Canada or the other possessions of England. [N. B. — M. Bussy has a memorial on the subject of the limits of Louisiana whicli gives him power to come to a final treaty on that Article with the Ministry of his Britan- nic Majesty.] Fourthly. — That the liberty of fishing and drying their cod-fish, mjiy, on tiie Banks of Newfoundland, be confirmed to the French as heretofore ; and as this confirmaticm would be illusory, if French vessels had not a shelter in those parts appertaining to their nation, the King of Great Britain, in consideration of the guaranty of his new conquests, shall restore Isle Royal, or Cape Breton, to be enjoyed by France in entire sovereignty. It is agreed to fix a value on this restitution, that France shall not under any denomina- tion whatevei, erect any fortification on the Island, and shall confine herself to maintain civil establishments there, and the port for the convenience of the fishing vessels landing there. On the 27th of July, 1761, Mr. Pitt forwarded the memorial of the Court of St. James to Mr. Hans Stanley in answer to the French propositions, the first two of which relate to Canada. They are as follows : — I. — His Britannic Majesty will never recede from the entire and total cession on tiif part of France, without any new limits, or any exception whatever, of all Canada, witii its appurtenances ; and His Majesty wiil never relax with regard to the full and compUtf cession on the part of France of the Isle (^i Cajie Breton, and of the other islands in tin' W!' DISPUTED TERRITORIES. 49 Ihe Baiik^ Ifirmatidu to their inquests, ^ereiguty. [enomitiii- I maintain landing Irt of St. I of wliifli \,n on the ada, with Icomphte Ids in tlu' fulf and River of St. Lawrence, with the right of fishing, which is inseparably incident to the possession of the aforesaid coasts, and of the canals or straits which lead to them. II. — With respect to fixing the limits of Louisiana with regard to Canada or the English possessions situated on the Ohio, as also on the coast of Virginia, it can never be allowed that whatever does not belong to Cariada shall appertain to Louisiana, nor that the boundaries of the last Province shall extend to Virginia, or to the British posses- sions on the borders of the Ohio ; the nations and countries which lie intermediate, and which form the true barriers between the aforesaid provinces, not being proper, on any account, to be directly or by necessary consequence ceded to France, even admitting them to be included in the limits of Louisiana. To which France answered on the 5th of August : — I. The King consents to cede Canada to England, in the most extensive manner, as specified in the Memorial of Propositions, but His Majesty will not recede from the con- ditions which he has annexed to the same Memorial, relative to the Catholic religion, and to the power, facihty and liberty of emigration for the ancient subjects of the King. With regard to the fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the King means to maintain the im- memorial right which his subjects have of fishing in the said gulf, and of drying their fish on the banks of Newfoundland, as it was agreed by the Treaty of Utrecht. As this privilege would be granted in rain if the French vest, els had not some shelter appert.iining to trance in the gulf, His Majesty proposed to the King of Great Britain the restitution of the Island of Cape Breton ; he again proposes either that island, or the island of St. John [Prince Edward], or such other port without fortifications in the gulf, or within reach of the gulf, which may serve the French as shelter, and secure to France the liberty of fishing, from whence His Majesty has no intention to recede. II. The King has in no part of his Memorial of Propositions affirmed that all which did not belong to Canada, appertaiiiod to Louisiana ; it is even difficult to conceive such an assertion could be advanced. France, on the contrary, demands that the intermediate I nations between Canada and Louisiana, as also between Virginia and Louisiana, shall be I considered as neutral nations, independent of the sovereignty of the two Crowns, and I serve as a barrier between them. If the English Minister would have attended to the I instructions of M. Bussy on this subject, he would have seen that France agreed with I England, as to this proposition. I To this ultimatum of France, Mr. Pitt replied on the 1 7th August, as follows : — I I. The King will not desert his claim to the entire and total cession of all Canada, I and its dependencies, without any limits or excei)tions whatever, and likewise insists I DU the complete cession of the Island of Cape Breton and of other islands in the Gulf I and River St. Lawrence. I Canada, according to the lines of its limit as traced by the Marquis de Vaudreuil I himself, when that governor surrendered the said Province by capitulation to the British I general. Sir J. Amherst, comprehends on one side the Lakes Huron, Michigan, and ■ Superior ; and the said line drawn to Red Lake takes in, by a serpentine progress, the I River Ouabachi (Wabash), as far as its junction with the Ohio, and from thence extends I itself along the latter river a" far, inclu.sively, as its influx into the Mississippi. I It is in conformity to this state of the limits, made by the French Governor, that the I 4 •■'■t' jh, ■^!i..;ii ■ n* C'ti if 4 50 DISPUTED TERRITORIES. King cliiims the cession of Canada ; a province which the Court of France, moreover, has offered anew by their uUiinatuin to cede to His Britannic Majesty, in the most extensive manner, us expressed in the Memorial of Propositions of Peace of the \5th July. As to what concerns the public profession and exercise of the Roman Catholic religion in Canada, the new subjects of His Britannic Majesty shall be maintained in that privilege without interruption or molestation ; and the French inhabitants or others who may have been subjects of the most Christian King in Canada, shall have full power and liberty to sell their effects, provided they dispose of them to the subjects of His Britannia Majesty, and to transport their property, as well as their persons, without being restrained from their emigra- tion under any pretence whatever (unless in case of debt or for the breach of criminal laws), it being ulwajs understood that the time granted for tlie said emigration shall be limited to the hpucc of one year, to be computed from the day of the ratification of the Definitive Treaty. II. As to what respects the line to be drawn from Rio Perdido, as contained in the note remitted by M. Bussy of the 18th of this month, with regard to the limits of Louisiana, His Majesty is obliged to reject so uuezpected a proposition, as by no means admissible, in two respects : — 1. Because the said line, under colour of fixing the limits of Louisiana, annexes vast countries to that jiroviiice, which, with the commanding posts and forts, the Marquis de V.-.udri'uil has by the most solemn capitulation incontestably yielded into the possession of His Britannic Majesty, under the description of Canada; and that consequently, however contentious the pretentions of the two Crowns may have been before the war, and particularly with respect to the course of the Ohio, and the territories in that part, since the surrender of Canada, and the line of its limits has been traced as aforesaid, by the Marquis de Vaudreuii, all those opposite titles are united, and become valid without contradiction, to confirm to Great Britain, with all the re.'^t of Canada, the possession of those countries on that part of Ohio which have heretofore been contested. 2. The lino proposed to fix the bounds of Louisiana cannot be admitted, because if would compromise in another part, on the side of the Carolinas, very extensive countries and numerous nations, who have always been reputed to be under the protection of the King, u right which His Majesty has no intention of renouncing; and then the King, for the advantage of peace, might consent to leave the intermediate countries under the protection of Great Britain, and particularly the Cherokees, the Creeks, the Chicasaws, the Chootaws, and another nation situate between tlie British settlements and the Mississippi. The French Government rej lied on the 9th of September to the English answer of the 17th August, they say : — I. The King has declared in his first Memorial, and in his Ultimatum, that he will cede and guarantee to Kngland the possession of Canada, in the most ample manner. His Mr.jesty still persists in that otTer, and without discussing the line of its limits marked on a map presented by Mr. Stanley, as that line on which England rests its de- mand — without doubt the most extensive bound which can be given to the cession — thf King is willing to grant it. His Majesty had annexed four conditions to his guaranty : it seems that England agrees to them ; only the King coaceives that the term of one year for the sale of the French be agree As and total is neceai the end ( word '* d n. ^ second Ai is neither The i traced out, i'/iL line on if the Kiru mage natu freedom of i h maj was grante( eighteen m In grai Ohio to Engi upon the na iaiia. This of the posse the limits w colony of L( On the Clioiseul : — My Loi iifgotiations f'-'gard to th 'Jrace a true I capitulated, the Knglish ( after the surr extent of the '"'ay with n tlie officer the ou it were not the carrying p the Ouabache What I h the English ca %m DISPUTED TERRITORIES, 61 kause It SB and King, I for the jtion of ts, aud twer ol le will |er. limits its de- ^n— till' England of the French effects, and for emigration, is too short, and His Majesty denires that it may be agreed to extend the term of one year to eighteen months at least. As the Court of England has added to the first Article of its answer to the entire and total cession of Canada as agreed between the two Courts, the word dependencies, it is necessary to give a specific explanation of this word, that the cession might not in the end occasion difficulties between the two Courts with regard to the meaning of the word "dependencies." II. The first paragraph, with regard to the limits *of Louisiana, contained in the second Article of the anwer of England, is agreed to by France. The second paragraph is neither just nor explicit, and it is finally proposed to express it in the following terms : The intermtdiate savage nations between the Lakes and the Mississippi, and within the line traced out, shall he neuter and independent, under tlie protection of the King, and those without t'Au line on tlie side of the English shall be likewise neuter and independent, under the protection tif the King of England. The English traders also shall be prohibited from going among the savage nations beyond the line on either side ; hut the said nations shall not be restraiiwi in their freedom of commerce with the French and English as they have exercised it heretofore. It may be collected from this Memorial that the first Article of the English Answer was granted in the full extent which the Court of London required ; France only desired eigliteen months, instead of a year, for the emigration. In granting the first part of the second \rticle, which cedes the lohole current of the Ohin to England, France proposed in regard to the second point of that Article, to agree upon the nations which should be reputed neutral between Canada, Carolina and Louis- iana. This proposition was the more reasonable because that by agreeing on this division of the possessions of the two nations, an equitable system was adopted, discussions about the limits were prevented for the future, and France did not incur the risk of losing the colony of Louisiana whenever it pleased the Court of London to invade it. On the 30th of October, M. de Vandreuil addressed the following letter to the Due de Choiseul : — My Lord, — I was astonished to see, by the historical account of the memorial of the iitgotiations between France and England, what I am charged with by the English, with regard to the limits of Canada, as it is entirely false and groundless. I shall give your (jface a true account of what passed between Mr. Amherst and me on that head. When 1 capitulated, I traced out no limits whatever, and in all the messages that passed between the English General and me, I made use of the word " Canada " only. Eight or ten days after the surrender of the country, he sent an officer to mg for maps, to inform him of the extent of the Colony. I returned for answer that I had none, my maps having been taken iiway with my baggage at Quebec, in breach of the capitulation of that place ; and tlie officer then showing me a map which he had in his hand, I told him the limits marked oil it were not just, and verbally mentioned others, extending Louisiana on one side, to the carrying place of the Miamis, which is the height of the lands, whose rivers run into the Ouabache ; and on the other, to the head of the Illinois. What I have the honour to tell you, my lord, is strictly true ; I am not afraid that the English can produce any proof of the contrary — for nothing passed in writing on ^ r 52 DISPUTED TERRITORIES. ; ,t»i. this head, nor was any line drawn on any map. I take the first opportunity to acquaint you with this, to prevent any further imposition. M. de Vattdreuil." Colonel Haldimand was the officer referred to by M. de Vaudreuil in this letter, which was published in the Annual Register for 1761. It seems from Mr. Pitt's letter of the 17th of August, that the map which Gen. Amherst had received from Col. Haldimand, had been forwarded to him, and he accurately describes the boundary as marked upon that map, beginning at Red Lake and following the watershed between the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi to the source of the Wabash, and thence down the Wabash and the Ohio to the Mississippi River. When M. Vandreuil's letter to the Due de Choiseul ap- peared, Gen. Amherst was in command at New York, and he addressed the following letter to Col. Haldimand : — New York, 1st Nov., 1762. Dear Sfr, — I have been twenty times at the point of writing to you on a subject which, though of no consequence, I should be glad to know the exact transactions that passed. When I made a report of Canada to the Secretary of State, I transmitted a copy of the part of the map where the limits between Canada and Louisiana were marked, which you delivered to me, and which I acquainted the Secretary of State were done by M. De Vaudreuil. Whether by him, or done in his presence by his direction, comes to the same thing, and the thing itself is of no sort of consequence, as the letter and orders he (Monsieur de Vaudreuil) sent to the officers commanding at Michilimackinac, the Bay, Oocciatanon, Miamis, &c., mark out the boundaries and expressly include those posts in Canada, so that there can be no dispute about it ; yet as I see some altercation has passed in England and France about Monsieur de Vaudreuil's giving the boundaries, I should be glad to know whether he marked the map himself, or whether it was done in his oresence, and what passed on that subject ; that I may hereafter be able to say all that Wis done regarding the whole affair. I am, with great truth, dear sir, Your most obedient, humble servant, Jeff. Amherst. To this letter (!!ol. Haldimand replied :- Three Rivers, 10th December, 1762. Despatched 16th do. Sir, — I have received with pleasure the letter Your Excellency did me the honour of writing on the first of December, respecting what passed between Mons. de Vaudreuil and myself on the subject of the limits of Canada. Several times I thought of forestalliug it, but I deemed my.self obliged to await those orders, to which I intend to conform with all tlie exactness possible. About tivo or six days after I had entered Montreal I asked M. de Vaudreuil if he had no plans, memoirs, or instructive maps concerning Canada. I asked him to let me have them in order that I might forwvd them to your Excellency ; he replied that lie had none, havintr * This and I Halciimund, DISPUTED TERRITORIES. 63 lost them all at Quebec and (to avoid hearing the enumeration he wished to make of hia other losses), I contented myself for the time with tiiis reply ; but having occasion to speak of it again some days .after, he told me that he had found a couple of maps, and passing into another room he had a large map of Western America brought ; it was made by hand and folded in the cover of an atlas. There were also some bad plans of forts in a separate roll. Not find- ing anything instructive on this map, and remembering that 1 had seen it printed, I called Lieutenant Herring of our battalion, who was in the parlour, and I gave it to him with the other papers which he took to my house. Finally, on the morning of the day that Mons. do Vaudreuil left *[being engaged arranging the rest of the papers I had received from diflferent persons] this map came under my notice and reminded me of the vain attempts I had made to discover from him and from others the extent of this country, and gave birth to the idea of examining it with M. de Vaudreuil. I immediately went to him, getting Ensign Monin to carry the map. I found M. de Vaudreuil, with several members oi' his household, in the room that overlooks the street ; [after having paid my respects] I begged him without any other preamble to be kind enough to show me the limits I that separated] of Canada, [from Louisiana] and conducting him towards the table which was at the end of the room, I opened the map, and after examining it a few moments, I re- iterated my request. He appeared very much surprised, and as he did not answer me I passed my finger along the Illinois river, saying: Here is the Illinois. Then he replied that the Illinois had been contested by the two Governors, but that it had been decided they should belong to Louisiana, upon which I took a pencil out of my pocket, and resting my elbows on the map, while M. de Vaudreuil stood beside me, [I marked a spot at the source of the Illinois, and showing him the north, I asked if the line passed that, and having said yt's] I asked him, showing him the north of the Mississippi, if the line passed that; and he having said yes, I marked the points from the source of the Illinois, returning up the Miss- issippi ; and asking him once again if I marked correctly, he answered me in these words, (he, M. le Marquis de Vaudreuil, having his eyes fixed upon the map) take nil the north, take all the north. Then I pointed to Red Lake, which seemed to me the natural limit, without his making the slightest objection ; after which I returned on the other aide of the Illinois, and not fancying that Loio could even be contested, I said to him. Here we undoubtedly take the mouth of the VVabache ; and putting my pencil on the confluence of the Loio and tlio Mississippi, I traced a line, again coming up this first river and the Wabaehe, and join- in^ the point where I had [marked] commenced at the source of the Illinois, M. de Vau- Jrouil still stood beside me and looked at the map without making any objection. |whatso- cvor.j This line through its different windings, though made off-hand, (with a simple tracing of the pencil) still gave him plenty of time. But whether being occupied with iiis departure he said yes, indifferently, [or supposing that what I had been doing was of no consequence, he was careless] and without giving it the necessary attention, [and having said yes too lightly, the account] or that in giving a tacit approbation, he sought to give me an erroneous impression, — the account which I have related to you, sir, is none the less [exact] the most exact truth. ■I' ' v'K' ■i\ * This and tbo other portioai within brackets thus, [ ]. appear iu the original aa baviag been effaced by (lalUimund. 1 54 DISPUTED TERRITORIES. !'| H M. de Vaudreuil, and all the French who remained at Mont Real, were to leave this [morning] day. The companies of militia having assembled to give up their arms, and to take the oath of allegienoe, I had no time to [lose] examine this map, and as I thought I understood what was meant by the name of Canada, and that the line was well marked, I closed the map and sent it home by Ensign Monin. Finally, sir, you may rest assured that the map which you have in your hands is the same that was given to me by M. de Vaudreuil eight or ten days after the taking of Mont Real, and that Lieutenant Herring, who is, I believe, at New York [received from my hand in his room to carry] carried to my house ; that it is the same map that was brought back by Ensign Monin to M, de Vaudreuil on the morning of his departure ; and that when I opened it in his room, there were neither lines, nor marks, nor anything to designate the limits ; that the line which now marks them has been traced solely by myself under the eyes of M. de Vandreuil, to whom alone I addressed myself; and by all that he told me, I never for a moment doubted that he gave me this line as the true limits of Canada ; and that from the moment I closed this map in his room until I remitted it to your hands, there has been no alteration of any kind whatsoever made in this line. This, sir, is, on my word, the simple truth of this transaction. I must own to you, sir, that being convinced that you would ask for intelligence at an earlier date (of the exent of a country which, I believe, never had any fixed limits) of an authentic Act made in virtue of the capitulation, I did not think it seemly to have the map signed by M. do Vaudreuil, whichjwould have been as easy a matter as to make him give me the limits of Canada in writing, which he could not have refused to do in virtue of the capi- tulation, and which would have rendered this act incontestible ; whilst having no sigaf.ture to show, he can always make his party believe that we tried to over-reach him. If I have misunderstood Your Excellency, 1 am very sorry, and i ake my apologies ; and when I sent the map to Your Excellency, and told you that the limits had been drawn by M. de Vaudreuil, I meant that they had been drawn under his own eyes and received his appro- bation, which is true to the letter. I am further much pleased that [this disagreement] this ugly piece of chicanery of M. de Vaudreuil does not prejudice our affairs in the slightest ; but, on the other hand, it has given me a good lesson which I will remember, if at any future time I am fortunat* enough to be able to put it into practice. I have. Sir, the honour to be, with profound respect, Your Excellency's most humble and most obedient servant, Fred. Haldimand. 10th Xbrc. The negotiations between England and France were broken off in consequence of a pro- posal on the part of the Due de Choiseul, to invade Spain, that had not yet been involved in the war, but was in sympathy with France, a party to the Treaty of Peace. Mr. Pitt de- clared in the name of His Majesty (George III.), that he would not suffer the disputes with Spain to be introduced into the negotiations between France and England, He said that he oonsidered the proposal an affront to the king's dignity, and as incompatible with sincerity. DISPUTED TRRRITORIFS. 55 He returned the memorial of the French minister. Mr. Pitt was not without enemies in the Cabinet ; and M. Bussy succeeded before leaving England in impressing many with the belief that a satisfactory peace would have been concluded, had it not been for the haughty manner and overbearing conduct of Mr. Pitt* The influence of Mr. Pitt visibly declined. In proportion as he was firm, were the representations of M. Bussy and the Due de Choiseul believed. He divined with great sagacity the intentions of France and Spain. He insisted upon a more vigorous prosecu- tion of the war against the former, and an immediate declaration of war against the latter. In this policy he was supported neither by his colleagues nor by the King, and he retired from office. It would have been scarcely necessary to refer to this correspondence if it had not been suggested that the line Mr. Pitt has here referred to as the western boundary of Canada by the capitulation of Montreal, was intended to be the western limit of the Province of Quebec by the Act of 1774. It is hoped that it has already been made sufficiently clear, that Canada had much more extended limits. It is also obvious, from the letter of General Haldimand to Sir Jeffrey Amherst, how this line came to be laid down as the western boundary of Canada. General Haldimand, in seeking to draw from the Marquis de Vaudreuil information which he was very unwilling to give, imposed upon himself Being told that the Illinois country, which lay north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi, was claimed both by Canada and Louisiana, but had been awarded to Louisiana, it seemed to have occurred to General Haldimand that he could not, upon the north side of the Ohio, claim the country to the westward beyond the Wabash and the height of land which separates the basin of Lakes Michigan and Superior from the basin of the Mississippi ; but upon the south side of the Ohio he claimed, from the Tennessee river westward, a part of Louisiana. The Marquis de Vaudreuil, seeing General Haldi- mand misled by a statement of his which was strictly accurate, did not deem it neces- sary to correct a mistake on the part of an enemy, whereby France would retain one-half of Canada. It may be' that the Marquis de Vaudreuil tolil General Haldimand, as he says he did, that the line he drew included a part of Louisiana ; that the boundary of Louisiana extended to the portage of the Miami. But the fort at the portage had been gar- risoned from Canada. It was under the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada ; and it was as well as Ouiatanon, on the Wabash, among the posts surrendered to General Amherst. Fort Du Quesne had fallen. The greater j)art of the valley of the Ohio was under the control of the English. Cahokia, next to (Quebec, the strongest fort in America, was still in the hands of France. The line drawn by Haldimand wiis drawn without reference to the legal limits of Canada and Louisiana, and obviously in utter ignorance of those limits. The Marquis de Vaudreuil was not likely to contenil very strongly for the retention of a part of the valley of the Ohio, which was already in the military pos- session of the English, when he found that by a very natural mistake his (Miemy was Itav- ing to France a great extent of country, which, by the terms of capitulation, he niiglit have properly claimed. The possession of the valley of the Ohio was one of the principal 'ft.? ■'.*•"« n * Lord Mahon'g Hist. England, vol. IV, pp. 2S0-243 ; Entick'o Hiitory, vol. V, pp. 15fi-ll6 ; P»rli»- mentary Debat«g, from 1743 to 1774, in 7 ▼oln., vol. IV, pp. 15-118; Annual Register, 1761 ; Aclolpl.us Hilt. of England, vol. I, pp. 1-106 ; Bedford CorreapondeQce, vol. III. w 66 DISPUTED TERRITORIES. l.-l J^ causes of the war ; and when General Haldimand found that he had the valley of the Ohio as well as that of the St. Lawrence, it is not surprising that he did not seek to ascertaiii the extent of Canada. By the possession of the Ohio, the military cordon ilrawn about the English colonies was broken. The impediment to western extension was r(;m()ved. The colonists could no longer be perpetually menaced, as heretofore, by an attack of French and Indians upon their western frontier. In September, 1762, the Duke of Bedford was sent to Paris, and the Due de Niver- nois came to London, for the purpose of renewing the negotiations for the establishment of peace. Within two months preliminary articles were agreed to, and on the tenth of February, 1763, the Definitive Treaty of Peace between England, France and Spain was concluded at Paris.* By the second Article of this Treaty, the Treaties of Ryswick, Utrecht, Aix-la-Chapelle, and others, relating to the interests of France and England in America, were renewed and confirmed, subject to the provisions of the treaty thus negotiated. Article IV. : " His Most Christian MajestyTcnounces all pretensions which he has here- tofore formed, or might form, to Nova Scotia or Acadia, in all its parts, and guarantees the whole of it, and with all its dependencies, to the King of Great Britain : moreover. His Most Christian Majesty cedes and guarantees to His said Britannic Majesty, in full right, Canada, with all its dependencies, as well as the Island of Cape Breton, and all the other islands and coasts in the Gulf and River St. Lawrence, and, in general, everything that depends on the said countries, lands, islands, and coasts, with the sovereignty, pro perty, possession, and all rights acquired by treaty or otherwise, which the Most Chris- tian King and the Crown of France have had till now over the said countries, lands, islands, places, coasts, and their inhabitants, so that the Most Christian King cedes and makes over the whole to the said King and to the Crown of Great Britain, and that in the most ample manner and form, without restriction, and without any liberty to depart from the said cession and guaranty, under any pretence, or to disturb Great Britain in the po.ssessions above mentioned. His Britannic Majesty, on his side, agrees to grant the liberty of the Catholic religion to the inhabitants of Canada ; he will, consequently, give the most precise and most effectual orders that his new Roman Catholic subjects may pro- fess the worship of their religion, according to the rites of the Romish Church, as far as the laws of Great Britain permit. His Britannic Majesty further agrees that the French inhabitants, or others who had been subjects of the Most Christian King in Canada, may retire, with all safety and freedom, wherever they shall think proper, and may sell their estates, provided it be to subjects of His Britannic Majesty, and bring away their effects, as well as their persons, without being restrained in their emigration, under any pretence whatsoever, except that of debts or of criminal prosecutions : the term limited for this emigration, shall be tixed to the space of eighteen months, to be computed from the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty." Article V^II. — " In order to re-establish peace on solid and durable foundations, and to remove for ever all subjects of dispute with regard to the limits of the British and French territories on the continent of America, it is agreed, that, for the future, the confines between Entioks History, Vol. V, pp. 431-469. the domi part of th Mis.sissipi the middl this purp( Majesty, t to possess the island tion of the to those ol pressly tha of that riv that the ve subjected Article in I ichabitantE What En Under French poss She was to comprehensi mouth to itf this boundai did while in westward of that the terr was embrace part of Cana cession, and of the Missis Louisiana, m large sectioa through the i of Canada ui have l)een qu to Great Brit words are gei they convey i dency of Ca Mississippi is But this iimii / WHAT ENGLAND ACQUIRED BY THE TREATY OF PARIS. 57 ■VI the dominions of his Britannic Majesty and those of his Most Christian Majesty, in that part of the world, shall be fixed irrevocably by a line drawn along the middle of the River Mississippi, from its source to the River Iberville, and from thence, by a line drawn along the middle of this river, and the Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the sea ; and for this purpose, the Most Christian King cedes in full right, and guarantees to His Britannic Majesty, the river and the port of the Mobile, and everything which he possesses, or ought to possess, on the left side of the River Mississippi, except thi» town of New Orleans, and the island on which it is situated, which shall remain to France ; provided, that the naviga- tion of the River Mississippi shall be equally free as well to the subjects of Great Britain as to those of France, in its whole breadth and length, from its source to the sea, and ex- pressly that part which is between the said island of New Orleans, and the right bank of that river, as well as the passage both in and out of its mouth : It is further stipulated, that the vessels belonging to the subjects of either nation, shall not be stopped, visited, or subjected to the payment of any duty whatsoever. The stipulations inserted in the IVth Article in favour of the inhabitants of Canada, shall also take place, with regard to the iuhabitanta of the countries ceded by this Article." What England acquired by the Treaty of Paris, and what France ceded. Under these Articles Great Britain acquired a right to all the country which the French possessed in America, except that portion which lay west of the Mississippi River. She was to have in full right Canada with all its dependencies. These words of general comprehension are limited by Article VII. which makes the Mississippi River from its mouth to its source, the western limit of Canada and its dependencies. But apart from this boundary, Canada extends under the English as far to the west and the north as it did while in the possession of France. It has already been shown that the country to the westward of the Mississippi and north of the Missouri River was a part of Canada, and that the territory south of the Missouri and the Ohio, together with the Illinois country, was embraced in the Province of Louisiana. By Article VII., just quoted, the western part of Canada as far north as the source of the Mississippi River was excepted from the cession, and retained by France ; and so much of Louisiana as lay upon the east side of the Mississippi River was ceded to Great Britain. France did not retain the whole of Louisiana, nor did she surrender the whole of Canada. It has already been shown that a large section of country lying north of the parallel and west of the meridian, drawn through the source of the Mississippi as far west as the Rocky Mountains, formed a part of Canada under the French. Looking at the two Articles of the Treaty of Paris, which have been quot«d, to whom under that Treaty does this territory belong 1 Unquestionably to Great Britain. The words of cession are, " Canada with all its dependencies." These words are general. They are as comprehensive as they can be. Standing by themselves, they convey not only all Canada, but all Louisiana, for Louisiana was at the time a depen- dency of Canada. There is, however, a restriction introduced. Upon the west, the Mississippi is mau? the limit of the ceded country, from the Gulf of Mexico to its source. But this limitation cannot be greater than what the words actually express. It extends T:\ 68 POLICY OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. -^w^ I.,, y*l to the source of the MisaiBsippi, and no farther. Whatever part of Canada lay farther to the north than that, was ceded. In other words, that part of Canada and Louisiana which lay to the west of the Mississippi — that is from the Gulf of Mexico to the parallel of 47' 38' 17" north latitude — was reserved to France ; but all the country to the north of this parallel, as well as all east of the Mississippi River to the utmost extent of the French possessions, was ceded. The obvious conclusion from the words of the Treaty are borne out by Mr. Falconer in his work upon the north-western boundary. He says that, " As a subordinate province, partly formed out of Canada, Louisiana extended no further thnn the distinct boundaries of it could be shown ; secondly, it never extended further north than the Illinois River ; thirdly, Canada in its full extent was ceded to Great Britain ; and lastly, the official map u$ed by France in its negotiations with Great Britain, incontestably provet that tin country north and north-west of the Mississippi ivas ceded as the Province of Canada."* Policy or the English Government in reference to the newly acquired Territory. Upon the seventh of October, 1763, the King issued a proclamation relating to the territory which had been gained from France and Spain by the Treaty of Paris. Out of the territories so acquired four Provinces were carved by Letters Patent granted under the Great Seal, three of which were on the Continent of North America, and one consti- tuted from the Windward Islands. So much of the Proclamation as is pertinent in this case may be quoted here. It is as follows : — " Whereas, we have taken into our Royal consideration the extensive and valuable acquisitions in America, secured to our Crown by the late Definitive Treaty of Peace, concluded at Paris the tenth day of February last ami being desirois that all our loving subjects, as well of our kingdoms, as of our colonies in America, may avail themselves with all convenient speed of the great benefits and advan- tages which must accrue thereupon to their commerce, manufactures, and navigation, •« have thought fit, with tht advice of our Privy Council, to issiie this our Royal Proclamation, here- by to publish and declare to all our loving subjects, that toe ham, with the advice of our said Privy Council, granted our Letters Patent, under our Great Seal of Great Britain, to erect trithin the Countries and Islands ceded and cmfirmed to us by the said treaty, four distinct and separate Governments, styled and called by the names of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida, and Grenada, and limitc-d and bounded as follow^, viz : — " First. The Government of Quebec, bounded on the Labrador coast by the River St John, and from thence by a line drawn from the head of that river through the Lake St. John to the south end of the Lake Nipissim ; from whence the said line, crossing the River St. Lawrence and the Lake Champlain in forty-five degrees of north latitude, passes along the highlands which divide the rivers that empty themselves into the said River St. Lawrence from those which fall into the sea, and also along the north coast of the Bayes des Chaleurs, and the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Rosiers, and from • Falconer's N W. BonndAry, etc., pp. 87, 88. POLICY OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. 6» Vfcl thence, crossing the mouth of the River St. Lawrence by the west end of the Island of Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid River St. John. .... " And to the end that the open and free fishery of our subjects may be extended to, and carried on, upon tlie coaat of Labrador and the adjacent islands, wf have thtmyhl fit, mth the advice of our said Privy Coimcil, to put all fhaf coast, froni the river St. John to Bud- s(m's Straits, together with the Islands of Anticosti and the Magdeleine, and all smaller islands^ lying upon the said coast, under the care and inspection of our Governor of Neufoundland. " We have also, with the advice of our Privy Council, thought fit to annex the Islands of St. John and Cape Breton, or Isle Royale, with the lesser islands adjacent thereto, to our goverment of Nova Scotia • " And we do further declare it to be our Royal will and pleasure, for the present, as aforesaid, to reserve under our sovereignty, protection and dominion for the use of the said Indians, all the lands and territories not included within the limits of our said three new Governments, or within the limits of the and territory granted to the Hudson's Bay Company ; as also all the lands and territories lying to the westward of the sources of the rirtrs which feil into the nea from the west and north-west, as aforesaid ; and we do hereby strictly forbid, on pain of our displeasure, all our loving subjects from making any purchases or settlements whatsoever, or taking possession of any of the lands above reserved, without our special leave and license for that purpose first obtained. " And we do furtlier strictly enjoin and require all persons whatsoever, who have either wilfully or inadvertently seated themselves upon any lands within the countries above described, or upon any other lands which, not having been ceded to or purchased by us, are still reserved to the said Indians, as aforesaid, forthwith to remove themselves from such settlements. .... " And we do further expressly enjoin and require all officers whatever, as well mili- tary as those employed in the management and direction of the Indian affairs within the ter- ritories reserved as aforesaid, for the use of the said Indians, to seize and apprehend all per- sons whatever, who, standing charged with treasons, misprisons of treasons, murders or other felonies or misdemeanors, shall fly from justice, and take refuge in the said territory, and to send them under a proper guard to the colony where the crime was committed of which they shall stand accused, in order to take their trial for the same." These are the principal parts of the proclamation which make known what had been done in reference to Canada. A part was erected into the " Government of Quebec ; " a part WEB "put under the care and inspection of the Governor of Newfoundland ;" a part was an- nexed to the " Government of Nova Scotia j" and the remainder was " reserved for the present under the protection and dominion 'of the Crown ' for tb, use of the Indians." All these changes were made, — alterations in the boundaries of several provinces which had been already constituted, and four new provinces formed, — by the exercise of the royal prerogative. '■ The Indians, during the seven years' war, had, for the most part, taken the side of the French. Six months before this proclamation was issued, the war with Pontiac begao. <;a' 1 The Royal Prero|;ative has been exercised in creating new Provisions or altering the bonndariet of old ones, by Letters Patent by Orders in Council, and by Proclamations. Its exercise by a CommifsibD to a QoTernor has beed deniel. 60 POLICY OF THE ENGLISH OOVERNMENT. 1 II ' ^ The policy of the En^liHh Government in reference to Indian affairs was Htill unsettled. Be fore the seren years' wiir began, an attempt was made to unite all the Uritisli colonies Id North America in a Federal Union ; and with a view to facilitate an nrrangcmcnt of thii kind, Indian affairs were taken out of the hands of the variouH provincial governmcntfl, and placed under the control of two superintendents, — one for the north and the other for the south. The cunsummation of this plan of union having fallen through, Indian affairs still continued to be managed by two superintendents, who were made responsible to the Lords of Trade and Plantations. But little change, h 'ever, was immediately affected in the polic; which had long been pursued towards the Indians. Sir William Johuwon, the Northcni Superintendent of Indian affairs, in a letter to the Lords ot Trade, writLenin November, 1703, says : " I apprehend that it will clearly appear to you that the oolouieu had all along neg lected to cultivate a proper understanding with the Indians ; and from a mistaken notion have greatly despised them, without considering that it is in their power to lay waste and destroy the frontiers." The English settlers were mostly agriculturists. They took possession of the soil, cleared away the forests, and, so far as they occupied the country, supplanted the Indians. Nor were they disposed to consult the claims of the aboriginal population. Fraudulent interpretations were put upon English conveyances, and claims were made to lands the titles to which the Indians had never parted with. Mr. Charles Thompson, in a tract published in 1759, entitled " The Causes of the Alienation of the Delawares and Shawanese," gives many instances of the dishonest way in which the Indians were treated. In 1737 a deed, which, if made at all, had been made by the Indians half a century before, and which certainly had been superseded by !i subsequent arrangement, was brought to light. This deed professed to convey all the lands on the right bank of tlie Delaware, bounded by a line drawn from a certaiu point on Neshawiney Creek, in a north-westerly direction as far as a man could walk in a day and a half, and from the end of this walk by a lino drawn eastward to the Kiver Dela- ware. The proprietors of this sham purchase employed active men and caused them to undergo special training for the walk. They removed every obstruction from the way. An immense distance was gone over in the alloted time ; and when the northern limit of this "Walking Purchase" was reached, the line extending to the Delaware was inclined as much as pos.siblo to the north. The Indians were enraged and alarmed by the pro- ceeding. The territory marked out embraced the country in which their corn-fields were situated, and upon which their villages were erected, and they refused to surrender their lands. The Delawares had been subjugated by the Iroquois Confederacy before Penn's arrival in America. When the Delawares refused to leave, the Iroquois were sent for. A number of their chiefs appeared at Philadelphia. The most plausible account on the part of the whites was related to them ; and they at once ordered the Delawares to depart The Delawares knew the consequence of disregarding the commands of the Iroquois ; and they did not feel themselves at liberty to disobey this peremptory order. Their fields of corn were but half grown when they were compelled to quit their ancient possessions. A part of them settled at Sluimokiu, and a part at Wyoming ; but they soon afterwards, along with the Shawanese tribe, removed to the Alleghany and Muskingham Rivers, where they were won over to the French cause by the liberal presents of Jonquiere, POLtOY or THE ENGLISH OOVERNMEJfT. 61 and the friendly treatment of the French traders ; so that in the war which wa« closed by the Treaty of Aixda-Chapelle, in 1748, the Indianc were foand on the side of the French. Between 1740 and 1750 the English traders first found their way to the Ohio. In 1744 the treaty was made between the Six Nations and the Provinces of Marjland. Pennsylvania and Virginia, at Lancaster, by which th«'«e Indians received a few hun- dred pounds in money and goods for the lands west of the mountains, which were in the possession of Indians whom the Iroquois had at one time subjugated, but whom now, being sustained by the French, they could no longer control.* In 1750 the Ohio Com- pany, to whose grant reference has before been made, sent an adventurous frontiers-man, Christopher Gist, to explore the valley of the Ohio. He passed through the country of the Delawares, and some villages of the Ottawas and the Mingoes. George Croghan, on behalf of the Province of Pennsylvania, explored the country on the north side of the Ohio as far as the Miami River. Under the Treaty of Lancaster, Virginia claimed the riglit to appro|)riate all the lands as far west as the Mississippi. In June, 1752, the Commissioners of Virginia met the Indians of the Ohio at Logstown, a little \'illage seventeen miles below Pittsl)nrg, on the right bank of the Ohio. The Indians denied that any sale had been made to the west of the warriors' path, which lay at the western foot of the mountains. They declined to have anything to do with the Treaty of Lan- caster. The Chiefs of the Six Nations present, denied that the Treaty of Lancaster had been made with their sanction. They said " it was not their custom to treat of such affairs in the woods and among the weeds." But Montour, one of their chiefs, was nribed to use his influence wil li the others to secure its confirmation, and this was done. But tlic various tribes whose interests were affected, and whose rights were disregarded, were greatly exasperated. f In September, 1753, William Fairfax met their deputies at Winchester, in Virginia" ami entered into a treaty witli them ; but such was their feeling of hostility that he dared n it to mention to them either the Lancaster or Logstown Treaty. There were many public men in England who were opposed to permitting any set- tlements west of the Alleghanies. They favoured this policy not only to avoid trouble with the Indians, but to perpetuate the dependence of the colonies upon the mother country. Gen. Murray advised the English Government to make Canada a military colony, and to extend it westward to the Mississippi, in order to overawe the old colonists. Liird Shelburne recommended the limits which were shortly afterwards named in the I'roclaiuation fo' hr g. ment of Quebec. The Earl of Egremont insisted on the Mis- sissippi as 'he ^i«$stern limit On the 19th September, 1763. Lord Egremont wrote to the L rade and Pb "ation, that " His Majesty is pleased to lay aside the idea iif incl ,g within the government of Canada the lands which are to be reserved for the * Craig's Olden lime. Albach's Aunals. f'mghan'g Diary. PoaUJoomaL X. Y. Hiit. Doc. Ban- cp.ftB Hist., vol. III. Archives de Paris, Ifere ie, vol*. VIII., IX., X. t .'Vlbach's Annals. Parknian'a War with i'untiac, toL I. Proad't PennayWaniA. X. Y. Hut. Col., v.