THE Northwest Company did not long enjoy the sway they had acquired
over the trading regions of the Columbia. A competition, ruinous in
its expenses, which had long existed between them and the Hudson's Bay
Company, ended in their downfall and the ruin of most of the partners.
The relict of the company became merged in the rival association, and
the whole business was conducted under the name of the Hudson's Bay
Company.
This coalition took place in 1821. They then abandoned Astoria, and
built a large establishment sixty miles up the river, on the right
bank, which they called Fort Vancouver. This was in a neighborhood where
provisions could be more readily procured, and where there was less
danger from molestation by any naval force. The company are said to
carry on an active and prosperous trade, and to give great encouragement
to settlers. They are extremely jealous, however, of any interference
or participation in their trade, and monopolize it from the coast of the
Pacific to the mountains, and for a considerable extent north and south.
The American traders and trappers who venture across the mountains,
instead of enjoying the participation in the trade of the river and its
tributaries, that had been stipulated by treaty, are obliged to keep to
the south, out of the track of the Hudson's Bay parties.
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