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{{other uses|Fort Vancouver (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:Wpdms shdrlfi020l champoeg oregon.jpg|300px|right|frame|Fort Vancouver]]
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
| nrhp_type = nhs
| image = Fort Vancouver 1845.jpg
| caption = Fort Vancouver in 1845
| ___location = [[Vancouver, Washington|Vancouver]], [[Washington (state)|Washington, United States]]
| locmapin = Washington#USA
| coordinates = {{Coord|45|37|21|N|122|39|45|W|region:US-WA_type:landmark|display=title}}
| area =
| built = Winter 1824–1825
| architect =
| architecture =
| added = October 15, 1966
| refnum = 66000370<ref name="nris">{{NRISref |refnum=66000370|2007a}}</ref>
}}
 
'''Fort Vancouver''' was aan early [[19th -century]] British [[North American fur trade|fur trading post]] outpostin alongthe disputed region of [[Oregon Country]] in the [[ColumbiaPacific RiverNorthwest]]. thatThe served[[Factory as(trading post)|factory]] was the headquartersprincipal settlement of the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] in what was known as the [[OregonColumbia CountryDistrict|Columbia Department]]. NamedIt was built in the winter of 1824–1825<ref name=":1" /> and named for Captain [[George Vancouver]], thea fort[[Royal wasNavy]] locatedofficer onand theexplorer northernwho bank oflead the [[ColumbiaVancouver RiverExpedition]] inthrough present-daythis part of the [[Vancouver,West Washington]],Coast of nearthe [[Portland,United OregonStates|Pacific Coast]]. in the late 18th century.
 
The HBC fort, which was located on the northern bank of the [[Columbia River]], was the center of the regional fur trade. Every year trade goods and supplies from [[London]] arrived by [[Mercantilism|mercantile]] [[Freight transport|shipping]] from across the [[Pacific Ocean]] or overland from [[Hudson Bay]] via the [[York Factory Express]]. Indigenous people would trade fur pelts at the fort for these supplies and trade goods. Furs from Fort Vancouver were exported globally. Some were shipped to the [[Qing dynasty]] via [[Guangzhou]] where they were traded for Chinese manufactured goods for sale in Britain. At its peak, Fort Vancouver controlled 34 outposts, 24 ports, six ships, and 600 employees.
==History==
 
In 1846 [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] signed the [[Oregon Treaty]] which ceded the land around Fort Vancouver to the [[United States]]. Although the treaty permitted the HBC to continue trading, it effectively ended operations resulting in the closure of Fort Vancouver.
The outpost was established in [[1825]], at a time when the Oregon Country was jointly administered by the [[United States]] and [[United Kingdom|Britain]], a situation to which the two nations had agreed in the [[Anglo-American Convention of 1818]]. But it was rumored that the border may be set at the Columbia River. This prompted the establishment of [[Fort Astoria|Fort George]] (now [[Astoria, Oregon]]), an American fort on the south bank near the mouth of the Columbia. At this time, the Hudson's Bay Company controlled most of the land that is now [[Canada]]. Wanting to protect their interests north of the Columbia, they sent Dr. [[John McLoughlin]] to set up the headquarters somewhere along the northern bank that would secure the area and act as the hub for their fur trading in the [[Pacific Northwest]].
 
The fort, which is now in present-day [[Vancouver, Washington]], has been preserved as the [[Fort Vancouver National Historic Site]]. The park contains a full-scale replica of the Hudson Bay Company outpost which is open to the public.
McLoughlin, who later would be hailed as the Father of [[Oregon]], was the fort's first administrator. He was responsible for finding a ___location and overseeing the construction. The site he selected was up river from the American outpost, close to the mouth of the [[Willamette River]], though on the opposing bank. The area was flat and had easy access to the Columbia, yet just outside the flood plain. The site was also picked because of the access to fertile farmland. The Hudson's Bay Company wanted the fort to be self-sufficient, as food was costly to ship. A nice side effect to this ___location was its immense beauty. The area was commonly known as ''La Jolie Prairie'' (the pretty prairie) or ''Belle Vue Point''.
 
==Background==
The [[stockade]] that protected the fort was 750 feet long, 450 feet wide and about 20 feet high. Inside there was a total of 40 buildings, which were used for housing, warehouses, a school, a library, a pharmacy, a chapel, a blacksmith, and a large manufacturing facility. Outside the [[rampart]]s there was additional housing as well as fields, gardens, fruit orchards, a shipyard, a distillery, a tannery, a sawmill, and a dairy. Fort Vancouver was by far the largest western settlement of its time. The populace of the fort and the surrounding area, known as [[Kanaka Village]], were mostly Canadians, there were also English, Irish, French, Hawaiians and a large variety of Indians. The common language spoken at the fort was [[French-Canadian|Canadian French]]; however, trading was done in [[Chinook Jargon]], a hodge-podge of Chinook, English, French, and Hawaiian.
{{Main|Oregon boundary dispute}}
[[File:Oregoncountry2.png|thumb|Map of the Pacific Northwest "jointly occupied" by the US and Britain. The influence of Fort Vancouver and its secondary stations extended from Russian America to Mexican ruled Alta California.]]
 