>l. VIII. Bancroft's History, vol. III. f ii Tf iifni'l 62 POLICY OF THE RN0LI8H GOVERNMENT. present for the use of the Indians."* But whatever view might be adjpted, it was not likely to allay the distrust which prevailed in the minds of the Indians. In the war, the French proved that they best understood how to manage them. The Indians said that the French treated them with kindness, while the English settled upon their lands for their own benefit, destroyed their hunting grounds, and left them exposed to the ven- geance of their enemies, without arms and without the necessary means of effective resist- ance. They complained that both Washington and Braddock had received their offers of support with indifference, and sometimes with disdain, and, instead of using them as allies, had abused them as slaves. The Indians said that the French had not sought to bully them into obedience ; they had not ruined their hunting grounds nor robbed them of their lands. Aiid all the tribes from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico had united under Pontiac to expel the English from the country west of the Alleghany mountains. Those long-continued complaints of the Indians, which were not unknown in England, made a strong impression upon the minds of many British statesmen, who were disposed to adopt a more friendly policy towards the savages. But at the time the proclamation of 1763 was issued nothing had been permanently settled.t In 17fi4 the Engligh Ministry had in contemplation an Act for the better regulation of the fur trade. They purposed, by a duty upon that trade, raising a sufficient revenue to pay the salaries of officials and to meet other expenses incurred by the Indian Depart- ment ; they purposed naming several places where the trade might be carried on ; and they contemplated the removal of the French from the Indian Territory. ;{: Had thi« scheme been carried out, the Indians would have been obliged to bring all their peltries for sale to the posts where alone this trade was to be permitted. The Government had resolved on acquiring more territories from the Indians, so as to remove the boundary between the colonists and the savages beyond the lands upon which any white man had a claim. Upon the Indian side of this new boundary, no s<^ttlements were to be made In consequence of this determination, instructions were transmitted to the Northern Superintendent of Indian Affairs, directing him to call a council of the Indians, and informing him that it was desirab)'.: ;,o establish a boundary by treaty with the Indiana to the west of the territory upon which any private claims had been created, either by grants from the Crown or by actual occupation, and that beyond this boundary the colonists were not to be permitted to go. Sir William Johnson was instructed to con voLe a meeting of the Chiefs and Indians interested, and to submit to their con- sideration a proposition to give effect to this policy. He accordingly did so. A conven- tion was held with them at Jclmsou's Hall, in May, 1765.§ The Indian war was at • N. Y. Hist. Doc. Vol. VIII. Spark's Franklin, Vol. IV. M. Francis au Choiseul, 2Hei.., 17«W. Lords of Trade to Secretary of State, 8 June, 176,3, and 6 Aug., 1763. Secr«t w of State t»i Lords of 'i rade, 14th July, 176;j, and mh Sep., 176.3. t Various paiMsrs in the New York Hist l>oc. Parkman's Pontiac'e Conspiracy. Thompson's Causei of the Alienation of the Delawares and Shawanese. Plain Facts. t This promise was made to the Six N.'vtionB before the conquest of Canada. The French forts at Fron- tenac, Toronto, Niagara, Detroit and Miami, had checked the murdering inc\irsions of the TriM)uois, and they wanted the French, of whom thoy were afraid, removed ; but when Canatla was ceded, the English hail »ii Indian population ten times more numerous than the Six Nations, whose interests and whose feeliw^ thej could not wholly disraKard. i New York Hist. Doc., vol. VIII. Proud's Hist. Pennsylvania, vo). II. •^:s. POLICY OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. 68 ,'"'., 1*! i f ■ the !ui, 2 Hep.. >e to Lord* d'h Cauiiei 8 at Fron- , and they iih hail an an end. He informed the Indians that the King, whose generosity and forgiveness tliey had already experienced, being very desirous of putting an end to the disputes between them and his people concerning lands, and being desirous, at the same time, of doing them strict justice, had authorized him to propose a plan of boundary as the best method of accomplishing this object. He told them that the settling of such a division line would be best both for White men and Indians, and that it would be such a line as would best agree -ith the extent and increase of each province. He wanted to know in what manner they would choose to extend it, and what they would heartily agree to anl abide by, in general terms. He informed them that he would consult the Governors of the Provinces that were interested as soon as he was fully empowered to do so ; that whenever the whole would be settled, and it appeared that thj? had so far consulted the increasing state of the colonists as to make suitable concessions of territory where it was niiist wanted, they would then receive a considerable present in return for their friend- ship. The Indians agreed to a proposal for a new boundary line. Within three years thirty thousand whites crossed the mountains, and settled upon the territory which it was contemplated to purchase. A change of administration had taken place in England. The contemplated measure for establishing a boundary and regulating the Indian trade was not brought forward. The letters of f'Ar William Johnson were mislaid by minist»Ts, and he received no instructions enabling him to fulfil his engagements with the Indians. The Indians finding their country everywhere invaded, began to believe that they had been duped by the fair promises made by the Northern Superintendent. A border war was on the point of breaking out along the whole frontier. Many persons were massacred. Some of the traders, among whom were found many thieves and cut-throats, shot whole families of Indians. In 1766, a detachment <>f soldiers were sent to Red Stone Creek and Cheat River to remove those who had settled at these places. On the 7th of December, 1767, General Gage, who was at the time Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in North America, wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania on the subject of tlie Indian grievances, and the little regard paid by the western settlers to the several proclamations which had been published, forbidding any one settling upon lands which liad not been surrendered by the I'vdians. He says that the removal of those who had settled at Red Stone Creek and Cheat River has been only a temporary expedient, as thi-y had returned again to the same encroachments in greater numbers than ever. The (iovernor of Pennsylvania communicated General (Jage's letter to the Assembly of that I'rovince on the 5th of January, 1768, and eight days later the Assembly presented a reply to the Governor. On the lOth the Speaker of the Assembly and the Committee of Cvai ot Pontiac, and by deputies from the Indian tribes interested. On tht; 1st af Nov.>aibcr, -x line was agreed upon, beginning at the North where Canada Creek joins Wood Creek east of Lake Oneida; up that creek to Burnett's Hills ; west along these hiL.T u* lie Sn? |ue hannah River, and up the west branch of that river to the point near"*' •^'^ Ivi:!:.! . :^, thence to Kittaning on the Alleghany, and thence down the Ohio to Clierokt' ' v / At the mouth of the Kanawha River it met the line of Stuart's Treaty with the Chcrok' s I ' ~ yond this line Sir William Johnson was instructed not to go, as it wasLord Ilillsbor >; policy to form an unbroken line of Indian frontier from the Gulf of Mexicc loT„',I?e Out;i.' as an impassable barrier to the westward extension of Colonial settlemynt. TheSixN-tim.s. as well as the Cherokees, claimed the country between the Kanawha and Cherokee (TeiL; nessee) Rivers, and the Northern Superintendent deemed it prudent to extinguish their claims to all lands between the Mountains and the Ohio River, l One deed for a part of this land was made on the 3rd of November, to William Trent, attorney for twenty-two traders whose goods the Indians had destroyed during the w;ii with Pontiac. This grant of land extended from the Monongahela to the Kanawha, am' was called by the traders, Indiana. Two days later, a deed was made to the King of tl» remainder. The Indians were at once paid. The Chiefs of the Six Nations signed fir themselves, their allies, and dependants. The Shawanese and the Delaware deputies dil not sign the deed, as the Six Nations did not recognise them as having any interest t' convey. By this Treaty tlio western boundary of the territory tlirown open for settlement • Colonial Arobirei), I'onniylrania, _^ + N. T. nut. Doc vol. VIIL Of \ The orderv of Lord llilliibnrough were, to r«rin an unbroken line of Indian froatiur from the Rt. T. ronoe to Mobile, a« an impaiia'ole barrier to emigratiun. Ititururtiona were repeatedly given to the I:' Superintendent! for the ooinplelion ol thin barrier tine. Htunrt, the Soutuern Superintendent, wae txp'> enjoined not to acoept any new oe^sion of territory from the Cberolieeii. Sir -Villiaui Johnaon, the Ny: Saperinlnndent, by diiregarding hi* iniirui-tlnna, i\nd ai-eepting a aurrender between the Kanitwii.i Ch'-'oliee Rivera, opened for lettlemeiit a country which. Iiy the Treaty nt Hard Labour with the <;hero'. Wf «eognited aa their leaaeaiiaD. See Uanoroft'a lliatory, vol. V. chnp. 3j, where the authoritiea are '' Sei* lie, Publio Landa, vol, IT, p. 308, American Statu I'apera, alonji the which fall ri.xeil by t ..i'tiii.s ncv The V pie of that province, c put in pie (f north la lit' territory How t tioin the ti .Vtlantic. iiiti'iulent.s (.'roghan, tl affair.-, havi to the Lord would enabi better acqua AViiile tlie Iniliiin.s Stanwix. 1 1 ion.sidered uh iiit'niies, and 'if Canada, tl Ucomt; excee filter into an^ iiiij,'lit liave n tlu'in up to w Ikivu tilt' high I ijiisidt'i' const '■ml in their r Indians for th " f!i/ the I III'' Vim to its '!'•■ Ffeitch and mv of tlie Ml Luuiohip's con tiiinly have it I'iiithase of th^ * ( raigVOM ■ii^l. Doc. Vol. \ i'"<«; iVankliii'a; ^- f m —- (Ten.. 1 their Trent, he w;ir la. ami of the ned for ties did re^t t' emeni Ht. T. 10 I N.. Wll.i hor'i'. HOr-ICY OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. 6{^ alonj^ tilt* border of the middle colonics, was removed " from the sources of the rivers which fall into the sea, from the west and the north-west," where it was " for the present," li.xed by the Royal Proclamation uf the seventh of October, 17(53, to the Ohio River. West nf this new boundary, the country was still held by tiie Crown for the use of the Indians.* The western part of Virginia became at once the chief matter of interest to the peo- ple of that province. Lord Botetourt, whc, not long before, had become governor of that jiidviiue, cordially seconded the wishes of its people, and declared that he was ready to |iut in pledge his life and fortune to carry its jurisdiction on the parallel of 30i degrees (if north latitude, as far west as the Treaty of Fort Stanwix would permit. Tliis extension of territory, it was said, would give room for settlement for ten or twelve years. How that part of Canada, known as the Indian Territories, should be dealt with, had, tiom the time of its acquisition, been a matter of earnest discussion on both sides of the .Vtlantic. Numerous recommendations wen; made by (Joveruors, by the Indian Huper- iMti'tidents, and others, to the Ministers and Lords of Trade and Plantations. Col. Geo. (.'roglian, the Deputy of Sir William Johnson, the Northern Superintendent of Indian affairs having gone to England during the Pontiac war, was recommended by his chief to the Lords of Trade, as a person whose thorough acqimintance with Indian affairs would enable him to impart to the Board much valuable information. Mr. Croghan was lietter acquainted with the Indians tiian any other man in the Knglish interests:. While in England he recommended the adoption of the boundary between the Indians and the Coh)nist8, which was .sub.sequently agreed upon at Fort Stanwix. He s.iys : "The Indians, before the late war or the contjuest of Quebec, loiisidered us in the light of a counterpoise to the power of the French, their ancient nu'inies, and were steady friends of the Knglish on that account ; but since the reduction of Canada, they consider us in a very different and less favourable light, as they are now Income exceedingly jcsalous of our growing power in that country. It is not necessary to enter into any part of our conduct towards them since the reduction of Canada, which iiii,!,'lit have raised their jealousies, or whether the French used any meiuures to spirit tluin up to what they have done ; we know them now to be a very jealous jieople, and to have the highest notions of liberty of any people on earth, and a people who will never lurisider const^quences where they think their liberty likely to be invi>ded, though it may iiiil ill their ruin ; so that all that can be done now is to prevent such v defection of the Indians for the future, by the boundary and good treatment. " Hy the conci.-'^iioits nuuk by Jlis Majtsty at ilie Treaty <>)' Peace, the. coinitiy lying vest oj llif Ohio to its month, and up the Mi.-sissippi to it.i sources, apimirs to he the boundary between '/'(«: French and us in thai part of the country, and of course becomes &ur frontiers. As the west >iiif of the Mib.iissippi will, no doubt, be settled by the French. I would ofler to your '.(iid.hip's con.snleiation, whether it would not be good policy at this time, while we cer- '■M\]y have it in our jiower, to secure all the advantages we have got there by making a I iiiliase of the Indians inhabiting the country along the Mississippi, from the mouth of ' ( raig'tt OMt'ti 'I inn-, \'<'l. I ; I'hiin I'aitr*, \t. I'JO. The LordMnf Trade to Sir William Johnson, N. Y. I .ii>i. Doc. Vul. Vni. ii|). »i;«7 ft K.'i| ; LnrilHof 'I'raili- to Karl Slifllniiiie, N. Y. Hint. Doo. Vul. VIM. p. I'KIS ; rranUiu's n>ply to LuriN nf '1 luiK' ; SjiHrkV Finiikliii. Vol. TV. \. Y. HiKt. Dor. Vol. VII, |>i.. m.i-4. r •'■ 4!' the Oliio u\) to tlie Boaruts of t\n' liliii.iio, and thorc plant a respectable colony in order ti secure our frontiers and prevent the French from any attempt to rival us in the fur tradr with the natives, by drawinj,' tlie Ohio and Lake Invt!rniiient a scheme for the acquisition, by (Jen. tiage. Sir William -Johnson, William l-'ranklin — then guvenior ol New Jersey -and several fur-traders of IMiiladelphia, ot the whole country from Lake Krie to the .Mississippi, and from the Wabash and Miami Uivers, north to (lie Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. This tract euibraced upwards of sixty millions of acres. The company wished to establish a colony, and to undertake its gov "rniiunt. The letters of Franklin to his son show very clearly the unsettled and conflicting views held by Kni;lisli statesmen in reference to the government ol Western Canada. More than sixty British olKcers wlm had served in the West during I'on- tiac's war, addressed a petition to the British Government for leave to settle upwards of six • N. V, Hist. I ><«'., V..1. VII. i.|.. m.i, tm. Y N. Y. liiat. D"'.'., vol. Vlll. : Sumu's Lifo nl Sir Wiu. .lohn.-on ; L>..c. llist. N. Ynrk, vol. I. hundred i Franklin son; open which I a but it will for : and 1 We have, there in fa peopling Ii join the ini rather that • A gooi negotiation imagine Sii relied on in same montl •Siielhurne. hy Sir Wm. did not quit* distance win of goods WO' ^anie reason tioii of a po\ -"l"nie,s, and here and in t These argiini '■« invalidate Mi. t'roghan' middle coloni "hole countr} ■ i'le with Gen i»' again write: •I"' Illinois, sell '''■jiartment, i.- I",-' It." It w, ''•nii.itiiiii from [ '"iiiitry ; that I lilt thfy were ll't'iiM.Jik.dy to I "laiiageinent o( hands of the se I '''"treaties with ""t to Lord Sh, I'"| immense sa\' %u POLICY OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. 67 iiuent. nicnt> Hi iderf uiibU' ritiiiii iraiit. sit ion. — ilUll swippi. Thi> !ol0Il J . ky tlu' lout t'l Poll lot' six hundred families, at their own expense, in the Illinois country. In September, 1766, Dr. Franklin writes to his son as follows : — " I have just received Sir William's (Sir Wm. John- son) open letter to Secretary Conway, recommending your plan for a colony in the Illinois, which I am glad of. I have closed and sent it to him. lie is not now in that Department ; but it will of course go to Lord Shelburne, whose good opinion of it I have reason to hope for ; and I think Mr. Conway was rather against distant posts and settlements in America. Wc have, however, suffered a loss in Lord Dartmouth, who, I know, was inclined to grants there in favour of the soldiery ; and Lord Hillsborough is said to be terribly afraid of dis- peoiiling Ireland. General Lyman has been long here soliciting such a grant, and will readily join the interest he has made with ours ; and I should wish for a body of Connecticut .settlers rather than all from our frontiers. I propose waiting on Lord Shelburne on Tuesday . . . . A good deal, 1 imagine, will doi)end upon the account, when it arrives, of Mr. Croghan's negotiation in that country The plan is, I think, well drawn, and I nnagint' Sir VVilliam's approbation will go a great way in recommending it, as he is much ivlied on in all atlairs that may have any relation to the Indians." On the 27th of the sanie month Dr. Franklin again writtis : " I have mentioned the Illinois affair to Lord Sliflburnc. His lordship has read your plan for establishing a colony there, recommended by Sir Wm. Johnson, and said it appeared to him a reasonable scheme, but he found it did not ijuite rate with the scntinuMits of people here ; that their objections to it were the distance which would make it of litth* use to this country, as the e.xpensi! on the carri,ige of goods would oblige the people to manufacture for themselves ; that it would for the -ame reason be difficult l)oth to defend it and to govern it; that it might lay the founda- tion of a power in the heart of America, which in time might be troublesome to the other 'jolonies, and prejudicial to our government over them, and the people were wanted both licre and in the already settled colonies, so that none could be spared for a new colony. riu'se arguments, he said, did not appear of nuich weight, ami I endeavoured by others to invalidate them entirely I communicated to him two letters of Mr. Croghan's, with his journal I left with him one of Kvans' maps of the iiiitlille colonics, in the small scale part of which I had marked withawa.sli of red ink the whole country included in your iKtnndaries. Mis loid.ship remarked that this would coin- iiji' with (Jen. Lyman's project, and that they might be united." On the .'{0th of Sctptember lie iigiiiii writes: "Ihave just hail a vi.sit from (ien. Lyman, ami agood ileal of conversation on the Illinois scheme. He tells me that Mr. Morgan, who is Under Secretary of the Soutluuii Ui'liartment, is much pleased with it, and we are to go together to talk to him concerii- uiir it. " It would seem from the letters of Franklin to his son, that Ministers .sought in- torniation from varituis .sources in refereni;e to the establishment of a colony in the Illinois iiiintry ; that the opinions they obtained were generally favourable to the .scheme, but j ih;U tlivy were deterred from doing so for various reason, the principal of which was the e.x- 1 ptMiM' likely to be created. They bad become tired of the enormous charges entailed in tlu- I management of Indian affairs ; they contemjilated the return of this managenu'iit into the lands of the several colonies interested, in order that each province might bear the charge I jf treaties with the Indians so far as it concerned its own interests. Dr. Franklin pointed jimi to Lonl Shell)uriu' and others, that the settlement of the Illinois country would effect Iau immense saving in the expense of supporting the military j)osts in \\'est«Tn Canada H ': ■r'^ •jiii t If h 68 POLICY OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. that it would retain the trade and increase the strength of England in tlie west ; that in case of war it would furnish a population which could be poured down the IVIississippi upon the West India Islands ; and that it need entail but little expense upon the govern- ment. Lord Shelburne had delayed bringing the scheme for new colonies up in Council until he thought the Lords of Trade might be induced to give it their support. On the 5th Oct., 1707, be addressed a letter to the Lords of Trade in which he enclosed various memorials and petitions which had l)eeii j)r(!sented to the King from English and Colonial merchants. In the unsatisfactory state of tht.' Indian trade, he suggested the abolition of the Indian Department, which had been created (as already remarked) at a time when a general union of the colonies was contemplated, in order the better to resist the encroach- ments of France, He expressed the opinion that both the trade with the Indians and the general management of Indian att'airs could be better left to the different colonies, subject to the King's disallowance. Addressing himself to the subject of establishing new colonies, he says, — "His Majesty likewise commands me to refer to your Lordships' extracts from several letters of Sir Jeffrey Amherst and Gen. Gage recommending the estal)lishment of further new governments on the Mississippi, the Ohio, and at Detroit, at one or more which places a considerable body of French have been suffere< to remain since the peace without any form of government; also different proposals from people for undertaking establishments in these parts. Your Lordships will consider the force of the several arguments which are brought in favour of these settlements, setting forth that they will secure to His Majesty's subjects the command of tiu fur and peltry trade, in preference to the French and Spaniards — preventing any sniu;; gling with them, wliich, as appears by the extracts of General Crage's and Mr. ("roghan- letters, amounts to so consideral>le a sum annually as to become a natioiuil object ; that they will be an effectual check to the intrigues of those nations for gaining the affections of the Indians ; that they will promote the object of population in gent'ral, and increa.--( the demand for the consumption of British manufactures, particularly by affording tin- Americans an opportunity of following their natural bent for the cultivation of the lands, and offering a convenient reception for their superfluous hands, who otherwise, cooped up in nivrrow bounds, might be forced into manufactures to rival tlu' mother countiy — an event which, any other way, it might V>e ilifiicult to prevent ; that by raising provisions ot all sorts to supply such interior garrisons as it may still \w found necessary to keep up, they would greatly contribute to lessen the extraordinary expense accruing not oidy from the establishment of the different forts, and the various contingent charges, but also froni the necessity of transporting provisions as well as stores to supply the garrisons from the Provinces on the coast, by the rivers and by the great lakes, as well as by the land portage, all which not only occasion an accumulated expense;, but also often reduces the i;.irrisoris to great distress, and in ca.se of an Indian war, when alone they can be useful, leaving them in a very precarious situaliy the actual possession of such rivers and harbours as were proper stations for fleets in lime of war. ... It was upon these principles that the (Jovernment undertook the .settling of Nova Scotia, in 174a ; and it was from the view of the advan- tiig<'s represented to arise from it in these different articles, that it was so liberally sup- ported by the aid of Parliament. • > 1 "K 70 POLICY OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. nk ' ,1 •»! ,;' r " The same motives, though operating in a less degree and applying to fewer objects, did, as we humbly conceive, induce the former colonies of Georgia, East Florida, and West Florida, to the south, and the making those provisional arrangements in the procla- mation of 17G3, by which the interior country was left to the possession of the Indians." This policy, they say, would be defeated by adopting the recommendations of Lord Shelburne, and forming settlements in the interior of the continent, " more especially where every advantage derived from an established government, would na- turally tend to draw the stream of population ; fertility of soil and temperature of climate offering superior incitement to settlers, who, exposed to few hardships and struggling with few difKculties, could, with little labour, earn an abundance for their own wants, but without a possibility of supplying ours with any considerable (|uan- tities. Nor would these inducements be confined in their operation to foreign immigrants determining their choice where to settle, but would act most powerfully upon the inhab- itants of the northern and southern portions of your Majesty's American dominions, who, ever suffering under the opposite extremes of heat and cold, would be elying lirovisions to the different forts and garrisons. " 5th. That they are necessary in respect to the iidiahitants already residing in those ])lace8 where they are proposed to be established who reijuire some form of civil government. " \V«' admit as an undeniable principle of true policy, that with a view to prevent manufactures it is necessary and proper to open an extt^nt of territory for colonization proportioned to the increase of people, as a large number of iidiabitants, cooped up ill narrow limits, without a sufficiencv of land for produce, would be coni]>elled to convert their attention and industi v to manufactures ; but we submit whether the en- (■oui'aj;t'ineni given to the settlenienl of the colonies u]ioii the sea coast, and the eti'ect which such encouragement has had, have not already effectually provided for this object, as well as increasing the demand for and consumption of lirilish manufactures — an advantage \^hicli, in our humble o]iini()n, would not lie promoted by these new colonies, wiiich being proposed to be establisheil, at the distance of aliove fifteen hundred miles from the sea, and in places which, upon the fullest evidence, are found to be utterly inaccessible to shipping, will, from their inability to find returns wherewith to pay for the manufactures of (Ireat I'lritain. be probably led to manufacture for themselves ; a consequence whii h experience siiows has constantly attended in a greater or less degree every inland settlement, and, there- t'lire, ought, in our humble opinion, to be carefully guarded against by encouraging the set- tlement of that extensive tract of sea coast liitherto unoccupied ; which, together with the lilierty that the middle colonies will have (in coiiseipience of the jJidposed bounilary line with tilt' Indians) of gradually extending themselves backwards, will more effectually and Iteneficially answer the object of encouraging population and consumption than the erec- tion of new governments; such gradual extension might, through the medium of a con- tinued ]iopulation, upon even the .same extent of territory, preserve a communication of mutual commercial benefits between its extremest parts and (In-at Britain, inipo.ssil)le to txist in colonies separated by immense tracts of unpeopled desert. " As to the effect which it is supposed the colonies may have to increase and promote the fur trade, and to prevent all contraband trade or intercourse between tlie Inlians under His Majesty's protection, atid the French or Sjianiards ; it does appear to ns that the extension of the fur trade depend.-- i-ntiiej) upon the Indians being undisturbed in the possession of their hunting grounds ; that all colonising does in its nature, and must ill its conse(|uences, operate to thf prejudice of this branch of commerce, and that the French and Spaniards would be left in j (isse.ssion of a great jjait of what remained, as New Orleans wonlil still continue tin- best and surest market. k H I f:! I ! '' I 72 POLICY or TIIK KNGLISH OOVKUNMKNT. " As to the protection which it is siipimsed thfHe new colonies tnay he cai'nhio of afforrling the ohl ones, it will, in our opinion a))p<'ur, on tiie Mlijrhtcjt vitMV of this sitiKt tion, that so far from afTordin^ protection to the old colonies they will stand niobt in need lit' it themselves. " It cannot be denietl, that new colonies would l)e of advantage in raising provisions for the supply of such forts and garrisons as may 1)0 kept up in the neighbourhood ot them, but as the degree of utility will Ite proportioned to the number and situation of these forts and garrisons, which upon tluf result of the [)i('S(int eni(uiry it may be thought advisable to continue, so the force of the argument will depi-nd upon tliat event. " The i»resent French inhabitants in the neighbourhood of the lakes will, in our humble opinion, be sufficient to furnish with provisions whatever posts may be necessary to be continued there ; and as there are also Fiench iiduibitauts settled in same parts of the country lying uffou the Mississippi between the liivers Illinois and the Ohio, it is to be hoped that a sufficient number of these may be induced to fix their abode, where the same convenience and advantjige may be derived from them. *'The settlements already existing as above descril ed, which 'i^ing formed under military estAblishments. and ever subject to military aulliority, do not, in our humble opinion, rtvpiire .my further superintendence than that of the niilitt»r\ officers comanding at the.s«* forts." This report is important, because it indicated the policy not only of the Lords of Trade and Plantations for the time being, but al.^o the policy that was adopted towards the North American colonic.- until the civil war liCirun. These views had not always been held. The conquest of Canada made a :.Teat change. A danL'crous rival liud been removed from the borders of the colonigt.«. They did not feel their dependeuce upon England, as they liad done while the French were to the west and the nortli of them. The policy which sought to pro- mote the interests of the .subjects of the Crown iu England, at the expense of the subjects of the Crown in America, was certaiu to be resisted. After the Treaty of Aix-la Chapcllo wa> concluded, which st-ttled uothinir, the British ministry felt lliat it would be necessary to accomplish, by a vigorous colonial policy, wliat they had failed to iccomplish by treaty. In 1748, the Lords of Trade and Plantations reported to His ALijesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, -'that the settlement of the country lying westward of the Great .Mountains, as it was the centre of the Hriti>h I'ominions, would bo for His .Majesty's interest and the advaD- tage and stcurity o( V'iri:iui:i and the neighbouriiiii colonies." And when the grant to Haubury, Lt?e, and others, was a.sked for, they say tliat they had " fully set forth the great utility ami advanutge of ext**nding our settlements Iteyond the great mountains, (whitli report has l)e«-n approved of by your Lordships). And as by these new j)ri)posals there is a great probabiliiy of having a much larger tract of the said cinmtry settled than under the former, we an- of opinion that it will be greatly lor ilis Maje.sty's st^rvice, and the weltare and 8e<;urity "f Virginia, to comply with the prayer of the petitioti." The change in the jwdicy of the English Ministry was no doul^ diu' to the alteud circumstancea. In 174'* England was anxious to get imssessiou of the valley of the Ohio The French had di.scovereil ihat river and explored tiie adjacent country. They, for maii.v years, were kept away from the country above the Scioto River, by fear of the >Si.x Nations. It wa.s from the Six Nations that England professed to have acquired a title. POLICY OK THE ENGLISH OOVEUXMENT. 73 llfi public mt-n km-w that no sucli title would be rwognize.i by Fiance aa paraniount to discnvpry and occupation. It was not upon any sucli titl" that the States of Western Kinopt' based their claim to the jjarts of the continent in which they had established colonies. Lord Halifax kn(;w that if numerous bands of settlers cros-sed the mountains, the country in which they Kittled must remaii! to England. FiXperience had so far shown that the axo and the plough gave practically a better title than the burial of lead [ilates, and the estabHshment of a few military posts. In her contest.s with France, the coliinists of England were her best allies. They fouj^;ht with her, and for her, and victory ( rowned their united efforts. Th<'y won from PVanee a country many times larger than tiie country which they held before the seven years' wai began. France cede>t of England to rest hatl destroyed the balance of jiower upon the North Araf^rican continent; that the colonists, no longer requiring their assistance, would soon weary of their authority ; that tiiey were not likely to continue to submit to a policy which forba.gliih trsrel- kr:— ''The coniieiiuenccs (r( the cei'siun ot Cunndii are obvious. I am persuailcd that England will tre long repent of having romoveil the only check that could keep her colonies in awe. They «t»nd no lonfrrr iu uecd of her protection ; she will call on them to i-ontribute towards supporting the burden? they hare helped (0 bring on her ; and they will answer by .striking off nil dependence." Quoted in Bancnft, Vol. IIL. p. 32o- "On the la.- 1 day uf October, (1775), Lord Stormont, the British Ambassador in Franca, who had jo^t rrturned to bis post, was received at Court, The King of France, whose sympathies were all on the lide ot Moniirchioal power, said to him : ' Happily the opposition party is now very weak.' From the Eing, Pt t- moni wont to Vcrgcnnes, who expressed the desire to live in perfect harmony with Bngland ; ' far from wifhitii; t" increase your embarrassments,' said he, ' we see them with some unea.''in"es.' ' Th'' o^nseqaences,' ••b««TTel Stormont, 'cannot escape a man of your penetration and exieu.'ive > lews.' ' Indeed, they are very obTiou.', replied Vcrgcnnes ; ' they are as obvious af the oonaequeucfs of the cession of Canada. I w.-on to repent of having removed the only check that could keep her eoUniej in iiwc. .My prediction has been too well verified. I equally sue the ci!nse(iuenoe3 that mu.'t follow the indepei l- enoe of North America, if your co'.onieg should carry that point at which they now so visibly aim. They might when they pleased conquer both your islands and ours. I am persuade. 1 that thev would not stop tuere, but would in process of time advance to the Southern continent nt America, and '.ither sublue its inhabitants or carry them along with them, and in the end not leave a foot of that hemisphere in the possestioo of any Earopean power. All these consieqnenccs will not indeed be immediate. Neither you nor I shall live to *ee them : hot for lieing remote they are not the less sure.'" Lord Stormont to Lord Rochford, Secretary of .Slate, No. 19 'eparatf, 31st Oct., 1775 : Quoted i>y Bancroft, Vol. VII., p. 91}. Vorgennos, in 1782, inlormed .Mr. Adams be did rot favour the concession of the liberty to flsh in the 15. N. American waters t" the people ot the Cnited States : and that he thought England ought to r-jlain the country north of the Ohio, and the Stat<> of M.iine, »f British possessions : but the British Ministers wore not equally well informed. See Correspondence and Diary "f John Adams, 1 ij h 74 POLICY Ol' TIIK KNULISM (HtVEHNMKNT. The ptiblio m*-ti wlm (•|i|inM)-(l iiiliminl luxation ami grmter cimiinfri'tH) frt'olmn to the coloniHts, one. aftt^r aiKitlier ccum'd to he amon^ the iwlviHerH of tlie (Jiown. Instead of tliminisht'tl dcjiendcnce heing fni, an ()|i|)ot on acccunt of tlie cold, and all would .xeek new homes upon the plains of Illinois, where Briti.nh manufactures could not rciich them. Lord 11 ilUborough was afraid that Nova Scotia would be deserted, and fall iigain into the possession of France, and the two Floridas would revert again to Spiiin. He not only opposed the estdblishment of new pro- vinecs north of the Ohio, but sought to prevent the colonization of the lands acquired from the Indiiuis by the I icaty of Fort Stanwix ; iiiid bcciiuse his collo!ii,'ucs were not williuir to l'o (juite .so far, he resii;ned his seat in the ('abinet.* The grant to the Ohio Company was subse(|uently merged into what was called the Wnl. pole Grant. Or. Fr;niklin was ncgotiatiui^ with the Treasury in reference to this grant. It embraced upwards of •J(I,()(MI,(HI() of acres of hind, lying between tlui Alleubany .Mountains and the Ohio Hiver. The Lonls of Tnule lunl j'l.'mtations reported against the gnint ; btit Franklin imd indueoil Lords Hertford, (Jower, Camden, nnd ftthtrs to become shareholders in his scheme. Through their influence the I'rivy Council disre;^'iirdcd the adverse views ol' Lonl llillsboroufrb and the Lords of Tnide. Attorncy-Jfcncral Thurlow took care not t(i give effect to this determination. The i;riint was never sealed. The new province south of the Ohio was not estiiblished. IlilL-borouifh wiis no longer ndnister, but his colonial jiolicy remained behind him. I When the proclamation establishing the Government of Quebec ami of the Floridas was is.sued, the Indian Wuc under Pontiac was being vif^orously prosecuted ; the British had not yit ac<|uircd possession of the Illinois country. Major Loftus had essayed to go up the Mississippi in the s[)rin'^ of 1 7 already been granted to his subjects in Canadii. He hits conse(|uently given the most precise and effective orders to the end that his new Roman Catholic subjects of the Illinois may ex • BiiiKToft. Ch, 47, viil. v.: alxo vnriuuN lottei-H of HillHlM>rouh'h to (Sage, to Oov Wrij^ht, ami otfieni. Spark'H Fniiiklin, vol. IV. t Knox's State Papira, vol. IT. p. t.">; Spark'g FninkliD, vol. IV; Bancroft'.'i Iliit., vol. V., rh. t" ; L Majesty tl ! the .>icourL'e of ' would (Ir.iw aft Captain S .Major KarniiT. I try, according i I ordinal^ charge Imaiidant in tli P«juence- of debts or of crimi- nal proceswes. Thiit those who choose to retain their landn and become subjects of Hi-' Majesty, sli.iU enjoy the Hamc rights and priviligcs, the -ame security for their j»er»ons and . ffccts, and the liberty oi' trade, ns Mio old subjects of the King " That they arc comniiinded by those presents to take the oath of fidelity and obi'dicuce 10 His Majesty, in presence of Sieur Stirling. Captain of the Hiefaland Regiment, the bearer lureiir, and furnished with our full powers for thl« purpose. That we recommend for- i.ibiy to the inhabitants to conduct themselves like ;:o«jJ and faithful tubjects. avoidinn, by a wise and prudent demeanor, all causes of complaint a^iainst them. "That they act in concert with His Majesty's Officer^ so that his troops may take pos-^js- Moii of all the forts uud order be kept in the country. By this means .ilone they will spare Hi- Majesty the necessity of rocurrinir to force of arms, and will find themselve- -^ved from till' xoun^e of a bloody war, and of all the evils which a march uf an army into their country would draw after it." Captain Stirling did not long remain in the Illinois country. He was superseded by .Major Farmer, of whose adndnistrution (.♦' atifiirs little is known. His 'joing to that couu- [ try, aecording to the statement of Lord Shelbume, cost the Briti.«h 'lovemment. for extra- ■ inlir.ai^ eharges, .£.'i(t,(IOO. Colonel Head was the next officer who held the jost of Com- Imaiidant in the Illinois country. He nuide Hmsclf oflious to the population by acts of military oppre.s.sion, occasioned by their open hostility to British authority. On the 5th of September, litis, Lieutenant-Colonel Wiikins arrived at Fort Chartre« as Coir.mand:int lof ttie Illinois country. He is.sued a Proclamstioo, by order of General Gage, estat"- li.diin;.: a Court of ,Iusticc within his juri.sdiclion '' for the pur[iO*e of settling all Idi.-putes between man and uiau. and all claims in relation to proj^erty. whether real lor [H>rsonal." The system, although preferred to a military tribunal did not sati-fy Ithe people. iMnny among them demanded trial by jury ; but this was refused, and Ithe Court became unpopular. In April. I'Ct'J, Colonel Wiikins wi< enjrasre*! in makinl:iii, wliicb ruuld be but temporary, led Cbo peop.e to reBert an the bett fora' of OoTcrnment. " liut Wilkius WHB rbiefly intent OP enriching ^ome PbilaUelpbia Far Traders, who were notorijus f<ate frr.tnls of laree tra>>u of Un'. JVi' II' 7^ I'OLIi.V OF THE EN&1.ISH OOVEKNMENT. ment of all the Indian Territories wa.^ under the absolute contrul of the Commander-in-Ohicf of the Kinjr's forces upon the Contincit. It is not surprising that in remote districts, where a spirit of lawlessness prevuiled, that justice was harshly adniiaistered, and that commanders were occasionally iruilty of an nbusc of authority where there was no public opinion to restrain them.* In November, 1773 — the year prior to the passing of the Quebec Act — the people of Illinois, failin:: to obtain from Gen<;ra! Gage the retbrnis in their gove nment which they de- sired, addreasod themselves directly to Lord iJartniouth, the Secretary of State jr the Colo- nies. He pronounced their demand "very extravagant." "Should a plan of government so evidently tyrannical," said Dan.iei IJlouin, the agent of the Illinois colonists, " be established, it could not be of long duration." Thoy a.skcd for institutions like tliose possessed by the State of Connecticut, and declared that no irresponsible government could give satisfaction. At this time a considerable number of the French population in lllinoi-. had migrated to the west of the Mi.ssissippi. They had sold their pos.sessions to british subje»^ts under the authority secured to them by the Treatv of Paris. St. FiOui.-^ was foiindc' by La (!lade in 1 704 , D'Euiigrant by .M. Florissant in 1 "Oti : Portage des Sioux, eight miles above the mouth of the Missouri, in 176G ; Carondelet, six mile> below St. Loui.s, by M. de Targe. te, in 17()7; and Les Petite Cote, by M. Blanchette, in 17'>!t. The founding of these five settlements within six years, implies a considerabh; enji- gration, and the nature of the reforms souglit in the Illinois country indicates the pre .seuce of English colonist.'^, who were seeking to liring the grievances of the French j)Opulation into line with the causes of discontent in the Knglish colonies, iind they so far succeeded thai .sympiithies of the French upon the iMi.ssissippi and u])on the Wabash, unlike tho.HC of the St. l^awrencc, were against England during the War of Independence.' t • AlbRch'i* Annnls ; Brown's ni»tory of Illiaoig ; Munette'H History of the Missisaippi Viilluy ; liayarre'- History uf Louijiana ; I'eok'ii QMzetter ; I'ulili'- Liiiidfi, IJ. S. I'upors, vol. II.; Letters ol Oagu, Wilitiu.'. ForliPr-, lie. ■ In I7S3, L'c'utenant-Qovurnor ITamilton, of Detroit, adilrossed ii IVenioriiil to the Commiaaionors of Ih^ M»ie-I.v'.-^ Treasury, injwliioh lie says tlmt, " In ilic month of April, I7T5, I was appointed Lieutenant- (loveriiT I and Suporiiitviidunt ut tlio settlomont tpf Detroit, nt a salary d 1,'2(>',/. "In the muDtb of Septcmlicr loWowinK, i^ir Ouy Carluton atht inu to that poat with verbal orders, tht I ritati! of tlio rrovincB lof Quebei') ut that iMm- prussinj? luy duparturo. i'hu intorcour.'te nl the lowtr part of the Province havint; heim cut oil" by the rebol.^ p.'S»e^'sln;; theuiaelven ot Montreal, I wiw under iht necessity of anting for a timt diaoretionHry. In tho month nl .hine, 1777, I was authuriiod to raise and | employ the Indiana, till which liiue I had exerted myaell to restrain these people from taking an actire part. " On tlie rtth (if Auftuat I reccivoil iiilolligence ol thi' rebels having pushed eonaiiierablu ilcturjimciits to tbt Illinois, where they made prisoner .Mona. La Kouheblave, whose activity aaauperinteodunt occasioned his beiii|!| u'oated with ahamclul indignity, {ii) " The o.xpro.s.s returning tho flth of October, I aet out Iroiu Detroit ontheStfa, nollfying Captain de Piiystef. I of the 8th Regiment, at Michiliinackinac, to make a divuraion. Ivan 71 duiw in yoiiii/ lo Viineniittiiji Iki Wuhdth, with 1100 men. Tlit nhrlg, jm ned liii nil ti'f French inhaliitimt* of that i-overfiiiient wore in possession ■ 1 1 it, but beini; apprehensive of the Indiana, not a single person sullu'ud in property or otherwise. In thnniiinlli| of Fcbrii try next onsaing, they joined the Americana and fire 1 on the furl. " The ('(iii'iiliiii olaiiteert who iimdi half of mil little iinrrinjn ile.iirted, and we were reduced to tho h"rril necessity of capitulation." .... Siiifor MSS. ('() Kocbblavc aocins to have been appointed in 17" 6, and sent trom Quebec. Tbo throe posts, Detfoil'| Vinceuuea, and Kurt Chartres, were under Sir vi(ic:. i, the l^ritish Govern «iibjects of the J Tlie Quebc ilio 2r;d of May, lirire part of the Mibjecta of Frant without any pro\ it enacted that a Territory of (".ir "liid, and westw^ I || the territory g iiKJ which .said te ilonies as aliowe i'li,!, made a par Hi' Majesty's plei «t.id and estnbli.s ■' v(!n hundred ani Tliere can b< hhi.« de^^(■^iption. |J|'''ts. The territc inncxed to tho go * .Vortli AuiericRi ' Lord Hhelburn nil .\.«acmbly in the 1' ■'■I' iind other cliaoge •"• Pitkin'- Ilialory THE Ql'EUEf ACT. 77 At this time the French inhabitants of the Government of Quebec were pctitionintr the Kiug for the restoration of their ancient laws, the tolcnition of tiieirreli rion, iind the removal of their civil and political disabilities. They aLso asked that their province might have "res- tored to it the same limits which it had bet'ore, and to include the coasts of Labrador, in the Province of Quebec, and tliosc parts of the upper country which had o?cn taken from it, since it oauiiot maintain itself without its usual commerce."* The KniL^lish inhabitants petitioned His M.ijesty for the maintenance of the Kn;,'lish law, imd the election of a fieneral A.ssembly, " as," they say, " there is a sufficient number of Protestant subjects residing in and possessed of real property in tlic province, and who are otherwise (|Ualified to be members of a (Jeneral Assembly. In the ancient provinces of Eni;land, di.scontent was Ixirdering on open insurrection. In every part of the territory ceded by France, the people were a.sking for a change in the system of Oovornment. As the breach between the English >ii!ii.stry and the English colonics widci. 