During the [[War of 1812]], the Pacific Northwest was a distant region of the conflict. Two rival fur trading outfits, the Canadian [[North West Company]] (NWC) and the American [[Pacific Fur Company]] (PFC), had until then both operated in the region peaceably. Funded largely by [[John Jacob Astor]], the PFC operated without many opportunities for military defense by the [[United States Navy]]. News of the war and of a coming British warship put the American company in a difficult position. In October 1813, management met at [[Fort Astoria]] and agreed to transfer its assets to the NWC. [[HMS Racoon (1808)|HMS ''Racoon'']] arrived the following month and in honor of [[George III|George III of the United Kingdom]], '''Fort Astoria''' was renamed to '''Fort George'''.{{sfn|Franchère|Huntington|1854|pp=190–193, 200–201}}
The fort quickly became the center of activity in the Pacific Northwest. Every year ships would come from [[London]] (via the [[Pacific]]) to drop off supplies and trade goods in exchange for the furs. It was the nexus for the fur trade on the Pacific Coast, whose influence reached from [[Alaska]] to [[California]] and from the Rocky Mountains to the [[Hawaii|Hawaiian Islands]]. At its pinnacle Fort Vancouver watched over 34 outposts, 24 ports, six ships, and 600 employees. Also, for many settlers the fort became the last stop on the [[Oregon Trail]] as they could get supplies and buy land before starting their homestead.
 
In negotiations with American [[Albert Gallatin]] throughout 1818, British [[plenipotentiary]] [[Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon|Frederick John Robinson]] was offered a proposition for a partition that would have, as Gallatin stated, "all the waters emptying in the sound called the [[Gulf of Georgia]]."{{sfn|Merk|1950|p=538}} Frederick Merk has argued the definition used by the negotiators of the Gulf of Georgia included the entirety of the [[Puget Sound]], in addition to the Straits of [[Strait of Georgia|Georgia]] and [[Strait of Juan de Fuca|Juan de Fuca]].{{sfn|Merk|1950|pp=538–539}} This would have given the United Kingdom the most favorable ___location for ports north of [[Alta California]] and south of Russian America.{{sfn|Merk|1950|p=539}} Robinson did not agree to the proposal and subsequent talks did not focus on establishing a permanent border west of the Rocky Mountains.
In 1845, McLoughlin left the Hudson's Bay Company for a homestead of his own, and founded [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]] in the [[Willamette Valley]]. In [[1846]] the [[Oregon Treaty]] set the US / Canadian border at the [[49th parallel]], the fort found itself within American territory. The treaty ensured that the Hudson's Bay Company could continue to operate and had free access to navigate the [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]], [[Puget Sound]], and the Columbia.
 
The [[Treaty of 1818]] made the resources of the vast region were to be "free and open" to citizens from either nation.{{sfn|Miller|1931|p=660}} The treaty wasn't made to combine American and British interests against other colonial powers in the region. Rather, the document states that the joint occupancy of the Pacific Northwest was intended to "prevent disputes" between the two nations from arising.{{sfn|Miller|1931|p=660}} In the ensuing years, the North West Company continued to expand its operations in the Pacific Northwest. Skirmishes with its major competitor, the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC), had already flared into the [[Pemmican War]]. The end of the conflict in 1821 saw the NWC mandated by the British Government to merge into the HBC.
==Fort Vancouver/Columbia==
 
===Later negotiations===
In 1849 the US Army setup [[Columbia Barracks]] (later renamed [[Vancouver Barracks]]) on a rise 20 Feet above the trading post, fronting 1,200 yards on the river with buildings on a line 2,000 yards from the water. Political pressure from the new fort prompted the Hudson's Bay Company to move their headquarters to [[Fort Victoria]] (now [[Victoria, British Columbia]]) over a period of time.
Throughout 1825 and 1826, British officials continued to offer Americans partition plans for the Pacific Coast of North America. These largely originated in part from correspondence with the NWC and later HBC. The border would continue to extend west on the 49th parallel to the Rocky Mountains, where the Columbia (and some times the Snake River) would be used as the border until it reached the Pacific Ocean. [[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)|Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]] [[George Canning]] has been appraised by later historians as the most supportive British Foreign minister in securing a border along the Columbia.{{sfn|Galbraith|1957a|pp=184–188}} [[United States Secretary of State]] [[Henry Clay]] had given instructions to the American plenipotentiaries to offer a partition of the Pacific Northwest along the 49th parallel to the Pacific Ocean.{{sfn|Meany|1914|p=221}} The difference in the two considered plans were too much to solve, making the diplomats put off a formal colonial division once more.
 