1, the animosity felt towards the real authors of Fontiuc's war died away. The British (Jovcrmiifnt and Farliament set tliemselves earnestly to work to conciliate the new •iibjects of th(> King.' ■ii f The Qi'EBEc Act. Tlie Quebec Act was introduced by the Earl of Dartmouth into the House of Lords im (lie -'lid of May, 1771. The I'.ill .is it was introduced, deelared in the preatuble that ii ver\ iiHL'e part of the territory of Canada, within which there were several colonies and settlements. •iilijccts of Franco, who claimed to remain therein under the faith of the said treaty, were left uithout any provision being made for the administration of civil government therein, &c. ; he It enacted that all the said territories, and islands, and countries heretofore a part of the Lrritorj of Canada in Nortli .\merica. extending southward to the banks of the River • iliiii, and westward to the hanks of the .^H.ssissippi, and norlliward to the southern boundary 'the territory granted to the .Merchants .Vdventurers of Kngland trading to Hudson's Ba' . .11(1 which said territories, islands, and countries are mt within the limita of the other l{rit(.>ih lonies as allowed and eonlirmed by the Crown, or vi\m\i h.ive been, since the 10th February, M:!, made a part and parcel of the I'rovince of Newfoundland be, and they are hereby during Hi- Majesty's pleasure, annexed to and made part and parcel of the I'rovince of Quebec, as crc- i; il and established by the said Uoyal Proclamation of the 7th October, one thousand -' \ei) hundred and sixty three. There can be no doubt entertained of the extent of country intended to be embraced by '\\\)> desrription. It is a simple compliance with the petition of His Majesty's French sub- jirts. The territories upon the "ust which had been, by the proclamation of October, 170."$, nncxcd to the governmtmt ot Newfoundland, was now (<• be annexed to the Province o( % 1^ I t i i I M ■ Nortli American Fomplilot-', vol. .\II. Ijiliisry of PitrliniDonl. .UiisKere'ii I'npor*. ■ liord Sliolliurne, in a c<>uiii dni<-)iiiDKe" <" the ('oloninl pulicy. <'hathaai ('orrcipouJeiice, vol. 111. pp. 187, IVl, IVtf, 2UT. - Pitkin''' tllntory. Bnncrolt, vol. V p. 41. Kijk uiI. TT h 78 TIIK QI'KMKC ACT. Quebec ; nnd the upper country wliicli, by the Hanio proclanintion, wiw declared to be for the present reserved for the use oJ' tJic IndianH, was now, westward to the Mississippi, and north- ward from the Ohio to the iludson's Hay country, to be made part and parcel of the Province of C^ucbec. It is important to hear this in mind, because it will help us the better to under- stand the language of this Act an it finally passed, if indeed there can be any doubt as to ha meaning. With a view apparently of avoiding any discussion upon the boundaries of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the words — "not within the limits of some other. British Colony a.s allowed and contirnicd by the Crown "—arc inserted. Virginia claimed the country westward to the Mississippi, and Pennsylvania to thi bouth-castern shore of Lake Eric, and New York so much of the Indian country as lay wesi ward of the boundary of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix to the Niagara iliver. When the Hill came down to the House of Commons this clau.se was attached by Kdmimd Hurkf, \vh(» was, at thr time, Auentfor the "rovincf cif New York. Tliebouiui- ary lint! between N(!\v \'ork auti Canada had for nearly a century 'oeen a matter of dis- pute. For a short tiuie one of the Governors claimed the Peninsula of Upper Canada a.- a possession of the irotjuois Indians, but the limits usually claimed by the rejire8entative> of tlie Duke of Vork, and sub.secjuently by the Crown, were, the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario upon the iKUth, and the Niagara h'iver upon the west. The French with ii|Ual pertinacity maintained the right of the Crown of France to all the territory draiiieil into the St. Lawreiiit! and Lake Ontario. Hy the Treaty of Fort Stanwi.x the whole ot the western ])art of the State was the recogtiised jjroperty of the Si.\ Nations. And it wix.^ not at all improbable that under this clause of the Quebec Hill, the bountlary line for New Vork would be the one drawn in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. This would include, in tin- new province, not only the wt-stern part of New Vork, but a considerable portion of the northwestern part of the Province of I'eniisylvania. Pennsylvania does not seem to have been troubled about her boundary. She was a proprietary colony, and the Crown etnild not change her boundaries at will. But this wa.^ not the case with New Vork. Ipon the accession of .lames II. to the throne, New V.M'k l)ocame a Crown colony, and tin- Crown was at lilx-t} iu say what the boundaries of New Vork .should lie. The debate too, in the House of Commons, matle it clear upon what principle the Government inti-mled to procoene from All)ariy to Detroit. Kxcept at these two points no Eng- lisli had estahlished them.selve.s heyond the Ohio, Lord North pointed out that Purliaini'iU was now called upon to consider whdhtr it wax til that Ihi' saittered posts and settlements stuniUl continue withmit any goverument, wheth^ tlieij ■ihtiiild form separate and distinct (jovernmcnts, or irhcther they should be Made a part and jmrci-l ■ /till' I'nn'incf of Quebec. II i Mid that the Governmtnt roiisiifered the latter the pre/crablr inetli"d; the iianx especially as tlu (Jamulians and thise who trade will thvse settlements ask /or Ihi' annexation. Attorney-({eneral Thurlow pointed out that the O'ocerninenl never luld that all Canada (■((> iiirlnded in the proclamation ; that it is not even all included hij thi- present Act ; that th fpirinceofl^iebeeisnotronsidiiilasttproriiieefimnerly hiiumjintj to France ; that it is not .(//./ /)// the .■inme nam : tl lo Enejlish setllemeids are ejnhruced within its Ixonnts , thai ifn're. kari' been, for nearhi a century past, setthineids in different /larts of it nf I reach only ; iti the southern and western parts of it, upon the Ohio and Mi.ssissippi ; that there were other H;atti'ri)d posts in the nei^hhourhood d" "otroit and Lake Micliiirnn. Mr. Wedderbuni, the Soliciior-i u'ueral, intimated that // was Ihn intention of the Govern- :,(iiil III prevent :eo^raplier.-. i'liere was no luiritor) embraced in liie Province of Quebec by I the Hill, which was not !i part of Ciinada at tlii! ciipilulation, exci'pt tiic Illinois country ; and II i> lii;;hly probable that it is to this country that (Jovernor ./;)hnston refers. Even the I llliiuiis country had been a matter ol contention between Canada and Louisiana after 1735 ; but if Governor Vandreuil's statement to Colonel H.ildimand is to be relied upon, its posacs- ■imi was ultimatelv assiirned to Louisiana. bord North again spoke, and went on to state how, under the Hill, the boundary would ill' ascertained, lie said that he would projHJse an alteration that wou'd .save every right |wlur'' there was one; t' it it was tlie practice to have different boundaries laid down in liifli-r.iit manners Where the territories separated were the prop<^rty of the Crown, the ll«Minil:iiv i> drawn by His Majesty's officers aloue ; where there liad been a u'rani or a charter I'll litlier side, then comiui.'sioivers had been appointed alsc ; and the line so drawn is subject ho iiii appeal to the Privy Council. It is intended after the passing of this Act, to go on i^iih the project of runidng the boundary line between (Quebec and the provinces on the south. iii'l o obj •ction to having something more precise, bat he thi.wjht it belter to save the right u III lib 80 riiK qukhec act. IH of thf other coloHU'ii, "."/ /" /<■{.■••• flic- boinuldri/ lo he mttlcd an the ajnt '>ij muiminsioners. Lord North intitnatt!(l ih-ii if'tliorc wire Frencli settlements on the south shore of the St. Law rcncc. then the river ou^ht not to hi; made tlic boundary ; but that thetio settlements shouM i>c included in the I'rovinei- of Quebec. Kinie notiec m;iy he now taken of wliat Mr. Burke >-ay.s about tii • lornicr limits nl' Canaila, when he speaks about the limits of Canada beini; similar t) those established for tiic government of Quebec by the Koyal jtroelamation of October, ITfi;},' When he .says " there waH no considerable settlemoni south-west of the line of 1703," he certainly couM not have l)con necjuainted witli tlie facts ; iitid wlien he says " the people of Canada ae(|uiesced in that line, " he is not less mistaken, 'fhcy were never consulted. They were a siibju|^ated rae ■. hostile in feeliii}^ and alien in religion, and who were looked upon lus the chief authors of the Indian war that had desolated the country by the wanton destruction of life and property nlonf? several hundred miles of frontier, that had caused the destruction of many ol th' forest posts with thei- izarrisons. and entailed a iarj^o cxjKmditure of money upt)n tli- (iovernnient. .Mr. Hurke said that ii.s tlie Hill was brouirht forward on the prineiple that I'ar liament was to draw a line of oircumvallaiion about our coionies, ami to establi.sh a sie^e of arbitrary power by bringini; Canada round about them "having another j)eople differing from them in manners, language and laws, ' ho thought i: ipuiortant to make the boundary as clear as possible. It is necessary for those who are besieged nou to unknowingly enter into this Pro vince and disturb its possessors. He described the south-western boundaries ol' the old Pro- vince of Quebec. But Mr. Burke, like other speakers, confounded ( 'anada with (Quebec. Mr Burke dt^elared that the Crown had the power of carrying the greatest portion of tlic actually settled Province of New York into Canada (Quebec) ; that the boundary line might be fixed at tlie very gates ol' the city, and subje(;t that colony to the li' bility of becoming a province of I''rance. He said it was not a line between New York and some other En-rlish settl> • mcntfl ; it was not a (juestion whether you should receivi! Knglish law and Knglish govern- luent upon the side of New York, or whether you shr)uld receive a more advantageous government on the side of Connecticut, or whether you were restrained upon the side of New .Ierw\v, in all th(se you still found Knglish customs, Entrlish juries and Knglish assemblies wherever you !,'o. But this was a line which was to separate a man from the right of an Knglishman. Mr. Hurke, therefore, insisted that the line between Cimada and the other Provinces .should be clearly laid down in the Bill instead of leaviu;^ it afterwards to be de termined by the King. Lord North expressed his willingness to lay down the hcuindary more definitely, if any 'j;entleman wtntld find a boundary ol' certainty, but he expressed his fear of making :i mis- take by undiTtaking to do at Weslii:in.-ler what could be better done Up. mi- ul. Iniiu ti.c Iwa-^ t.i York and Pennsylvania against encroachment. Now York beinj^ n Crown colony, this was (specially neccBHary ; but Penn.sylvaniu beinfr, as siiid, a proprietary one, the KinL' could not by his prerogative alter the grunt which he had made. What Mr. Burke pro- posed on behalf of New York was, to protect that Province by making the .separating line Ix'twcen it and Canada a legislative act which it would not be in the power of the Crown to change. // wffs, (Ui shown nhfady, denrly the intention of Lord Nirrih not to make the Ri.rr St Lawrence and Lake unturio the northern bimndary of New York. He mid, us we have seen, that there were Cumuiia:, settlements ther-, hut thU 'hen- were ru) New York net (kmeiils , iind that, for thia rdison, it wan nune pnuifnl to have the hmndary line settled upon the spi't, so that tliey might not involve themselves by doing at Westminster what could be better done in America. Mr, Hurkc pointed out to the Ilouise that New York, no Ichs than Quebec, was a Crown Cnjuiiy, and that unless Parliament fixed the boundary, the Cniwn cijuM draw the separatini; lino where it pleased. It could even grant the pnwtr of adjudging. It wa.s, therefore, worth wiiile to give a clear boundary f^o that every man might know whether he wa.^ or waa not an Kiiulislinian. Mr. Dunning, during the debate, pointed out that the River Ohio runs through the Prn- vini'o of Virginia ; that the northwestern part of t Le Province had Ix't-n lopped off i;nd made apart of Canada (t^uebec). Although by the terms of their Charter they miu'ht piisis the Ohio River, yet, by the Hill, if they did sj they would be in the .same condition in which the Hill puts Canada (Quebec). According to Mr. Dunning's view, the system of ubsulute gi>v- trnuient would be exi..i:ded to the Ohio, whether the country west /»rd of the (^hio belonged to Quebec or to Virginia. Ho said tin- Ohio was .-^tatoii to bo a Im indaiy eonfiniiod by the ( niwn ; that he knew of no such eontiriiiation ; that he knew by ihi' terms of the Charter timt the colonists supposed themsolvcs at liberty to extend us far as they j)leiist;d to the west, .\rii to the Southern Sea -their natural boundary. There are others that oontented them .telvcs, he said, with less extensive claims. Ho did not know whether sueli oxten^ive claim.- i,;i.i hcon allowed or not, but he did know there had bivii ii long subsisting dispute about the lin\iii(lary of Virginia, which had iiovor boon discussed, much los.^ decided; that after tiiis Mill liaillioeoine law the Virginians will learn that Parliament had decided the dispute without knowing what it was. lie pointed out that the proprietors of Indiana would have their risilus interfered with without being apprized of the Bill, although many of them resided in Kn gland. What view the Virginians themselves took of the measure shall bo by and-byo .stated. It is unnecessary to give lioro the amendment projMised by Kdniund Hurko. On the liitli of June, Sir Charles Whitworth reported to the House the amendments which had been maiii- in (lommittoo. "The first clause being read,'' says Lord Cavendish, "there was much puzzling about settling the boumlary line. Mr. Kdmund Burke, Mr. Jackson, Mr. iinrkcr, and Sir (Jharlos Whitworth went up-stairs to settle it, while the House wi- suppo.-cd til lie proceeding upon it. The House continued for nt least half an-h ur doini; nothing in j the meantime Thr difference was, wfwtlier the tract of rountnj not inhnhitnl shtmLl belong to Stir Ynrk or Quebec. At five o'clock, Mr. Hurke niturned with amendments, 8')ine of which [Were au'rood \o, others not." It was finally ai»recd to as it now stands in thn Act. So far ;«< I Now York was concerned, Mr. Burke oarried his jntint. The unstjttlod wiidcmeBs of New G \ H 1 " ' 'i : 1 a f^ SS THE QUEBEC ACT. York lying between the lakes and the boundary apfreed upon seven years earlier at For- Htanwiz, which it is clear Lord North intended to have embraced in Quebec, was yielded to.j New York. The ISoulhern hmmdary line — the one which was tu separate Quebec from the "the Colonies — was (he onlji one discussed. It was definif-ely Iaidj,down in the Bill instead ot beini; left to bo fixed by the (Vown, under the general words of the section a? it originally stood' It will be seen from this brief outline of the debate, that the {K)licy of Lord Hills- 1 borough, of confining the f^nglish settlers to the territory held before the conquo-t ct Canada, was still adhered to, if we except the Floridas. The speech of Mr. Wedderburn, the Solicitor-deneral, shows very clearly what Ministers h>ped could be accomplished by i| syst«ni of absolute government and French jurisprudence better than by proclamations for bidding colonization within a country, which, according to the prevailing opinions in Piirlia- 1 ment, it was the interest of the mother-country to keep a desert. The Hill, as it came down to the House of Commons, embraced within the limita of the new Province of Quebec the | whole country north of the Ohio and West to the Mississippi. These limits were not abao doned. They are clearly expressed in the Bill as it finally passed. When the Province oil Virginia remonstT the I'rovince to aflFord the slightest warrant for such a construction. We have in the preamble reasons assigned for annexing territories both upon the Easij and the West of the old government of Quebec. Twi things are stated which ParliauieDij ]!urpo.sed to accomplish, by enlarging the Province : to embrace the several colonies and w;tIi^j nients of French which wore left without a civil government by the Proclamation of the 'i\ of October, 1 763, and to annex upon the E««t the sedentary fisheries of Canada, whioli, bjl that proclamation, had been united to NewCrmndland. and in consequence o*' that union, siit^l ject«d to regulations inconsistent with the nature of such fisheries. The preamble, then, iiiabl clear the object Parliament had in view in annexing the territories upon the West; it wkI to embrace the several colonies and settlements of the subjects of France, who claimed to nnjaul there under the faith of the treat) of Paris, Now this could only be done by rHeudiiij: tlnl limits of the Province of Quebec to the banks of the Mississippi. If un astronomical liml was drawn due north from the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, it would li««| excluded more than half tlit; po|iuliition in those colonies and settlements which tlio Act declares have hitherto been left without any civil government, and for which it propo-i provid'i. I lu thin aumiuary ttio nriter haa nminly fullowod tb« rupurt of th« dnbalai by Lurd Cftvoiiditb, tul la bis rupurt thoru iiru ubviuux miiUkua, Iruiu cureleto reading uf tlio pruot. Tlioau Iia7e be«n corruilC'l*! thi Hiimiunri b) Li.u rupurt tu bu ruu:at in h wurk calltxl llin " I'urliamantary liebutua, Iruui I74.i tu 1771.' THE QUKBKC ACT. 83 •*,'■ ;>•■ 4, If we compare the Bill as it wan introducer), with the Bill iih it finally poHsediWc uhull see that no chanfie whatever was made in the western limit of the Province. The words of the Act as introduced as : " Be it enacted that all the said territories, islands, and countries, henlojiirr a part of the Ttrritory oj Camuin, in Morth .\merica, extemiinq .■imithuard to the banks „j 111'' Hirer Ohio, and urslirurU to the hanks of the Mississippi, and northward to the southern boundary <>{ the territory granted to the Merchants Adventurers of England trading to Hud- hou'b Bay, and which said territories, islands and countries are not within the limits of the other British Colonies as allowed and confirmed by the Crown, or which have, since the lOth of February, 17H3, made a part and parcel of the Provinceof Newfoundland, be and they are hercbv during Ills Majesty's pleasure annexed tx) and made part and parcel of the Provinceof Quebec as created and established by the said Royal Proclamation." It is important to observe what portion of this clause was changed or struck out, and whut portions were permitted to stand. There can be no doubt as to its meaning. It is, all tke countries, teiritories and islands which extend southward to the Ohio, westward to the MiBHisflippi. No lines are spoken of, and all the territories to be annexed to the Province of Quebec by thin section are spoken of as having been a part of the Territory of Canada. Now, the words of the Bill as it finally pattsed are as follows : — " That all the territories, islands, and countries in North A jierica belonging to the Crown of Great Britain, bounded on the south bv a line from the Bay of Chaleurs along the highlands which divide the rivers that empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence from those which fall into the sea, to a point in forty- live degrees northern latitude on the eastern bank of the River Connecticut, keeping the same latitude directly west through the Lake Champlain, until iu the same latitude it meets the Kiver St. Lawrence ; from thence np the eastern bank of the said river to the Lake Ontario ; I thence through the said Lake Ontario and the river commonly called Niagara ; and thence I aliiD^' the eastern and south-eastern bank of liakc Erie, following the said bank until thesame chall be intersected by the northern boundary granted by the charter of the Province of l'enn.sylvunia, in case the same shall be so intersected ; and from thence alung the said north- iTD and western boundaries of the said Province until the said western boundary strike the Ohio ; but in case the .said bank of the said lake shall not be found to be so iiitcrncctod, then tMllowin^' the said bank until it shall arrive at that point of the said bank which shall be near- lent to tile north-western angle of the said Province of Pennsylvania ; and thence by a right lline to the said north-western angle of the said Province ; and thence along the western bound- lary of the said Province until it strike the river Ohio ; and along the bank of the said river pestward to the banks of the .Mississippi ; and northward to the southern boundary of the licrriiHiv granted to the Merchants .\dventureis of England trading to Hudson s Bay; and lalMiall >uoli fi-rritories, islands, and countries which have, since the lOtli day of February, one rliuUHaiui seven hundred and seventy-three, been made part of the Government of Ncwfoiind- llaiui. bo nnd they are hereby during His ^lajesly's [ileasure annexed to and made part and fircei of the Province of Quebec, as created and established by the said Royal Proclamation lithe 7th day of October, 1763. "'1. Provided always that nothing herein contained shall in any wise effect tho boun- litrii'H of liny other colony. ' Wo tind, upon comparing tiie original and amended sections, that the following changes liavc been made: — The words "heretofore a part of the Territory ol Canada ' are omitted. f '■■H %^ I'M^ 84 THE yUEBKC A( T. I bounHary. The ! The country upoi ibvioiisly carried [international, the Huppo.se that the h I of the Spanish pos that the majority devoid of sense; a llation, for whom i jiipcpssity. Ifthos ■at the extreme limi jwe asked to assig IcDiild they give 1 The roa on i> obvious : the Illinuis country which was beinj< included iu the Province of Quebec w.is at the time of its ucssiou a part uf Loui.sianu, iiud the miniiitry were tuuDtcd with now ualling the vulley of the Ohio a part of Canudu, which bufore the war they citlled a part of Virgiiiiu. It was uhoIush, then, to retain these wordH, and their omission could tii no possible mischief. After " North America" there are added the words " belom/itiif In Ik, (.'runn of Great Britain." Tlie mode of describing; the limits of the new Province an ■wlioUy changed ; instead of saying " cxtendiuij southward, ^:"" thence fhnm/h •i '-'Uhdary," Sic. hn '' »«*'ee. It is not reasonable to ■.appose that the boundary at the south- western ext emity would be extended to the border of the Spanish possessions, but that this wouhl be done nowhere else. We must assume that the majority who supported the Bill in the Lords and in the Commous were imt I devoid of sense ; and it would certainly be an act of folly to leave at least half the popu- llstion, for whom it was declared neces.sary to provide a civil government, without that necessity. If those who contend for an astronomical boundary upon the west, beginning lat the extreme limit of the Britii^h possessions, yet not including all the British territory, Irere asked to assign some reason for so locating the l)ounilary, what rational expbuiation Icimld they give 1 The reason given in the Act itself for annexing the country upiri the Iwest, was to embrace the several colonies and settlements of French that were left with- loiit a civil government by the proclanuitiou of 1703. But an astronomical boundary Iwiiukl defeat this object. The "'! ole population of the Illinois country, the French pttlement at Prairiedu-Chien, and the residents in the north-west, would have been Kchiiled. Had Parliament intended to leave the,se people without a civil »joverment, there pas no necessity for extending the l)oundary upon the south farther west than the con- liiience of the Ohio and the Wabash Rivers. It has been said that if it was intended t • iwke the Missis-sippi the western boundary of the Province of Quebec, wo wouhl have hail litter the word " northward," the words, " nhukij thf Mississippi " inserted in the Act, Those "•imhoid tiiis view, overlook the manner in wliich tlie bo\indaries are indicated, and assume lat the word uorthwanl is applied to a iim-. I have already shown that this is a mis- taken a.ssiMnption, — an assumption incomiiatible with the description given. Mefore the rfirds, " alfliiff the fxm/cs (>/ Ihe ,Via«/w/»/)/ " could have been inserted, the whole phraseology Y till' .section would need to have bei'ti changed. The description begins with a slate- pent lliat the countries to be embraced are " Imumledon thf south him line," iic. Now when western terminus of this line was reached, if it haj the northern huniidaries ," "theiiee itlciuj the iresl- h liiiihdiry," &c. But when we reach the banks of the Mississippi, no words of departure used. The description of a boundary line — the only one r.ecessary to describe — is hiplete. The banks of the Mis.si8sii)pi having been reached, the western limit of the [rovince is sufficiently indicated, and the wonl " northvard" is applied to thi' countii»'<, prritories. and islands, north of the .southern boundary liiu". Hut if it were true that the word northward is u.sed in the first section of the Quebec [ct for the purpose of locating the western boundary line, neither the usages of our it'Uiige, nor the principles of legal interpretation would warrant the conclusion that it ikes the western boundary of Quebec an astronomical line drawn due north from the kndiuu of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, -I; h'*5 I « » V r li ' M THK yiTKHKt ACT. I ,1 If the wor> indicrite tlu' direction of a line along the 4r)tli parallel, and the wonl " northwanl " applied to a line along the Mississippi liiver, which is an irregular boundary And in the first Mction of the Quebec Act, the words "directly west" are applied lo i line along the 45th parallel, and the word " westward " to a line descending along the Ohio Hiver. If, then, it l>e assumed that the word northward is here applied to a line marking the western limit of the Province, whether that line is a straighi'or a meander ing oni', whether it inclines to the east or to the west of the meridian point from which ill was begun, must be determined by the attendant circumstances, and by the intention nf| the law. If, at the starling point, there is no natural boundary, and if to give effect ti' the instrument, then- is no reason to deviate to the east or to th" west of a line drawn | due north, then >>uch a line must be prefcired. Now we have here to consider, assuniinj the word ni>rthwanl to be applied to the diioction of a boundary line, whether there ar*| any "jualifjing Mrcurostimces which would make this other than a due north line. We say there are. There is this simjde rule of legal construction, that every part of an Act is M be so constnie»l at to give effect to the intentions of its authors, and not to defeat that in I tention. Now, the Act shows that it was the intention of the framers of the law to in elude all the French settlements in the Indian country within the limits of the Provinrtl of Quebec, and .is a line drawn due north from the confluence of the Ohio and the Missif.! sippi Rivers would not have included all tin; colonies and settlements, but would, on tbfl contrary, have exclude.uch .is northward, is employed. Hut a construction which wouloj defeat the intention of the law, as expressed in the law itself, is not a slight circumstan«.l but a powerful reasou for such a departure. It is also a well settled rule that the eD>ii| iintemplated mi .III iiiterpretatio 111 important pr «en.>til;le men enj ments should in The boundai irhi'ii named musi ther reason for ad the sejmratiag line iiauent would hav able distance not ( oivili;overn?nent— .■nvemojent. Can i .^laekinac, Green 1 i hindred miles to niili'.'^ of Kaskaskia It bi; believed that 3nd that it was so i iruuliJ iuolude the v tint of .^tupidity, In Considering illowL'd by the on the rules laid down re|.'uiating ordinary ill tlie present contr .^tatw. The rules 'ained, are thosu w meiits. were they se icainst the East Inc I'er.sons acting in thi that the East India 'J" with that -the tr ^nd independent Sta [ooBscjuently, i.s not ; political in its nature R' Quebec Act as bt Nee of Ontario cam |ii"eij'rutation of the |>ui'P'j>ed to depend. Wilder our feden 'Ppropriate sphere of? ' 3 Maule and Selw 'Nati„M9, Bk. 2, ch. 17, + 2 Ves., Jur. 56. THK QITEBKC ACT. H7 I « contemplated must always be considered, ami general wonls may thereby be mtrained. An iiittTpretatii)n wliicli would deteat the olypct intended to he accomplished, and render ,111 iiiii»)rtant provision nugatory, is to he rejected ; i'or it is nut to be pre«umensihle men engaged in the business of legislation could have intended that their enact- meiits should in any particular prove a mere nullity.* The boundary mentioned upou the west is a natural Iwundary, and natural bonndtrie« irhi'ii named must be followed, unless the contrary is clearly expressed. But there i^ a far- ther reason for adopting the Mississippi as the western boundary of the I'rovincc. It wa» the separating line between British and Spanish territory. It is not to be supposed that Par* , lament would have left a strip of country several hundred miles in length and for a consider- able distuuce not Hfty miles in breadth, and containing a large number of people, without any Mvil L'overnineut — people of the very class for whom it was deemed, necessary to provide a civil .'oviriiuient. Can it be supposed that this line was extended westward so as to embrace Detroit. Mackinac, Ureen Bay, Ouatonon and V inceunes ; that, in fact, it wa.x extended more than i huulred miles to the wcHt of any one of the.>4e colonies and settlements, and within a few milen of Kaskaskia, St. Philip, Cahokia, Fort Charlies, and yet fail to include them ? Can It be helieved that it was carrit-d westward a thousand miles to embrace the French coloni-sts. I and tliiit it was so drawn as tocxclude one-half of them, when, by following the Mi-'si-wippi, it ^uulii include the whole ? Such a construction makes the law, not the perfection of reason, but of ntupidity. In Considering this section of the Quebec Act, we are not confined within the limits illowfd l)y the ordinary rules ol legal interpretation. It is not the practice to apply lie rules laid down by Courts in the construction of contracts or of public or private statutes I rti'uIatJDg ordinary affairs, Ui a statute like this, which is institutional in its character, and ill the present controversy poKsesses the characteristics of a treaty ut-.ween two independent States. The rules by uidch the true construction of this section are to be aacer- 'ained. are those which would be followed by the executive departments of the covem- ments, were they separate and independent states, in the suit of the Naliobof the Camatic Ucaiiist the East India Company, the Court said that, " In case of mutual treaty between [lersons acting in that instance as states independent of each other — and the circnmstance that the East India Company are mere subjects with relation to this country has nothing to lo with tliat -the treaty was entered into with them, not as subjects, but as a neighbouring land independent State, and is the same ;is if it was a treaty between two Sovereigns, and, Icon.-tiiuuntly, is not a subject of private municipal jurisdiction. It is not mercantile, but Ipol'tical in its nature."! This same principle is to lc kept -n view in the construction of jihe Quebec Act as between Canada and Ontario. The fact that Canada includes the Pro- rince of Ontario cannot in any way alter the rules of Public Law appropriate to the correct liDteriirutation of the various instruments upon which the rights of the contending parties are |sU|jp()>ed to depend. Under our federal .system of government, the Province and the Dominion ha.« each it* [ipprojiriate sphere of separate and distinct political power marked outfor it by a supreme law, !V.] H i' t ' 3 Maule and Selwyn, p. 610; Rutherford'g Ingtitutes of Natural Il ■c), .1 ci /A c-v# c? / Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ \ iV "% V ^ \ \ 6^ % ■t ^' 88 THE QUEBEC ACT. t I- and is as completely beyond the reaoli of the other," as if the line ofdivision was traced by land marks and monuments visible to the eye."* And it is because this is so that disputes as to boundaries between any province and Canada, and for the settlement of which no provision is made by the constitution, can be appropriately dealt with according to the usages of inde- pendent states, for an amicable settlement of such disputes. It appears also to be a correct rule that the evidence by which the boundaries contended for by this Province may be established before the arbitrators, depends upon the law and usages of nations in disputec of a similar kind. It may be further observed, too, that those upon whom has devolved the task of deter- mining the construction of treaties, have not failed to avail themselves of all the light which the history of the circumstances which ultimately led to the negotiation of the treaty, may throw upon any ambiguous or obscure expression that it contains. They have not hesitated to go outside of the trenty in ort'sr the better to be able to determine its real meaning. It is only necessary to refer to the discussions between the Commissioners of England and France upon the construction of the twelfth Article of the Treaty of Peace at Utrecht, in reference to the limits of Acadia ; ^o the various maps, puMic and private, and to the various histories which they produce in iefenca of the claims of their respective Governments ; to the discus- sions between Mr. Adams ar.d Segoor De Onie in reference to the western boundary of Loui- siana ; and to the discusfcioo between Secretary Fish and Lord Grenville as to the Alabama claims in the Treaty of W a ;hington ; and to the discussion of Mr. Russell and Mr. Bancroft in reference to the San Juan Boundary. It might also be mentioned that the same latitude has been exercised in the construction of a public Statute relating to the government of a colony. In 1851, when Earl Grey was Colonial Secretary, doubts having been expressed by the Gove. nor of Antigua as to the proper interpretation of an Act to provide for the prosecution and trial of offences committed within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty, he directed Mr. Merivale to obtain the opinion Oi the law officers of the Crown. Mr. Merivale on doing so stated that he was directed to subjoin a paper which was drawn up shortly before the passing of the Act and explanatory of the reasons for its introduction, and this paper the law officers perused before they gave an opinion upon the scope of the Statute which they were called upon to construe. The Bill in its progress through Parliament had undergone changes. There were provisions in the Bill as introduced for the transmission of persons charged with offences within the jur- isdiction of the Admiralty from one colony to another or to England, but these provisiorj had been withdrawn. The law officers do not say that the document submitted to them is wholly inadmissable as an aid in construing the law. They do not say that they are at liberty to look at anything outside of the Statute itself On the contrary, they say " they have perused the several documents which have been transmitted to them." And it may be fairly assumed that the Earl Grey could hardly have directed Mr. Merivale to subjoin such n paper had it not been the practice of the law officers of the Crown to seek aid of this kind for the purpose of ascertaining with greater certainty the precise object intended to be accomplished by a constitutional statute. It will be observed that this paper did not contain the reawns of Parliament that enacted the law, but of the Ministers of the Crown who introduced it. It must have been assumed by Earl Grey that considering the relations between Miuistors * Tuney, Ch. J., in Ablemsn v. Booth, 21, UowptJ, U. f^. 8. C Rep., 516. FOLIC and Parliamei ministration oi in the passage of the Crown < wholly inadmii authoritative ii Acting up led to the intro order the bette: Polk It will be c along the bank c ba7iks of the JVii this one instance of Commons, the the amendment j various changes of the Aiississip] Merchants Advei barely possible tl But it is more r when the numerc trade are examin population from I peculiarity of the of Paris, the mid( possessions, but t of both crowns. half of the river b each nation could earned, as absolut framers of the Qu the Province, thej Mississippi." Hi Mississippi the we the bank of the ( •he authors of the 'be purpose of pi cerned, under the ( regarded the colon to prevent. They POLICY OF THE QUEBEC ACT AS AFFECTING THE OTHER COLONIES. 89 and Parliament any formal statement of the policy of a proposed meaeurr- relating to the ad- ministration of the Qovemment, is at le&st prima /octe evidence of the lAteniion of Parliament Id the passage of the measure ; and it cannot be supposed that a paper whioh the law oflScers of the Crown deemed useful in order to arrive at a proper understanding of the law,would be wholly inadmissible in any tribunal whioh might be called upon to give to the same law an authoritative interpretation. Acting upon these well-established rules, the circumstances have been briefly stated which led to the introduction of the Quebec Bill by Ministers, and its enactment by Parliament, in order the better to understand what the promoters of the Act purposed to accomplish. Ik';,:. ■i*» 1 1 i 'vM . POLIOT OF THE QUEBEO ACT AS AFFECTING THE OTHER CoLONIBS. It will be observed in the first section of the Quebec Bill, the southern boundary extends along the bank of the St. Lawrence, the bank of Lake Erie, the bank of the Ohio, and to the banks of the Mississippi. There must have been some reason for using the plural form in this one instance, and the singular iu the others. In the Bill as it came down to the House of Commons, the banks of the Ohio and the banks of the Mississippi were both used ; and in the amendment proposed by Mr. Burke the plural form is used in both cases ; and in the various changes in the phraseology in this section, we find the words, westward to the banks of the AJ ississippi, " and northward to the southern boundary of the territory granted to the Merchants Adventurers of England trading to Hudson's Bay," were not changed ; and it is barely possible that this part escaped observation, as the Bill was amended in the House. But it is more reasonable to suppose that the plural form was intentionally retained ; and when the numerous letters between officials in England and America relating to the Indian trade are examined, and when we observe how anxious they were to exclude the English population from the territory north of the Ohio, it is not unreasonable to suppose that this peculiarity of the Quebec Bill was intended to serve that purpose. By the Definitive Treaty of Paris, the middle of the Mississippi was mi ,'e the boundary between the English and French possessions, but the navigation of the whole river from bank to bank was free to the subjects of both crowns. Each had for the purposes of navigation and commerce, an easement in the half of the river belonging to the other, and a servitude upon its own. The Government of each nation could regulate the navigation of the river as far as its own subjects were con- cerned, as absolutely as if the river had been wholly within its own territory. Had the framers of the Quebec Act proposed to exclude the Mississippi, as they did the Ohio, from the Province, they ought to have used the same form of expression : — "to the bank of the Mississippi." Had it been proposed to do nothing more than to make the middle of the Mississippi the western boundary, the southern boundary would have been extended " along the bank of the Ohio to the Mississippi, and thence to the middle of the said river." But the authors of the Act used another form of expression, and they seem to have used it for the purpose of placing the navigation of the river, so far as British subjects were con- cerned, under the Government of Quebec. It has been shown that the Eng'ish Government regarded the colonization of the country north of the Ohio, as an evil vuich they ought to prevent. They believed that it would retard the settlement of Nova Scotia and Florida, ■\4: 90 POLICY OF THE QUEBEC ACT AS AEFECTING THE OTHER COLONIES. 4] .1 and expose these provinces to conquest by France and Spain ; that it would produce a popu- lation impatient of restraint, and producing for themselves all that was necessary for their own comfort, contributing nothing to the prosperity of the mother country, and beyond her effective control. They had promised the Six Nations and the Indians of thfi Ohio to expel the French from the country. 1* When this promise was made they seemed not to have 1 The iohabitantB ut' VinouDnen were by a proolamation iiiued the 8th of April, 1772, perenptortly oom- uanded to retire withiu the jurisdiotion of tbe Eoglisb Culonies. Ewery Frenob scttleineut was bostile to Eng- lish authority, and the policy of Lord Ilillgborough was to leave tbe country north of tbe Ohio and in tho vicinity of tho Lakes in the poj-ession of the Indians alone. — See Banori)ft's Hist. Vol V, ch. 47. ". . . . They likewise repeated our promises made at the oommenoement of the war of removing the Frenob and returning them tbeir lands, that our bund; should always be open to them if they would take mp the butchot, and that as we were a wealthy and traJing people we should be able to supply them with goods at a very reasonable rate ; all which they expeetud would have beon performed, but tboy find themselves greatly mis" taken, for instead of restering lands we were erecting more forts in many parts of tho country, notwithstand ing the French were dead (as they called it) and goods were still sold so dear that their warriors and women were very uneasy and apt to believe every bad report concerning the inteitions of the English " — Sir Wm. Johnson to Lords of Trade. "Your Lordships mii) please to observe by my letters before ..jued that I therein represented the iealeusy which the Indians in genernl entertained of the increasing power of the English through the insinua- tion of French Missionaries and others who had persuaded them that we proposed their entire extirpation, to which they in a great measure give credit trom our oooupying some old posts, and erecting new ones throagh- out their country, the necessity of which they could not discover since the reduction of Canada." Ibid, "I am apprehensive that our greatest care and precaution will scarcely be sufficient to prevent the French from supplying tbe Indians, our enemies, with ammunition by way of the Mississippi, as I woll know that dis- tance is little regarded by Indians." — Ibid. " The French .... trading to the Lakes, are, by reason of their influence and our inaccnty become factors for our traders, and amongst the Indians assume to themselves the merit of the'r ba^'ing any trade at all, tho better to eflfect whi?h they are making repeated application for liberty to go from tbe outpopts into the In- dian country where they know our traders must stand but a poor'chanee, and they have set up the Indiana to demand permission for that purpose ; by these methods, by their superior address and knowledj^e of the dif- ferent languages, they maintain their influence, enjoy the major part of the trade, whilst our traders are con- sidered as interlopers and have it not in their power to acquire the good opinion or even a proper acquaint- ance with the Indians. Nor can I see how this will be prevented with regard to tbe Frenob, who are now become British subjects, and will demand ali privileges as such — and what is still more injurious to our Commerce, and dangerous to our security is,that the French from New Orleans, Illinois, and Canada as before observed, arc continually in the Indian country to the westward with immense cargoes of goods, and perpetually instilling pernicious Sontiments into the minds of a credulous people, who believe all they say, whilst from misconduct or neglect on our part they are confirmed in their opinion Altnough the Spaniards should possess New Orluans, to,, and are a less active people, yet the French will still remain and act the same part under the Spanish (Jovernment which they practice under their own, whiht those at Illinois (now British subjects) having a property and interest in that country, and being all traders, will doubtless act in conjunction with them The French have already carried up cannon and are erecting a post near the mouth of the Missouri, where a Frenchman is now established who carries on a vast, extensive trade, and is acquiring )i great influence over all tbe Indian nations, whijb, with the French inhabitants at the Illinois, Assumption, Port Vinoent, Ouiatanon, Miamis, Detroit, •; iH' •t 1 2,500, there being nearly COO who bore arms ; and the number of dwelHbfr-houseB he states lit nearly three hundred. The colony extended along both the banks of the Detroit River for a distance of about eight miles. But it would seem from other sources, that the population was not so numerous as Major Rogers states it to be. Mante observes that, in 1764, there remained but a sufficient number of men to form three companies of militia ; and it is certain that at the taking of the census in 1768, thure wore but 572.* Michillimackinac was established by La Salle in 1679. It was always an important military post during the century that it was in the possession of the French. At the time of the conquest it contained about sixty families. The fort and settlement were upon the south shore of the Strait. One half the population resided within the palisades. They numbered between 400 and 500. Nearly all the , men of this colony had served in the French army.t Twenty miles to the west of Michillimackinac, at the entrance of Lake Michigan, there was an Indian village — L'Arbre Croohe — where there was a French mission, a fort, and a few French colonists. There were also a few settlers at Saut St. Mary.J At Green Bay there was also a French colony, which had been founded before 1680, ex- tending for several miles along both sides of the Fox River, There were at the time of the conquest between forty and fifty Frenoh and half-breed families at this point.§ The Colony of St. Joseph's was composed of persons who went thither from Detroit, and numbered about one hundred. || The Colony of Ouatanon, on the Upper Wabash, contained about 130 inhabitants ; but when this settlement was established is very uncertain, f Vincennes seems to have been first founded about the year 1710. M. de Vincennes was " Commandant au poste de Ouabaohe," which must have been this post, in 1735. It was situated upon the Wabash, 210 miles below Ouatanon, and contained, by the census of 1768, 427 inhabitants.** After the English went into the possession of the Illinois country, very many of the French population abandoned the country, and removed beyond the Mississippi River. We find, not long after the English had acquired possession of the country, the northern Super- intendent of Indian Afi'airs informing the Secretary of the Colonies that aconsiderable number had established a fort some distance up the Mississippi ; had mounted cannon, and supplied them- selves with such goods as were necessary to enable them to carry on a trade with the Indians. The population of Fort Chartres had diminished from 300 in 1764, to 15 in 1768, and St. Philip, from 150 to the same number. The total number in the Illinois country in 1768 • Banoroft'g Hiat., vol. V, ob. 38, Eng. Ed. Pitman's Miiaissippi, p. 4*. Mante'8 Hiet. Late War in M. America, p. 626. Rogem's Aooount of North America, p. 168. ■f Henry'* Travels, part I. X Alexander Henry's Travols. Oorell's Journal. g Wis. Hist. Col. vol. II, pp. 71, 93, 104, 106. H Croghan's Diary. ^ Ibid. Albaoh'B Ann "In the year 1716, the French population on tbe Wabash had beoome sufficiently numerous to oon- stituia an important settlement which kept up a laorative trade with Mobile, by means of traders and voya- geurr. . . In 1746 agriculture upu.i the Wabash whs etill flourishing, and tbe same year 600 barrels of flour were mauufaetured and shipped to tbe City of New Orleans, besides large quantities of hides, peltry, tallow and bees wax, " In the Illinois country also, the gettlements oontinned to increase ; so that in 1730 they embraced 140 Vrench families, besides about 600 oenverted Indians, aod many traders, Toyageurs, and Conreurs des bois. 96 ALTKUATION OK THE BOUNDARY 01" QUEBEC. Before dismissing this part of the subject, an observation or two may be made in refer- ence to the boundary a1)ove the sources of the Mississippi Kiver. It lias been before shown that a norlliward line may be drawn in any direction between north-east and north- west ; that if there be no reason either from there being a natural boundary or from the thing to be accomplished, in producing this line to one point upon this plane rather than to any other point, then through the center of this space — that is due north — is the moat suitable direction to draw the lino, not because the definition of the word requires it to he so drawn, but because the space over wldch the direction of the line may be varied ought in fairness to be evenly divided. But when it is stated to be the intention of the law to include the various French colonies and settlements, and when we see that some of these were upon the Assiniboine and Saskatciiewan Rivers, the line from the Mississippi north- ward must be 80 drawn as to include these ; and a line so drawn to the North Saskatcha- wan, together with that part of the Mississippi abov« the confluence with the Ohio, formed the western limit of the Province of Quebec under the Quebec Act of 1774. We shall next see what further changes were made by the Treaty of Versailles, of 1783, by tlie King's order in Council, forming the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, by the Constitutional Act of 1791, and by the treaty of London in 1794. Alteration op the Boundary op Quebec bt the Treaty op Versailles, oon- OLUDED BETWEEN GrEAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES, 1783. By the Second Article of the Treaty of 1783, the south-western part of Quebec was intended to be ceded to the United States of America. The boundary in that Article is described as follows : — " From the north-west angle of Nova Scotia, namely, that angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of the River St. Croix to the highlands ; along the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the north-westernmost head of the Connecticut River ; thence down along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude ; from thence by a line dvs west on the said latitude until it strikes the River Iroquois or Cataraquy [St. Lawrence] ; thence along the middle of the said river into Lake Ontario ; through the middle of the said lake until it strikes the communication by water between that lake and Lake Erie j thence along the middle of said water communication into Lake Erie ; through the middle of the said lake until it arrives at the water communication between that lake and Lake Huron ; thence along the middle of said water communication into Lake Huron ; thence through the middle of the said lake to the water communicat. a between that lake and Lake Superior ; thence through the Lake Superior, north of the Isles Royal and PhiUippeaux to Long Lake ; thence Kaskaakia, in iu best days under the French regime, was quite a large town containing 2000 or 3000 iohabi- taDt'4. But atter it passed from the Crown ot France, its population lor many years did not uxoeed 1500 auuls. Under British Dominion in 1773 it had decreased to 480 souls." Monette's Discovery aad Settleuie<ut the colonists of the south-west are not so designated. The name Canada, as applied to their country, was dropped, for the reasons already mentioned, and they are spoken of as subjects of France " within an extent of country." What the limits of Canada were under the French, upon the south and the west, we have already stated with sufficient precision. Wo have also shown how much of the vast region so called was retained by France under the Treaty of Paris. There was no mistake in making the limits of Upper Canada coincide with those of Canada, and we cannot, without wholly ignoring the distinctions designedly made between Canada and Quebec, confound them in the Proclamation, where -re must look for the limits of Upper Canada. It was ob- viously the intention of the King and his advisers to give to the Province of Upper Canad > more enlarged boundaries than it had as a part of the I*rovince of Quebec. If we look sit some of the State Papers of that period we shall discover why it was that the British Government intended to do something more than simply divide the Province of Quebec. By Article four of the Treaty of Versailles (17831, it was iigreod that " (Creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful im[)edinient to the recovery of the full value in ster ling money of all honn fide debts heretofore contracted." And by Article seven, it was agreed "That His Britannic Majesty sliall, with all conve- nient speed, . . . witlnlraw all his armies, garrisons, and tleets from the said Unitdl States, and from every port, place and harbour within the sauM.', leaving in all fortitica tions the American artillery that may be therein." In many of the States, so' ions impediments existeil to the collection of debts under .Vrticle four. In some of the States the feeling was such towards the expatriated loyalists that they dared not return to collect the sums that were due them. IJut in most eases the impediments were thrown in the way by the legislators of the States. They M'ere impediments created by the law, and such as the Treaty forbade. Congress had no power to com[)el the States to fidfil the previsions of the Treaty which had been concluded ; ami Great Britain, in consequence, declined to surrender tin; military posts within the United States frontier. Congress did not represent the people, nor could it act directly upon them. It coidd act oidy liyre(|uisitions upon the State governments ; and in many cases its demand- were little heeded. The Confederate Assembly was simply a diet of envoys that couM not carry into effect its own l)ehests. This was done only so fiir as the governments of the different States chose to enforce them. The new Republic was in great danger o dissolution from the absence of necessary agencies to give etiect to tlioso measures which i; had an undoubted right to pass. The feeling of hostility towards the loyalists who liad fought under Butler and McKee and others, was most intense, aiul the British Govern raent felt themselves bound in honour not to abandon them.^ And the military posts ' " The Comte (ilo VorgenDc?) p;iiil it was nut astonishing that fho Uritish Ministry ahouM iiitis! upon componsation to them (the loyalists), for th.it all the precedent? were in favour of it ; that there had been UPPER CANADA. 103 that were in the actual possession of the Enpjlish at the close of the war, were held as a security for the enforcement of the claims of colonial loyalists. At all events this was the case at the beginning, but we shall see that other considerations exercised a con- trolling influence at a later period. The Government of the United States were afraid that the country would never be yielded up to them. The English authorities, shortly after the peace, had become aware of their mistake, and they wanted a decent pretext for repudiating a boundary which oiiglit never to have been agreed to. The success of the United States during the war gave them no claim to any of the country north of the Ohio, except in the Illinois country. The various communications between the United States Commissioners and M. de Ver- gcnnes, made tliem aware of the fact that England had yielded them much more than France was willing they should possess. Spain was endeavouring to obtain possession of both banks of the Mississippi. The United States government were afraid of losing the (ountry north of the Oliio. They felt they must obtain at once the possession of tlu' military posts, or tlie country would be lost to them. Accordingly Mr. Adams, the rnitcd States Minister to Englatid, addressed the following memorial to Lord Carmarthen in reference to the withdrawal of the British troops from the territory of the United States :— " The subscriber. Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, has thi; honour to represent to the Ministry of His Britannic Majesty, that by the Seventh Article of the preliminary Treaty of Peace, lietween His Majesty and the United States fif America, signed at Paris on the thirtieth day of Novemlior, one thousand seven hun- Jrcd and eigiity two, confirmed by the Definitive Treaty of Peace, signed at Paris on the tliinl day of September, one thousand seven hundred and eighty three, it was stipulated that His Britannic Majesty should, with all convenient speed, and without causing any hstruction or carrying away any negroes or other property of the vVmerican inhabitauDS, vitlulraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets from the United States, and from every port, place, and harbour within the same, leaving in all fortifications the American artillery that may be therein. " That although a period of three years has elapsed since the signature of the Prelimin- ary Treaty, and of more than two years since that of the Definitive Treaty, the posts of Os- weaatchy, Oswego, Niagara, Presque Isle, Sandusky, Detroit, MichillimackiDac, with others !iot necessary to be particularly enumerated, and a considerable territory round each of them, ill within the incontestable limits of the said United States, are still held by British garrisons, f'1 the loss and injury of the said United States. " The subscriber, therefore, in the name and on behalf of the said Ur'ted States, and in "bedience to their cxpre^;s commands, has the honour to require of His F>ritannic Majesty's Ministry, that all His Majesty's armies and garrisons be forthwith withdrawn from the said 1 nited States, from all and every of the posts hereinbefore enumerated, and from every port. n oxumple of an affair tike thi', terminatol I'y a t-ciPly, \vith"ut re-osmblishing tliu^.! wliu had adiioied to the "'I jovcrnmunt in alt their poasossions. I lie^goil his incidoii in thi-. and said tli.it in Iirlnnd, at least, there ii il been a inultitudo of confisoations witlioiit rustitutii.i.''— Adams' Works, vol. Ill, p. 305. Adams, we sup- (030, refers to the losse* .sujiaino i by thos; who iiihi.i-.^i'dijihe forlui',-:? ni James II. ( 'I i- ! [u:ji 104 UPPER CANADA. place, and harbour \yithin the territory of the said United States, according to the true inten- tion of the treaties aforesaid. " Done at Westminster, this thirtieth day of November, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five. "John Adams."* * To this memorial Lord Carmarthen replied, on the 28th of February, 1786. He said : " I have to observe to you, Sir, that it is His Majesty's fixed determination upon the present, as well as upon every other occasion, to act in perfect conformity to the strictest principles of justice and good faith. The seventh Article, both of the Provisional and of the Definitive Treaties, between His Majesty and the United States, clearly stipulates the withdrawing with all convenient speed. His Maje.'ity's armies, garrisons, and fleets from the said United States. and from every port, place, and harbour within the same ; and no doubt can possibly arise- either respecting the letter or spirit of such an engagement. The fourth Article of the same Treaties as clearly stipulates that creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful iiiipedl- ment to the recovery of the full value, in sterling money, of all bona fide debts heretofore con- tracted. " The little attention paid to the fulfilling of this engagement on the part of the subjects of the United States in general, and the direct breach of it in many particular instances, have already reduced many of the King's subjects to the utmost deuree of tlifiiculty and distress. Nor have their applications for redress to those whose situations in America naturally pointed them out as the guardians of the public faith, been as yet successful in obtaining them that justice to which, on every principle of law as well as of humanity, they were clearly and in- disputably entitled. The engagements entered into by the Treaty ought to be mutual, and equally binding on the respective contracting parties. It would, thorefore, be the height o! folly, ii" well as injustice, to suppose one party alone obliged to a strict observance, while the other miglit remain free to deviate from his engagements as often as convenience might render such a deviation ncces.sary, though at the expense of its own national credit and importance. "+ General Wa-hingtou had some time before sent IJaron Steuben to get possession of De- troit. He gave the Baron orders, if he thought it advisablc,to embody the French of that place into a military force, and to place the town in their hands. General Haldimand declined to give him permission to enter the western country, and he was obliged to return to the United States.* In 1786, the United States was involved in a boundary dispute with Spain. The Spanish Governmcnf also refused them the liberty to navigate the lower Misr iisippi. The government and pedpKi df ilic ITnitod States argued that they had this right as a part of the British Empire under the Treaty of 1763, and having succeeded to the British possessions, along a consid- erable part of the left bank of the Mississippi River, they had not lost the rights which they had under the Treaty of Paris. After the war of 177G began, the Spanish Government iu- I'ormed the United States authorities that they regarded the territories named in the Hojal Proclamation of October, 17G3, as being "reserved for the present for the use of Indians, "a;- * Adame' Wdrks, vol. VIII. f Albaoh's Ann.als. X Simcoe MSS. Library of Parliament ; Qarneau, Vol. 11, p. 512. UPPER CANADA. 105 a fair subject of conquest, and as open to Spain to acquire as to the United States. They said that the territory west of the mountains and upon the cast side of the lower iMississippi. towards Georjjia and the Carolinas, was beyond the rccojj;nized limits of the thirteen colonies, and was as open to Spain to ac(iuirc by conquest or otherwise as it was to the United States.* TIk' Spanish merchants, after the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, continued to .send their goods into the Illinois country and up the Wabush to the Colony of Vincennes. They held possession of the Mississippi, and they sent their ji^un-boats into the Ohio. In October, 1780, a board of United States field officers t:arn'soned that point. They took all necessary sttps to give effect to this determination. Spanish merchandise was seized, ami they resolved that no .'Spanish i;oods snould bo permitted to ascend the .Mississippi unless Simiii pcrujitted the free navigation of that portion of the river which lies within Spanish territory.! The settlers of Kentucky were much divided. Some were for forminp; a new republic, >ome for an alliance, and some for a wnr with Spain, and not a few who were ready to sub- mit to the .soveroij::;nty of the British Crown, if the free navigation of the river could not ntherwise be secured.^ In a letter dated December 4th, 1786, written by one Thomas Green of Louisville, and widely circulated throughout the various States of the Republic, it is stated that " Great Britain .-tands ready, with oncn arras to receive and suj)port us. They have already offered tiio]ien their resources for our supplies. When once reunited to them, farewell, a Ions fare- well to all our boasted greatness. The Province of Canada [Quebec] and the inhabitants of tlie>e waters, of themselves, in time, will be able to conquer you. You are as ignorant of this I'luntry as Great Britain was of .Vmerica. These are hints which, if rightly improved, may lie of service ; if not, blame yourselves for the neglect."^ In 1787, the famous ordinance was adopted by Congre-s for the government of the coun- try north of the Ohio, providing for the formation of States in the future. Tiie policy conse ijuont upon this measure led to a wttr with the Indians. The existence of the Republic was onclangei'cd by a union of the Kiiglisii, Spanish and Indian interests, and by interested parties in Kentucky. In November, 1788, Dr. Connelly went to Kentucky from Quebec. He told Colonel ^Marshall that if the jieople in the Valley of the Ohio would assert their right to the navigation of the 3Iississippi, Lord Dorchester, the Governor-General of Quebec, and Com- iiiiinder-in-Chief of the Briti.sh forces in America, would assist them ; that hehtid nearly six thousand British troops in the Provinces ; that he was prepared to furnish them with arms, ammunition, clothing and money ; that with this assistance they could take New Orleans, for- tify the mouth of tlic river, and hold it again.st Spain. || The British authorities in Canada I'tessed upon the Colonial Minister the propriety of establishing, 'vith the consent of the Span- i-h authorities, a fortified trading-post west of the Mississippi, and nearly opposite the mouth ppp? ■ 1*: , :}i Pitkin's History of t)io United Stntos, Vol 11, p. 92; Lito of John .Jay, Vol. I, p. inS; JcffersouV CorrejpondcncG. + .Secret Journals Vol. IV, pp. fi:M32, 297-301 ; Miirehall's History of Kuntiioky, Vol. I, ; thr I'ckci; inis ttiijunl, would have been mended or n ;«''■ one drairn in ;in amicable manner, but here also 1 have been disappointed. Since tny return T find no appearance of a lino remains ; and from the manner in which the people of the United States rush on and act and talk on this side, and from what I learn of their conduct towards the sea, I shall not be surprised if we are at war with them in the course of the present year ; and if so a line must bo drawn by the warriors. " You talk of selling your lands to the State of New York. I have told you that there is no line between them and us. I shall acknowledge no lands to be theirs which have been encroached on by them since the year ITS.'i. They then broke the peace ; as they kept it not on their part, it doth not bind on ours. They then destroyed their right of pre-emption. Therefore all their reproaches towards us since that time, and all the purchases made by them, I consider as infringement on the King's rights. And when a line is drawn between them and us, be it in peace or war, they must lose all their improvements and houses on our side of it. Tho,se people must all begone who do not obtain leave to become the King's subjects.":;; * Letters of Lord Dorchester, Lieute Kin t Governor Simcoi.', Right lion, lleniy Diuilns, .Mr, Brii''o Captain Stevenson, Mr. liamniin 1 iinil others, in the Simcoo Papers, MSS. t Siiuooe Piipors, MSS, Sr.niui's Lilt uf liriii'lt. X Alljaoh's Annals, p. (lliS. UPPER CANADA, 107 Tn April, 1794, Governor Simcoe was sent to the Rapids of the Miamis to erect a fort there to prevent the encroachments of the Americans. A considerable correspondence passed between the Enptlish Ministry and the Governors of the Provinces and other military men ill British America in reference to a new international boundary. It was proposed that a wick' stretch of country south of the lakes should remain in possession of the Indians ; that the Americans should hold the territories to the south, and the English to the north, of this Indian territory. The boundary was to be so drawn as to leave the English in possession of the lakes. Sir Henry Dundas directed Lord Dorchester to communicate to him his views with regard to a boundary favourable to the interests of British America. Lieutcuant-Governor Simcoe was required, should the United States troops undertake to pass north of the forts, " to repel force by force, as both shores of the lakes are in His Majesty's possession."* It is not necessary to refer further to the correspondence for the purpose of showing that the boundary line formed by the Treaty of 1783 was not regarded at the establishment of the Province of Upper Canada in 1791, by the Crown or its advisers, as a subsisting international Imundary ; that the J^nglish ministry intended to include the Indian country south of thtit houndiiry within the limits of Upper Canada, can be easily shown. Reference need only be mailc to a fuw official acts and a few facts of history as conclusive upon this point. When Upper Canada was constituted, at the first general election, a writ was issued by the Lieutenant-Governor, inviting the electors of the Town of Detroit to return a representative to the Legislative As- •Hubly of Upper Canada. They did so. And Detroit was represented in that Assemlily until after the ratification of the Treaty of 179-4. Why was Detroit so represented] Oh- nously because, as the Governor-General, Lord Dorchester, declared, there was no longer any boumlary between the United States and the British possessions, and because, by the pro- clamation of 17',)1, it was intended to include all the British possessions south of the Hud- ■^on s i}ity country and west of Lower Canada, in tiie Province of Upper Cantida. The Upper L'anad;i Legislature provided for the establislnnent of permanent Courts at Detroit and at Micliillimackinac as being places within the limits of the I'rovince, and these Courts were •stablished by the Government of the Province. By the second Article of Jay's Treaty, Great Britain agreed to withdraw from the posts which she held south of the line of 1783, on or before the 1st day of June, 1790; and it was not until two days after the expiration of the time so fixed that the Legislature of Upper Canada passed an Act repealing the law provid- ;ni; for the holding of Courts at Detroit and Jlichillimackinac. Officers of the civil government, too, were managing public afl"airs, and administering justice at Viirious other points south of the boundtiry of 1 78:>, in ttie same manner as under the Act of 1" 4. There was a Lieutenant-Governor of Detroit, and another at Michillimiickinac down to the time of the establishment of the Province of Upper Canada; but after 1791, the ap- [ointineiit of magistrates at these places was made by Governor Simcoe, not as the chief mili- tsry otFieer of the west, but as Governor of Upper Canada, as will be seen from the following letter : — Navy Hall, 22nd June, 1793. 8ir, — His Excellency Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe directs me to acquaint you that lie lias been pleased to appoint you a magistrate, and has ordered the Secretary of this Province hi Simooc Paper.-- MSti. 108 iW'. V Ul'PEU CANADA. t. :: to transmit you a commission for that purpose. I am to request you to be so kind as to .send by the first convenient opportunity to the Attorney. General of this Province, residina; at Niagara, the best ovidenae and depositions possible respecting M.M. Langdale (Langladei and Gautierc, (Gaulthier dc Niverville) of the Indian Department. . . . I am etc., etc., E. R. ilTTLEHALES. Captain Doyle, 24th Regiment, Commanding at Michilliuiackinac*. Those facts show very clearly that Upper Canada extended to the south and west of the boundary of 1783, as far as the adverse possession of the United States would permit. Thc- lUinois country was not practically included, for it had been in the possession of the United .States from the time that it had been con<|uered by Colonel Clark of Virginia. But the British held the entire ba,«in of the Great Lakes and the Valley of the Mississippi north of the Illinois country. The Government of the United States had been successful in their war with the Indians. In 1794 the Western Tribes wore defeated by General Wayne, and the time came when the Canadian authorities were obliged to advise the Indians to make peace or to assist them by force of arms. The position was critical. England was already involved in war with the French Republic, The policy of repairing the blunders of 1783 was given up ; and a new treaty commonly known as Jay's Treaty was agreed to by the two govern- ments. The treiity of 1794 confirmed the separating line established by the Treaty of 1783. 15ut it .secured fo the King's Canadian subjects the privilege of carrying on the fur trade within the territories of the United States. By Article II. it is agreed that " His Majesty will withdr.iv all His troops and garrisons from all parts and pl.iccs within the Boundary lines assigned by the Treaty of Peace to the United States. This evacuation shall take place on or before the first ih\y of June, 179(i. and all the proper measures shall in the interval be taken by concert between the Government of the United States and His Ma jcsty's Governor-General in America, for settling the previous arrangements which maybe necessary respecting the delivery of the said posts ; the United States in the mean time at their discretion extending their .settlements to any part within the said boundary line except within the precints and jurisdiction of any of the said posts. All settlers and traders within thi precints or jurisdiction of the said posts shall continue to enjoy unmolested all their pro- perty of every kind, and shall be protected therein. They .shall be at full liberty to remain there or to remove with all or any part of their efiFects ; and it .shall also be free to them to sell their land, houses or efiFects, or retain the property thereof at their discretion ; such of them as shall continue to reside within the said boundary lines shall not be compelled to become citieens of the United States or take any oath of allegiance to the government thereof, but they shall declare their election within one year of evacuation aforesaid ; and all persons who shall continue there after the expiration of the said year, without having declared their * Simcoc Papers, MS9. 1 The Government of the United Ptato» noted upon tie assumption that the boundary of 1783 was a continuoutily subsisting boundary, and the laws of Upper Canada which wero extended over a eonsidorable portion of tho territory covered by the congressional ordinance of 1787, were, after the territory came into I'oesession of the United States treated as null. ' I..' UPPER flANADA. lOf) intention of remaining subjects to His Britannic Majesty, shall be oonsidered as havinir elected to become citizens of the United States." By Article III. it is agreed that " it shall at all times be free to His Majesty's subjects, ind citizens of the United States, and also to Indians dwelling on either side of the boundary line freely to pass or repass, by land or inland navigation, into the respective territories or country of the two parties on the continent of America (the country within the limits nf the Hudson's Bay Company only excepted), and to navigate all lakes, rivers and waters thereof, and freely to carry on trade and commerce with each other. But it is understood that this Article does not extend to the admission of vessels the United States into the sea-ports, harbours, bays or creeks of His IVIajesty's said territories, nor into such parts of the rivers in His Majesty's said territories as are between the moutii thereof and the highest port of entry from the sea, except in small vessels trading houa fida between Montreal and Quebec under such regulations as shall be established to prevent the [lossibility of any frauds in this respect ; nor to the admission of British vessels from the sea into the rivers of the United States beyond the highest ports of entry for foreign vessels from the sea: the River Mississippi shall, however, according to the Treaty of Peace, be entirely opened to both parties " The rights which were secured to Canadian traders by this treaty remained in force until after the war of 1812. At that time, Michillimakinac, Green Bay and Prairie du Chien were captured by the British, and the inhabitants of these places actively supported the English forces in 1814, still regarding themselves as British subjects. They subsequently endured no small amount of harsh treatment at the hands of United States officials for having taken part with the British in the war.' It now becomes necessary to consider how the country west of Lake Superior was retrarded at this time. Between the period of the fall of Quebec and the year 1766, the trade by the lakes and the St. Lawrence was greatly interrupted by the Pontiac war. Few of the old French commanders remained in the country. They were, as we have seen, men of education with strong national feeling, and for the most part officers of the army ; and they withdrew from Canada when it became a British possession. There were a few, how- ■H * i'rl 1 "It is a matter of history that the British took Mackinaw ami subjected its dependencies to their gov- ernment, including all the afore-mentioned places (Sault Ste. Mario, Prairie du Chion and Green Bay). 'The most part of the inhabitants ' wore ignorant Canadians, who supposed themselves British subjects, not aware 'hat if they did not, within a year, choose, iis stipulated in the Treaty of 1794, to continue British subjects, they became American citizens; and when the British Qovernment took military possession of the country luring the war of 1812-15, the military ofBcers in command considered them as British subjects, and ordered them to ilo military duty as militia. They were a conquered people, and feeling that they owed no allegiance to the United Slates, took up arms in obedience to the orders of the British officers. There were some among them intelligent enough to know their position, but had they claimed to bo American citizens and refused to lake up arms, surrounded as they were by hostile Indian?, they would not have been sa;^, dspeoially as the British officers did not believe in a British subject expatriating himself, and of course there was no law of the Dnitel States in the conquered country to submit to. Notwithstanding all these circumstances being known to the officers of the army stationed at Sault Ste. Marie under Major Cutler, they got up a remonstrance to the Government, representing these people as traitors, in consequence of which the patents [for tlio land.s I ^hich bad been long in their possession] were delayed, to the great annoyance and sometimes to the great : injury of the claimants." — Hon. James H. Lockwood, of Prairie du Chien. Wisconsin Historical Collection, 'ol. I, pp. U8, 117. 110 UPPER CANADA. 'r . ever, who remained behind, and whose names we find years later connected with the fur trade of the north-west.' Captain Carver, who visited the country north of Lake Superior in 17G7, says that on the waters which fall into Lake Wiiinipcf; "the nei<.'hbouring nations take ^rcat numbers of excellent fi rs ; some of these they carry to the factories and settlements belonj^inir t^ Hudson's Bay Company, situated above the entrance of the Bourbon River ; but this thev do with reluctance on several accounts ; for some of the Assinipoils and Killistiiioes, wlm usually traded with the Company's servants, told me that if they could be sure of a con- stant supply of floods from Michilimakinac, they would not trade anywhere else." The fur trade had been revived by the English of Canada and New York immediate]', after the peace. Messrs. Henry, Tracy, Solomons, and Bostwick are mentioned in HenryV Travels as being present iit Michillimakinac at the time the garrison was massacred, having tione there for the purpose of carrying on trade with the Indians. Under the French Government the fur trade was subjected to a variety of rcgulation- which were established and enforced by the authority of the King, or by the Governor ol Canada.* The remains of this system were preserved upon the advice of the Indian Depart meat after the conquest. No person was allowed to go into that portion of country lyinj.' to the north-west of Detroit without a license. And the exclusive right of trade in particular districts was sometimes granted to particular individuals by the military commanders at the posts, or by the Governor of the Province.f We find in Henry's Travels, that in 17G.) lie enjoyed the exclusive right of trade upon the shores of Lake Superior, in virtue of a license obtained from the Commandant at Fort Michillimackinac ; and in 1781, Messrs. Grant and Dunn obtained a license to trade for fourteen years at the posts of the north-west. J When the English began to engage in the fur trade of the north-west, they employed the covreurs des hois to convey their goods to the Upper Mississippi and into the north-west terri- tories. The trade by the way of the lakes was rapidly resuscitated, and extended from tL Missouri River to the Polar Sea, and westward to the Eocky Mountains. One of the Engli
  • '. V Hist. Doc, and in the Quebec MSS. t Sir Wm. Johnson's Correspondence. Hcriry's Travels, 1761-1776. X Upper Canada MSS. inter|ircter.s, \ advent II re in i tion prevailed necessity of ui ili:iii> by annu .small-pox, whi the trade at C neiL'libours, an country. I w tribe have four try, where thej obliged to give Company, have pany will estal (]iaus."t Fror themselves in tl The coum journey from L Pond, whom he on the north sii Messrs. Joseph posed a fleet of ( Cumberland Ho Jigree.s and lOi 1774, and was a ';iys that M. Ci Pond to Fort D the time of the at Beaver Lake ; old wintering grc tioned at Fort D In the year basca at Portage north, and longit Thomas Fro Isle a la Croix, i Mr. Peter P 'liem to enter En Wa. He enca \ basca, where he p ' Mackenzie's ]I + itearne's Jour : Henry's Tmve ^^ UPPER CANADA. Ill *► interiirctor.s, went to Fort Bourbon, on the Saskiitchewan, nn/e.'< west of th» Rocky Mountiiins, and that J. J. Astor sent out from Mackinac into the Unitcl States territories, in 181(5, at least l.SOO traders and voyagours. Mr. Biddlo says th-.t from Mackinac ' !ip fitted out two hundred and forty boats, each one containing from four to six hands " and two traders. " The tiro traders were only for unc year, Conjtross hiiving by law forbidden foreigners being licensed to trade with Indians. All his triKltrs htui hitherto hav. Cauadianx, Astor was compelled that year to send Uniteil Sfnlcf oiticens, and sent out two hundred young clerks from oily counting-bouses of whom to make Indian traders. As they knew nothing of traffic, Astor had to send his old traders with them as hands." Wisconsin Hist. Col. vol I, p. 61. t Testimony of McDonell and Dawson in 1857. t « «»' UPPER CANADA. 115 The Hudson's Bay Company, finding their trade at Churchill and York Factory out off by the Canadian establishments north of the Saskatchewan, and their trade in the vicinity of James' Bay, damaged by the Canadian trading posts in the vicinity of Lake Nipegon, acted upon the advice of Hearne and established posts in various parts of the north-west territory. This they did not venture upon doing this for more than twenty years after the country ceased to be a possession of France. They left the shores of Hiiason's Bay in 1774, and established a trading post on the east bank of Sturgeon Lake, in latitude 53° 56' north, and longitude 102° 15' west, ''"ley followed the North- West Company wherever they made an establish- ment, but in no instance did the Canada fur traders follow them. The North-West Company soon extended their posts beyond the Rocky Mountains, and upwards of three hundred Cana- dians were employed in carrying on a traffic over the country between Lower California and Russiat America. The Hudson's Bay Company were far less enterprising than their rivals. Until the two Companies were amalgamated they paid their agents fixed salaries, while the aforth America," or of any lands or territories belonging to any foreign State. The license granted was for twenty-one years. West of the Rocky Mountains, it was not exclu.sive of citizens of the United Slates. This license did not apply, as will be seen from its terms, to the unsettled parts of Upper Canada. As a matter of fact many of their establishments were within the limits of the Province, but they were held simply because they, were distant and difficult of ac- cess, and the Government of Canada did not take the trouble to assert what I think must be regarded as an undoubted right, to the country. From what has been so far stated, it will be seen, that as enrly as 1^556, the French visited the western part of Lake Superior, and traded with the Indians who resided some distance to the westward; that Du Lhut, with his cw^ar/fo', explored the country westward * Rit,'ht Hon. Edward Ellice before Committfe of the House of CominonH on Hudson Bay Couiininy'K Pus8esHion8 ; answer to Q. 5784. i ' j ii.- 'H w i- JL w 118 UPPER CANADA. m 'if fir It • ;!• to the Mississippi, and northward to the liead waters of Lake Nepigon j that GrosseUers went westward by the way of Pigeon River, to the Red River district, as early as 1666, and from thence explored the Ijects of another State. Lord Selkirk and his friends, with a view of giving colour to the violent and unjust usurpations of himself and the Company, sought to leave the impression that the French half breeds who resided in the north-west — the descend- ants of the wood-runners and traders who had accompanied Verendrye and his successors into that country, — were only known there since the establishment cf the North-West Company ; but the fact is that when the traders first penetrated into that country, after the conquest of Canada, they found it overrun with persons of this description, '• some of whom were then the chief leaders of the different tribes of Indians in the plains, and inherited the names of their fathers, who had been the principal French commandants and traders of the district. " A gentleman who was formerly engaged in the Indian trade, and who was lately in London, informed the author that when he first visited the Red River, in the year 1784, he was stopped near the forks by some of these half-breeds, or Bruise Chiefs, who told him that he could only trade in that country by their permission ; and, as the price of such permission, they exacted from h m goods to the value of above £400. This gentle- man found, at the Upper Red River, Mr Orant, the father of the half-breed Grant men- tioned in the narrative, who had paid a similar tribute for permission to trade."* Upon what ground can a valid claim to that country be set up in favour of the " Governo; say that tl respect, mi unknown i nsited the Crown set contrary w granted, an right to cor claimed by of traffickin tury before land? The was not a j claimed the Laye makes The Charter be acquired ancc was m£ subjects wis it was in his reignty, accc hind and of of country — tain parallels of sovereignt land and Ho^ in no instanc subjects as p: Government France, and i Hudson's Bai is so weak as fully and trul stood of all ; indeed, to an; It is tru< of Adventurei tory in the pc is, that he did subjects, and * Occurrences iu North America, 1817, p- 150. I "A chartei tho Joil."— Lordi UPPER CANADA. 119 .^ I " Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay ? " To say that the Company's charter is valid, is beside the question. The charter, in one respect, must be regarded as a commission to make discoveries, and to take possession of unknown regions on behalf of the English Crown. A few English navigators had before \isited the Bay, but it can be shown that, until the charter was applied for, the Crown set up no claim to Hudson's Bay and the adjacent country. But if we suppose the contrary were true — that the British Government had, at the time the charter waa granted, an undoubted right to the whole coast, — how could that give to the King the right to convey lands a thousand miles away from its shores which had already been claimed by the King of "France, had been visited by some of his subjects for the purpose of trafficking with the Indians, and over which he exercised jurisdiction for nearly a cen- tury before it was ever visited by those who professed to hold it from the King of Eng- land 1 The grant of the territories named in the Charter of the Hudson's Bay Company was not a grant of lands in the actual possession of the Crown. The King of France claimed the shores of Hudson's Bay as a part of Canada. The Treaty of St. Germain-en- Laye makes no reservation of any lands north of Canada as the possession of England. The Charter of the Hudson's Bay Company was a prospective conveyance of a country to be acquired by the discoveries and settlements to be made by those to whom the convey- ance was made. The Crown had it not. The King wished to extend his dominions ; his subjects wished to possess the countrj. lie granted to them right of property, so far as it was in his power to do so, in order that they might acquire for him the rights of sove- reignty, according to the recognised principals of Public Law. The Sovereigns of Eng- land and of France granted many charters in North America, conveying immense tracts of country — some of them stretching across the continent from sea to sea, between cer- tain parallels of latitude, yet they never were regarded as • furnishing conclusive evidence of sovereignty.' Differences arose between England and France, and also between Eng- land and Holland, as to the limits of their respective possessions in North America, but in no instance did any one Government accept a charter granted by another to its own subjects as proof of its superior claim to the territory in dispute. When the French Government referred to the charter granted in 1628 to the Company settled in New France, and asserted that all the Bay of the' North was comprehended in the grant, the Hudson's Bay Company replied that when they grant places unknown to them, " nobody is so weak as to think that anything passeth by those grants but what the King is right- fully and truly possessed of or entitled to, for nemo dat quod nan luibet is a maxim under- stood of all ; but the French would have no bounds to Canada to the northward, nor, indeed, to any parts of their dominions in the world, if they could." It is true that the charter granted l)y Charles 11. to the " Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay," does not profess to grant terri- tory in the possession of the subjects of another Christian Prince, but what is contended is, tliat he did claim to grant an extensive region not in the possession of himself or his subjects, and that by such a grant he could not bar the subjects of France from acquiring i I " A charter without posseesion can never be allowed by the Law of Nations to obange the property of the ."Oil."— Lords of Trade to the King, 8th Sept., 1721. n .. > 1 '-11 N". .;' r^ 120 UPPER CANADA. the territory which he professed to convey, any more than the King of France could bar the English by the charter of 1628. Each might make, according to the laws of his own kingdom, a conveyance of what he possessed ; but neither could, by such a conveyance shut the other out of an unexplored and unoccupied region ; nnd this is precisely what the Hudson's Bay Company claim Charles II. did in granting them a charter. Upon what principle of right, or of Public Law, can it be maintained that the Sovereign of a European Kingdom could convey all the territory in North America, not in the pos- session of any other Christian Prince or his subjects 1 What authority or power did Charles II. possess that could make a charter of this kind from him of any more value than the charter of the French King to his subjects 1 Why would not the maxim nemo dat quod 11011 hahet apply as strongly to the grant of 1670 as to that of 1628 ? Such grants add nothing to the title of the Government, and were useful only in so far as tliey served to promote early discovery and settlement. The respective rights of the two Governments were, apart from the fortunes of war, defensible only upon grounds of prior discovery, followed by occupation in some way or by some other act which, according to the usages of nations and the moral sense of mankind, creates a superior claim to the sover- eignty of the country in dispute. Can it for a moment be supposed that the King of Eng- land could lock up the country within the western borders of Canada by a charter granted to some of his subjects who, for a hundred and thirty-five years, never visited the country ? ' Whoever has taken the trouble to look into the policy of granting charters like this, must be aware that they were not usually given because the country belonged to the Government or sovereign that made the grant, but, as has already been said, that it might become theirs or his by the subsetjuent diligence of those to whom the grant was made. In the history of Eng- lish colonization, there are many instances of prosjjective grants of this kind ; but their validity as against any foreign prince or his subjects, must depend on this — who first per- formed those acts which by the law of nations are held to constitute a title to the sovereignty of the country? The charter must be put out of view. Its contents signify nothing in the discussion. It is simply an act of one of the parties which, in itself, is not even an element which goes to make up the rights of sovereignty.* 1 Tho History of the Virginia Charters will show how these grants were regarded by the Crown; — The first charter of Virginia was grnnteil on the 10th April, 160fi. It extended along tho sea coast from 34" N. L. to 40° N. L., but only fifty miles inland ; the second charter was executed on the 23d of May, 1609. It oonvejed the land from " Point Comfort all along the coast South for 200 miles ; and all ths space and cir- cuit of land lying from the soa coast of tho precinct aforesaid, up into tho land throughout, from sea to sea, West and North-west ; and also all the islands lying within 100 miles along the coast of both seas from the precinct aforesaid." The third charter was dated 12th March, 1612, and annexed to Virginia all the itlniuls within 300 leagues of the coast. Previous to granting these charters, Virginia was understiod to extend from 34' N. L. to 45" N. L., and from tho Atlantic indefinitely Westw.ard. The throe Royiil charters wore vacated by a writ, quo warranto, in 1626, Without making any alteration in its original boundarie?, a commis?ion was -:ibti (or its government by officers under the King. Keith's Virginia, Pt. I, pp. 53, 141. Subsequently, '.. were made to Colvert and Penn within the chartered limits of Virginia. Tho history of all these . '• \.i, ,?rantfld prior to actual poBsossion, shows very plainly how they were regarded. They were so much . *: ■ ^iii-chment unless the Crowu acquired a title through those to whom the grant was maile. a the cases of the two patents by Henry VII. to John Cabot; the patent by Eliiaboth to Sir Ilumph- My ...usrt; and that to the London Company by James I. Biddle's Memoir of Sebastian Cabot, p. 75. Hakluyt, vol. Ill, pp. 30, 31, 174-176. Uaiard's Hist. Col., Vol. I, pp. 61-58. Ketth's Virginia, Pt. I, p. 141. Mi UPPER CANADA. 