==Establishment==
While the company continued to operate out of Fort Vancouver, every year saw less and less fur trade and more and more settlers and US Army movements. Through this time the fort saw the [[Indian Wars]] in the west and famous military men such as [[Ulysses S. Grant]], [[Philip Henry Sheridan]], [[George Crook]], and [[George C. Marshall]]. Finally, on [[June 14]], [[1860]], the Hudson's Bay Company abandoned Fort Vancouver and moved their operations north of the border. The US Army immediately renamed the combined ___location '''Fort Columbia''', changing the name again to '''Fort Vancouver''' in 1853. They used it for quarters and storage, with its local population flucturating seasonally, finally hitting bottom with a strength of 50 persons in 1861. In [[1866]] most of the fort burned down in a large fire.
[[File:Hudson's Bay Company Flag.svg|thumb|Hudson's Bay Company Flag]]
 
Fort Vancouver was established on the north bank of the Columbia River in the winter of 1824–1825.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Fort Vancouver |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/fortvancouver.htm |website=National Park Service}}</ref> The London-based Hudson's Bay Company established it to serve as the headquarters of the Company's interior fur trade.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=The Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Vancouver |url=https://www.nps.gov/fova/learn/historyculture/hbcfort1.htm |website=National Park Service}}</ref> In the early 1820s a general reorganization of all NWC properties, now entirely under HBC management, was overseen directly by Sir [[George Simpson (administrator)|George Simpson]]. The newly established [[Columbia District]] needed a more suitable headquarters than Fort George at the mouth of the Columbia. Simpson was instrumental in the establishment of Fort Vancouver.{{sfn|Mackie|1997|p=318}} Using the HBC position that any settlement of the [[Oregon boundary dispute]] would confirm the border placement along the Columbia; Simpson selected a ___location situated opposite from the mouth of the [[Willamette River]]. This expanse was an open and fertile prairie that was outside the flood plain and had easy access to the Columbia.{{sfn|Dunn|1844|p=141}}
Fort Vancouver was rebuilt, with a layout that included two double-story barracks opposite sides of the parade ground, each with a kitchen and mess room to the rear. Seven log and four frame buildings served as Officer's Quarters. The post remained in active service, being expanded for World War I into [[Vancouver Barracks]]. Its final use was in World War II when Vancouver Barracks was used as a Staging Area for the '''Seattle Port Of Embarkation'''. At this time, the post included 3,019 Acres (1,221.75 Hectares), and had billeting space for 250 Officers, and 7,295 Enlisted Persons. It was finally closed in 1946. A plan was put together to preserve the ___location.
 
==Fort==
Because of the its significance in United States history Fort Vancouver was declared a [[U.S. National Monument]] on [[June 19]], [[1948]] and a [[U.S. National Historic Site]] on [[June 30]], [[1961]]. This was taken a step further in [[1996]] when a 366 acre (148.11 Hectare) area around the fort, which includes Kanaka Village, the Columbia Barracks and the bank of the river, was established as the Vancouver National Historic Reserve and is maintained by the [[National Park Service]]. It is possible to tour the fort and it is also the site of a large [[fireworks]] display, said to be the largest west of the [[Mississippi River]], on the [[July 4|4th of July]].
 
===Description===
To visit '''Fort Vancouver/Columbia''', travel to [[Vancouver, Washington]]. The fort is located at the intersection of 5th Street and U.S. Route 99.
[[File:Fort Vancouver dispensary.jpg|thumb|right|Cots in the Douglas Quarters inside the Chief Factor's house]]
 
An employee of the HBC, wrote a general description of Fort Vancouver and its structural composition as it was in 1843:
== '''External Links'''==
 
<blockquote>The fort is in the shape of a parallelogram, about 250 yards long, by 150 broad; enclosed by a sort of wooden wall, made of pickets, or large beams firmly fixed in the ground, and closely fitted together, twenty feet high, and strongly secured on the inside by buttresses. At each angle there is a bastion, mounting two twelve pounders, and in the centre there some eighteen pounders; ... these cannon have become useless. The area within is divided into two courts, around which are arranged about forty neat, strong wooden buildings, one story high, designed for various purposes...{{sfn|Dunn|1844|pp=143–144}}</blockquote>
*[http://www.nps.gov/fova Fort Vancouver National Historic Site]
 