121 The usual policy in granting chartnrs of this kind was to convey the widest possible ex- tent of territory ; not because it was an act which limited in any way the right of acquisition by another sovereign ; not because another could be estopped from conveying in like manner a title equally valid to his subjects ; but for the purpose of extending his dominions by stim- ulating those to whom the grant was made, to explore the country, and to take possession of it, by the sovereign's authority, and on his behalf. The French King did, as we have seen, exorcise his prerogative of making similar grants to his people. While the English adven- turers rested upon the shores of Hudson's Bay, and slept upon their prospective rights, the French boldly pressed forward and took possession of the interior. France had possession of the country to the Rocky Mountains, and north to the Saskatchewan, at the time of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, but no complaint was made by the English that she had encroached upon British territory. The whole of the north-west, was, to the Hudson's Bay Company, and to the British people and Government, an unknown land. The maps of that portion of America published by British geographers were simply copied from the maps of the French. There had been no act of any kind, formal or informal, of any Englishman, which gave, or could give, to the Crown of England any grounds upon wiiich it could found a claim to the sovereignty of the north-west, prior to its cession by the Treaty of Paris. The Company for 135 years rested upon the rights which a contested claim from the King of P]ngland to the exclusive possession of the Straits and Bay of Hudson, gave thera. While they did so, another people against whom their charter could oppose no legal obstacle, occupied the interior. It was accessible to them from another quarter, and the Company did not enter the north-west part of Canada for eleven years after the Treaty of Paris, nor the Red River dis- trict for forty years after the transfer took place. It has now been shown that the country claimed and acttially possessed by France, extended from the Alleghany Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean upon the east, to the borders of Mexico and the Rocky Mountains upon the west, and from the Gulf of Mexico on the south to the northern watershed of the Saskatchewan upon the north ; that so much of this territory as lay north of the Ohio and Missouri Rivers, except the Illinois country, vras designated by the French as Nouvelle France, or Canada; that, in 1763, France ceded this country to England, retaining that portion of Canada which was west of the Mississippi River ; that the boundaries of the Canada that England obtained from France extended southward to the New England Colonies, New York and the Ohio River, and westward to the Mississippi ; along the Mississippi to its source, then due west in the latitude of Lake Itasca to the Rocky Mountains and northward beyond the Saskatche- wan ; that, in 1763, a small Province was formed upon the St. Lawrence by Royal Pro- clamation, called the Province of Quebec ; and that the various French Colonies and settlements west of this Province, were governed by the Commandants of the garrisons sent amongst them; that, in 1774, the Quebec Act extended the boundaries of the Pro- vince of Quebec southward to the Ohio, and westward to the Mississippi ; that in many of those settlements which, before the passing of the Quebec Act, were without any civil government, Lieutenant-Governors were appointed, and civil government superseded the military government which before had prevailed. The debates in P.trliament upon the Bill show that both its supporters and opponents understood the Bill, if carried, would h\ n •m^ 1 fci; H 122 NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF ONTARIO. t ■:!''' •' extend the boundaries to the Mississippi River. That the Act was so understood by the colonies is shown by the manifesto of Congress to the English people ; that it was so understood by the Law Officers of the Crown is obvious from the Governor's Commission ; and that it was understood by Lord Shelburne and other leading noblemen, in opposition to the Government, is made apparent by the debate upon his motion for the repeal of the Act in 1775. It has been shown that when Upper Canada was created by an Order in Council, iu August, 1791, England held the greater portion of Quebec south of the boundary fixed by the Treaty of 178.3; that she did not regard the line then established as a sub- sisting boundary ; and that when Upper Canada was formed she intended to include, and did in fact include, the country south of this boundary as a part of the Province which was held as such, until the line of 1783 was re-established by the Treaty of 1794 ; that Upper Canada was not intended to embrace simply the western part of Quebec but th whole of the country to its utmost extent which had been before known as Canada ; that the Quebec Act carefully distinguishes between the Province of Canada and the Province of Quebec, and that there is no reason for holding that they were confounded by the Order in Council and the Royal Proclamation of 1791 ; and that the large population engaged in the fur trade of the north-west, the immense territory over which they ranged, and the acts of violence which had been committed, pointed to the necessity of embracing all Western Canada in the Province of Upper Canada, and that this was accordingly done. It now remains to point out the proper location of the northern boundary towards Hudson's Bay, under the Treaty of Utrecht. NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF ONTARIO. The sovereignty of the territory upon the shore of Hudson's Bay was a matter in dispute between the Crowns of Great Britain and France from the year 1670 until the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, when the French claims to the possession of Hudson's Bay and the adjoining country were definitely yielded to England. The location of the boundary line between the Province of Ontario and the Hudson's Bay country can be determined only by the proper construction of the 10th Article of the Treaty of Utrecht, and of the Order in Council of August, 1791. They must be in- terpreted in the light of contemporaneous events, and in accordance with the recognised principles of Public Law. 1517 — Cabot's Voyage. Hudson's Bay and Strait were discovered by Sebastian Cabot, who sailed thither under a commission from Henry VIII. of England, in the year 1517. He then entered the bay, which, ninety-three years later, took its name from Henry Hudson.* The French Commissioners appointed in 1750 to settle, in conjunction with Commissioners •Travayles in the East and West Indies, Eden and Willis, fol. 267. Bacon's History Henry VII. Hak- luyt, vol. Ill, pp 26, 26, 27. Chalmers' Political Annals, pp. 7, 8. Hazard's Hist. Col., vol. I, p. 9. Bid- die's Memoir, pp. 75, 85, 86. Anderson's History of Connecticut. SPPiflP frobisher's alleged voyages, 157fi, 1577, 1.578. 123 appointed by England, the possessions claimed by the two Crowns in America, alleged that " Cabot's voyage was of a ])rivate character, and could not, therefore, confer any pub- lic or political advantaiic upon England." The English Commissioners admit the sound- ness of the principle laid down by the French, but deny the accuracy of their statement in Cabot's case. " It would," said the English Commissioners, " be a circumstance favour- able to the interpretation the French Commissioners put upon the voyage, if Henry Vll. had not in his letters patent inserted words by which he reserved to himself and to his Crown, dominion and royalty in all the lands which shall be discovered or settled by Cabot." This discussion relates to the voyages of John Cabot and the earlier voyages of Sebastian Cabot, which ranged between 1496 and 1504, during the reign of Henry VII. Frobisher's Alleged Voyages — 1576, 1577, 1578. It is stated in a paper prepared by the Hudson's Bay Company for the purpose of establishing the right of the Crown of Great Britain to this Bay at the time they obtained their charter, " that Sir Martin Frobisher, in Queen Elizabeth's time, made three voyages to the said bay, in 1576, 1577, and 1578, and gave English names to several places there ; and that Captain Davis made also three voyages, and named other places in the bay." This statement is inaccurate. In the year 1576, Frobisher, who had long de.sired to start on a voyage for the discovery of a north-west passage to the east, regarding it, as he him- self declared, as, " the only thing of the world that was yet left undone by which a nota- ble minde might be made famous and fortunate," was gratified through the favour of the Earl of Warwick. He sailed from the Thames in command of three small vessels of ten, twenty, and twenty-five tons burden, respectively. The smallest of the three sank in a storm. The mariners on the second, fearing a similar fate, returned. Frobisher sailed in the remaining sloop to the entrance of Hudson's Bay. He landed on an island near the strait which bears his name, and took formal possession of it for Elizabeth, and returned to England. A stone was brought back from this island which, it was said, con- tained gold. A fleet was at once fitted out. Elizabeth who had done nothing more than express her good wishes at the first voyage, sent a large ship. This fleet, which went ill search for the northern Eldorado, did not advance westward a.s far as Frobisher had ilone in his little barque of twenty-five tons burden the year before. In his third voyage, a tieet of fifteen sail left upon the adventure, with one hundred persons as colonists. He readied the strait now called Hudson's. Frobisher thought that this strait led to the Pacific. As he was not seeking for geographical knowledge, but for the rich mines which were supposed to have been discovered upon his first voyage, he did not feel himself at liberty to sail further westward. He and his companions voyaged northward through flense fogs, amidst mountains of ice, again and again escaping destruction, they scarcely knew how ; so that, by the time they had reached the point of destination, those who were to colonize the islands between Hudson's Bay and Davis Straits, were most willing to return to England. The sailors were ready to mutiny. A cargo of black ore was car- ried back. The avaricious were disappointed, and science gained nothing by the adven- ture; Frobisher, perhaps, would have found his way into the bay, had he not felt that his duty as a mercantile agent forbade him sailing thither. He did not do so, and I fail to f ^ i'tl t i^mMK.^rKTH I ' 1 ' ( I , I- r. Ifivi ! t I!' j . I- 124 CAPTAIN Hudson's voyaofs, 1008-1 filO. discover in what way these voyages of Frobisher caii establish a title to territories which stretclied along a shore at least a thousand miles away. The discoveries of Davis were still more distant.* FREDKRrCK ANSCHILI) — EXPLORATION BY DENMARK. Hudson's Bay was explored by Frederick Anschild, a Danish navigator, who had >(;t out from Norway or Yclandia some years before, with a tle.sign, to find out a passage to Japan. He entered the strait which twenty or thirty yeais later was called Hudson's Strait. He wintered in Hudson's Bay and returned the next spring to Denniark.t 1 608-1 G 10— Captain Hudson's Voyagks. Captain Hudson sailed through Hudson's Strait int^^ Hudson's Bay, in the year 1010. He was at the time in search of a north-west passage to China and the east of Asia. He is often credited as being the discoverer ; and the English claim to the possession of the bay and the surrounding country has been, in part, based upon his supposed discovery. Baron La Hontan savs,J that Hudson, when ho made the discovery, was in command of a Dutch ship, and wlien he left the Bay he returned to Holland. But La Hontan is mis- taken. Hudson made four voyages in search of a highway to the east, vvliich La Hontan has carelessly confused. The first was in 1607, under the direction of a company of Lon- don merchants. He coasted the eastern shore of Creenland, and visited the Island ot Spitzbergen. He reached a latitude of eighty -two degrees, but was compelled, on account of the ice, to return. In 1008 he sailed a second time, and attempted to reach the East Indies by passing between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, but was not successful. Thf ardour of the London merchants was dampened by these failures, and they declined to incur further expense. Hudson repaired to Holland, where he was engaged by the Dutch East India Company. Through the influence of Moucheron, a small vessel, the Crescent, was placed under his command. She had a mixed crew of Dutch and English ; and in April, 1609, she put to sea in search of a north-west passage. In this, his third voyage, he sailed along the coast of Nova Scotia, southward to Sandy Hook ; he passed through the Narrows, discovered and explored the Hudson River, and gave to Holland a claim upon the country, which for more than half a century was known as New Netherland. He then sailed from America to Dartmouth. He had sent a brilliant account of his dis- coveries to the Dutch East J ndia Company. It was some time before his report reached Holland. When his employers heard of his arrival at Dartmouth, they instructed him to return at once to Holland ; but he was forbidden by the English authorities to quit his native country. The Government was jealous of the advantages which the Dutch had gained by Hud.son's discoveries, and the Crescent was detained for eight months in Dartmouth harbour. The Crescent reached Amsterdam in the summer of 1610, but the * Hackluyt, Vol. Ill, pp. 52-129; Pinkerton's Collection, Vol. XII, for an account of Frobisher's Ist, 2nd, and 3rd voyages; Kdceil de Voyages du Nord, Vol. V; Relation de la Baiedu Hudson, par M. Jt'eii'mie. + La llontan's Memoirs. i La Houtan'g MoDioirs. SI Dutch East inine the di,s( limits of th In IGli merchants, the Houthern when he cam himself upon iiccoinplish t, liad been m xpi'iug openec turn. The : before greatl Hud,son, will (ilaced in an his captain, a ice, the boat heard of. Such, in were made on public right b 1012, 1631 It is rcc( mouth of Nob land ; that Ut maud of Char bj Sir Tlioma asaiii took for the same year, For more bay having be; attached any i usually in sear In 1629, ( uutil the signin 1 On volt, eui aborder .a I'Ouest ^ laquello il donr Mais suirant lea troitdo Dai is, 1« Rmarquti tur la * N. Y. Hist t For ua ac H !C0 SIR THOMAS nUTTON, CAPTAINS IIAFFIN, BYLOT, FOX AND JAMES. 125 nutch Kast India Company wore not disposed to continue explorations which did not pro- uiisu the discovery of the long-looked-fbr north-west passage, and which wore not within the limits of their charter. In 1010 Hudson made his fourth voyage under the direction of a company of English merchants. Ho sailed from the Thames in " The Discovery." He passed Iceland, doubled the Houthern Cape of Greenland, and entered the straits which bear his name. He supposed when he Oiime upon the gulf that he had gained liis object. He explored the coast and found Iiiiusclf upon an inland sea. He still hoped to discover a western strait, and the better to iiccdinplish this object, he resolved to winter in the bay. For this no adequate prej)aration had been made. The suffering and privation upon the frozen coast were great. When spring opened the ship's supplies were exhausted. He was compelled to make ready for a re- turii. The .ship became incompassed with vast fields of ice. Many of the crew, who were heforc greatly dissatisfied on account of the hardships of the winter, now openly mutinied. Hudson, with his only son and seven of the crew, four of whom were sick at the time, were placed in an open boat. Philip Staffc, the ship's carpenter, asked leave to share the fate of ills captain, and the recjuest was granted to him. Just when the ship made its way from the ice, the boat with the ten men who bad been placed in it wa.s scat adrift, and was never after lioard of. Such, in brief, were the voyages of Captain Hudson, the first two and the last of which were made on behalf of English merchants. They had no official character, nor could any public right be based upon his discoveries.' 1G12, 1631 — Sir Thomas Button, Captains Baffin, Bylot, Fox, and James. It is recorded that Sir Thomas Button entered the Bay in 1012, erected a cross at the mouth of Nelson River, and took possession of the country on behalf of the Crown of Eng- lund ; that Captains Baffin and Bylot, sailed thither in 101.5; that (,'aptain Fox, by com- iiKind of Charles I., made a voyage to Hudson's Bay in 1031, and finding the cross erected by Sir Thomas Button, with the inscription nearly worn out, renewed the inscription, and airaiii took formal possession ; and that Captain James explored the southern part of the bay the same year, and gave to it his name.* For more than thirty years after the voyage of Captain Fox, there is no account of the bay having been visited by any English ship, nor does it soem thai the English Government attached any importance to its possession.! The ships that entered Hudson's Bay were usually in search of a north-west passage to China and the East Indies. In 1029, Quebec was taken by Admiral Kirk, and continued in possession of the English until the signing of the Treaty of St. Gormain-cu-Laye, March 29th, 1632. 1 On voit, 8ur quelques Cartes, qa'en 1619 Jean Munok, Danois pasaa le D6troit de Hudson and alia aborder a I'Ouest sur la Cflte opposite, qu'il y mouilla a I'ontriSe d'ane riTiore par les ,59 dtigtiB de Latitude, k laquello il donna le nom de Riyit're DanoiBe, le meme qui s'appelle aujourd'bui la Rivit-re de Chnrcbill. Mais suivant les Relatiuns qui parlont du voyn^^e do Jean Manck, il paroit qu'il faut oiiucher dans le De- troit de Davis, la Rivifcre oil il mouiela aet que ce Marin n'a pas entri.- dans le Detroit de Hudson. BeHin's R'marquei tur la Carte de L'Am^riqve Septentrioiialt, ji. 7. * N. Y. Hist. Dnc. vol. I, pp. 61, 148, 18S. Brodhead'a History of New York, vol. I, pp. 24, 35, 42. t For an account of Button's voyage, see Fox on a " North-west Passage," 4to, London, 1635. \\ { ii li I fi. ¥■ J. 126 TKHATY OF HT. OKUMAIM-KN-LAYK.. 1632— Treaty op St. Oermain-en-Laye. By Article Three, it was na;roed that the Kinj^of Great liritain nhould give up nil places in New Franco, Acndia and Canada; that Fort Iloyal, the Fort of Quebec and the Island of Capo Breton should be restored ; and, as France had in lier charters in l»J2(i included in Canada the whole country about [fud»on's Hay, it would ueoin that England in 1632 made no eluitn to that country. » 16GG — Des Grosselliers' Prooeedinos. It ho8 already been stated that Des Grossellicrs accompanied the Indians from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson's Bay in the year 166G.* IIo and his companion Radisson returned to Quebec and sought to secure privileges, first from the Government of Canada and then from the French King himself, and having failed in obtaining what they desired they went to England upon the advice of Lord Preston, where they had better success ; they succeeded in inducing several noblemen and merchants to undertake n trade with the Indians in the vicinity of Hudson's Bay. Gflham's VoYAflE. In 1667, after the visit of Radisson and Des Grossellicrs to London, Ziichary Gilhain. a New Englander, in the interests of some London merchants, sailed through Hudson's Straits to the southern end of the bay and erected a fort at the mouth of Rupert's River, Thia was the first fort built upon the shore of the bay. IGGD— Capt. Newland's Visit. In the year 1609 another voyage was undertaken by the same adventurers; and one Captain Newland was sent by them to the mouth of Nelson River. (During a voyage Captain Gilham was frozen up in Rupert's River from the 9th of December, 1G68, until April 1669. From this it would appear that a voyage was also made in 1668.) 1670 — Charter to Hudson's Bay Company. In 1670 Charles IT. granted a charter to those who had, during the two or three pre- vious years, been engaged in the Hudson's Bay fur iv,:de, by which he professed to convey an exclusive property to all the lands and territorioa vat lin the Straits and Bay of Hudson which were not already actually possessed by or grantr.d to any of the King's '^wn subjects, or possessed by the subjects of any other Christian Prince or State. The charter also granted to the Company an exclusive right of trade. This may be regarded as the beginning' of the British claim to the possession of Hudson's Bay. The charter to the Hudson's Bay Company asserted, or rather implied, a conditioniii right in the King, based upon the then recent acts of his subjects ; and related back to the voyage of Gilham in 1667, and no further. X * Harris' Voyages, vol. II, pp. 245-28rt. According to De Fouie, a Bciton .-Lip gailod to Hudson's Bi.v in 1640; but this does not seem to bo well autbonticateil. bourdon's exploration, 1G5G. 127 Company of New France. A similar charter had been granted to the (Jompany of New France in 1C26 by Louis XIII., which included the whole country about Iludwon's Bay. As the Indians in the vicinity of Hudson's Hay ciini« to Montreal, (,'iitiiraqui aiul Tiuloussac to trade, the Company of Now France had no necessity to (^ect forts and trading posts, so long as no trading vessels entered Hudson's Bay. The authorities in Canada favoured the exclutivo use of the Saint Lawrence aa a channel for the trade of the Province. 165C — Box udon's Exploration. In 105G, Jean Bourdon, the Attorney-General, explored the entire coast of Lcabrador and entered Hudson's Bay. He made his voyage in a barque of thirty tons, and took possession of the coasts in the name of the French King, and while there it is said made treaties of alliance with the Indians. This voyage is confirmed " by an extract of the Ancient Register of the Sovereign Council of New France."* [Mr. Ramsay says, in his report on the subject of the disputed boundaries of Ontario, p. 24 : — " In the memoir ofthe French right to the Iroquois country and Hud- s(ins Ray, of the 8th of November, 1G86, it is said that in 1056 Jean Bourdon ran ailing' tlie coast uf Labrador, with a vessel of 30 tons, entered and took possession of the Xorili l>ay, and that this is proved by an extract of the Ancient Register of the Council of New France, of the 2Gth of August of the said year, (1650). * * * He sailed from Quebec (in tlie 2nd May, 10.') 7, and returned on the 11th of August the same year, at ten o'clock at night. (Journal des Jesuites, pp. 209,218.) Rut we are not left in any doubt as to the extent of Bourdon's voyage. On reference to the 'Relations des Jetiuites,' Vol. HI. 1058-9, we find this entry: 'Lvll (August) piinil la harque de HLmsieur Bourbon, lequel estant descetidrc sur le grand Jknve du cute du Nord voyager jusques au 55 dcgr4, on il renconira un grand banc de glace qui lejit remonter aiexit pmlu deux Hurons qu'il avoii prispour guides. Les Usqnimauz sauvages du Noid les massacre- rent li lihssertint un Francois da trois cntqis de jlerhes et d'nn coup de couteau.' " The words of the memoir will hardly warrant the construction put upon them by Mr. Ramsay. The words of M. Calliers are as follow.s : — " As regards Hudson's Bay, the French settled there in 1650, by virtue of an order of the Sovereign Council of Quebec, luitliorizing Sieur Bourdon, its Attorney-Cieneraljto make the discovery thereof,who went to till' norlh of the said bay and took possession thereof, in His Majesty's name." The date of tht' order is not here given, but the year of the voyage is given. In Denonville's memoir the words are : — " In 1050, Jean Bourdon explored the entire Labrador territory, entered the Bay du Nord, and took possession thereof, according to an extract from the Ancient Register of the Council of New France, of the 26th of August of the same year." Now, this " extract '' is an entirely different matter from the Order authorizing the voyage to be undertaken. It is the registration of a voyage already made. No one in his senses H'harlevoix, Vol. Ill, pp. 230, 231. M. CalHerH to M. de Seignelay, N. Y. Hist. Col. Vol. IX, p. 268; See also Denonville's Memoir, 8th Nov. 1086, N.Y. Hist. Col. Vol. IX, pp. 303, 305. Journal des Jesuites, pp. 209, 218. hi ,..i •■ '5/ 128 FATHER DABLON's VISIT, 1661. would at that time havo written that a voyage had been made to Hudson's Bay from Quebec and baciv after the 26th of August, during the same yo!"-, Tt is said of M. de Tas, who was appointed in 1691 to take charge of an expedition to Huajon's Bay, that he did not arrive in Canada until the first of July, tchen the season was too far lulvanced to go to Hudson's Bay. And the following year D'Iberville was to have accompanied a fleet of trading vessels to the bay, but not arriving with his ship in Quebec until the ISth of Au- gust, it was then too late to proceed. How then can it be supposed that the record of the 26th of August, 165G, refers to an Order, authorizing a public voyage, and that subse- quently j\I. Denouville asserts the voyage was made that year ? M. Denonville is spoken of as a nobleman of high character ; he was not likely then to make a deliberate mis-state- ment. But further, the French, at the time the memoir was written, had made several voyages from Quebec to the bay ; and the Marquis de Denonville knew what was possible and what was not possible. It was not the usual practice for the Sovereign Council to order voyages of discovery. These were u.sually undertaken by the authority of the King, the Governor, or the Intend- ant. The Sovereign Council, like the Parliament of Paris, recorded the voyages which the King or Governor had authorized, and it is to such a registry that M. Denonville re- fers in his memoir. That Jean Bourdon may have undertaken a voyage to the Bay the following year, and that he may have failed for the reason stated in the Relation dts Jemifes for 1658-9, is not at all improbable ; but it is very improbable that the Governor, quoting from the Register of the Council the day of the registration made twenty years before, could have been mistaken as to the fact. It is not the order authorizing tlie voyage, but the entry of the pi'is de imssession recording the fact that such a voyage has taken place, that is of consequence ; and it is to this that M. Denonville, in his memoir, refers. But whether such a voyage ever took place or not, cannot affect the right.s of Ontario at the present time. Mr. Ramsay admits that it was attempted, and the admis- sion made in this and in another case, apart from the journey of Couture, which is not (|uestioned, prove beyond dispute, that these enterprises were not caused by rival attempts of the English, as they preceded the voyages of Gilliam and the Hudson's Bay Company. M. Bellin, who, as Engineer of the Marine, and of the Depot of Cartes, Plans, and Journals, had every opportunity of being well informed, says of the voyage of M. Bourdon ; — "Le premier qui alia dans ces mers, [Bale du Nord] avec des vues d'etablissement fiut le Sieur Bourdon habitant do la Nouvelle France. Le Gouverneur-Generairy envoya en 1656, pour en pendre possession au nom du Roi Tr6s Chretien." — BelUn's Ecmarqucs, p. 8.] 1661 — Father Darlon's Visit. " In the year 1661, Dablon, a Jesuit, and Sieur de V"alliere were ordered by Sieur d'Argenson, who was at the time Governor of Canada, to proceed to the country about Hudson'ii Bay ; they went thither accordingly, and the Indians who then came back Avifli them to Quebec, declared that they had never seen any Euroi)eau there before. The Indians, who were anxious to continue their trade with the French in Canada, sent a party with Dablon to Quebec. They invited the Canadians to establish trading posts upon the Bay, and to send missionaries among them. Upon their way back, they seem to have repe tliem to the In 1663 traders, and overland to tl tude, planted OD copper, an trees t " In the Jeau L "Anglo and renewed J This is provec in writing of i In 1666 tlie Red River x\. Y. Hist |iiis;.i,i;C(i in the , mcnrijtioil in the ; titlitr of tbefe— liaviiig iiecee.s lo I oail! liy pos.'filnli uitnt ,ji France, i nieur \u Paris. I] ''1 C'jiuniul (Jdven iiMwi] bo madu tu lliO Ht'ativns. Wh (line frum ii Caca liaviui; oconrrotl di "bi ij Le saya was tu ;et such a memo Ihei'trson.'! wlm, it t'anada, und tbat n Dal'l'. 11 's journey n ii r.ferred to in tb( reuiviiiborod tbat ^i lltl'itiiins owinf,' to LuH ; also Park ma titiT liiymou, and . T N. Y. Hist, c !• This order m •'' Order of D'i ^' M. de Callier 9 COUTURE, DUQUET AND L'aNGLOIS, 1663. 129 ! %. ,:' *■] . '**♦■ to have repented of having invited the missionaries amongst them, and refused to conduct tliem to the Bay.* 1663. — SlEUR DE LA COUTURB. In 1663 the Indians from about Hudson's Bay returned to Quebec in further quest of traders, and D'Avangour sent thither Sieur de la Couture with five men who proceeded overland to the said Bay, possession whereof he took in the King's name ; lie noted the lati- tude, planted a cross, and deposited at the foot of a large tree His Majesty's Arms engraved on copper, and laid between two sheets of lead, the whole being covered with some bark of trees, t 1063 — DuQUET AND L'Anolois. " In the same year, 1603, Sicur Duquet, King's .\ttoraey to the Provote of Quebec and .lean L'Anglois, a Canadian colonist, went thither again by order of said Sieur D'Argenson,' aiid renewed the act of taking po.^session by setting up His Mnjeatii's annx their a second time. Tlii- is proved by the arret of the said Sovereign Council of Quebec, and by the orders iii writius' of said Sieurs D'Aryeuson' and D'AvanK0ur."± * 4 %-y\ ■ I'-. P:^' Pri 1666 OR 1G07 — Kadisbon and Des Guosselliers. In 1606 or 1607 Radif^son and Des Grossclliers traversed the country from Quebec to the Red River country, and then?e to Hudson's Bay. They rotuniod to Quebec and pro- ' N. Y. Hist, Ool. Vol. IX, pp. 268 and I-iO-l. [An attemiit lins been made, on the strength of certain passigof in the liclations des Jcsiiilcs, to throw iloul.t 'n the autlicuti'itj (j; certain of the occurrencoj menti)ued in the .Memoir.'' of .M. de Callirre.'- and tho .\hiriiui- dc I)enun\ille. It is^ nof at nil likely that titliir of theft — tlie ono being (iovernor td Montreal, and the other Ooveruor-tieneral in of events which are rejiresentcd a= likviiij; occurred during the preceding twenty five yciir.-. under the autnority oi his predecessors, and a record ol «hi u he says was then in e.\i.'tence, it would indeed br a new methoii of eslaldishing the credibility of history I' ■':'. such a memoir a.--iiie upon the tcsliinony of ii statement in ii private journal. It is w.dl to biarin mind that 'ill; lorsona who, it is said in the .Memoirs, made thee ,i' met- ative Indians, and having made a league of friendship with the captain of the ««. . and formally purchased both the river itself and the lands thereabouts, he gave it the name of Rupert's river (his highness Prince Rupert being principally concei ir ] [r, that exnedition), and built a fort which in honour of Your Majesty. was called Cliarles iort, ;u 'l toi^i,. pusses-^ion of the said river and all the land and territm thereabout in the name of Your Majesty, and then and there entered into a trade and commerce with the natives, which hath been ever since maintained without any inter- ruption either from the French or others. "That therefore Your Majesty was graciously pleased by Your royal letters Patent under Your great seal of England, to incorporate the said Adventurers, and to gram unto them and their successors for ever, all the said Bay and the streights tending there- unto called Hudson's streights, with all the lands and territories, rivers and islands in and about the said bay, and the sole trade and commerce there. " That the forementioned agreement made by Zachary Gillam with the Indians, was afterwards repeated and confirmed with one Charles Baily, who was sent as Governor of the affairs of the Company within the said Bay, with whom Monsieur Frontenac, by hu letters bearing date the 8th October, 1673, did conciliate a good intelligence and amity without complaining of any injury done by the Company in building forts and makini; settlements and commerce there, or without making any pretence to the lands thereal^outs. as Monsieur De la Barre, his successor, hath now done. That since that time we have erected other forts upon the coasts of the said bay, in places more remote from Canada than Charles Fort is, still making solemn compacts au agreements with the natives for the rivers and territories where we have, with great expense. discovered and maintained a trade and commerce which we hope will in time turn to our benefit, and also produce a considerable emolument to Your Majesty and the nation. " Wherefore we doubt not but by Your Majesty's royal authority and protection, the Company which hath been of Your Majesty's creation, shall be enabled to defend Your Majesty's undoubted right and their own, within the said bay — wherein never any nation but the subjects of Your Imperial Grown has made discoveries or had any commerce. FRENCH OPERATIONS AROUND HUDSON'S BAY, 1683. 135 III t** " All which is humbly submitted to Your Majesty's gracious consideration and Your Royal pleasure. By command of His Royal Highness the Governor, and the Committee of said Company. 1682. Onesephorus Albin, Secy." 168S. i. i On the 30th of April, 1683, M. de la Barre writes to M. de Seignelay, that, " Two detachments of Frenchmen have proceeded to the north for the purpose of preventing the English of Hudson's Bay entering on French territory, and obstructing the trade the French carried on with the Asselibois, Themiscamiugs, Puisascamins, and Christinos." On the 5th of August, 1683, the King writes to M. de la Barre: — "I recommend you to prevent as much as possible the English establishing themselves in Hudson's Bay — pos- session whereof has been taken in my name several years ago ; and as Colonel Dunguent (Dongan) who is appointed by the King of England, Governor of New York, has had precise orders from His Majesty to keep up a good correspondence with you, carefully to avoid every- thinir that will possibly interrupt it, I doubt not but the difficulties you have experienced from the English will cease henceforth." On the 4th and 9th of November, 1683, M. de la Barre writes to the King that " The people who had been at Hudson's Bay have returned, after having encountered extreme dan- L'ers. They erected a small fort in which they left a garrison of a few men, about four leagues up a river, two hundred leagues north of any English settlements. It is expected that com- munication can be had with it overland, as will be^ seen by the map he sends. He has re- ceived his Majesty's instructions respecting Hudson's Bay, and has engaged those who have organized that expedition, to form a company, and to send and purchase a ship in France." * During this year an Ordinance of the King was promulgated, relating to the tax upon the t'ur trade, which provided, that all merchants and settlers of New France, who pur- chase beaver, moose, and peltries, in Hudson's Bay, Perc6 Island, and other parts of New France, Acadia excepted, shall be bound to bring said beaver and moose to Quebec, that they may be paid for them, and one-fourth retained for the Farmers of the Revenue, t The Governor asked to be informed whether it was the King's desire that the post estab- lished at the mouth of Nelson River should be maintained or not, as he had hopes from representations which had been made to hinj by the DuL'Huts, of securing through the estab- lishments made north of Lake Nipegon, the trade which was being carried on at Hudson's Bay. It will be seen presently that fur-trading establishments had been founded by Du L'Hut and others in that distant region, According to Oldmixon. in his history of the Brit- ish Empire in America, the French had made a settlement about eight days' journey from the mouth of the Moose River in 1683. It will also be seen from French sources that they had others besides the one referred to.J In April, 1684, the King writes to the Governor of Canada that, " The King of Eng- land has authorized his ambassador to speak to me respecting what occurred in the River S5 I (1); * N. Y. Hist. Col. vol. IX. pp. 798, 799. + N. Y. Hist. Col. vol. IX. p. 800. % Archives de Paris 2feme S^rie, vol. IV. p. 261. ■w. 186 FRENCH OPERATIONS AROUND HUDSON'S BAY, 1 G84. Nelson, between the English, Rndlsson and Dos Grossolliers ; whereupon I am happy to in form jou that as I am unwilling to afford the Kinj^ of England any cause of complaint, and as I think it important, nevertheless, to prevent the English from establishing thomhclvcs on that river, it would be well for you to have a proposal made to the Commandant at Hudson's Bay, tiiut neither the French nor the English should have power to make any now estab- lishments ; to which I am persuaded he will give his consent the more readily, as he is not in a position to prevent those which my subjects would wish to form in the sai i Nelson's lliver."* The arrangement suggested by the King in thi 5 communication, was made shortly after- wards, and the Governor of Canada, in writing t') the ITeiicii y sea In re- gard to Hudson's Bay, should the King not think proper for enforcing the reasons His Majesty has for opposing the usurpations of the English on his lands, by the just titles, proving His Majesty's possession long before the English had any knowledge of the country —nothing is to be done but to find means to support the Company of the said Bay, formed in Canada, by the privilege His Majesty has been pleased this year to grant to his sub- jects of New France, and to furnish them for some years a few vessels of one hundred and twenty tons, only well armed and equipped. I hope with this aid, our Canadians will support this business, which will otherwise perish of itself; whilst Lhe English merchants more powerful than our Canadians, will, with good ships, continue their trade, whereby they will enrich themselves at the expense of the colony and the King's revenue."* In March, 1686, the Directors of the French Company obtained, from M. de Denon- ville, a body of Canadians and regular troops under tb.i command of M. de Troyes. He set out overland accompanied by MM. D'Iberville, St. Hel6ne, and Maricourt. They reached Hudson's Bay in June, and captured three of the Company's forts- 'l.msippi, Rupert and Albany, They did not return to Quebec until the following year. In the meantime M. D'Iberville and nine of his party captured a ship belonging to the English Company, which they loaded with peltry found in the forts they had taken.t On the the 6th of November, 1686, a treaty of neutrality was concluded between • N. \. Hiat. Col, Vol. IX. p. 286. + N. Y. Higt. Col. Vol. IX. p. 286 ; Garne»u'« Hut. of C»nad», Vol. I ; N. Y. Hist. Col. VoL IX. p. 801. i'l t -i ''lift l*^,,'' 140 TfFE TREATY OF NKUTUALITY, l(j8G. Louis XIV. and .latnoH II. Tho Kings of Franco and Etigland .seemed for the moniciit to have been nsilly anxious to put an end to tiu) private war which wa.s being carried on between their subjects for thj pos.scssion of various districts in North America, in order to monopolize the trade with tho Indians, l)ut more especially to command the fur trade in tiie vicinity of Fliidson's Hay. This treaty stipulated for a firm peace, union and concord, and a ^'ood understanding Ixitween their sul)jects in North Anmrica. I>y thf terms of the treaty the vessels of neither (tovernment were to l)e employed in attacking tho subjects of tho other in tho colonies, nor were the soldiers of cither who might be station- ed in the colonies to bo permitted to engage in any act of hostility against the subjects of the other. The subjects of neither Government were to give aid, by taking part themselves by furnishing supplies to the savages who might beat war witii the otlier. They a..., agreed that each should hold the territories, seas, straiti-, and rivers of which his people were possessed at the time of signing the Treaty. It is well to stop here for a moment, and consider tho position of the subjects of tiio two Governments at tho time Louis and James m:vde this Treaty. For nearly twenty years the Canadians and the Hudson's Bay Company had been engaged in warfare upon the shores of Hudson's P>ay, Down to 1085, the Ilud.son's Bay Company had erected tive factories or trading posts in the vicinity of the Bay ; Albany, Hayes, Rupert, York, and Severn. Before the signitig of the Treaty of 1680 Albany, Hayes and Rupert hail been taken possession of by the French, so that the country and Bay from Albany Kivor southward was held by the French, while tho forts north of tho aSth parallel were still held liy the English. And as the fourth article of the Treaty of Neutrality left each country in the possession of what they helil at the time tho Treaty was agreed t' France, of right, held the shores of Hudson's Ray from the 5r)th parallel .south w.ard. is important to bear this in mind, because it will explain the conduct of the French <••.. ernment in reference to the [)roposition8 made by tin; RritLsh Government subse(iuent to the negotiation.s of the Treaty of Uyswick, and with a view to a settlement under th.U Treaty. Had the Treaty of November 1680 been adhered to, no further ditliculty or dispute in reference to the po.ssessions of tho two Crowns, upon the shores of Hudson's Bay, could have arisen. France would have retained the southern portion of the Bay, as lying within the limits of Canada, while the northern part and the adjacent coast would have remnined to the Kinir of England. But however anxious the two monarchs may have been at tho time of making tho Treaty to have maintained a good understanding between their peoples, the subjects of the two (Jrowns in America gave but little heed to the wishes of their sovereigns, as ex- pressed in the Treaty, and the Kings secretly sympathised with their subjects. Governor Dongan, of New York, assertetl the right of Great Britain to the south shore of Lake Ontario, to tho country in the vicinity of Niagara, and indeed to the whole country over which the Iroquois Indians claimed to exercise dominion, which embraced the country from tho Ottawa River to the Mississippi, as far north as Michillimackinac (now Macki- naw), which the New York Governor claimed as a British possession, because a Mr. * Pownall W PnoVISIONAL TUEATV, 1687. 141 UosL'boora had, tlio year before, visittMl it with a party of trailers from Albany, tutwitli staniiing twenty years' continuous itossession by the Frencli, In fact, the Treaty of Neutrality seemed to have been observed by no one in Amer ica, iind was soon disregarded in England by tiie King and his advisers. In 1087 MM. D'Anioncourtand De IJonrepans, who were appointed l'oinniis.sioners on bcliiiif of Franco, and Lords Hundarland, Middleton and Oodol|iiiin on behalf of Kngland, entered into a provisional treaty, wdiich was concluded at Wliitchall, 11th December. I(i87. Thoy had been appointed to execute the Treaty of Neutrality which had been n.;reed to for the purpose oi settling and terminating all ditferencos whicli had arisen be- tween the subjects of the two Crowns in North America, and to iix the boundaries of their respective possessions. The commissioners made a provisional treaty wliich was to re- main in force until the 11th of .Jaimary, 1089, N. S. By this provisional treaty it was agreed that during this period of time and afte)-, until the " Kings give some new and express order in writing, all persons and Governors and commanders of tlio Colonies . . . . under the domiiuon of the two Kings in America, are absolutely forbidden to commit any act of hostility against the suljjects of the said Kings, or to attack them ; and the Governors and commandants are not to suffiT, under any pretext whatever, that liiey shall do any violence ; and in case of contravention oti the part of the said Govern- ors, tliey shall be punished, and ol)]iged, in their own private names, to make restitution tor the damage which may have been done by sucli contravention ; and the same shall l)e dune in the case of all other contraventions.' .... It doe.-5 not seem that any agreement was arrivetl at by these conmiissioners. The ■ made a report to the King the .same year that the J'rovisional Treaty was entered into, in which they say : — " We, your Majesty's Commissioners, a})pointed lo treat with the Amba.ssador and Knvoy Extraordinary of His Most Ciiristian Majesty, concerning the dif- ferences that have ha|)peiied, or may, to your Maje.'^iy or tlie IVeiich in America, have had fr(!quent conferences with the said Ambassadoi' and lOtivoy I'^xtraordinary, in order to olitain satisfaction for the danuvges your Majesty's subjects have lately sustained from the French in Hudson's Bay, with restitution of the three forts which, by surprise, were seized on by tliein ; as also touching several other differonce.s depending between the two Clowns. And as to the businc-is of Hudson's Bay, having already acquainted your Majesty with our proceedings therein, we do furtlier add as our huml)le opinions, that it }ilaiidy appears your Majesty and your subjects liave a right to the whole Bay and Straits of Hudson, and to the sole tra'9 the British attacked P^ort Ste. Anne, or Albany. They were repulsed, and one ship wis taken by D'Iberville^ The French had now several prisoners in chariie ; those who had been taken during the attack upon the forts, and those for?'.d on board of the cajjturcd vessel. Tliey wore nil put on l)oard one of the vessels, and permission Avas given them to return to Fiiiglniid. Fort Churchill, which had been l)nilt the previmis ye.ir by the English, was this year captured by the French. D'Iberville sailed for Qiuliec in a ship JU'med with twenty-four guns, and freigiitcd with peltry. The intelligence of this reciprocal invasion, in violation of the Treaty of Neutrality, caused a meeting at Ijondon, of Commissioners on the part of the two Crowns. They diffi'i'ed as to tiie facts, and the negotiations wore ]>ostponed in consoijuenco. The English Rovolntion breaking out shortly afterwards, the Commissioners did not again meet. Governor Fronten.ac was informed, that, in consequence of the revolution, the English were not likely to give much heed to Hudson's Bay, and that he w.is to afford the Canadian Company all the protection they required, both for the expulsion of the English from Hudson's Bay, and for the continuation of the trade in tiiat quarter.t In 161*0, D'Iberville attacked Fort Nelson, but was repulsed. He surprised and took New Severn. He had at the time, under his command, three ships. La Sainle Avm. Ln Armes de la Compagnie, Ln Sainle Francoise. In 161)3, Fort Ste. Anne or Albany, wa.< re- taken by the British. In 10'J4, Fort Bourbon or Nelson was attacked by the French, with two frigates, the Poll and Salumavdre, under the c(jmmand of D'Iberville, and was taken. M. D'Iberville • PowdaU M.SS. + N. Y. CoL Vol. IX. p. 428. TREATY OF RYSWICK, 1697. 143 " 'Ml sailed from Canada with 120 men. He arrived at Fort Nelson on the 24th of September, and obtained its surrender the 14th of October. It was at this time that D'Iberville de- feated three British ships, capturing one and sinking a second. D'Iberville remained here for the period of fifteen months. He then left La Forest in charge as Governor, and re- turned to Quebec* In 169(5, Fort Nelson was recaptured by the English, and the Governor and g?rri- son, with all the furs,wer' taken to England. It was again recaptured by the French the following year. From this time until after the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht — a period of eighteen years — the English seemed to have been in possession of Fort Albany only, which, ac- cording to the Treaty of Ryswick, they were to have surrendered to the French. Such is a brief summary of the contest between France and England during the last half of the seventeenth century for the soverignty of Hudson's Bay. ' The Treaty of Ryswick, which was concluded in 1697, contained the following pro- visions, which related to or affected the rights of the contending parties upon the coasts of Hudson's Bay : — Article 7 stipulates that — "The Most Christian King shall restore to the said King of Great Britain all countries, islands, forts and colonies, whv^rever situated, which the Eng- lish did possess before the declaration of this present war. And in like manner the King of Great Britain shall restore to the Most Christian King all countries, islands, forts and colonies, wheresoever situated, which the French did possess before the declaration of war ; and this restitution shall be made on both sides, within the space of six months, or sooner if it can be done ; and to that end, immediately after the ratification of this Treaty, each of the said Kings shall deliver, or cause to be delivered, to the other, or to Commissioners authorized in his name for that purpose, all acts of concession, instru- ments, and necessary orders, duly made and in proper form, so that they may have their effect." * Uarneau'g Hist. Vol. I ; Abbd Ferland's Hist. 2 pic ; Rccueil de Voyages du Nord par M. Jer«^n;if. Vol. V. 1. One Bailpy was sent out as the first Governor of the Ilu'lson'.J Day Company's possesfions. Ho wag located at Fort Cbarlcs, which had been built before the Chnrtor was obtained, on Rupert River. He osta- blisbcil the Company's tradinp post at the entrance of Nelson River. In 1674, Wru. Lyddal arrived from England as Governor of Fort Albany, In 1B76, Lyddal was still OoTerniir. Juhn Nixon tucoeudod him, but what year ie not certain. lu 1682, John Briilger was Governor of Fort Nelson. He was taken prisoner by Des Grossellicr-". as alremiy described. Captain Abraham came from Eugliind with supplies, who. finding Bridger gone, rcninined «nd wi\B made Governor 1884. In 1683, John Nixon was recalled, as Governor of Fort Albany, and Henry Scargeut wai- uppointul. He »»( instructed to beware of the French. In 1690, Gsyor was Governor of Fort Nelson. Id 16U4, when it was taken by the French, M. Forrest was appointed Governor. He oapitulutod, ia 1196, to Wm. Allen, Commandant-in-Chief. In 1607, it was retaken by the French, and remained in their poesesiion until 1714. During this tiw* the H. B. Company had only Fort Albany in their possession, and, this, by the 8th Article of the Treaty of Ryswick, they ought to have surrendered — Robson's Account of HudioD's Bay. Part II. ,■ ! V-' \ ' f ■ i '' i i . 1 • , 1 I ; .1 '■', ■,. 144 TREATY OF RYSWICK, 1097. Article 8 provides that " Commissioners shall be appointed on both sides toexaniim and determine the rights and pretensions which either of the said Kings hath to tlie |)laces situated in Hudson's Bay, but tfie possession of those places which were taken by th French during the iieace that precedrd this present war and were re-taken by the Ew^lish durijul this war, shall be left to the French by virtue of the fn-egoing articles."* By Article seven the principle of reciprocal restitution, so far as it related to ci>u quests made during the war, was agreed to. The status quo ante bcllum was to be estab lislu'd. Lest any doubt should arise as to forts taken by the French before the war began. Article eiglit declares that places taken by the Frencli in Hudson's Bay during the pi-iK.t- that preceded this present war, shall be left to the French by virtue of the sevfiitli Article. This is not simply the application of the principle \Ui possidetis at the close of the war, which would have given to France all of the places taken by D'Iberville and others, which she then held ; but the principle was one of mutual restoration of what liad been taken during ihe war. fCngland said to France, by the terms of the Treaty, " Wliat you took from us, upon tlio shores of Hudson Bay, before the war began, .'«bnll remain ti. you, and so many of the trading posts and forts as are n/)w in our possession of thnsi you wrested from us before the war began, shall be restored to you within the s})ace of six months." This is the obvious meaning of the words : — ^"The King of Great Britain shall restore to the Most Christian King all countries, islands, forts and colonies, vdien- ever situated, which the English did ])os.sess before the declaration of war." Ain(jii^ which are " places taken by the French during the peace that ])receded this pre.st;nt war.' although retak(!n by the English while the war contiiuied. Commissioners were appuint ed under the Treaty in accordance with the i)rovi.sions of the eighth Article, but obviiuisly they were not at liberty to question the rights of France to the possession of those placid which had been taken from the English before the war began. Of these France wa.'- made the soveieign by Uie Treaty. Tlie seventh Article provides for the mutual restor- ation of caiitured i)laces. The eighth Article provides for the settlement of the riglil.'?ut the respective parties to places in Hudson's Bay ; but to avoid any misapprehen.siou a- 1 1 the right of France to the places taken during ilie peace, there are in the eighth Article the words already quoted, expressly excepting these places from the consideration of tiie Commissioners. The duty of tiie Commissioners, then, was to decide, alter due exaiuiiia- tion, the riglits of France an Fort iiuiPiTt uml Fort J:icqueg, 2. Kurt Monsippi, Fort Louis, Fort Moiisonis, or Mnoae Fort. 3. F >rt Obechiiua.-], Fort Albany, or Fort Sto .\iiuo, 4. Fort Bourbon, Fort York, or Fort Nelson. 6. Now Severn or Nieu Savanne. I'. Fort Churohill, or I'rinoe of Wales Fort. 7. Flninborough Factory. 10 ■ \ \<- 1 •! ' 10' <■)■;* I.J 111/:, I III .1 '-- ■ir 146 LIMITS PROPOSED BY HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY IN 1700. claim was then overweighed by matter of higher consequence depending in that juncture; for by the said Treaty they found tlieir condition much worse than it was before, by the eighth Article wliereof the French were to be left in such places, situated in Hudson's Buy, as had been taken by them during the peace which preceded that war." Commis- sioners were appointed by the Government to adjust the differences between the two Crowns. The Hudson's Bay Company were invited to state what they wculd be willing to accept as the southciu limit of their territory, when they addressed to the Lords of Trade the following prfiposal about tlieir boundaries with the French : — " The limits which the Hudson's Bay Company conceive to be necessary as boundariea between the Frencli and them, in case of an exchange of places, and that the Company cannot obtain the whole straights and bays, which of right belongs to them, viz.: — " 1. That the French be limited not to trade by wood-runners, or otherwise, nor build any house, factory, or fort, beyond the bounds of 53 degrees, or Albany River, vulgarly called Chechewan, to the northward, on the west or main coast. " 2. That the French be likewise limited not to trade by wood-runners or otherwise, nor build any house, factory or fort, beyond the Rupert's River, to the northward, on the east or main coast. " 3. On the contiary, tlie English shall be obliged not to trade by wood-runners, or otherwise, nor build any house, factory, or fort, beyond the aforesaid latitude of fil'ty-tlirte degrees, or Albany River, vulgarly called Chechewan, south-east towards Canada, on any lands tvhich belong tu tlie Hudson's Bay Company. " 4. As also the English be likewise obliged not to trade by wood-runners, or other- wise, nor build any house, factory, or fort, beyond Rupert's River, to the south-east, towards Canada, or on any land which belongs to the Hudson's Bay Company. " 5. As, likewise, that neither the French or English shall, at any time hereafter, extend their bounds contrary to the aforesaid limitations, nor instigate the natives to make war, or join with either, in any acts of hostility to the disturbance or detriment of the trade of either nation, which the French may very reasonably comply with, for that they, by such limitations, will have all tlie country south-eastward, betwixt Albany Fort and Canada to themselves, which is not only the best and most fertile part, but also a much larger tract of land than can be supposed to be to the northward, and the Company deprived of tliat which was always their undoubted right. "And unless the Company can be secured according to these propositions, they think it will be impossible for tlieni to continue long at Fort York, (should they exchange with the French,) nor will the trade answer their charge ; and, therefore, if your Lordsliips cannot obtain these so reasonable propositions from the French, but that they insist to have the limits settled between [Albany and] York and Fort Albany, as in the latitude of fifty- fw'u degre(;s, or thereabouts, the Company can by no reason agree thereto, for they, by such an agreement, will be the instruments of their own ruin, never to be retrieved." By order of the Covcinment Court. (Signed) Wm. Potteu, Secrttar^' Confirmed by the Court of the said Company, 10th July, 1700. I LIMITS PROPOSED BY HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY IN 1701. 147 No action seems to have been taken for some time. On the 22nd of January fol- lowing, the Lords of Trade, after having had some discussion with the members of the Huilson's Bay Company as to their claims, directed their secretary, Mr. Wm. Popple, to address to the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, or either of them, the following letter : — Gentlemen : — Upon consideration of what was this day offered to the Lords Cora- missiiiner.s for Trade and Plantations, by yourselves and other members of the Hudson's Bay Company, their Lordships have commanded me to acquaint you with their desire, that the resolution of your Court may be taken and communicated to them, whether (in case the French cannot be prevailed with to consent to the settlement of the boundaries proposed by your Court of tlie 10th of July last), the said court will not think fit to consent, that the limits on the east side of the bay be extended to the latitude of 52| degrees, with whatever further that Court may think advisable to propose, in reference to their own affairs, for the more easy settlement of all disputes be- tween the Company and the French in Hudson's Bay. W. P. Whitehall, January 22nd, 170^. To which the Hudson's Bay Company replied as follows :— " The Hudson's Bay Company having lately exhibited to your lordships their resolution of their Court, the 10th of July last, concerning limits between them and the French in Hud- son's Bay, and though the Company cannot but insist upon their undoubted right to the whole Bay and Streights of Hudson, as has been clearly made out by themselves (Fo. 73. Fo. 81), " Yet, in obedience to your Lordships' letter of the 22nd inst., and to show how de- siious they are to comply therewith, as much as in them lies, and is consistent with their future safety, they do further offer to your Lordsliips the following proposals of limits between them and the French in Hudson's Bay, viz. : — " 1. That the French be limited not to trade by wood-runners or otherwise, nor build any house, factory, or fort to the northward of Albany River, vulgarly called I Checlieauan, on the west main or coast. " 2. That the French be likewise limited not to trade by wood-runners or otherwise, nor Imild any house, factory, or fort to the northward of Hudson's liiver, vulgarly called Canute Uiver, on the east or main coast. " 3. On the contrary, the English, upon such an agreement, do engage not to trade by wood-runners, nor build any house, factory or fort to the southward of Albany liiver, vulgarly called Checheauan, on the west coast, on any ground belonging to the Hudson's Bay Uouipany. " 4. As also, the English be likewise limited not to trade by wood-runners or other- wise, nor build any house, factory or fort to the southward of Hudson's River, vulgarly called Canute River, on the east coast, on any ground belonging to the Hudson's Bay Coni|iaiiy. ''5. That all the islands in the said Bay and Straights of Hudson, lying to the t ■ r 1 r ■M ■ \ 1 i I 1 1 II h i • \ ^' 148 LIMITS PROPOSED BY HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY IN 1701. northward of Albany Kiver, on tlie west coast, and of Hudson's River, vulgarly called Canute River, on the east coast, shall be and remain to the English. " Likewise that all the islands in the said Bay of Hudson, lying to the southward of Albany River, on the west coast, and of Hudson's River, vulgarly called Canute River, on the east coast, shall be and remain to the French. " 7. That neither the French or Enghsh shall at any time hereafter extend tlieir bounds contrary to the aforesaid limitations, or instigate the natives to make war, or join with either in any acts of hostility, to the disturbance or detriment of the trade of either nation. " These terms the Company are willing to agree to, upon condition they may be se- cured from any claim that has been or may be made on them, by virtue of the 8th Article of the Treaty of Ryswick, or by any other matter or thing relating to the said Treaty. And if the French think fit to accept tliereof, the Company are willing to ex- change places with them, but not without settling of limits ; for that the said 8th Arti- cle, which saith there shall be an exchange of places, doth also say that the limits hliall likewise be settled, and it would seem very unreasonable that one should be perfunued without the other. As to the Company's naming of rivers as boundaries, and not lati- tudes, the same is more certain and obvious, both to the natives as well as Europeans, and the contrary impracticable ; nor can the latitude be so well laid down in that wild country, the Indians well knowing the one, but not the other. " But should the French refuse the limits now proposed by the Company, the Com- pany think themselves not bound by this or any former concessions of the like nature, but must, as they have always done, insist upon their prior and undoubted right to the whole Bay and Streights of Hudson, which the Fiench never yet would strictly dispute, or suffer to be examined into (as knowing the weakness of their claims), though the first step in the said article of Ryswick directs the doing of it." By order of the General Court of the said Company. (Signed) Wm. Potter, January 2Hth, 1701. Secretary. Nothing was done on the above, the French declining the terms proposed, and desiring the 55th parallel, which the Company would not accept. Upon the 9th of January, 1702, the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations invited the Hudson's Bay Company "to lay before them whatever they may think fit to offer in relation to the trade and security of the place at this time."' 1 The oommuniontion is as follows : — „ " To the Deputy-Governor of the Uudson'i* Bay Company. The Lords Commissioneti for Trade and Pliintations have commauded me to signify to you their desire that the Hudson's Bay Company wuuld laj before them whatever they may think fit to offer in lelution to the trade and security uf that place atthii time. I am, Sir, lioiiT most humble servant, W. P. (OPPLB.) Whitehall, January 9fli, UflJ BELLIN S REMARKS ON THE EXOLISH POSTS, HUDSON S BAY. 149 In response to this invitation, they received the following communication :— [" Memorandum from the Hudson's Bay Company representing the state of their affairs at present, and what they desire.] " To the Honourable the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations. " The humble representation of the Govornor and Company of Adventurers of Eng- land trading into Hudson's Bay. "Shewktii: " That the said Company being required by your Lordships to give in what they thought necessary in relation to their trade, and the security of their factory in Hudson's Bay, do with all submission lay before your Lordshij)s the true state and condition thereof. "They will not trouble your Lordships with a repetition of their undoubted rights to all Hudson's Bay, and that the French never laid claim to tlio same, or ever sailed a ship or vessel into those parts since the creation of the world, till the year 1G82 (many years after the incorporation of this Company), and then in a piratical manner, without any commission or authority from His Most Christian Majesty, who was afterwards jileased to disown the said proceeding, as the Company have and are still ready to jirove.* " These matters have been so fully and clearly made out by them, that even the French themselves, with all their sophistry and equivocation, have not been able to disprove. " Therefore we shall proceed to inform your Lordships of the present melancholy prospect of their trade and settlement in Hudson's Bay, and that none of His Majesty's plantations are left in such a deplorable state as those of this Company, for by their great losses by the French, both in times of peace as well as during the late war, together with the hardships they lie under by the late Treaty of Ryswick, they may be said to be the only mourners by the peace.t • The Company wero mistaken. Ui3 Most Chriatiun Majesty aeveriily cenaural Governor La Barre for re- leasing (Hlham'g vessel, the transaction here referred to, and in no instance did ho acnsuru the French fcr wha they did to the English at Hudson's Bay. t Upon the English posts in the vicinity of Hudson'a Bay, M. Bellin makes the following observatiocs :— ... . il reste i donner nne idee dcs ^tabllsseraens que les Anjilois ont aujnurd'hui siir ci-s oAtes. On en compte sept ; i cinq desquels il y a des Forts ; savoir le Fort du Prince de Gallos, le Fort d'York, la Fac- torie lie la Flamborough, oelle de Henley, le Fort Albani, le Fort Moose, et le Fort Rupert. 1. Lo Fort du Prince de Gallos, par la latitude do 58 Jfigrfis oD minutes, ot par les 97 d6;rr<;s 15 min- utes longitude occidentale Ju mfiridiun de Paris, est situfi dans une petite Isle 1 I'embouchure do la RiviSre de Churchill, qui a port€j)eDdant long-temps, commeon le voit dans les cartes, le nom de Kividro de Muricll, ou Riviere Danoise et que les Anglois out chang6 depuis quelques annfies on celui du Churchill, Los uavires peuvent hyverner duns ce Port, en prenant des precautions pour leur sflreifi et pour celle des (Equipages, car I'byver y est trSs long et des plus rigoureux ; les terres y sont incultes, mais cuuvertes de bois qui ne sent pas de si belle quality que qnelqnos Relations le disent ; la peche et la cbasse sont les seulos resources qu'on (ire du Pays, encore manquont elles souvent ; et il n'y a que le comineroe des Pelletcries que Ton fait aveo les fBDvagcs qui viennent de I'interieur dosterres, qui puisse engager & soutenir cet etablissement 2. Le Fort d'York, £loign^ d'environ 60 lieues par mor de celui du Prince de Oallei, est situ6 par la lati- tude de 57 d6gr£8 trente minutes, et par les 95 d€gr€s 40 minutes de longitude occidentale dn meridien de Paris, Ce Fort est plaofi aur la Pointo Beptentrionale d'une isle & laquelle on donne plus de 60 liuuei de long 150 MEMORIAL OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY, 1702. '(I. I I '■ ^» .,. 1^' "They cannot but inform your Lordships that the only settlement the Company have now left in Hiulson's Bay (of seven they formerly possessed) is Albany Fort, vulg.irly called Chicheauan, in the bottom of the said Bay, where they are surrounded by the French on every side, viz., by their settlements on the lakes and rivers from Canada to the northwards, towards Hudson's Bay, as also from Port Nelson (old York Fort,) to the southward ; but besides tliis, tlio Company have, by the return of their ship this yeari received certain intelligence that the French have made another settlement at a place called New Severn, 'twixt Port Nelson and Albany Fort, whereby they have hindered the Bur 7K8(1e1arge et qui fait In aepiiratiiin ilo deux Rividreii celle de Nelson du cdtd du Nord, ot collu doUay da t6t(5 du Sud ; la premiere a pcrtfi longtcms l.i norii do Riviire de Bourbon ct In seconde colui de Sainte Thorese ; c'est sur cette dernidro tjuc los Frimfnig s'dtablirent on 1882, ccinnie nous I'avons dit ci-dovant. Gn remontant la Riviere do IIay,ct ^ 40 lieuus do Hon embouchure los Anglois unt une factorio qu'iU appollent FlambiTough, plapio dans une petite Ijlo ; mais le muuillage des naviros est en-dudans de la Kiviiire d« Nelson, procbo le Fort York, ce ((u'lls nppelleut Le Port Nelson. La Rivifire do U)urbon ou do NeUon vieit de fort loin duns les torres, ct communique avcc un Grand Lac aur lequcl nous avons un EtablUatnicnt, et dont nous parlcronti !i I'artiole de In Nuuvolle France ; depuis le Fort d'York, jusqu'H colui d'Albany ; entre le Port de Nelson et le Cap IIonriette-Mario, on trouve une Rividre assez cunsid6rablo, que les Francois nvoient nommCu Rivi(!ro Jea Saintos Uuiles ; los Anglois ont chang6 co num en colui de New Severn, ils out ug Etablisemont i. son ombuucbure, mals il est d6truit aujaurd'bui. '6. Le Fort Albany. Cet Etablinusimentest le plus considerable que les Anglois aiont dans la Bale, le Fort est bon, et en 6tat de defense ; il est citud dans un petite isle il rembouchure d'uno Riviere assrz considera- ble, qui purte aujuurd'hui le uom d'Albany. Les sauvagea, luraque leg Francois B'y 6tabllrent rapcUoieat Quituhide Cbouen, nous lui donnames le nom Ji Sainte Anne, aussi bien qu'au Fort, et cob noms UDt 8ubsiiipprt, les Anglois ont une Factorie au^fond d'uno petite anoe dans laquelle se di'ohnrge un bras de la RiviJre do Slude, mais elle est abandonnSe aujourd'hui. En rt' montant lo lonj; do la Cfttc Oripntiilfl li 100 ticues au Nord du Fort Rupert, leur derniJre Carte marque on 1 tablissemont aiujuel elle donne le nom de Fort do Rirhemont: j'igtioro s'il a jamais exist*? ; car il faiit ctre I xtrPmoment on garde oontr'-leurs Carte>, co qu'il y a do certain, c'est qu'll est abandonn6." — Hilh'ii'n Hemnriuf, " .lai reiuarqufi dans plusitiirs Cartes Ang'oise.', et curtout dans cellos nouvellemont publieC?, quo les OSographes pour se rendro agteables \ la Nntion, marqaoient des Postes et des Etabligsemonts oh I'on !ait tres certainomont qu'ils n'en ont jamais eu cumu.e je le di'montrcrai dans la euite de oes Remarque?." — Xote M, Bellin'g Htinarquei, p. 13. EFFECT OF THE TREATY OF RYSWICK. 151 Indians from coming to trade at the Company's factory, at the Imttom of the Bay, so that the Company, this year, have not received above one-fiftii part of the returns tliey usually had from thence, insomuch that the same doth not answer the expense of their expedition. " The Company being by these and others, their misfortunes, reduced to such a low and miserable condition, that, without His Majesty's favour and assistancr, tliey are in noways able to keep that little remainder they are yet possessed of in Ifiulson's Bay, but may justly fear in a short time to be def)rived of all their tradt^ in tlmae parts, which is solely negotiated by the manufacturers of this kingdom. "Upon the whole matter, the (;ompany humbly conceive they can be no ways safe from the insults and encroachments of the French so long as they are sutTered to remain possessed of any place in Hudson's Bay, and that in order to dislodge them from thence (nhii'h the Company are in no way able to do,) a force of three men-of-war. one bomb- vessel, and 250 soldiers, besides the ships' company, will be necessary, whereby that vast tract of land which is of so great concern, not only to this Company in particular, b\it likewise to the whole nation in general, may not be utterly lost to this kingdom. " All which is humbly submitted to your Lordships' great wisdom and judgment, by the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's Bay. "W. POTTEK, " Seaxtury. •' Hudson's Bay House, "The l I % •»•►.• t 152 KFFKCT OF TlfK TREATY OF UYSWK'K.' as tlio rightful jjossessions of France. lij* tlio Treaty of Ryswick, Fort Alhany beeaino a possessinu of Franco. The Company proposed a line of action, which was wholly at variance with the provisions of the Treaty. They were not willing to surrenilt-r Fort Alhany, in compliance with the terms of the Treaty, without an ef(uiva" lent, wliich, by the Treaty, they had no right to demand. What the Company soui^lit Avas not a fulfilment, hut an amendment of the Treaty of Ryswick. The feature of tlie Treaty to which the Hudson's Bay Company felt the greatest repugnance, because it was the one most damaging to their interests was this — that no boundary line could be driiwn in comi)Iiance with its provisions, which would exclude the French from the territory tlmt would remain to the Company, as during the peace, which preceded the war, they had taken po.ssession of places extending through ten degrees of latitude. The propositions and memorials of the Hudson's Bay Company, to the British Government, show tliat tliey were most anxious to have a boundary of mutual exclusion whicli, under tiie Treat) , was impossible. They wanted, in exchange for Fort Albany, the places held by tlie French north of the line of division, wliich the Company expressed themselves ready to acjcejit as a boundaiy between Canada and their possessions. The Hudson's Bay Com- pany were well aware that any settlement which could be made under the Treaty, must leave the Fur Trade of Hudson's Bay practically in the hands of the French. The French held Severn, Nelson and Churchill liivers. The possession of these rivers gave them the command of the Fur Trade north of the proposed boundary, as they were the channels by which the Indians reached the coast. The possession of the country, M'ith- out the possession of the trading posts at the points where the Fur Trade must be car- ried on, would have been of no value to the Company. Keeping these facts in view, we can fully appreciate their efforts to escape from the stipulations of the Treaty, and to proceed with the Commission for the settlement of the respective rights of the two Crowns, as if there had been no agreement on the part of England to leave France in possession of all she held before the war. No action, however, seems to have been then taken, nor was any correspondence had with the rTOVcrnnient luitil further information was asked for by the Government, in view of negociations for peace at the Hague in 1709, when the following letter w;is ■addressed : — " To the Governor or Dejiuty-Governor of tlie Ihulson's Bay Company. " Sir, — The Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, having under consider- ation some matters relating to the French encroachments upon Her Majesty's dominions in America, they have conmiauded me to desire that you will let them have, as soon as possibly you can, an account of such encroachments as the French have made upon the territories and places within the limits of the said Company's charter. " I am, sir, " Your most humble servant, "Wm. Popple. "Whitehall, May 19th, 1709." Hudson's bay company's petition to queen anne, 1711. 153 To this letter tlioy replied on tlie 23cl of the same month, " setting forth their right ami title to that place, and praying restitution may bo insisted upon from the French for till' robberies committed by them in times of perfect amity." ' On the 21st of December, 1711, the Hudson's Bay Company addressed to Queen Aiiiic the following petition : — '• To the Queen's Most Excdknt Majesty : — "The petition of the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's Bay, " IIUMIJLY SllEWETH : — " That your petitioners are far from enquiring into the great affairs of your Majisty's glorious Government, especially as what relates to war and peace, both which they know your high wisdom will so order as shall be most for the good of your whole people ; but 1 plieving the justice of your cause, and the terror of your arms, must soon reduce the Frcncli to sue for such a peace as all Europe desires and wants, your petitioners crave leave, with the profoundest duty, to submit the hardships of their case to your Koyal consideration : " That the French, in time of perf^t amity between the two kingdoms,viz., Anno 1682. did arbitrarily invade the Comjjany's territories at Port Nelson, l^urn their houses, and seize their effects. " That in the years 1G84 and 1G85, they continued theii- depredations. "Tiiatin the year 1080, they forcibly took from the Company three factories, viz.: Alliany Fort, Rupert, and Moose River Forts, which violent proceedings they continued ill the years 1G87 and 1688, the whole damages done by the French to the Company, in times of peace, amounting to £108,514 19s. 8d, as your petitioners are ready to make apjiear, besides interest for the same. " That in the year 1685, they supplicated his then Majesty, King James the Second, to interpose on their behalf, and by his Ambassadors at the French Court to demand a reparation for the damages done to the Company, and restitution of the places unjustly taken from them by the French in times of peace ; whereupon commissioners were ap- jioin ted by His Majesty, viz., the Earl of Sunderland, the Earl of Middleton, and the Lord (4odolphin, to treat with the French Commissioners, who, on the 10th November, 1087, reported the right of your petitioners, upon which King James was pluaseil to decliue that * he conceived the Company well founded in their demands, and therefore, did insist upon hisown right and the right of his subjects tothe whole Bay and Streights of Hud- son, and to the sole trade t'.ereof; as also upon the demand of full satisfaction for the ilania^e they had received, &c.' The copy of which report and His Majesty's resolutions tiiereon, is hereunto annexed. This was translated and declared towards the latter end of 1087, at which time the Lord Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, was Governor of the Company, and memorials were repeated by the said Iving's command at the French Court I I y 1. The reply of the Company is not given by Pownall, hut it is marked as being included in Bunillo A. 48. It w;is copied by the writer from some old book, but he has not preserved it, nor does he remember where it is. Uis recollection is that ii is nearly the same as that of two years later date. :| :vu' I 154 Hudson's bay comi»any's pctition to qcken annk, 1711. I ■«, M „ HO prosfcitif^ly For satisfaction ami n'stitution, that your ])etitioni'ra had certainly bc^eii r.' lifved and restored t) tludr lights, hut for thi- war, which soon aftor broke out betwet-'i thu two kitiyiloniH. " Tiiat upon the late King William's accession to the throjie, the Comi)any reiicwt i their claim to t'.icir territories, and lor reparation of damages .■^iillicient from the Freiic ; in times of full peace, of which llis said Majesty was so f-ciifiiMe, that he was plea ^f I to make the proceedings of France in tiiat affair, one of the causes and articles of ins declaration of war against the French King, in haec verba : — ' But that the French Kingsin luld invade over Charibb- ) Islands and possess Inmself of our territories of the Proviin r iif New York and Hudson's Bay in an imstiii' manner, seizing our Forts, l)nrning our sul)jccl-,' houses, and enriching hispeoplo with thesp'>ils of their goods and nu-rchandizes; detaining some of our subjects under the hardships of imprisonment, causing others to be inhumaidy killed, and driving the rest to sea in a small vessel, without food and necessaries to snpport them, are actions not even becoming an enemy, and yet he was so far from declaring lnms.lt' so, that at liiat very time, he was negotiating here in England, by his Ministers, a Treaty ul' neutrality and good correspondence in America,' — so that your petitioners ilid wait patiently the end of that war, not doubting but to have justice done to them, when a peace was concluded. " But 80 it i8, may it please your most ExBellent Majesty, that the Company fnuiul their interest not compreheiuleil in tlie Treaty of Ryswick, which they are far from attiilmt- ing to any want of care, in that (Iracious Prince, of this Kingdom's honour and trade, and rather think their rights and claims were then over-weighed by matters of higher conse- quence depending in that juncture ; for by the said Treaty tltey found their condition much worse than it was before, — by the 8th Article vhereof, the French were left in possession of such places situatexl in UndsmCs Bay, as had been taken by them daring the peace which had pre- ceded that icar. " That at a meeting of Commissioners on both sides (.as directed by the said Treaty to adjust these differences), the Company did again set forth the undoubted right of the Crown of England to the whole Bay and Streights of Hudson, against which nothing but sophistry and cavels were offered on the French side, and the matter remained undeter- mined. " That the only settlement notv remaining to the Company in those parts (of seven theij formerly had), is Albany Fort, on the Checheawan, where they are surrounded by the French on every side, viz, : By their settlements on the Lakes and Rivers from Canada to the north- ward towards Hudson's Baj% as also from Port Nelson (at Fort York). To the soutliward the French have likewise made another settlement between Port Nelson and Albany Fti , whereby the Indians are hindered from coming to trade with the English fa^ i\- the bottom of the Bay, and if they are suffered to fix and fortify in those pr 'inl all question they will deprive your Majesty's subjects of that tract of land, w\ is so large a part of your American dominions, and rightly belongs to the Crown of Gre.n Britain " That not only your Majesty's glory is concerned to preserve those plantations, 'iit it very much imports the general trade of your kingdom. Since your petitioners, notwith- standing the losses and discouragements they have laboured under, and during the war, have brought from thence between 30,000 and 40,000 skins per annum, and doubt not Hudson's pay company's rKTiTioN Tr» QfF.KX anne, 1711. ir)5 . J. I I** if tlit-y were rcinatatod in their posspasinii'', acronling to their charter, to bring the said iiniiiii'tiiti'iii to 100/100 skins ])t'rimniini. "Tiiiit tlie saiil count.y iloth al)ouii(l witli sevnal other commodities (of whicli your petitioners have not been aide to begin a tiaile, by reason of the interruptionB they have met with fnmi the Ficiicli), as with whah'-byt, whale-lioiie, (of wliich last, your subjects iiiiw |uirchase from Holland and Germany, to the value of about £2(1,000 per annum, wliiih may be had in your own dominions), besides luiiny oilier valuable coninindities which ;ii time may be discovered. "Tliiit if the French come once to ho entirely possessed of Hudson's Hay, they will nmloubtcdly set up whale fishing in those parts, which will greatly tend to the increase of their navigation and to their breed of seamen. "Thiit there is carried thither and consumed there, notliiiig but of the product and manufacture of Kngland, your petitioners eutourai^ing and il.iily l)ringiiig the Indians to wear coarse cloth instead of skins, which in process of lime will considerably advance the wdolh-n trade ut home. " That it needs must reflect upon the honour of Britain tu icIiiKiuish to the French that territory, of which their violent usurpation in a time of peace was alh'ged aa a main article h; the first declaration of war again.st tiiat kingdom. "That if the French could [ireleml to any right to the said territories by the peace of livswick, this right must needs be determined by their notorious infraction of the said treaty. " The premises considt!red, when your Majesty in your high wisdom shall think fit to give peace to those enemies whom your victorious arms have so reduced and humbled, iii(! wlien j'our Majesty shall judge it for your people's good to enter into a treaty of peace with the French King ; your petitioners pray that the said Prince be obliged, by such treaty, to renounce all right and pretensions to the l!ay and Streights of Hudson, to quit ami .siuTender all posts and settlements erected by the Fiench, or which are now ia their pusses.sion, as likewise, not to sail any ships or ves.sels within the limits of the I'Linpany's Charter, and to make restitution of the £Ui8,.')14. iDs.tid , of which they rohlied and despoiled your petitioners in times of perfect amity between the two king* (lonis. " And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever i»ray." It is very obvious from the stat<'nieiits contained in this petition, and others alieady cited, that Albany Fort was the only trading jxist in the possession of the C'liinijauy from the signing of the Treaty of liyswick until 1711, and it will be seen from ot' <■]• documents, that it was the only post held by the Company until surrender was made bv the French under the Treaty of Utrecht, of the various posts upon the shores of Hud- son's May. There are some statements in this petition which are not strictly tnie ; the King of France never disowned the i)ruceedings of the French against the English in the vicinity of Hudson's I'ay. Disputes arose as to the facts, and the French authorities denied representations made in reference to the conflict at Port Nelson ; but in no ca.se did the French luthorities ever admit that the proceedings of those who were acting in the interest of ne Canadian fur traders, were contrary to the wishes of their government. Ill no case did the French King disown, as they allege, the proceedings of his subjects. I I : 15G w LIMITS PROPOSED BY THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY, 1712. I '', The Company, in their various petitions and memorials, complain that their intere^k wore not comprehended in the Treaty of Ryswick, and : hej' pressed the British Government to act as if that Treaty in no way bound them, and to insist upon their extreme pretensiniis just as if no such treaty had been made. The Hudson's Bay Company admit in their various memorials and petitions that by the 8th Article of the Treaty of Ryswick their rights liad been sacrificed, as the French were Ifft in posscs-sion of all such places as liad been taken by tht-m during the peace whicli had preceded that war. We have seen this arrangement left the Hudson's Bay Company in possession of but a single post. The success of Englpiud and her allies in tin; war, growing out of the disputed succession to the throne of Spain, IimI t!ie Company to hope that when peace came to be made, they might secure more favoural)le terms than those olitained for them by the Treaty of Ryswick. On the 22nd of April, 1711, Count I)e Tore}', on behalf of the Government of France. made propositions with a view of bringing about a peace, but those propositions contain no allusion to Hudson's Bay. Upon receipt of Count De Torcy's overture?-., the English Government made certain preliminary demands, among which was this, "that Xewfound- land, Hudson's Bay and Straits, shall be completely restored to the English. (Jreat Britain and France shall resi>ectively keep and possess all the countries, domains and territories in North America that each nation shall be in possession of at the time wlien the ratification of tlie Treaty shall be published in those parts of the world." The French in their answer, say in reply to this demand, that, " The di-scussion of this article shall he deferred to the general conferences for the peace, it being well understood the right nt fishing and drying cod upon tlie Lsland of Newfoundland be reserved to the French." In the i)reliniinary articles signed by M. Alesnagtr on behalf of France, no further reference is made to Hudson's Bay. While the negotiations with a view to peace, were being carried on between the two Courts, the Hudson's Bay Company addressed to the Lords Commissioners of Trade and riantivtions the following memorandum, setting forth " what they desire may be stipu- lated for them at the ensuing Treaty of Peace." " The memoranduM of the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England, trad- ing into Hudson's Bay : — "That for avoiding all disputts and differences that may in time to come arise between the said Company and French settled in Canad \, they humbly represent and conceive it necessary : " That no wood-runner.-*, either French or Indians, or any other person whatever, be permitted to travel or seek for trade beyond the limits hereafter mentioned ; "That, the said limits begin from the island called .Jrimington's Island or Cape Perdrix. ii the Iatitut Dartmouth the petition of the Hudson's Bay Company of the .Mst of Det ember preced- 1 •& *ii*- f^^^l .• 'T 158 TREATY OF UTRECHT, 1713. iiig, and the memorial relating to the settlement of the boiuuhuios whioli has just Ixcn referred to, with a view of securing the settlement tluongh the British Plenipotentiaries at Utrecht. In March, 1712, the King of France proposed, in relation to Hudson's Bay, " to give up to Great Britain the Streights and Bay of Hudson ;" but to retain to himself the lihurty to withdraw the cannon and other warlike stores. The English Ministry insisted that the cannon and stores should remain for England, and to this demand tlie French King con- sented. The French further proposed that witiiin a year of the peace, Commissioners should be appointed to ascertain the boundaries of Canada or New France on the one side, and the land of Hudson's Bay on the other, and to settle in a friendly manner all just and reasonable recompenses, insisted upon on both sides, for injuries done prejudicial to the rights of peace and war ; they proposed tliat tin: boundaries being once settled, the subjects of both Crowns should be reciprocally prohibited from passing the same, whether by land or sea ; and that the subjects of neither Crown should disturb tlie trade of the subjects of the other, nor was the one to molest the Indians who were allies or subjects of the other.* After a great deal of correspondence had pivssed "Detwi't'ii tlie English aiii itaia received, and what tracts France restored under the words — •■ the Bay and Straits of Hudson, togetlier vvitli all lands, seas, sea-coasts, rivers and places situated in the said bay and straits, and which belonged thereunto, no tracts of land or sea being excepted wiiich arc at present possessed by the sul)jects of France." Tiiese wonls are very indehnite, and unless some understanding had been come to between tlic Governments of France and England as to the location of tiie separating line, it is iuipossible to conceive liow a common understanding could ever be rcachetl by commis- sioners who might bo appointed to give eifect to this provision of the Treaty. W't? know tlial such an understanding was had, and that the representatives of the two Governments drt'w lines upon a map, inclosing Hudson's Bay and the ad jaoent ten itory which France had agreed should be restored to Fngland. The French Government it seems were afraid that a much larger extent of country under the Tenth Article of tlie Treaty might be claimed than they were willing to give uj). Looking at all tiie circumstances attending the disputes l)etween the two countries in reference to that region, and looking to the words of the Treaty that no tracts of hinds or sea were to be excepted from the restoration, wiiich were then in the possession of the subjects of France, to have claimed the whole basin of Hudson's Bay, would have been a very forced construction. The words of the Treaty, just quoted, and tiie attendant circumstances, slinw that what was claimed by England, and yielded by France, was the Bay and the Country upon its margin. Nevertheless tlie laiigungo of tiie Treaty diil not make it iniiiossible for England, if she were so disposed, to insist upon the possession of the whole courifry to the lands' height. France too, consented with reluctance to the use of the word restoration instead of cession. It was asking iier to admit that she iiad no rights in tiif country although her rights were recognized by the Treaty of liyswick. Tt) prevent furtlicr di.s})utes, in reference to this terril ■! y, the lines were drawn upon tlie map, as I liave already stated. In a memorial addi.'ssed by tlu; Manpiis do 'i'orcy to Mi. Prior, one of the English Plenipotentiaries at the French Court, dated the 7th ofdaiiuaiy, 171.3, N. S., he says : — " The Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain insist that it shall be expressed that France shall 7'estore not oniy what hus btcn taken fmia (he Einjlish, liiil tiLto all thU Eng- Idiui has ever possessed in that tiuarttr. This new clause dill'ers from the plan, and would be a source of perpetual dithculties ;' but to avoul them the King has .sent to his Ploniiioteii- tiavics the same map of North America, as had lieeii furnished by the Plenipotentiaries of (!it>at Britain. His Majesty has caused to be drawn upon this map a line which describe* t Hi. I • Chalmerii' CoUefltlun sf Treatie*, Vol. I, pp. 378, .Sr». 3S0. K As to the plaD, aee Lord I'olingbrohe'a Correnpun leiice. miA. . if' 160 l.!i i w ■r •I 11 ■^ It'' TERRITORY SURRENDERED BY THE FRENCH, 1713, the boundaries in such a manner that he has reason to believe they may easily agree as to this point on both sides." On the following day' Mr. Prior wrote to Lord Bolingbroke as follows : — " As to the limits (if Hudson's Bay, and what the ministry seem here to apprehend, at least in virtue of the general expression — tout ce que V Anglderre a janmis possede de ce cAU-Ui (which they assert to be wholly new, and which I think is really so, since our Plenipotentiaries make no mention of it) — nuiji (jire its occasion to cvcroach u:.» a later Jate, but the one date is probab.y «1J style an I tb« other new. 'Uiidary,— in o u. 111^ .^ •% n *| BOIINDAUY CLAIMKD HV THh HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY, 1712. IGl III the Memorial of 7th of February, 17}',, tho Company propose as a boundary between thi'iu and (.'iiuada, a line drawn from Capo Pordrix, in latitude i)S^' '.W north, and passinsj; to the south westward " to the p-eat Lako Miskosinkc, or iMistoveny, dividinj^ tiie same int > two parts, (as in the map now delivered.)" The Company a.sked in their memorial tiiat 'The' Freuch, nor any others employed by them, shall come to the north or north-westward of the viil lake, or supposed lino by land or water, on or through any rivers, lakes, or countries, to tniJc, or erect any forts or settlements whatsoever; and the English on the contrary, not to p:i>> the said supposed line, either to the southward or eastward." These are the boundaries L'ivcn by the Hudson's Bay Company during the negotiations of the Treaty, and from this description we must ascertain the extent of country claimed by the English Plenipotentiaries. >! separating line is mentimed upon the south, but it is highly probable that the parallel passing through the south-western shore of Lake Mistassiu was intended as such. It is clear thiit the eastern boundary, drawn in a .southern direction through Lake Mistassin, was not extended to the sautliward beyond the lake which it divided. This line alone would not liavc served the purpose of the Company, and the prohibition which they sought relating to til" I'ur trade, would be of little value if it had reference only to the country lying between this line and Hud.son's Hay. The rights of the Company were twofold, — the rights of property in the soil within thi htraits and Bay, that is, to tiic lauds between the line drawn and the Hay, and the right it c.vclusive trade within the territories to the west or south of the Bay, which their occu- iKiUoii might have rightfully secured to the Crown of Great Britain. Tiie Company, as yet, h' >itaied to conii)ouiid these separate rights and privileges. This is shown by their stopping -iiii;i with their boutidaiy at liuke Mistassin. But the note ailded lo their memorandum itliii'ds a in'i'tt}' plain hint of those bolder pretensions juit forward at a later period. As \. 1 the Company cared only for the fur ti.ide ; but they seem to have discovered that the ( inwn could not grant a monopoly ol the fur trade, ami that they could only cmjoy it as 111 incident to ownershij) of the country, which would at once protect them against tres- ji:l-M,TS. The fur trade lay mainly to the west of the Bay. What the Company wanted was ill'' exclusive trade about the Hay and witliin the territory which they claimed. It was ',' secure this monopoly of the trade that they wished to exclude the Frencli from navi- jting the Btiy. Tiu'y drew a separating line upon the east, and they extended it sulH- ;>ntly far to the south to embrace Moose Fort. They must, then, have intended to iiiikc the paralhd which passes along the southern shore of Like Mistassin their southern 'I'lUinlary, — in otiier words, to have asked as their exclusive possession, for the purpose of !ude, the Bay and its adjacent territory west of the line described. Had they believed ■Jiey could successfully claim a more ample margin upon the south shore of the Bay, they W'luld have extended their boundary line upon the oast further to the south-west. Tiiey l'i'>liiised to do this, as we shall .see, at a later period; but it was after the Treaty of ' tieclit had l)een signed, and when the limits were defined upon the map of the rieni})0- lentiaries. It must be borne in mind that the Company wanted to get rid' of the settle- ment made by tho Treaty of Ryswick. Tho provisions of that Treaty relating to the Htnlson's Hay were permaiu'nt in their character, and not such as, by the rules of In- ternational Law, are affected by subsequent wars. The Company wanted that settlement 11 i i I w 162 BOUNDARY CLAIMED BY THE HODSON's BAY COMPANY, 1712. set aside. They desired to have secured to them all the country their charter pro- fessed to grant ; and in this memorandum they undertook to describe the terri tory from which they wanted the French excluded. It is the first attempt to dt; .scribe the limit of the country they claimed under their charter, and it is the only instance in which they did so before the peace of Utrecht. Whatever then, the Com- pany claimed at that time, must be taken as the extreme pretension of the English prioi to the Treaty. It is a.ssumed that tlie Company, in this description, intended to make th^ parallel of latitude which starts from the point on the south-western shore of Lake Mis tassin at which the eastern boundary terminates, the extreme southern limit of the British possessions ; that is, the extreme limit of the territory conveyed, and also the extreme limit of the lands within which they had a monopoly of the Indian trade. This is the most favourable assumption to the Company of which their memorandum will admit. If we were to construe their memorandum strictly, and infer that they claimed under the one grant or tli- other only the country within the line actually described as the one from which they wished to exclude the French, their southern boundary would be a line drawn midway bctwetu west and north-west from the point on the south-west shore of Lake Mistassin. They ask that the French, or others employed by them, may not be permitted to come to the north ward or north-westward of the defined liu'', which would otdy be done when they crossii tlie lino midway between west and tuirth-west. Wliat the Company, in our oi)inio!:. intended as theii' southern boundary, in this mi'moranduni, was a line due west t'p.!. the point on the shore of Lake Mistassin at wliich their eastern boundary terminated. Hu v far to the westward tliis line was carried it is impossible to say, but it is not likely that:: was made to embrace a much larger area upon the west than was claimed upon the t;it: The Frencli had, at this time, no posts west of Lake Winnipeg. They had one upon tlr tiortli .shore of Lake Nipcgou, and still furtiu-r nortli in the country of the Knistiiiaiu. Tliest; posts tiiey were not likely to surreiuler, noi' was Enghuid likely to claim trailin:; stations which it was out of her power to defend. Takiui; then, DeLisle's line, as the or. drawn by the French, and drawing a line from the descri[)tions given in the memoruiniun: of the Hudson's Bay Company, whicli will accurately represent the one drawn by the E::;.- lish, it may fairly be presumed that we shall have an exact copy of the map referred tub Count i)e Torcy :vm\ by .Mr. Prior, and it will be seen that these lines agree wit tlie ob.M'rvatiou of Mr. Prior " that there is no very great difl'erence " between tiien: The line from Cape Perdrix to Lake Mistassin appisvrs as a direct one upon tli' map of Mr. Popple, who was Secretary to the Lords of Trade and Plantations. He »r,i the person who received the map and memorandum of the Hudson's Bay Company, an" jirobably copied this line from their map. On the 27th of May, ITUi, Lord Dartmouth addressed a letter to tlieLi>riI>' Trade, enclosing a petition from the Hudson's Bay Company, in reference to their gettin: possession of the trading posts in the neighbourhood of Hudson's Bay. In his lettp: Lord Dartmouth, after asking the fjords of Trade to report their oi)inions upon ;! several particulars mentioned by the company in their petition, says : — " In the nieantin:' 1 am to acquaint you that the places and countries therein named, belonging of rigiit i British subjects, Her Majesty did not think fit to receive any Jet of L'i;siiii>ti from tiif French King, and has, therefore, insisted only upon an vider from that Court for delivti HUDSON'S BAV (,'OMPANVS CHAHTER. 1()3 .^fT^ iriiiii ir >ii ini' jKissessioTi to such persons as should be autliorizod by Her Majesty to take it ; hi/ this ,nt,i)is the title of the CoinpdHi/ is aikmtwli'ihii'd, and tlmy will come into the immediate eii- ioynieiit of their [(roperty without furtlur tronljle. " The King of Fraiic<) gave the follow- ing order for the surrender of the country ; — " Order by the King of France. M. Jeremie, Commander of the Forts and Streights of Hudson's Bay, is commanded to deliver up to the Hearer of the Queen of Great Britain's order, the Bay and Streights of Hudson, to- iTfther with all buildings and forts there erected, in the condition they now are, with all the cannon and cannon-ball, as also a (juantity of powder (if it t)e tliere found), in pro- jiortion to the cannon-ball and the other things belonging to the artillery, according to, ;ui(l ill execution of the tenth Article of the Treaty of Peace concluded at I'trecht, the 11th of April last, between his Majesty's Plenipotentiaries and those of the Queen of Great Britain. Don.; iit Marley, the sixth of August, 1713." It may not be out of place here to pause for a moment, and consiy ' .111(1 sc;i^ inlo wliicli they sliiiU find entrance or passage by water or land, out of the tern tiirics limits and places aforesaid, and to and with all the natives and people inhabiting williiii the territories, limits and places aforesaid, and to and with all other nations in. Ii.ihitiiiji any of the coast adjacent to the said territories, limits and places whitli an nut granted to any of our subjects." Tlie question has frequently beisn discussed whether the charter of the Hudson's Bav Coin]>any was not void from the beginning. If the doctrine held by some lawyers in the cjise of tlie Duke of York, that tlie King could make no valid grant of property of wind he had not yet acquired jiosse^ssion, hold good, tlien upon this ground tlu; grant to tin Hudson's I5ay Company wjis voiil, for tlie visits in 1007 to Iliulson's IJay were by person- ill their jirivate capacity, not authorized by the (iovernment to take ])osses8ion of air, country on behalf of the Crown. But supposing this question of non-acquisition )>asaeJ by, could th.l the Hudson's Bay charter. They say that " with respect to any riglits of gnvernment, ta.xation, e.vclusive ailiniiiislration of justice, or exclusive trade, ottierwise tli.an as a eons-'inience of the right (if ownership nf the land, such rights could iiuh Iteh-giHy insisted on by the Hudson's Bay Coiiijiany as having been legally granted to them by the Crown." Hut waiving the (piestion of the validity of the charter, it is of some interest to en(|uire what extent of territory niiglii be claimed under the chartei-, assuming the King had the power to make the grant. It is plain that the terricorial .'rant couM not be held to coniprelieml all that might be reached thnmgh the Straits of Hudson. Tiie second paragraph which wr have ipioted, from tlnir charter, shows that there were places and j'coples outside nf their territorial grant that it wasbe- lievcil couM be reached through the straits, and in which, and with whom, the Coinpai:y were to hive th thf whole is the seas, j A'c., that lie within Hudson's Stndls, and the lainis, &c., up(Mi the counfrie.s, coasts, and con tine.s of the seas, &c., that i.s, Keddimlo sinyxla ttimjitli.-:, the lands upon the countries, coa.-its, iml confines of each of the seas, rivers, S^o., natiimlhj nulndinij suih n pitrlion oj krritortj u» iinijhihc mhtntmbltj ni'fensarij ftrr the uhjecl in rictr ; hut it is not a ijrnnt f/idl (he lands tind terri- '•rii-sin vhich thr seas, fitrnitu, rirer.i, dr., lie, or are situated, or wdiich surround tlupi t(» I :>iiy indetiniti* extent or distance from them. Still less is it a grant of all the land.-- and 1 'iTiiturit's lying between the seas, straits, rivers, itc, though many hundred or thousand miles or le;igue> d' land and territories might lie between one sea, strait, river, lake, &c., and niotliiT sea.strait, river, Iake,itc., and though the quantity of land comprised in this interii r I situation, and far distant from any coast or confine of the specified wafers, might exceed in iliaieiisions the extent of many existing powerful Kingdoms or State.?. Within the Straits, il|5^ "^T^ I *» .1 5f k|. f IW TKUHITOIUKS (n.Ml'UISED IX AND EX('IA'I)EI) I'UOM TIIK CHAUTKIl. iniiHt nioaii Huch a proximity to tht straits as would give tho laixls sjHiken of n sort of allin- ity or riilatioii to Hutisoii's Straits, aiitl not sucli lamls as from their iniiiiense distance (in thi.s case tht; nearest point to Hudson's Hay being 700 miles, and from thence extending to a din tanre of 1,500 miles from it)* hnvc iw siidi (lenfirdiiliirnl iij/initi/ or relation to tlw .straitn. bm vhkh (in not rrcii a/ipriKtrJnil hi/ fin- C'anadiav< Hiniiiiili or Inj the struils in ijiicdion. The wlinli grant contemplates the straits as the access lo tht; lands and territories therein reffired to ; and, as tliere is no l)onndary specified, except by the description of the coasts and confines t)f the places mentioned, that is, the coasts ami confines of the seas, &c., within the straits, sucli a boundary nnist be implied as is consistent witli tiiat view, and with the l)rofessed objects of a tnuling company intending not to found Kingiloms and establish States, liut to carry on fisheries on these waters, and to trade and tratlic for the ac(|iii3i tioii of skins and iieltries, ami the tither articles mentioiuMl in tlie charter ; anil in such a long tract of time as neaily ir)0 years, now elapsetl since tho grant t)f the charter, it miHt now be, and must, iiideeil, long since have been, fully ascertainetl by the actual posses- sions (if tlic Hudson's Hay Company, what p ation or ]iortions of lands and tei'ritorit.- ii. tho vicinity and on the coasts and confines of the waters mentioned ami described :\^ within till' straits, that have been found necessary for their purposes and for fiH-ts, tai- tories, tow ns. villages, settlements, or such other establishments in such vicinity, and on such coasts and confines as pertain and belong lu a (Aunpany institutetl for the purposes mentioned in their charter, and necessary, useful, or convenient to them within t!ie pn- I scribed limits, for the prosecution of those purposes. The enormous exLen>5ion of land ami tcrritoiy now claimed appears, therefore, to us not to be warrantetl \)y any sound con struction ot the cliarter. ..." The words of the charter ttf the Hudson's Bay Company show that the King in tendeil to convey to tho Company, " all the lands and territories upon the countries, coast.~ and confines of the seas, bays, lakes, rivers, creeks and .sounds that lit within the entrance of the Straits commonly called Hudson's Straits thai are not already actually po.ssessed by or granted to any of our sul»jt!cts, or possessed by the .subjects of any other Christian Prince or State." Tho grant did not inclutle: — 1st. Ain ji'ition of country po.ssessed by any other iiritish subject, nor, 2ntl. granted to any other Hritisli .subject, iu)r 3rd, possessed by any other Christian Prince or Stale. It did incbide, 1st, any territory in the possessitin of the Crown not inclntlcd in the first two exceptions, and, liinl, any territory not in the jiotisession of any Christian I'riiv- or State, to which the Crown, through the dihgence of the Company, might at;i|uire a title. It could not includo 1st, territt)ries that were cxi)lored and t)ccupied by the Frt'iich before they were exploretl and occupied l)y the Company, although done subse(|uent to th' grant; nor, 2nd, could it bar the French from acipiiring the soveieignty over the north- western parts of America by discovery and settlements, as no territory passes by such a urant, if at all, until the sovereignty of the country is first rightfully actjuired, accordini: to the maxim nemo dal quod noii luibei. From the letter of Lord Dartmouth it seems that he was of opinion that if the Conipanv was authorised by the Crown to receive their former possessions from tho French, their titio Thev here refer tn the griint iniiile \ty thii Hudson's Bay Cdiuimuy tu Lord Selkirk. rHE HULKS OF INTKUNATIONAL LAW AIM'LIKU TO >L ». CO. S t'LALMS. Ui7 would f'e made ^ood, or, at all evt'iit.-*. as valid u.s it had over been. In tluM lie Sfoins tit iiavc bi'cn mistuken. All the reprosontatioiis luado by tho lludHnn'M Bay Comjtany, in their vari- ouH petitions and memorials to the Government, proceeded upon the a.s.sumption that tho war of HUCceMfeioD, which wan be^'un in 17(t2, ]iut an end to the Treaty of lly.swick, and that tilt >tipulations therein made by Kni;laiid and France were no longer bindiiifj; upon cither. Thi>, however, is not the rule recognized by writers on international law. " Tran.sitnry conwntionH, " sayH Whcaton, " are perpetual in tiieir nature, .so that bein^; onco carried into iffpct, they subsist independent of any change in the sovereignty and form of government of tlie contracting parties, and although their operation may, in .some cases, be suspended duriiiu' war, thoy revive on return of peaee witliout any expro.ss ^ti])ulation. Such are treaties of ci-.s- jion, boundary, or exchange of territory, or those wliicli created a permanent servitude in favour of one nation in the territory of another. " " It is of great importance, " says Vattel, to draw a proper distinction between a new war and a breach of an existing treaty of peace, kKjause the rights acquired by such a treaty still subsist, notwithstanding the new war, whereas they are annulled by the rupture of the treaty on which they were founded. It is true, indeed, that the party who bad granted those rights, does not fail to obstruct the exer- cise of them during the course of the war, its far its lies in liis power, and even may, by the right of arms, wiiolly deprive his enemy of tiiem as well as he may wrest from him his other pi)s.ses8ions. But in that case he withholds tho.se rights as things taken from the enemy, who, on a new treaty of peace, may urge the restituti(jii of them." The war of succession had no connection whatever with the war which was ended by the Treaty of Hyswiek ; it was in no .sense a war arising out of a breach of that Treaty. The rule laid down by Vattel is strictly applicable to the case of the possessions of the Hud.son's Bay Company. Tlie subject matter of the 7tb article of the Treaty of Ryswick is of such a nature that it could not he aH'eeted by a fleclaratiori of war made five years later. The military genius of Marlhiimngh inaib- the war of succession adver.se to Fraiiee. Kiig lami was enabled to make ileinanil.s in rel'ereiice to Hudson's IJay at its eonclusiou, which her successes justified, and it is upon the treaty which followed this war that iier title to the sovereignty of Hudson's Bay and the adjoining country has since rested. It is eijually certain that, from the signing of the Treaty of Kyswick to the ratification of that of I'trecht, it was tho recognized pos.session of France. Being iincon(|uered, it wa.s, until -eiled or restored to Ilngland, a.s much French territory a.s any other part of Canada. By the 7th and Sth Articles of the Treaty of llyswick, already ipioted, all places taken by the French from the Hudson's Bay Company during the peace that preceded the war which was terminated l)y that treaty, became the property of the French. It would appear that the.sc^ stipulations of that treaty e.\tiiiguishe(l whatever rights the Cumpany may have had in the country that then was left a possession of France, and tiuit t!iey were not revived by a retrocession of the country to lireat Britain l>y the Treaty of Utrecht, and could not be revived unless by a new grant. .Vs a general rule, when a (lovernment comes into possession of property which be- longed to its subjects, and wiiicii had been captured by an enemy, it restores the ])ro- perty to the original owners — so far as it can, it puts them upon the same footing as that in which they stood before the capture. It is, too, the rule and the practice for the con- queror to respect the right to private property in the soil, when a country is conquered. M I I 1(18 KKJHTS OK POSTLIMINY. r . v t 1 ^" Put, both ilicMc riilcH operate within dearly dedru'il and well understood liinits. " VVhers a territory," says Halleck, "lias heon ncciuired by con' same right of war. * IliilleokV Intcrniitii)nnl Liiw, chniiter 'Ab, boc. 9. t Vnttel's l.HW .i| Naliiinj, Rk. 3, .'PC^. 2H-215. X 2 DuUis, .Sup. C. Kep , 186. UIOIITH OF I'OSTLIMINY. U.J) " liiit this roiiHdU jirovrs only, tliiit tin- conqueror wIki \\im tnkvu posHPssif.n nt in ciii'iay's country, may conintauil it wlulo Im holds it, and not re.sij^n it until lii' has ^ u.d stciirity that h« shall obtain or possess, witlioiit hn/arni|Uered. It is only a fivourable oiiasion of obtaining,' it; anil for that purpose there must always be an express or tacit ciiiiMent of tin- Viui- i|Mished. Otherwise the state of war is still siibsistiny;, the sovereignty of the cotifpU'ior luis no other title than that o|' force, and lasts no luuf^er than the vatupiished are uMiihle to throw off the yoke."* In the case of the (!olony of IVmai|niil, the principle of postliminy • ;is pressed to its ixtn-nie limit, yet there was nothing in that case wliieli woidd warrant its ap[.li<'ation to the case of the Hudson's iJay Company after the Treaty of Ttrecht. The Colony <( lVmai|uid was coiupu'red by D'Hu-rvdle in IllH!). It was to be restored to ihe English by the Treaty of liyswick, but they did not obtain posK-ssiori, it sei-mt-, liifoie the war of I7ay Company, were iookeil upon as great political corporations, whose rights and franchises were created maiidy to extend lli< power and authority of tht; sovereign who cliaitered them, and that they had therefore no rights, as private owners which a foreign State wius in c;i.se of ' -ntpiest bound to respect. They wen^ looked upon us custodians i>\' political authority rather than as ordinary subjects or citizens, and were dealt with accordingly. It was in this way that the Knglish dealt with the Quebec Company, and the Treaty of Utrecht ri'cognises thf principle in express terms. The Fiulia Company of Holland were not recognised as lia\ ing any rights in the New Netherlands after the compiest by James. The ca.se of the Duke of ^■o^k. under the charters grant^'d to him l)y his brotiiti Charles II., well illustrates the limitatioii of the principle of postliminium. On the li'tli March, lfiC4, 0. S., the King grantcsd by Royal Patent, to his brother .lames, Duke of ^ (uk and Albany, all the lands and rivers from tlu- west side of the Conneticut Kiver tu the eivst side of Delaware Hay. His patent also embraced Long Islantl ami the islands in tlie ntdghliourhood. A patcuit to hong Island had been granted to i^ord Stirling ; but he had r(dea.sed lii-; title before the i'rant was made to Janu-.s. James's patent conv.'ycil a part of the Province of Coinieticut and the whole of the New Netherlanils. He wa.s at tlif time Lord High Admiral, lie tunU four shi|)s-of-war to give effect to the grant made to him by the King, and lo put himself in possession of his new estate.* 'I'his fleet was put under the command of Colonel Nicolls, who had associated with hini, Sir It. Can. Colonel (>ro. ', arti^ret, and Samiud Moviiitk. who wire reipiired to as.sist in the concpiesl of the country granted to the 1 )uke. < >n the 'JOth of ( Jctober, N. K., the compiest of Now Netherlands was comph'ted, an ' James entered into possessiini. riin'i' years later, the sovereignty of the country was confirmed to Kngland by the Treaty of Hreda. In Ifi73, war again broke oiii between Kngland and the Netherlands, anil tiiu Province of New Vorke (formerly New Netherlands) was reconipwied by the Diili:h. Hy the si.\tli Articleof the Treaty of VVestminstiT, which was ratified on the I'.'th of Febni ary, 1()7 I, N. S., thernited i'rovinces relimpiished their compiest to the King of Kngland. It was claimed that James's former piopiietorship revived hy the restoration of the Pro- vince to the King (d Knglai;d, especially as the Tn-aty of Westminster had le-eHtaldislu'd the articles of .apit illation ln'tween Mcolls and Stiiveysant. in lti(;4. The Treaty of bruda continued the conque.it to Euyland, upon the principle of uti itossrdetU. There wnv Fur u lull ui'uuuut, 306 i)roilb«)ttJ'« Ilietury iif New Yurk, Vol. 2, Cha|itan 1, i, i, 6, anti 7. THE Ul'h E OF YOHK's SEtU.ND I'ATENT, 1G74. 171 two proniuls upon which the validity of the ch.irtor was (]HPstiono(l by pmiiicnt lawyers — thi' oiii', tliiit the country was in tiie jio.s.scssion of tlic Dutch wIkmi the patent wiis niali under the Treaty of Ctreclit. It is worthy of note that the Duke of Noik, upon tlie authority of his first Patent, oiivived that portion of Ids grant lying between Hudson and Dtdaware Hivers to Lord licrkeley and Sir (Jeorge Carteret, an«l which was named New .leraey, as a compliment to .Sji (oMirge, who had been (Jovernor of the Island of .ler.sey during the Ci\ il War, and who h.lil it f(U' Charles I. Merkeley S(dd his rights to Kihvard Millingi-. liillinge, who was K'reatly in debt, consented to sell his part for the benefit of his creilitors, and William I'eiiU, (iawen Lawrie and Nicholas Lucas were appointed trustees foi the purpose. In HJ7i) they divided the territory with Sir (Jeorge Carteret, he taking the eastern, and they the Western jiortion. This country fell into the harnls of the Dutch at the time tliey reto»»k New \ iirk, and it was, l)y the Treaty of Westminster, restored to Fugland, but tin; titles of the settlers, which were derived through the Duke of Vork from the first patent granted ') tile King were never ijuestioned. I'nlike that 1 i i ' Quotoil bjT Hro,lli««R.I, liiat. of New yntk, Vy (amoiii^ otlior matters theioby concerted) the French King oliliges himself to restore to your Majesty (or to wliom your Majesty shall appoint to take possession thereof) thi- liay and Streights of Hudson, together with all the lands, seas, sea-coasts, rivers and place- situated in the said Hay an.l Streiglits, as al^o all forts and etlilices whatever, entire ami not demolished, together with guns, shot, powder ami other warlike provisions (as men- tioned in the Kith Article of the present Treaty of Peace), within six months after the ratification thereof, or sooner, if possible it may be ssession of the premises above mentioned, and ;> constitute Captain James Knight to be (Jovernt r of the Fortress called Port Ni>lson, and all other forts and edifices, lands, sexs, rivers and itcn!«ions which, on every fresh (K^cat^ion, wore tudarged until a considerable por- tion of Upper (!aiia may be expected ihe latter end of September or hejiiinin:/ of October next. "They further repres..)iit to your Jjordships, that, arcordin;: to a memorial formerly lielivered this honourable board, re', itinj: to the limits or boundaries to be s<'ttled by Com- missaries 'twixt the English and French in those ptirts, they iiumbly prayed, that for avoiding.; all disputes and differences that may in time arise between the Company and the French r-i'ttled in ("anada, that nci wood runners, either French or Indians, or any other person what- -n(.\er, lie peruiitted to travel or seek f(ir trade beyond the limits thereafter mentioned. "That tli'i said limits bcLrinnini; from the Island called (iriminf,'tou Island, or Cape 1' rdrix, in the latitude of ")t or settlements whatsoever ; and the Eiiglj.-.h, on the contrary, not to pa.ss the said supposed line, either to the southward or eastward. "The said Company having already delivered to your Lordships an abstract of the Jimages sustained by the Fri"icli in times of peace, amounting to .i:l(t(),r)4;J l.'Js. Hd., accord- in.' to the direction of the llth Article of the afores'iid 'i'reaty, which they huiiibly oiitreal your Lordships to take care of, to the relief of the great hardships they have so long laboured under. " By order of the (Jovernor aiul Company uf Adventurers of England trailing into Hudson's liay. " W.M. FolTKII, " Swri'.tiirii, lliuLson's Bay House, 4th August, 1711." li will he M'en that this deseriptioii of tin- limits which the Coinpiiny desires ililVi-rs iu some importaut particulars frotn that whicli had been given iluring the negotiations of A V .11 I iff It -,K k^^"^ r 174 Hudson's bay co.'h mkmohtal to the lords of tkadk. I7li). HV'i': ! th« Treaty of Utrecht. In tlie memorandum of Fobruaiy, 17 {i, th(^ description of tlic eastern boundary lerminatcs upon the souUi-west shore of Laito Mistassin. In this, tlieri- are adle, however, that the Company coulil make greater demanils upon tiie French after the ratification of the Treaty, ii n the Government hfid on behalf of the Crown and the Company made during the progress of tht; negotia- tions. The only effect of the policy of aggression upon which the Comj)any now entered was to previMit a prupcr settlement of tlie limitary line, by misleading the English G«)vernmenl, and l»y caiising it to make (hunands upon the Frendi wholly inconsistent with the understanding at wliich they had previously arrived. Nearly six years had elap.sed btitween the ratification of the Treaty of Utrecht and the appointment of Commissioners to settle the boundaries between tht; British and French Colonies, under the Tenth Article; of that Treaty. In August, 17 In the Governor and Company addressed the Lm-ds of Trade and Plantations a memorial in which they say : — " That by the Treaty concluded at Utrecht it was agre(!(l betwrcn the Crowns of G^eat Britain and France that the Streights and Hay of ilndsoii should be tlelivered up to the Britisli subjects, and that the limits sluttild bo settled between the .said Bay of Hudson and the places appertaining to the French, and also tiiat satisfaction should he given to the ("omiiany for all depredations committed against them Ity the [''rench in a time of peace, according to an estimate thereof to ir made at the recpiisition of the several parties. The first of these Articles, namely, thi; surrentler of the Streights ami l>ay aforesaid, has been made according to tin tenor of the Treaty, at least in such a mauiu-r that the (Jompany ac(juie.sced therein, and have nothing to oliject or desire on that heail. •'The other two, viz., tiie running a line between the Fnglisli and French territoMi>, and the making reparation to the Company for their losses and damages, yet remain to l»e done. Whereupon the (Jovernor and Com|)any mo.st humbly represent to yoiu Lordships that they conceive it absolutely necessary that the limits between tiu- twn nations l)e settled without delay, for that the French havt;, since the conclusion of peao'. (viz., in 17ir>). made a .settlement at ti)e head of Albany Kiver, upon which very rivvi our principal factory is settled, wliereliy they interrupt the Indian trade from coming tu the Comj)any's factories, ami will in time utterly ruin the tratle. if not prevented ; it is therefore proposed and desired that a himmlani or diciiliuij linr nuti/ he drawn nous t<>y order of the Governor, fie. " W'lLl.l.VM I'ltriKI!, " iSecretitry." It seems from the memorandum attached to this pa]ier. that the original was taken by Colonel I'.ladeii lo France, in September, 17111, when he, along with Mr. FnlteiM v went as Fnglish Commissioners to I'aris. The instructions were given in Septemliei, I7I1», in the British Corami.ssioner8, hd- INSTRUCTIONS TO THE ENGLISH COMMISSIONERS TO PARIS, 1719. 175 tcncy and Blader , and contain the following directions : — " It being provided hy the I'lth iVrtide of the Treaty of Utrecht, '/hat the limita and boundaries appertaining to the French, be settled by Commissaries on each part, which limits both the British and Kroncli subjects, shall be wholly forbid to pass over or thereby to go to each other b' sea i)r land — You are to endeavour to get the said limits settled in the following inan- iitr, that is to say, that the same begin from the Island [of Grimington] or Cape Pedrix nlrix] in the latitude 58.^ north, which the Company desire maybe the boundary between the British and French subjects rni the coast of Labrador towards Rupert's Laud ,11 the East Main, and Nova Britannia on the French side, . and further, tliat a line be drawn from tin- Soutli-westward of the Island of Grimington or Cape Peilrix 'so :vs to include the same in the limits of the Bay) to the Great Lake Miatossink, alias Misto- vniy, dividing the said lake itjto two paits (as in the map to be delivered to you), atul that where the said line shall cut the -tyth degree of north latitude, another line shall iH'jtin and be extended westward upon the 49th degree of northern latitude, over which said lines tin- French and all pe.sons V)y them employed shall be prohibited from passing to the north or nortli-west, Sic. But uim are to UiL' >si)fcuii rmr iu imrdinfj such Arthli' •If -hdll lie (Kjru.d ujntn I'ith the (^nmmissionrrs of his most Christian Moj ''/, upon this Iteaii. ''nil thi: said Imumlaries lie niidtrsfood to regard the trade of the lludsini's Baif Compani/ onhi, ih'il his Maji'slji dois nut tkereliij rerede from his riijht fis ot their pretensions to the sovt^eignty of Hudson's Bay and the surrounding country, trusted to the Comjiany for the facts by which that claim was to be made good. They did little more than s))eak ami act for the (Company, as they were tltc only portion of "Jic I'.ritisii population who had any direct interest in the matter. It cannot for a miinunt be doubted, that the line which the Engli-sh Plenipotentiaries drew upon the maj) as the extreme limit of their pretensions, did not extend farther south than the south- western shore of Lake Mistassin, that is, as far south as the ft 1st parallel of north latitud*-. It is not at all improt)al)le that the British Government, when they put forth the extreme rlaims of till- Hudson's Bay Company, were ignorant of the restrictions placed upon the ctiiistniction of the 10th Article of the Treaty of Utrecht, and therefort* upon their ilaims of dominion over the basin of Hudson's Lhiy, by line's drawn upon the map l)y the I'Iciiipotentiaries.which were intended to facilitate the settlement of the disputeil boundary, ami to prevent tliose extreme demands l)y the British Government, of which the Company, -II s(Kin after the Treaty i>t' I'trecht, became the unscrupulous instigators. To suppose the iliilish(;overnment ac(nuiinte- thcm guilty of l)ad faith. Lord Bolingbroke had been driven into banishment. Harley, ind the men who had come into power upon the fall of Marlborough, were displaced, and It Is not at all imprf)bable that the Ministers who determined the character of the instn.c- iioiis given to Messrs. Pulteiiey and I'.laden, were ignorant of the construction which had 4 I • Ol>taineUNOAHIi:s CLAIMKI) liV Tilt; HUDSON'S IIAV COMPANY, 1750. I- I .1 i^ii liiiii j^ivfii t(i this Article of tho Treaty, by the lines tlrawii upon tlie nmpby the Pleiiiito. tchiaries of the two (irovernments.as shown by the letters of the Marcjuis de Torcy and Mr. I'ri.ir. Wlien Commissioners were appointed in 1750 to settle the various disjiules relut iiiL' U) the bouiidiiries between the possessions of Knjiland and France in America, thr H 111 Ison's Iiay (Viinpany again a(hlressed a memorial to the Louis of Trade and I'laiii,. tiiiiis, nlatiny to the extent of country which tin-y claimed under their charier. It is dated Hrd of October, 1 750, and reads as follows : — " The i^aid (lovernor and Company, in obedience to your Lordships orders of tlic 25ih July, last, recpiiring them to lay before your Lordsliips an account of the limits aii'l bdiindaries of tlie territory granted to them, represent to your Lordships : " The said Streights and liay, commonly calleugh the same, dividing that lake into two parts, ituate in the said Hay and Streight, and which belong thereunto, no tracts of land orsei being excepted which were jiossessed by the subjects of France, &c., &c." Also the Eleventh Article, and ]iroceeds-- " That in piiiMiaiice of the said Treaty, and the especial commission of Her lati Majesty, (.^ueen Anne, tlated 'JOtli duly, 171. J, the .said iiay and lands were delivered up to, &c., and commissaries were appointed to settle the said limits and adjust the dam IllliSoNS IS.VY ((t.'s ME.MOKIAI. Tn TIIK l.oKDS OK IKAKK, l?"'*). 177 iijjes, &(., and jirocpcdinfjs wore had by tlic said commissaries towards sfttling tho same, but they were never ablo to bring tho settloment of the said limits to a final conclnsion," ,vc. " Tiic bonmlary lint' tlit'ii proposed by the 1 1. B. Co., to bo settled i>n tlie limits on tho mntin'Mit l)et\veen tlieni and tlu; places Itelonging to the French at the south end of tho . Co. to tho Lords Commissioners of Trade, and still remaining in your i/iriUlii])*' office, was th(! same as the line now proposed by yonr meniorialists for the Niutli east and south boundaries ; and to avoid as much as po.ssil)le any Just grounds for lirt'i'iinj,' with the French in agreeing on those boundarier. which l)e nearest the scttle- nit'iits, it is laid tlown so as to lt^•lve the French in possession of as much or more land ilian they can make any just pretensions to, and at the same time leave your memor- ialists Intl '. t'n., and have also carried on sonic tii'li! within the .said comp.vny's limits by meaus of woud-i aimers in an interloping way, Ixith which an- conceived and humbly represented to your Lordships ivs encroachments nil the British territories or trade. "Thai your memorialists have used tlic best endeavours in their power to prevent the French making any t croacliniont.s on the Britisii tcrriiiiry in those parts, aud particularly It the .south cud of the .«aid bay, where, by tho ncighbouiiiood of liie French, there is most m be apjjrchendeJ. Your incinori.-ilisfs ii.ive made a settlouieiit uiaiiy years since upon tho [iiiiciiml river there, called .Moo.se River, whii^li runs fnun a :;real (!i>tanoe south into the bay. and iiave also erected a fort mounted with eainion for tiie deleiice of the Bittlcment, and preventing the French entering the bay by any navi^ration down tliat river ; and your UK'niDrialists, on another principal liver. (;alled .Vlhany lliver, that likewiMJ fulls into the bay iiwards the southward thereol'. and comes a i;reat way Iroin tla; west, eroded another fort I'lllcd llculcy, al the disiance of 121) miles up lli.K river, your nieniorialisls therel)y endoav- ouriu^ to guard their territories both to the .south and west against ilie French frontier, and wlii,:h fort- and .>ottleiiiciits ol'yiiur memorialists, aiv lu.aintaincd and supported by them :ii e'insiilerublo expense. .Viul your memorialist^ ha\ e, in like numuer, for their I'urtiicr defence t'ffardj' the west, erected a fort at Flauiboro', head of Fort Nelson llivtu", and have also sev- eral other settlements or Ibrts at the entrance of the principal rivers that coiue into the bay iMintho west, particularly on Churchill lliver, Hays River, ami the said Albany Uiver, and •" on tiie east side of the bay at Sluide lliver uid Axtininepeek Bay, and have also several iiip.s and vessels navigating the straits and liay at proper .seasons, some of whiil; remain there 'li'' vvhiilc ypHr ; ru'd the natives .ill .•irmurl the bay by means ol' tlu' rivers that fall into the •lai' , on lilt ikiiig uj' of the lee i-onie down in e.nioe.- Iroiu the country several hundre i miles I I ITS F'lMORlTY OK TIIK FUKNCIl ()(( IPATION OK HUDSiNS It.VV. inland to trade with tho Company, brincring with them Inrpc quantitios of beavers and other furs, the produce of that cold climate, and taking in exchanL'i' Kritlsh maiiufjicturos, wliioh th(! Company have always ready to fupply them with, and which tht; TndiaiiH carry back with tliDin for their own consumption and use, and to dispose of anionj; other native;-! there, and wliidi it is apprehended is better performed by them than could bo done by Kuropcans, and tho rivers that run into the bay admit of no navif;;ation for ships, or any vessel of liurden at any considerable distance up tho same, and the climate round the bay is so extremely cold as to admit of no aj»riculturc, tho Indians of those parts bcinjr altoijether a wandering,' poojile, and whollj subsistini; themselves by hunting, living on tho wild beasts they kill, and bartcrini; tlicir furs. " That your memorialists apprehend it will be for tho benefit of this kinLilom that the limits of the territories granted to your memorialists, and ihe places nppcitainin:; to the Krench, shouhi be settled upon the footinj^ hereinbefore mentioned, and tlmt the I'Vench should be ohlifTcd to remove all cncroachniciits they have made within the said limits, by brojikinjj; up lluir settlements, and restrain iiif,' the wood runners from entering the same, roy tu l.urd Bulingbroko, December SUth, 1712 : *' In the name of Oud, Sir, ontor ;oir I'lenipotentinrioa to be loss ezvulloni ^rHniiniirinos. Ours, who also understand the force of Latin exprus- ."ionF, lire out of piilii-iicc wbou they kl-c diflioultivr, whifh have bi.-en lonjr a'ljustcd. starteil aeain, and tbe difTerfncc between fimum uii'l leHtihiiion, and tbu uiciiiiing of tbu>e terms. lu Imlb, Sir, sucli iiucHtiuus oujibt not tu be tbu uuiuri'in' -it of bonouruhlu men. Tbcy are at be»t uK-ii'iable to thofe to whom we may apply amanliutii iitu, Fiiii^l. ibusc disputes, whiob, if they continue luaget, will uul.v pr'ifit our eneoiius." K.xtraot, Lord Uolinjj'ir. ko In MiiniuiH de Torey, 7th of January, U. S. 17* jj: " There are certain thing* which derive tb<;ir cnnspquence purely trom being disputed; the difference between the ezprassions eidiiidi' and mliltuiiilii, betwoon nfn'nptii iiii 1 imih/ii i^ nr mrvj'trii is not very •■■■'sintiiil ; ibu uiuid wr.s, huwevi'r.not ii ! i;l< hcatud to the diiipui",ahd il required some trouble to cuuviuoe certain people that the matter wiin nut worihv ot uttoniion." Wi^ 180 v opKHATFONs or Tin; unnsoN's it.vY comivwv, 17i:i I7ti:V to ndmit tliiit tlicy had been mniaiultirs when tliey cniMsotl to lluilsoirH Bay fo i!xpcl the English Iroin tho Nortluirn Krmitier of Cauadn. Hut the Kn^lisli were firm in a (leniun; which eould be ;}, — u half a century later — tho Hudson's Hay Company did nothing to exjilorr il, country, and but little to extend their trade. In 171S or 1721* the Com|iany rebuilt I r' Prince of Wales upon the Churchill Kiver. In 17iJ(), they built onv fort upon the .Mno^. lliver and, it is said, another small one ujion East Main. In 1744 tlii^y built Hcidey IIhih ir>0 miles up the Albany River, so as to havtt the trade in a larua'r dei,'ree with the Frindi who had, twenty-seven years before, built Fort St. Cermainson the north bank of the .Vllniiiv, directly opposite to Henly House, and these were tho utmost limits of tho country occupioj duriuu; tho first century of their existence. It is as certain us auythiiisj; well can bo, that tlit charter ol' the Hudson's Bay t'ompany was not intended to confer a title to a country ainaily posKCH.scd by the Crown. It was, as it profes.ses to be — and as many earlier charters, hciili Enfilish and French were — a Commission from the King to make discoveries, and i^ extend his dominion. The Kinj? could not convoy what he did not have. Great doubt w:i- expres.sed in the Duke of York's case, as to whether a ^.'raiit fiom the Crown eould be uiaik valid by the subsetjucnt ae((uisition of the country by the Kini,'. It was, no doubt, held ly the lei^al advisors of Charles II. that it could, where the rii;hts of another Christian I'riiici or State did not intervene. liut for a century, neither by discovery nor by po.ssession cliuW the Hudson's Bay Company set up any valid claim to the interior of the couutry. If »■ ndmit the frrant made by the charter to have been valid ; if we admit that they wore eiititki to hold all the country they explored up to the cession of Canada in 17ost, alihou;_'li ii «" - Mr. Hoarne, wli.i wiin in tin- Cnuipuny'ii i'iii|)luy, siiyn 1721. Itu '.o I'rubiiblv <• 'rrui'l. FBENCIl OCLTPATID.N OF TIIK NOIUII AM) NOKTH-WKST, llMi-lliJli. 181 MtU'iti' nt n cnnsidcriililc ilistiiiuv tiortli dl'tlic Iniulit i>(' limd, .•iml ujmhi ;i river wliicli flows to llud-iiiiM |},iy.' It li:i(* boi-ii Hlinwn ill tlu't4tiiu>iiieiit nimlu in rfrorenceto theexitloriitionMortliuNorth-WoHt, ihiit .iIut tlu! I'Veiich hid >urri'mlorcd the Buy and StruitH td' IIiidMini, hy the Trouty of Utrerlit, they pushed f'orwaid with all the more euuriry, thoir oecupiition of tiie interior. Tlicy I'Xploreii and took possession of the regions nbnut the l^pper MisMuuri, the Ued River (if the North, and the Saskuteliewau. They had built, aw we iiave seen, it trudinj^ poHt north of Luke Nipeijon on the River Muune, and one upon the Vn^wr Albany, uh early as 1684. They built I'mi Abbitil.i in IttSt), uud in I74i» they built Kort Bourbon ut the mouth of the Saskiitehewan Kiver. They oecupied them us lon^; iim Cunadu remained a French pon- Kossion. 'Ihey may lie rejranhMl as posts within the iiorlhern IV nitier ol' (';.iiadu. They carry till' boundary ol' Ciiiadu very far north ol' the watershed id' tlie St. Luwrenee, and tlie f'aets stated must luuve but little doubt to whom the eountry ri^htl'ully belougH. Upon wliai reeof^nized prineiple of publie law can the eoiiulry at any diHtaDOO from the Bay be elaimed as u jioswMsion of Hnnlund uud the Hudson's Buy Company 'i* Tlie Buy and the linvironinn eiuntry was surrenilereil at the Treaty of lltreeht. Hut how could the surrender «{' Mouse Fort i;ive the Fni;lisli a claim to the liei;;ht of land, any mure than retaining Forts Abbitibi and St. (iermains, would j^ive the Freueh u claim to I Till' K'irt Alibttibi wni eKialilicheil in the yuar lASA by th<> |>Rrty »<u, tti:u eumniiiuili«l by till' Siuiirr li'ib 'r\ illi-, 'iu Siiiutu Ili'Uno nuil ilo .Marincourt, nil Huni) nf rtiiirlun l.u Muine Tbirty luliliera wuru nil|{i>i!. Fiithor Sylvic iii'i'iimpiiiiiel ihein, trnmiriK I" ln' use liil imf only to Ibe Kri'ii li liut iiIk" to tbo (.'liriminiiuz, and othur mirtbiTii trilic^. Tbu rlvtTK wuru froxeii, nmi tbu t-iirtli iru« iiurercl with tmiw wbun tbat auiall party (if vif^uriiuii muii Ivlt .MudIp'hI in (inb r to iixci.'! tbu iiiihwu KiTcr iik liir an thu liui)(bt ol luiul, uml, tbencu, to ^o iluwn Iu 8l. Juuiuti' Uiiy Th«y urrived in llie bu);iniiiuK ul April ut tbe l.uiin Iviiill, wliuri) tbuy prcpitrud auiue rnnou> in uriler tn g« up tbu Oiiimvh Kivtir ; I'ruiu Laku Tfrnimniuinguu thoy (rent throuKb i-iniill rivtrs, and aftur hrtvinj,' pimiicil uiiiny pi.rlll^'l•• ibi-y ruK-bml tbo gri'nt l.aku Alibitibl, iitar Ilu iiilntiift of uliiih thrii built a small tort of stufkaUtt, ii-hrvr tltry lift thrtt CaiiaUiaiiM : thoy i-uDlinuud lla-n, iboir ruurKe towurdu .St. Jamon' Hay." Hittoin ilii ChiimUi, VuI. II. p. 181. 'I'hia poit It also laid luwii iin l)e Ijisle'y Mup ul I7li:<. Ill IIIUS, III CumpiiKiiiu ilu Nurd H«kud liiu.e " l<> eontinuv tu miiii.hku tbo dopundenolea of that part of tbu Hii> ul tbv North which l'l>lupri^O)> thv Aiiitibya and Nuniiako poatt, iptciHeJ and included Id the letturti patent gnintud liy bin Mi^eaty to the aatd ('ompany un tbu 2l)ih ul .May 161(5." ArchiitM dc Fans UUt ikrie, Tul. 8, I.. •-•72. .M Iit!|>iin, Ul H .Muiiiurial dated tbu llUlh Oolobvr, 1726, in deaoribing the auciuut liuiilK of ToiulaoHuiiDgue na.vii :— " At tbiH piirtH);v' i' ii poht (un ui.iii)> AbMiitij for iriidiii); »iib (hit liidiuun ul thu iii-lgbbiiurhuud uml IhiiFi' !•( Iludfun'ii U»y, wboonmv up the Kivir Muni'ipy. 'Jhu I'liurso ul Ibif rivur t« tbo ui-uau ia ubuut eighty li'ii;,'m'.-. '■ Tbia in tbu uiosit HilviiniTd \>r> tuwunU HuciMiii'.H U.i.\ ; tbu Kr iii:b, in order not to expuae theinarlvea III iIki iiiFultij ol .-uva^'UK who may liu in (hi- pi > ol thu Ki.^li-b uu IludHou'a l!uy, wloru Kurt Munaipy ia >itu- attJ, ilo not (.'o luriliur I'.r lur trudintr. Thia ia the only river of thia poat wbiih <;uii(lurla to Iludaun'a liny." ItiiuHiiii.viili! iiihia Attiiiuin Mtr I'ltut i/i In yoinelli Frtiim ii 'V/xx/i/t i/r In llimn ili Stpl Ant, 1757, auya thiit " Koit Tiibitibi ia ii pnai dupendiut up >ii Tumiduutuiii;;ue, ul ouu huudrud iind twenty luu);iiva Iruni thu ITtfudini; unu I'rvuiiecauiinK]. ti.M.trda tbu lluJkon'a Uity ; tliure may lio oni< hundred luuii in both poita; they sub-iMt on li:>bin|; uixl ;{aiuo ; Ihcy sow no ^ruin nnd have no villu)(i-. Tbu poat produeca Huuuully about "IP liiindrud nnd Iwunly biindlun ol fura." — li>i"t<-d f-om Hi'i'liona vt Manuii'ttt iDttiiU i>onv atrmr c l'hi*loire lie id /•'/Mod iliiiis It iHi>itiii'iiiitre-iita:~-ViiT I'iurru .Mar)(r>. p. .'irt. i i IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 'HA '50 m m .i. m M Z2 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 M 6" — ► V2 i9 /a ^/. '^1 e. el % .<%v y /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 .^' .^^ kfi I I 182 ENGLISH CT.ATM TO T?IE NOUTH-WEST K! WAITNKD. the sea? It can hardly be contended that hecause the Hudson's Bay Company had rs. tablished certain posts and forts at the mouths of some of the rivers that empty into the Bay, they could rightfully claim all the country draiued by those rivers and their tributaries. A pretension of this kind was put forward by the United States to the whole of Oregon, because of the discovery of the Columbia River by Captain Gray, but it was expressly repudiated at the time by Great Britain. No suf'h rule is recognized by writer* od International Law. It is noticed by Dr. Twiss in his treatise upon the Oregon Boundan-, and condemned. Rivers are no more than appendages of the country through which they run, and any settlement or other recognized means of acquiring p ssession, gives a title to the interior country only so far as it bars the approach to the country in the interior.* One nation cannot acquire and hold a country which can only be approached by trespass- ing upon the possessions of another country. France, in acquiring the North-West, and in holding the North did not ent r any British settlement. In tlie north she established no new post after 168C. Tie post of St. (iermains upon the Albany IJiver, of which the Hudson's Bay Compau) complained in 1719, as having been built in 1715, was built by Du L'Hut in 1684. England had not the shadow of a claim to the North-Wcst before the conquest of Canada. No Englishman had gone thither. No act constituting even th lowest degree of title had been done. The right of dominion iu a nation, observes Vattel. corresponds to the right oi" p',"perty in an individual. When a nation occupies a vacant country, it imports its sov '.\ e.'; nty into the country. I- The North-West was a vacani country prior to 17;)0. It was then occupied not by England but by France, and upon what ground can her right to take possession be (juestioned % Is it because Charles II granted a charter to territories which he never possessed, a thousand miles away fnni the Valley of the Saskatcliewan ? Is it because he granted a charter creating a numopolj which he had no power to create, which, if it were valid, might, by a forced construction, be held to give the Company the right to trade in these distant regions, but gave them no property in the soil ? It liiis been already shown that the charter granted to the Hudson's Bay Company was granted just as were the charters giaiite 1 to the Cabots, to Sir Humphrey Gilltert, to Sir Waltta- Raleigh, to the London Company, and to the Plymouth Company. Tluy all show that the policy of the Crown in granting them was to extend, by such agfii- cies, its dominion over North America. Tliey eml)raced vast tracts of teiTitory, of which England was never able to claim the sovereignty. Such unlimited grants can only be understood as conveying to the Company chartered as much of the territory granted i< they within a reasonable time occupied. The Crown did not wish to place barriers in the way of the extension of its dominions by the discoveries and settlements of its own subjects. Its possessions, in this case, in the neighbourhood of Hudson's Bay, if it had any, Avere to be extended by the explorations and settlements of the Company. Such a grant, after the lapse of a reasonable time, diil not, according to the practice of the times, stand in the way of a new grant of the unoccupied portions of the same tfirriu> ries.| Who can doubt, looking at the various ch artcrs granted of the country betwo'ii * State I'apers on tbe Ore^jon Bmindary, 1845-6. Dr. Twisb's Oregon Quotttiua. t Vattel'g Law nf Nati.ins, Book 2, see. 96. X See various Eugliab Uliurtors of tUo tiouiitry from Nova Sjotia to Qoorgla. HTDSON's ]'.AY (OMPAXYS (,'LAIMS IN THK LKJHT OF I'UBLK' LAW. is;{ Maine and Virginia, that had an influential Company applied for a charter i* tnke pos- session of the country a hundred miles away from the shore of the Hudsc"'s i3ay, that they would have obtained it ? Who will believe that if at anj time before 1712, a com- iiany had applied for a grant of the valleys of tlie Saskatchewan and Red Rivers, that the Hudson's Bay Company would have objected to the grant on the ground that that i.ountry belonged to them 1 " Soon after Great Britain determined on planting colonies in America, the King," says C. J. Maishall, " granted charters to companies of his sub- jects who associated for the purpose of carrying the views of the Crown into effect, and of enricliing themselves. The first of these charters was made before possession was taken of any part of the country : they purport generally to convey the soil from the Atlantic to the South Sea. The soil was occupied by numerous and warlike nations, equally willing and able to defend their possessions. Tlu extravagant and absurd idea that the fnbk scUkments made upon the sea coast, or t/te, companies under whom they were made, ac- ipiiml legitimate power by them to govern the people, or occupy the land from sea to sea, did not iikr the mindof any man. They ivere icell understood to convey the title which, according to the t'ljr'vwii Law of European Sovereigns respecting America, tlicy might rightfully convey, and no more. This was the exclusive right of purchasing such lands as the natives tvere loilling to sell. The Crown could not be understood to grant what the Crown did not affect to claim, 7tor was it so iindcrstiml."* " The exclusive right," says Wheaton, " of every individual State to its territorial and other property, is founded upon the title originally acquired by occupancy, and sub- sequently confirmed by the presumption arising from tlie lapse of time, and by trea- ties and other compacts with foreign States. + To constitute a valid territorial title by occupation, the territory must be previously vacant, and the State must intend to take and maintain possession. The claims of European nations to possessions held by them in the New World discovered by Columbus and other adventurers, was originally derived from discovery, or conquest, or colonization. J When Mendoza, the Spanish Ambassador, remonstrated against the expedition of Drake, Queen Elizabeth replied : — " That she did not understand why either her subjects or those of any other European Prince should be deprived of the traffic in the Indies, that as she did not acknowledge the Spaniards to have any right by the donation of the Disliop of Rome, so slie knew no rigiit tii.iL they iiji.l to any places other than those they were in actual possession of. For that their having touched only here and there upon a coast, and given names to a few rivers or capes, were such insignificant things as could in no wise entitle to a proprietry, further than in parts wliere they actually settled, and continued to inhabit." § Elizabeth, in refusing to recognize the double Spanish title by exploration and investigation, put it out of the power of her successors to found any claim upon the discoveries of Cabot, Hudson, Fox, and James, within the Straits and Bay of Hudson. In 1824, Mr. Rush, the American Minister at London, in a letter to Mr. Adams, said Worcester v. State of Oorgin, 6 Peter's S. C. Kep. t Wheiitiin's lut. I.iiw, cli.4, su •. Iril. : Ibid. cb. 4, sec. 166. § CamilcnV Annnl.'', anno I.ISO, p. :irtO. w if h ^ V: ::.:< '■ !:5 ? : PJ'ri ■ ]\ ( i I 184 Hudson's bay company's claims in tiik lkjht of i'uhlc law. that Great Britain " could never admit that the mere fact of Spanish navigators hiiving first seen the coast at particular points, even where this was capable of being substantiated as a fact, witlwut any subsequent or efficient acts of sovereignty ur settlements following on the part of Spain, was sufficient to exclude all other nations from that portion of the Globe."* The principle recognized and maintained by the United States Government is, (' that prior discovery gives the right to occupy, provided that occupancy takes place within rea- sonahle time and isfollmved by permanent settlement, and by a cultivation of the soil."f In the discussion which took place between Russia and the Unitt'd States in respect to the boundary upon the North-West Coast of America, the Chevalier de Poletica, the Russian Minister at Washington, laid down the following doctrine as the basis upon which a government might fairly claim the sovereignty of a country : — " The title of first discovery ; the title oj first occupation ; and, in the Inst place, the peaceable and uncontested pot- session for mort than lialf a century."^ The same doctrine was stated in 1826, by Messrs. Huskisson and Addington, the British Commissioners for the settlement of the boundary between the United States and British America. They say : — " Upon the question how far prior discovery consti- tutes legal claim to sovereignty, the law of nations is somewhat vague and indefinite. It is, however, admitted by the most approved writers that mere accidental discovery or receiving the sovereignty from the natives, constitutes the lowest degree of title."§ If we apply these principles to the British possessions about Hudson's Bay, wc shall see that the English monarch could base no valid claim to the possession of the country, upon the discoveries prior to 1667 ; that the visits of the English to the shore could not iiinder the French from extending their settlements towards the north-west, and that (apart from the letters of Prior and M. de Torcy) the English could not claim anythin- away trom the shores of the Bay which they had not before held. The United States Government, in its discussions with the Government of Spain re- specting the western boundary of Louisiana, mentions, in a case like this, the middle distimce between two nations' colonies as the proper location of the boundary, § and Vattel lays down the same rule.' If we apply this rule either in drawing a line midway between the two lines drawn by the Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and France at Utrecht, or midway between Fort Abbitibi, Fort Maune, and Fort Bourbon on the one side, and Moose Fort, Albany Fort, and York Fort on the other, we shall have the boundary line contemplated by the Treaty of Utrecht. It now only remains to briefly consider whether the boundary contemplated by the Treaty of Utrecht was to remain the boundary under the Order in Council of 1791. That Order * State Papers, 1825, 1826, p. 512. t Mr. Qallatin, Appendix to Qreenbow's Oregon Boundary ; Twias' Oregon Question, p. 105. t British and Foreign State Papers, 1821-2, p. 485. § British and Foreign State Papers, 1817-18, p. 328. I " If at the same time two or more nations discover and take possession of an island, or any other do!- ert land without an owner, they ought to agree between themselves, and make an equitable partition ; but if they cannot agree, each will have the right of ompiru and the domain in the parts in whieh thoy Qrat settled.' Vattel, bk. 2, oh. 7, sec. 95. >^.4 LIMITS OF THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO. 185 extends the boundary line upon the east northward *' to the boundary of Hudson's Bay." It would seem from these words that Upper Canada was to extend to the shores of Hudson's Bay. It is extremely doubtful whether the grant to the Hudson's Bay Company included any of the country to the south and west of the Bay. Upon the southern and western shores they, no doubt, had the monopoly of the trade confessedly granted them, but their territorial rights lay within the entrance of the Straits and Bay, which might fairly eD0U[,h describe the country east of Hudson's Bay, but could not be held to embrace the country lying upon the outside of the line of entrance to the Straits and Bay. No lawyer after the period of the Revolution, in 1688, would hold that the King had power to grant a monopoly of trade, even though he had been sovereign of the country. It is obvious, then, that there was no right of property or government in the Company which this ex- tension of Upper Canada would take away. Tho Company's rights of property lay in a different direction, and even with regard to the country east of the Bay, 49th George 3rd, c. 27, sec. 14, embraced the country from the St. John's River to the coast of La- brador, northward to Hudson's Straits. This Act, in 1809, severed from Lower Canada tills territory, and re-annexed it to Newfoundland. The description embraced territory within the line drawn from Cape Perdrix, though not within the line drawn by De Lisle, which may be taken to be drawn as laid down by the French Plenipotentiaries. But if we grant that it was not intended to go beyond the limits contemplated by the Treaty of Utrecht, the boundary line upon the north-east would be located midway between Fort Abbitibi and Moose or Monsonis Fort ; midway between the fort on the Upper Albany and Fort Albany ; midway between Lake Winnipeg and Port Nelson. The limits of the Province of Ontario, then, are, the international boundary upon the south, westward to the Rocky Mountains ; the Rocky Mountains, from the international boundary, northward to the most north-westerly sources of the Saskatchewan ; the northern watershed of the Saskatchewan eastward, until it intersects the boundary line midway between Lake Winnipeg and Port Nelson at the mouth of Nelson River ; and, upon the north-east the line already indicated, drawn midway between the posts held by England and France just before Canada was ceded to Great Britain. 'i*.., m ■ ! il'i il" Jill ikh' (i!h ABBITIBI, Pi th he ACADIA : anc mai in I the: neg AIX-LA-CHy» 1 ALBAJfEL. F, ' de (S ALBANY, For Bri( reta shoi the ALBANY TRii ALBANY, Tre ALGONQUINS ALLEGHANY ALOUEZ, Rev. trave gives re-esi fouuc exi)l() AMERICAN FI AMHEIlS'f, «E AXNA POLLS. AXSCHILl), a ] AXTICOSTI, ui AliBRE OROCI ASSLVIBOINK A8SL\ll'UELLJ ASTOH, John J niake.s I sends on ,-r,, employH ATHABASCA, ] BETHELL, Sm BLACK ISLAN: B'LI KS, RiviEu, B NSECOURS, BOUNDARIES: BOFRIiON, For BOIKBUN, Fou' m "-.V ■' IJMDEX. Year. Page. ABBITIBI, Post of, lies North of the Height of Land 180-1 the Fort built by C'hevalier de Troves in IQHF) 181 held by France till the cession of C anada 1763 180 existence of never objected to by the Knglish Government or the Hud- son's Bay Co 180 ACADIA ; ancient limits of 1G03-1713 39-41 made dependent upon Canada by the French 39 in possession of France and England alternately 1603-1713 40-41 their respective claims to it 42-4 negotiations for settlement of its boundaries 1750 40-41 AIX-LA-CHy* PELLE, Treaty of 1748 30 provisions of, respecting the Southern boundary of Canada. . 30 ALBANEL, Father tlHARLEs, overland journey of, to Hudson's ]?ay 1671 181 deputed by the Gover.iment of Canada to take renewed possession .... 131 (Sv^e also table of Additions, Ac.) ALBANY, Fort, captured by the Chevalier de Troyes 1686 139, 145 British attack on, rejiulsed 1689 142 retaken by the British 1693 142 should have been restored to France under Treaty of Ryswick 1697 143 the only possession of England on Hudson's Bay during the period . . . 1696-1714 143, 154 ALBANY TRADERS : licensed by the Governor of New York to trade in the North- West 1685 33 they proceed to Michilliinackinac 33 they make a second e.\pedition 1687 '^ 93 Roseboom's party captured by ?^rantaye near Michilli- mackinac 33 McGregorie's party c ptured by Uu li'Hut and Tonty in the Ste. (Jlaire River 38 the prisoners delivered to Denonville at Niagara 3S Tja Fontaine shot, and the rest transferred to Fort Frontenac 83 .•VLI5ANY, Treaty ok, between the Iroiiuois and the English Colonists 1726 81 ALGONQCINS, in possession of the shores of Hudson's i3ay ante 1647 7 they trade with Montreal and Q-iebec 1647 7 ALLEGHANY IMOUNTAINS : claimed by ic.o French to be the boundary of the British possessions 37 settlement west of, discouraged by the British Government 1763-73 61 ALOUEZ, Rev. Claude, explores Lakes Superior and Nepigon 1661 8 travels among the Western Sioux 8 gives for the first time the name of the Mississippi 8 re-establishes the mission at Chagouamigon 1665 8 founds the mission of St. Xavier, (Green Hay) . . 1669 .10 explores the country around and west of Green Bay 1671 10 AMERICAN FISHERIES, frequented by Normiius, liretons and Biscayans 1500 2 AMHERST, (Jen. , letter of, ro.specting the limits of ( 'anada 1762 52 A.WAl'OLIS. (See Pout Royai,.) A.\.'>('HlliI), a Dane, exi)lorus Hudson's Bay circ 1590 l'ii4 AXTK 'OSTI, united to Newfoundland 1763 59 unitetl to (.^lebec 1774 77 AliBRE CllOCHE, L', (near ^Michillimackinac), earlv French settlement at 94 ASSINlBolNK, River, Fort La Heine built on " 1738 M A.SSIXll'OELLES, (uoines-boei.h-I'oi.is) Lake ok the, (other name for Win.nepeu) Tribe ok, the French trade with nitfc 1683 135 .VSTOR, John Jacob, trading ojierations of, in U. S. territ(>ries 114 makes Mackinac his base 114 sends out 1300 traders and rnyaijeurs 1816 114 employs Canadian traders 114 ATHABASCA, Lake, Canadian and English traders on 1771 &c. 111-13 BETHELL, Sir RrcHARO, ojnnion of, on Hudson's Bay Co's Charter 166 BLA( ' K ISLANDS, Fort ok, (on the Ohio) 1753 39 I^iEl'KS, KiviK.RE AUX, two forts liuilt bv tlie French on 1753 37 lidNSECOURS, Fort, (on the Upper Alissisaippi,) built by Perrot 1683 15 I50UNUARIES :— See Canaua ; New France; tjuEREC ;"1'pper Canada; North- ern ; Southern ; Western. BOURBt»N, Fort, (on the Saskatcliewan,) built by Verendry 1749 181 BUUKBUN, Fort, (on Hudson's Bay.) See Nelson. t ,.«. 5)1 1^;]; I ; 'Ml' I 188 INDEX. BOURDON, Jean, sea voyaj,'e of , from (.iiu-Uoc to HihIhoii's liay hiH voyiiKe ofticial'y aiiiheiiticatetl lit! taken poHst'SHiim in the name of the French Kinjj. . ami makes treaties witli tlie Imlians Mr. Itaiii.iay'H olijeetions .answered BROUGHAM, Luitu, oi)iuiou of, on Hiulaon's Hay t'o's Charter. . Yeak. Pabe. lC5(i 127-3 I'.': i:-; !t« CABOT, Patents to, from the EiiKlish iving 1496- 1498 visits tlio coasts of Labrador and Maryland CAHOKIA, French i>o|ndatiun of, at tlie ( 'onqiiest 1701 C'AMDKN, Loiil), opinion as to tlie lindts of (,|uel)ec 1775 CANAJ)i\, uxteiit of, under the French CoiKiuostof 17r)9-<)0 limitH of at the Contiuest as claimed by Mr. Pitt 1701 letters of V^.anilreuil, Haldiniuid and Amherst respectint,' the. . . . the country east of the Wabash included within the a.s settled by the treaty of Paris See also New Fkanci:. CANADIAN KXTEUPIUSE IN THE XOPvTH- WEST, after the Con.iuest: - operations of tlie Fur Traders many of the French Coniniandaiits and their followers remain in the country Carver's account 1700-8 Currier's party on the Saskatrtiewai Canadians in the Athabasca country 170«! 1771 !•:; 4, 21-s 4.1-7 49 51..i 20,21 ■)' 110-11 lO'J-IO 110 111) 111 111 111 111 111-12 112 ii2-i; ll.i 114 115 100 92 % 11 that country visited by Alexander Henry 1776 Forts Dauiihin and des Prairies still occupied 177.') the Frobisners at Portage de Traite and Isle-fi-la-Croix 177-5 Pond at Elk River and Fort Chippeweyan 1778-9 permanent estalilishnients made on Lake Athabasca 1781-2 operationH of the North-West Co ^ 1783-1821 proposed exploratiied in 1775 DELAWARE8, settle in the valley of the Ohio Ki'.IH and are visited by Canadian traders 1698 compelled to leave their amieut possessions 1737 DE REIXHARU'H ( 'ASK. decision in as to boundaries erroneous DES GKOSSELLIERS : in the rek'ion of Lake Winnipeg 1666 visits the Assiniboines overland jotirney of, by Nelson lliver to Hudson's Bay . , . 1666-7 ju'oposes a trade between (^\iebec and the Bay by sea the ] proposal nipt entertained by the Canailian or tLe French Government emplipyed by the English dismissed the Kuj^dish service and returns to Canada 1673 sent to Hudson's Hay by a Quebec company 1676 establishes a French post at the mouth of Nelson River . . 1676 re-eatablisbes the same post and exiiels the English 1682 captures Governor Bridger and Captain Gilham and their ship DETROIT, Champlain ijasses through the river of Du L'Hut at v) Denonville urges the strengthening of the Fort Durantaye in ctpnnnand at French colony settled at the Fiprt rebuilt and garrisonai by order of Gallissonifere circ population of, at the CNmipiest represented in the Legislature of Upper C'anada till after UISOOVERY, Titles derived from, ucpt reccpgnised by the English Parliament DISPUTED TERRITORIES on the Southern Boundary of Canada : the country south of the lakes Northern and Western New York South shore of the Lower St. Lawrence Valley of the Ohio Iroquois country Peninsula of Upper Canada Niagara C(puntry Acadia grounds of the respective claims of France and England to negotiations for deterniinintr the differences as to DONOAN, CuL., (Governo- of New York) ; grant* licenat s to trade with the North -West Indians 1685 his traders cajitured by the French 1687 claims the peninsula of Upper C'anada for England ccpmplains of the building of Fort Niagara DORCHESTER, Lokd. See Cahi.kto.n. DU L'HUT : leaves Quebec for the North-West 1678 builds a Fort at KamaniHtiiiuia 1679 Lakes possession of the Sioux country by authority of the Governor of Canada 1679 explores the countries (pf Lake Sujperior and between that lake and the sources of the Mississippi 1680 establishes Posts north of Lake Nepigon ante 1683 builds Fort la M.iune {north of J^ake Nepigon) ante 1684 ha.s a I'ost in the cinintry of the Kidstinos itnlc 1684 exploring and trading from Nepigon to Nelson River 1684 takes measures to control the whole Indian trade of Hudson's Baj-. . . . he diverts it to Nepigon reports that more than L.'iOO Indians traffic with him his lar','e influ''iiei^ with the Niprt!ii-<'U Indians in comuiand at Green Bay 168 1 P.VdK. 97 27 26 6 6,28,45 129 129 11 18 18 128-9 128-9 10 •27 111 :ir> 36 60 100 8 8 8, 117, 126, 1'29 126 126, 130 126 132 132 132 132 133 3 8 93 ;« 93 37 94 107 3 28-67 29, 3»-7, 42-3 29, 35 29,39 ( 29, 34, 36-9, \ 42-4 31, ;«, 43-4 31 33-4 37, 39-44 29-31, 34 1755 43 33 33 35, 141 35 12 12 12 6 12 135 15, 137 137 15 137 16 15 15 f i 1611-12 1686 1686 1687 1701 1750 1794 1620 m: If iff' 100 [N'DEX. If ■ t**- DU L'HUT-Co;i(u/»p'/ .■ procetHlH t(i Fort Nia){ara and to Dfti'dit builils Fort St. JoHoph on thi- Hiver Hte. Cluiro DV QUESNE, FoHT, foundatioim of, laid by the KuKlii^li Hurreii(k-n!d t(j and ('uinjiltited liy the French DUQUET, Siki;h, niakcH ovc^rland joiirnuy from v a niondjioly of the Indian trade EXTENT of Canada under the French . , .' of the French possessions in North America in the 17th century FLAMBOROUGH FACTORY : an English [itist on Hayes River, built ante FORT WILLIAM : chief entrepiU of the North-West fur trade 3,000 traders assemblo at captured by l..urd Selkirk FOX RIVER, (west of (rreen Bay), explored by Alouez FRANKLIN, Du. Ben.iamin, visit of, to EngrTiiid ho [)rouiotes the Walpole (irant and a Schtune for ( 'olonizing the Illinois country FRENCH COLONIES OF TJIE WEST attheCun(|utst: - Detroit — Michilliniackinao - L'Arbre Croche -Sault Ste. Marie — Green liay— St. .Joseiih's Prairie du Chien J^a I'ointe- the North-West — Ouiataiion - Viiicennes ; also Kaskaskias t'ahokia-St. Philip — Prairie du Hochor Fort ( 'hartres -the Illinois country .... ijoiiulation of these at the ( 'oner .Mississippi ante. and builds several forts therein military I'ost at Green Pay the country west of (ireeu Bay exphired by Alouez and Dablou the Wisconsin and I'pper Mississijipi traversed by Joliet and Marquette . . the Sioux country visited by Du L'Hut and taken possession of by authority of the Governor of Canada . . trade relations established with the As.siniboines, Sioux, &c. Fort built at Rauianistiquia Hennejnn and his com])anion8 explore the Upper Mississipi)i to Mille I^acs Du LMIut and Hennepin on the Wisconsin and at Green Bay Du L'Hut explores the countries between Superior and the sources of the Mississijipi and ucu'th wards to the head- waters of Lake Nepigon his ojieratioui between Nepigon and Nelson River early settlement at Prairie du Chieu '..... Page. H 8 H ;«) 3a-y 129 1496-1517 122 1076-8 123 1010 124 1612 Vir, 1615 12.1 1631 12r) 1631 12a 1667 120 1668-9 120 311 3u 31 35 1611-12 3 1650 7 22 22 21-8 4 1765 160 1806 114 114 1816 115 1670 10 1766 6fi-y 60 66 93-5 ' 'Jo 1640 1641 ti 1650 ( 16S4 7 1656 117 1659 " 1660 8 8 1661 8 1666 8 117 1669 8 9 1670 !) 1670 !l lti70 the Government of Canai la propose to pusli exploration to the \Vonteru Sea. 1716 the Hoheine approved of by the King 1717 and the (lovprnor of Canada directed to jiut it in execution La Noiie coniHiisHioned to [iroceed to the diHcoveiy of the WeHteni Sea .... 1717 he set« out with a conunand of ."lO men 1717 eHtftblishi's a post on Hainv Lake 1717 the (jovernor of C.'inacla sendH Sieiir I'achot to arrange n i)uace between the Sioux and ( ''..'iKtineaux 171'J Verendrye in conn and at Xepifjon 1728 t)rojects a journey to tlie Pacific lis vicw.s approved by the (ioveriior of ( 'anada reaches the (jrand I'ortage of liake S)iperior 1731 builds Fort St. I'ierre mi Hainy Lake 1731 Fort St. Charles on Lake of the Woods 1732 Fort near J^ake Winnipeg circ 1732 Fort Maureiias on the Winnijieg River \TM Fort La Heme on the AsHiniboine 1738 hiH son visits the country of the Mandanes (on the Missouri i . . . . explores the Upper Missouri and Yellowstone KiverM. . . . 1742-3 discovers the Rocky Mountains 1742-3 takes possession of the couiitrieu explored in the name of the (iovernor of (.'anada 1743 determines to pursue a more northerly route builds a Fort on Lake ^lanitoba fur 1745 Fort U(i\irbon on the River Miiiiii>ii nf I'Vauci' IWl Katlier Alliiiml iind Sic iii' dc St. Siinmi iiiiikc u joiinicy (ivcrlaiid to the Bi'y l(171-2 ami take iriitwcd pd.'^wssi.iii t)n'rHr> Vimt nf MtaliliHlifd nnU. Iflitn Kri-iicli Ht'ttlciiiiiil (111 Miiiimi HivtT (Oldiiiixon'H acununt) 1<>73 Jcdict's viiya^'f frnin (^iulji<^ to tlio Hay ]ti79 Hii'iir Cliouart at Ni'Ihoii ItiviT 1083 till' ii li'Hiit lia.s poHtu to the North of Ncpitfon ante. 1083 tradcH and cxplorcH hi'twccn Ni'pi),'oii and NelHon lliver 108-1 diverts till' Indian trade of tlie Hay to NejiiKoii 1084 sends ileHpalehes overland to ( 'hoiiurt at Nelson Itiver 1084 lias a Fort on Iviviere a la Mamie anU. 1084 and on(! in the cmintry of the KnistinoH 1084 iiiuve than l.'iOO Xorthiiii IndianB traffic with him l.iiilds J''(irt St. ( iennain in 1084 V>'\(! makes alliances with the Nurtherii Indians 10S4 Iiriieied.s oMrlaiid from l,ake Superior to the ISay expedition of l,a Maitiniere from <.^>uehec to tin- I'ay 1084 he estahlishes a pi)st on tlie Stu. Thepse liivor 1085 Deiionville repoits two travulled loads from (/iieliee to tlic I'ay 1086 the Chevalier de Troyes leads a military expedition overland to the ]?ay. . 1080 he hiiilds mid i,'arri.soiis I''ort Aliliitihi cajitures I'lirts Moo.se, Hiijiert and Alhaiiy the wliiile country ami Hay, up to .")."< in possesHion of tlie French 1080 tlie srime confinued to tliem by the Treaty of Neutrality 1686 Fort Al.l.itilii built '. ' 1086 situate North of the Heit;ht of Land held by France till the eeis.sion of Canada 1703 its existence never complained of liy the Fn^disli Government or the HuilHon's Hay ( !o Forts Kujiert and Moohc eaj tured by the French 1080 and retaini (1 by them continnously till 1697 Fort t'hurcliill caiitured by the French 1089 and not retaken by the Kntjliah New Severn captured 1090 the Hudson's Hay Co. comiilain that the French establishment here cuts off their trade at the foot of tlie Kay 1700 Fort Hourboii ! Nelson) cajitured 1094 the French in jiosse.ssion of the whole Hudson's Bay country except Fort Albany ." 1690-1713 the Hudson's Hay ( !o. propose the Alb.iny and l?upert Rivers as the limit in 1700 and the Albany and Hudson's (Fast ^iain) Rivers in 1702 these limits rejected by the French the Hudson's Jiay ( 'o. complain that only Fort Albany is left to them 1711 anil that the French surround them there on every side theFreiK.il entitled to Koit Albany also, under the treaty of Ryswick (1697) the Tost of 'reniiscaniiii'.; held liy Fiance till .' " 1763 priority of the French occupation of Hudson's 15av the French favoured the St. liawrence as the exclusive channel of trade.. their policy to draw the Indian trade of the ]?!iy to their southern posts. ... ] FROBISHER. Sir Martin, sets out to discover a North West passa','e 1.'576 proposes to colonize the islands North of Hudson's Straits takes with him 100 colonists failure of the attempt FEONTENAC, Fi n\\\ builli by ( invernoi' Frontenac at < "ataracipii 1673 designcil as a check to and for tr.ade with the Iroquois rebuilt by Ha Salle 1676 shiii-buildini,' imrsued at taken jiosse sion fif by La Bane 1682 FUlv TRADE, Uovernor Simcoe on the importance of the 1792 See also Indian (Fun) Trade. GA(;K, Gen., I'roclamation of, to the French of the Illinois 1765 GIBBS, Sir Vicary, oiiinion of, on Hudson's Bay Co's. Charter GREEN BAY : visited by l>ench traders 1689 a favourite Indian station St. Xavier's Mission founded at, by Aloudz 1069 French military post at 1670 Vxr.T.. « 'J 131, iii 131, iii li' la'.i im i:i2 15 13B 135 135 \% 15,1 35,1 :)7 l.'i 15,13: 15,137 137 I.'; 1K2 137 1.3H l.'ifi 137 ]3() 13'J IHl 13'J 140 140 IHl 180-1 180 180 14.5 145 142 145 142 1.50 142 143,154 146 147 148 154 1.54 143,145 180 178 127-178 r27,lW. 136-7, 139 123 123 123 11 11 11 11 13 112-13 74 104 7 10 10 8 (;i:KEN BA' (;i!(»H,SKLLl HI'DSON'S I INDEX. Ykaii. liKEEN BAV—Oo,, ■ unril . till' ^uiTuijiKliii;,' riiutitry explorrd liy AIdui''/. iind DivtiloD 1^70 1 I >u l/Ilut and lliinif|iiii lit ICHO » l'"ri'iirli Hrttli-iiinit lit nut*. IMO 1)11 li'lliit ill coiiiiiiaiid at lt;H4 l''iiit at, rulmilt liy cuiltr of (inllisgonitru rin\ I'.IO iii|)tiired liv tlio I'.ritisli diiriiiK' the Wnr of 1812-15 (;i!(»SSKLLIKKS. (S.,. \h» (iiioHHi;i.i,iKUt*.) IIAI.DIMAXD, (;KN.,U'tterof, respii'tink'tlio HiiiitH of ( Janndii iit tlie < 'onqueiit 17<>2 IfAVKS KIVHK H.ttKd on liv the I'luuli ICSl HKHMI'I' (IF I, AND. Sir KitK.M ii Si;ni.KMr.NT,s, Ac. HKM.KY lIorSK, bnilt liy tlir llndson'ii Hay Company 1744 ilKNNEI'IX ex|'lori!rt till' l'i>ptT Mi- rtHipiii KJSO ^;o(rt liy the ( )iii»coliMin to (Jlfcn HaV Hr.N'ltV, Alexandkii, tmvels of, in thr Xoi-tli-NVVst 1775, &c. lll'DSON, Cai'TAIN, inaki'H four voyaKi-H in seainli of a North-We«t Piwuage : (U coa.stn the east (diore of (ireenland to lat. 82" ItiW (21 ]iasses liftwi'en SpitzlnrnLii and Nova /iinnlila 1('>()8 (:)) sails liy Nova Scotia to Sandy Hook, and discovers and explores tlie Hud- Hon Kivur foi- tho Dutch " KilIU (1) cntiTN the Strait-* and Hay which hear hJH name 1010 licrisheH in lludHon'H Hay 1011 ItTDSUN'S HAY: early ilnijliHli voya>,'ei< to vicinity of . priority of the French occupation of fortson, \\tit of Hellin's account of 1755 See FitEMii Si:rri.r.MKNrrt, Ac, N'ohth oi Hkh-ht ok Land. IIL'DSON'S BAY ( 'O.Ml'AN Y : ohtain ( 'harter from ( liarles II 1670 list of thiir (jovcniors at Hndson's Hay 1070-1714 petition the Kin>f as to their claims 1082 memorials to Queen Anne and ],ords of Trade 17'^'^ A their nnf ii. I iirctensions hh to limits their op-'rationn for the (luriod 1713-04 memorial of to l,or(N of 'I'lade .... 1750 Hets forth tile linnts they claim coTuplfiiuB of JiVc'ch encroachments .show^ the yrowth of the < 'omjiany'n pretenKionn their first post in tlie Xortli-West estalilishcd on Htur^feon Lake enter the Red llivci' country for the firHt time in their proceedingH undir l/ord Selkirk. . thuir stock falls from 250 to .'lO durint,' the Selkirk trouhles propoje a division of posts with the Xortii-West ( 'ompany unite with the Xorth-West ("om|iany Itoyal Tiicense of exclusive trade to the amalgamated company Chaktek (IK, examineil in reference to their pretensions to the North-Wwst it professes to convoy the land within the StraitH and Hay and to give an exclunive right of trade the ipiestion of its validity legal opiniims thereon what territories are comprised in and what excluded for Ki5 years in no event valid as against the adverse possession of France excludes in tenns lands possessed by the subjects of any other State. . HURONS (see Ottawas). II5ERVILLE, SiRUR d', accompanies De Troyes to Hudson's Bay 1G8C cajitures an English shij) returns to the Hay 1688 captures three English vessels and slaughters their crews repulses an attack on Fort Albany, and captures another ship captures Fort ( Ihurclnll ICS'J .sails for Quebec in a ship of 24 guns again returns to the Hay in command of three ships 1690 is repidaed at Fort Nelson sur])rises New Severn sails from (Quebec f^ new limits subse(|uently proposed 'J2-3 the ( )hi() fixed as their eastern boundary , ''^ their grievances 1768 'i34 INTERNATIONAL LAW, i-ules of, applied to the Hudson's Bay Co's pretensions . . 167-71, W34 Wheatou- Vattel^ Halleck - Burlamaipii l^:"' principles of postliihinv IGS-H case of the ( 'olonv of l'eniai|uid If'^ the Duke of York's iiatenla I'O-l INTERPRETATION of Acts and Treaties, rules of 87-9 IROQUOIS '.'ONFEDERACY ; wage war against the Hurons, Fries and Ottawas . 1664-7 ^ ])ut many missionaries to death receive fiie-arms frt)m the Dutch ' rendered formidable by their possession 31 threaten the (.'olonists of tlie St. 1 ,awrence ' over.awed by the building of the F'rench forts 3' seek an alliance with tlie English '^1 extent of country claimed by 31,.'?4,3i rival claims of France au'' England to country of . . 31,35, 434 protected from French att.ack by Treaty of ittrecht. 1713 3'. cede a large tenitory to the English 1726 31 ISLE ROY ALE (other name for Cai-e Bueton). JAY'S TREATY, between England and the ITnited States ' 1794 108 re-establishes the internatioiud boundary of 1783 W* secures to Canadians the privileges of the fur trade in U. S. territories IJ* JOLIET commissioned by Governor Frontenac to discover the Mississippi 1673 10 goes to Michillimackiiiao and Point St. Tgiiiice 1" accomp.anied by Manpiette 10 passes by the Memunonie and Ouiscoiisin Rivers to the Mississippi 10 ex))lores the Mis^'ssijipi to the Arkansas 10 returns to (.Jueliec 1674 W m.akes a voyage from ()iiebec to Hiul-ion's Bay 1679 l'- JON(}inEHF;. FouT La, (in the Rocky Mountains) built by the French 17.52 26 JITNCTION OF THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI : the line due north from, not the western boiindary of l^)uebec ''^'•■ no foundation for such a contention 82-5, 88-9 1:AMANISTIQUIA, post and Fort, established by I)u L'Hut 1679 W re-established by La Noiie 1717 22 (the site of the present Fokt William— which see). i.AMARTINI LIMITS OF Ci INDEX. 19 19 20 20-1 20 6.M 69-72 74 74-0 74-u 75 % 76 76 76 11 U 11 13 5 5 5 5,6 6 6 110 91 112-13 152 60 60 59 G2-3 65 (i3-4 , 183-4 lti7-8 1(18-71 109 170-1 87-9 1^.7 31 I 31 31 51,.S4,35 35, 43-4 32 31 108 108 10 10 10 10 10 10 132 26 82 -5, 98-9 12 22 KASKASKIAS, French pojiulation of, at the Conquest KEATING, Sib H. S., opinion of, on Hudson Bay Co's charter. KKNNKIJEC RIVER, colony i.hmted on by the Plymouth Co , KKNTl'OK"X divided in allegiance. iiropoaal to give British military aid to the malcontentH in KXISTINEAUX-- KiLisTiNONH (see Chribtineaix). LA BA YE (other name for C ree.s Bay). LAliKADOR visited by ( 'abot coast exiilorenies tlie centre of Western Commerce obtains eonimi;-si(in to mine we.it of the Upper Mississipiii ascends tlie Mississippi from its mouth to the St. Peter s River is joined by thirteen Canadians on the way ascends the St. Peter's ami Blue Earth rivers builds Fort L'Huillier west of the Upper Mississippi and explores the surrounding country L'HI'ILLIER, F(MiT, west of the Upper Mississippi, built I.HrT(Heel)iiL-Hir). LICENSES TO TRADE, granted by the f'anadian Government descriittion of LIMITS OF CANADA A'!' THE (^ONC^H^ST : letters of M. de Vaudreuil and (ienerals Amherst and Haldimand as to See also LOOST')WN, Tkkaty of, between the Indians and Virginia LOUISIANA : limits of Bienville's recommendatic^ns as to its trade and boundaries with re- gard to CaJiada the Ohio and Missouri *!ie limit between it and Canada its Government subordinate to and d'-pendont on tliat of Canada .... granted by patent to ( 'rozat who surrenders it in its European populatimi dming the |>eriod granted to the Western ( 'ompany the country of the Illinois annexed to the Western Company replaced by the Company of the Indies surrendered to the Crown and made again dependent nn Canada .... the Custom of Paris declared to be law in Year. 1786 1788 195- Pace. 96 1C.5 4 105 105 1497 2 1656 127 1763 59 1774 77 1684 136 1685 137 1744 61 1663 129 1670 9 1670 9 1670-1 W 1674 11 1675 11 1676 11 1678 11 1678 11 1678 U 1679 U 11 1679 11 1679 11 1679 11 1679 11 1679 11 1679 U 1679 11 1680 12 12 1680 . 11 1H82 12 1682 13 1682 13 1682 IS 13 1683 13,14 1684 14 1687 14 14 164-6 1692 8,15 1695 15 15 1698 16 1700 17 17 ir 1700 17 17 1700 17 6 5,6 1761-2 51-5 20, 21, 49 1752 61 17 1702 17 18 1712 18 1712 18 1717 18 71-2-17 18 1717 18 1717 19 1723 20 1732 20 1732 SO n p^' ., fwM' |r%:.:r 190 indf:x. LOUISIANA— Conitnufrf ; itH civil and military Hub-divisions ceded to S]);iiii LOWER C; AN ADA, rKoviNCE ok, erected LOWER S'.". LAWRENCE, resi)ective claims of England and France to south shore cf .' MACHAULT, Fokt, built by the French MAGDELEINE ISLANDS, united to Newfuuiullaiid united to the Proviiice of (Juebec MAXDANES, country of the (on the Upper MiHsouri) visitad and taken poBseKsion of by Vereudryu circ MANTTOliA, Lakk, exjdoied and Fort built on bv Verendrye circ MAMTOU lilN ISLAND, Indians from La i'ointe settle in Father Andre establishes the mission of St. Simon in. . . . MAPS rcferre]'■ '^l, 2;{, :J1, 4(1-7, 4!t, 55, !)7, i;{S,- 150, 150, ICiO, l(i2, 175. MARQUETTE, Fatheu, at La Rointe bespe.aks the friendshij) of the Sioux for the French traders establishes thj Mission of I'oint St. Ignace hears of the Mississiiipi from the savages he purposes to explore it he rea ties it with Joliet, by way of (ireen Bay and the Ouis- consin and ex])lores it to the Ai'kansas MAL'IvE, KlVIKUE A LA, (north of Neiiiijon), Du J/Hut, tradiuL,' on ante Fort built on mite MAUltKl'AS, Fort, (/m the River Winnipeg), built by Verendrye MENARD, Father Rk\e, proceeds with eight Canadians to tUiagouaniigon establishes the mission Du Saint Esprit there departs thence for Green Bay MENOMONIE RIVER traveined by Joliet and Manjuette on their way to the Missis- sippi 1N':ER dOITEST, La. (Sec Post ok the Western Sea). MIAMIS, Fort ok the, built liy Tia Salle at the foot of I^ake Michigan MI AM IS, IlivKli, Col. Simcoe ordered to fortify Uie MK^H K; AN, Lake, shores of explored by La Salle and Tonti MICHILLIMACKINAC : a ])lace of assemblage for Flench traders and coureurs des bois from an early date visited bv Joliet .... Fort built at, by I^a Salle early French settlement at its jiopulation at the Coui|uost ca])t\ued by the British during the War of head-i|uarters of Astor's ojierations (other name for St. 1'eteu's Riveu.) its name mentioned for the first time (by Alouez) circ Marquette receives an account of it from Indians Governor l'Vonten;ic ciunmissions Joliet to discover it Joliot and M:ir(|uette reach it by way of (jreen Bay and the ( )uis( onsin and explore it to the Arkansas traversed by La Salle from the Illinois to the Sea who takes iiossession of all the countries on its border from its source to the Sea and designs to colonize them its whole valley claimed l)y the I'Vench from La Salle's time, various routes which the French of Canada had to the middle of, made the boundary between the English and French po.s.sessions its source assumed to be north of the parallel of Lake c)f the Woods the Spaniards refuse to the United States the liberty to navi- gate it retaliatory measures by the U. S openel'r fUl'l'EU.) MISSISSIPPI (UPPER): the bordering countries taken possession of by Du L'Hut bv authoiitv of the Governor of Can.ada, Year. 1732 1791 MINNESOTA RIVER, MISSISSIPPI RIVER 1755 1763 1774 1740 1745 l(i71 1671 1GC9 1671 1670 1670 1673 1673 1684 1684 1734 H)60 1660 1673 1679 1794 1679 1673 1679 1812-15 1816 1665 1670 1673 1673 1673 1682 1682 1763 1783 1786 1794 explored by Hennei)in and his companions under Girders from La Salle. and by Sieur du L'Hut several forts binlt on, by Perrot who makes .'dliances with the Indians IjC Sueur builds a fort on which becomes the centre of western trade Forts L'llnillier and Vert, west of, built 1' the countries west of, explored and taken possession of by Le Sueur . St. I'ierre in command on Ool. Simcoe proposes to estaldish a fortified trading post on 1679 1680 1680 1683 1683 1695 700,1702 1700 1736 1792 Pagi. 20 •3 29, 3'J 77 25 25 [I 9 8 9 9 10 10 10 10 15,i;t7 •a ^ i:; lo: 11 11 ID IM 21 91 W 114 S 10 10 10 w VI 1! li .■« % m 105 m 12 li i: 15 14 1.5 15,lli i; i: If! 10* M1S.S0UR1 RIV INDEX MISSOrKl KIVEK traversed hy f 'aiiadian v<)yiii,'eiirH till' French of Jjouiniaiia visit tlie Indian stationH Houth of .... and e.-^tablish f(irt» and HottK-nuiitM tliero its ujijior partM to its source explored by \'erendrye who takes possession of the bordering c 74, -9 X24 ,<■) 82-5, ll*-' y,31 36 3« :C 3il,til INDEX. Yeak. OHIO VXLIjEY-- Contin ued. explored liy Gist 1750 and liy ( 'r()i,'han the French reniHt EngliBli encnmchmentg on and seize the English traders occupied by a French force of loOO men cirr 1753 Legardenr de St. Pierre in command in 1753 the Governor of Virginia sendw Washington on a misHion to . . his pretensions denied l)y St. I'ierre rival claims of France and P^ngland to proposal to make it neuter 1755 the French decline to destroy their forts in 17.55 ONTARIO, IjAKE, the Frencii luive vessels on, to command it KiT.'l they are built at Frontenac lO".'? monopoly of the hunting and fishing of conferred on La Salle 1G75 oRAN'fJE (other name for Albany, N. Y.) ORDER IN COUNCIL of 1791 fixes the boundary between LTpper and Lower Canada ORDINANCE adop-ted by U. S. Congress in 1787 provides for formation of new States : leads to war with the Indians (iTTAWAS AND HUHONS warred upon by the Iroquois a great numl)er ])eri8h tlie remnant flee to La I'ointe and beyond the Mississippi circ Hm'Z they are followed there by missionaries and tradei-s they number 1500 at La rointe 1C69 leaving l^a Pointe they settle at Sault Ste. Marie and on the islands and shores of Lake Huron 1671 OUIATANON, early French settlement at OUINII'IGON, Lake, (other name for WinnipeoI. OVERLAND ROUTES which the French had to Hudson's Bay and to the Mississippi PARIS, TREATY 01'', negotiations preliminary to 1761 terms of the I'eace 1763 what Engliuid acquired by I'ATEXTS, various English, of American territory ri;MA(,>uin, Coi.onv of PKdRlA, on the lllii.oi.s, visited bj lia HivUe 1679 rKflX. Lake, formed by the I'l per Mis-iissippi two forts built on by the P'rench 168.3 I'ERDRIX, Cape, on the Labrador co.nst in latitude .^S.V-" , proposals of Huilson's Bay Co. to start their liouudary line from 1712-1714 PERE (I'ehhav), concluding alli.ances with the Xorthern Indians 1684 makes a journey from Xepigon to Hudson's Bay pursues the route of the river called after his name . I'ERROT, Nicholas, exjjlores the cor.ntries of T^ake .Si'.perior and westwards to the Mississijipi procmos the Indian naticms of the West and North to meet St. Lusson at the Sault _. 1671 forms alliances with the nations of the U^pper Mississippi l«8.'i builds Fort St. NichnUis on tiie Upper Mississippi ](!H3 and two forts on Lake Pepin liiH;{ visits the Si.mx country Iii8.'{ trading with the Fnx tribe 16S4 jiruciuHs Indi.in allies to march witli Du L'Hut against the Iroquois 16S4 re-visits tlie Sinux c.iimtrv lt)'J8 [ PIGGOTT, Sir Ainui.ii, RT. (oii the Saskatciiewan), built by the French mdi' 17.57 l'"SKUIA(_' RIVF.R (other name for the Saskatchewan). 199 Page. 61 61 .36 37 39 39 39 39 29, 34, 36-9, 42-4 43 43 11 11 11 99 99 105 105 105 7 7 7 8,9 9 21,95 139 36 47-51 .56-7 57-8 .30 169 11 13 13 1.56,173 156,173 137 i:)8 138 6-9 9 14 14 15 15 8 8 16 165 4 58-77 58 .59 59 60-2 (;2-5 61 65-74 74 3 3 3 27 r i ft '■■- ■ ufwrr 200 rXDEX. POSSE.SSIONS OF FRANCE IN NORTH AMERICA, extont ..f, in the 17th COIltW'V emhraoeil tlie entire valleys of the MiHsiMsi])])! and St. Lawrence anil the emintries fnmi the Allt^Khanies to the sliori h of IttiiUon's Hav.. POST OF TIIK WK.STi;i;\ SEA: emliraceil the country from Rainy Eako to the Rocky MiiiiiitaiMs ami from the Nortti Saskatchewan to the l^pper MisHouri inchiileil Kort« St. I'ieiiv, .St. CharleH, Bourbon, E'l Reine, Dauphin, Foskoiao, and des Prairies PRAIRIE DIJ CHIKN, early French .settlement at I)0|ndation of, when surrendered to the Enj,di«h captured liy the ISritish duriu},' the War of See also KriUT St. N|('H(iI..\h. PRAIRIE l)V ROCHEli, Krench i)opulatinn of, at the Comiuest I'RAIUIES, FoRT DKs, (on the Saskatchewan), built by the French ante still occupied, in PRESOIT' ISLE, Four, built in PRINCE EI)\V.\|{1) ISLAND, united to Nova Sc.tia PRINCE OF WALES, Four, (other name f(jr Koht Chl'iiciiii.l.) PRO(!LAMATION n\ Lake of the Woods, built by Verendrye ^T. t'LAlUE, RivKU, traversed by Champlain FoKT St. Joseph, built on ST. ('ROI.X, FoUT, on the St. Croix River, Upper Mississippi, built by the French.d/iic ST. ESI'HI'r, Mission or. (See Ciiagoija.m1(;on.) ST. GEK.MAIN-EN-LAYE, Tkkaty ok .^ restores (.'auada, including Hudson's Bay, to France . . . ST. GERMAIN, Fokt, on the Upl>er Albany, built by Du I'Hut . . ." , Bellin's account of S . I(i\ACF, Pointk, (near .Michillinuickinac) mission of, established >1. J.\('i;iTi.;s, Fokt (other name for Fokt Ri.I'ekt), >1. JOHN, LsLANU OF (other name for Primck Edwaki) I.sland). Yeab. 1784 201 Page. 100 100 i»;f,7 126 ItiHIi 139 l(i'J7 145 1U'J7 143 143 144 144, 171 144 14B 145, 151 151 145, 151-2, 156 145 21 1748 26 26 se 1752 26 1757 27 l(i70 10 1671 9 9 1071 9 94 1812-15 109 1814 115 116 116 116 115 181C 115 1816 116 115 1817 116 116 1098 36 1698 36 1737 60 1654 7 1669 9 9 1678-84 12-15 1750 37 1712 18 1717 IS* 20-31 1748 30 86 36 36 36 37 1748-57 37 165 1768 64 17.« 24 1611-12 3 1686 8 1702 17 1632 126, 179 126, 179 l(i84 182 1755 1,50 1671 9 r IV, Ml*. I •I •202 INDEX. ST. JOHEPH, FOHT, (on the Ste. Claire River), built by T)u L'Hut 1086 • ST. JOSEPH'S HI VER, (I.ako Michigan), visited by La Salle 1679 who ImildH a fort there 1079 early French Colony at ST. LAWRENCE RIVER, explored ami taken poHsession of, by Champlain 1004 renewed occupation of, by the French 1008 the French indicy to draw the Northern Indians to trade on ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY : its reHtoralion to France ailvocated by English public men 1770 M. de Vergenneg' opinion of the scheme ST. LOUIS, Fort, (on the Illinois), built by La Salle 1082 he here unites the western tribes in a coufederacy to resist the Iroquois 20,000 Indians settle in the vicinity of 1682 ST. LOUIS, Fort (other name for MoosK Fort and for Fort la Cornb.) ST. LUSSON, SuB-OELEOATK, .ittends at Sault Hte. Marie 1071 he receives the ('hiefsof the Monsonis, Christineaux and other nations of the Nf)rth and West _. . they put themselves under the dominion of France he takes possession of their countries ST. NICHOLAS, Fort, (on the Upi)er Mississippi), built by Perrot 1083 ST. PETER'S RIVP]R, (west of the Upper MiHsissippi), mining privileges granted on 1098 ST. PIERRE, JaccjuehLeoardeurde, commissioned to continue the Vercndryes' ex- ])lorations 1750 proceeds by the Saskatchewan his party reach the Roeky Mountains 1752 tliey build there Fort Joiuiui^re 1752 he is supersede4 l>y M. de la Come ST. PIERRE, Fort, (on Rainy Lake), built by Verendrye 1731 ST. PIERRE, River, (affluent of the Assiniboine), Verendrye's head-<|uarter8 on ST. SIMON, Mission ok, (Manitoulin Island), established 1671 ST. SIMON, SiBUR DE, overland journey of, to Hudson's Bay 1071 ST. THERESE RIVER, tother name for Hayes River.) STLTRG KOX L AK E, first post of Hiulsou's B.ay Co. in the North-West, established on 1774 ST. XAVIER, Mi.ssioNoK. (.See (^reen Bay.) SUPERKJR, Lake, Fathers Jogues and Raymbault preach on the shores of 1641 explored by Alouoz 1061 and by Du L'Hut and Perrot the Jesuits 'uake a complete map of its c asts 1671 TADOUSSAC, trade of, diminished by the English establishments on Hudson's Bay 1681 TEAKS LAKE, Fokt of, (Upper Mississippi), built by Perrot * 168.". TEKAMAMIOUEN, Lake, t,)ther name for Rainy Lake). TEMISC "AMINtJirE, Post of, held by France till 1703 TORONTO, new (stone) fort l)uilt at, by order of (Jallissouidre circ 1750 TREATIES. See Aix-i.a-Ckai'EI-le ; Ai.DANY ; Convention; Jay's; Logstown ; Neutrality; Paris; Provisional; Ryswick ; Stanwix ; St. Germain-kn-laye ; I^tukcht ; Versailles. TROYES, Chevali er de, leads a military exi)edition overland from Quebec to Hudson's Bay 1686 it is composed of 100 men he is aoconiiiiinied by D'Iberville proceeds by the < )ttawa and Lake Temiscamingue builds a fort on Lake Abbitibi 1686 captures Forts Moose, Rupert and Albany 1086 returns to (Quebec 1687 UPPER CANADA, Province of, erected 1791 Order in Council and Royal Proclamation fixing the boundaries . 1791 Act providing a constitution for 1791 scope of the Act the judgment in IJe Reinhard's case erroneous as regards the boundaries of its western lioundary c(iincident with that of Canails, under the French motives of the liritish government in giving such extensive limits the international bciiuidary t)f 17f^3 not regarded as subsisting in fixing these limits ,. the Indian countries i-;outh of the line of 17f<3 included in Detroit and Michillimackinac regarded as within till 1790 the international boundary of 1783 re-established by Jay's Treaty the North-West assumeil by the Coloni.al Office to be within. . . . 1793 proposed exploration of the North- West, by the government of. . Pagi (TPER CAN 8 11 11 94 UTKECHT, 1 P 3 d :i d i1 17> e n 73 o 73 ii 13 13 VALLIERE, i 13 VAUDREUIl VKXAXCrO F( 9 VEU1!AZAN( VEKENDRYI 9 9 9 14 16 26 26 26 24 24 9 131 9 10 132 l.i 180 l3;i 181 1?1 ISI 181 i::? ISO it9 W 9? 100 100 VERSAILLES VIKGINLA C 101-'.' ■ 102-10 ■ WABASH Rl lo; 1 io; ■ WALPOLE n WAR OF INI la" 1 li:! I \VESTERN B WESTERN C INDEX. ITPER CAN ABA— Continued : Due (It! 1» Rochefoucauld on the boundarieH of territoricH included in UTKECHT, Treaty ok 1713 preliminary nexotiiitiouH 1711 what the Hud«oii"s Hay (Company duHired to have stipulated in 1712 tliscussiouH rt'HiK-ctinf,' the iihraseolo^fy of diverHe views of the French and English respecting the 15th article of. . . its provisions respecting HtkIbou'w liay extent of country muTendered by the French under negotiations for settling the limits order of the French King for surrender of the Hudson's Bay posts 1713 instructions to the British Boundary ( 'onimissionei's appointed under . . . VAI.LIERE, SiEUR DE, overland journey to Hudson's Bay ICfil VAl'DUKUIL, M. i)E, letter of, respecting the limits of Canada VEXANGO FORT, built by the French _ 1753 VEKKAZAXO, cumniissioned by Francis I., takes possession of American coast l.'>23 VEKENDllYE, M. de la, in command at Lake Nepigon 1728 projects the discove i-y of the Western Sea selects the Indian Ochagach as his guiile his project favourably received by Beiiuharnois who confers on hini the privilege of the fur trade at