The fort was substantial. The [[palisade]]s that protected it were {{cvt|750|ft|m}} long, {{cvt|450|ft|m}} wide and about {{cvt|20|ft|m}} high. Inside, there were 24 buildings, including housing, warehouses, a school, a library, a pharmacy, a chapel, a blacksmith, plus a large manufacturing facility. The Chief Factor's residence in the center of Fort Vancouver was two stories tall. Inside was a dining hall where company clerks, traders, physicians, and others of the gentleman class would dine with the supervising Chief Factor.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/fova/learn/historyculture/chieffactorshouse.htm |title=The Chief Factor's House |access-date=2018-01-04 |archive-date=2018-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104132539/https://www.nps.gov/fova/learn/historyculture/chieffactorshouse.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> In general, the entirety of the Chief Factor's House and its meals were typically barred for general laborers and fur trappers.{{sfn|Dunn|1844|p=145}} After dinner the majority of these gentlemen would relocate to the "Bachelor's Hall" to "amuse themselves as they please, either in smoking, reading, or telling and listening to stories of their own and others' curious adventures".{{sfn|Dunn|1844|p=144}} As Dunn recalled;
 
<blockquote>The smoking room ... presents the appearance of an armory and a museum. All sorts of weapons, and dresses, and curiosities of civilized and savage life, and of the various implements for the prosecution of the [fur] trade, may be seen there.{{sfn|Dunn|1844|p=145}}</blockquote>
 
Outside the [[Defensive wall|rampart]]s there was additional housing, as well as fields, gardens, fruit orchards, a shipyard, a distillery, a tannery, a sawmill, and a dairy. By 1843, situated roughly 600 yards outside Fort Vancouver were about sixty wooden houses. This small settlement was inhabited by fur trappers, machinists and other laborers of the fort. There they resided with their Indigenous or [[Métis]] wives and families. The dwellings were organized into orderly rows.{{sfn|Dunn|1844|p=147}} The settlement was commonly referred to as [[Kanaka (Pacific Island worker)|Kanaka Village]] because of the many Hawaiians in company employ who lived there. In fact, it has been suggested that the Fort had the "largest single group of Hawaiians ever to congregate outside their home islands".{{sfn|Koppel|1995|p=20}}
 
===Fur trade operations===
With high demand from Europe for fur-based textiles in the early 19th Century, the HBC was forced to expand its [[North American fur trade|fur trade]] operations across North America to the Pacific Northwest. Prior to the establishment of Fort Vancouver, the HBC's largest westward fort was [[Fort William, Ontario|Fort William]] in present-day [[Ontario]], which the company gained through its merger with the NWC. From its establishment, Fort Vancouver was the regional headquarters of the HBC's fur trade operations in the Columbia District.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/fova/learn/historyculture/furtradefort.htm |title=Founding of the HBC's Fort Vancouver – Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=6 April 2018 |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104132542/https://www.nps.gov/fova/learn/historyculture/furtradefort.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> The territory it oversaw stretched from the Rocky Mountains in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and from [[Sitka, Alaska|Sitka]] in the north to [[San Francisco]] in the south. Fur trappers would bring pelts collected during the winter to the fort to be traded in exchange for company credit. The credit, issued by the company clerks, could be used to purchase goods in the fort's trade shops. Furs from throughout the Columbia District were brought to Fort Vancouver from smaller HBC outposts either overland, or by water via the [[Columbia River]]. Once they were sorted and inventoried by the company's clerks, the furs were hung out to dry in the fur storehouse, a large two-story [[Poteaux-sur-sol|post-on-sill]] building located within the walls of the fort. After the furs had been processed, they were mixed, weighed into {{convert|270|lb|kg|adj=on}} bundles, and packed with tobacco leaves as an insecticide. The 270-pound bundle of furs would be placed in a large press and wrapped in [[elk]] or [[American black bear|bear]] hide to create overseas fur bales. The large 270-pound bales were then placed on boats on the Columbia River for shipment to London via the HBC trade routes. The furs would then be auctioned off to textile manufacturers in London. A large demand came from hatters who produced popular [[Beaver hat|beaver felted hats]].
 
===Personnel===
For most of its existence, Fort Vancouver was the largest non-Indigenous settlement in the Pacific Northwest. The population of the fort and the environs was mostly [[French Canadians]], Métis, and Kanaka [[Native Hawaiians|Hawaiians]]; there were also English, Scots, Irish, and a variety of Indigenous peoples including [[Iroquois]] and [[Cree]]. The common language spoken at the fort was [[Canadian French]], while company records and official journals were kept in English. However, trading and relations with the surrounding community were done in [[Chinook Jargon]], a [[pidgin language|pidgin]] of Chinook, Nootka, Chehalis, English, French, Hawaiian, and other elements.
 
A survey of the total personnel at Fort Vancouver in 1846 reveals a culturally and materially diverse populace. Notably, the number of employees from the [[Hebrides]], [[Orkney]], and [[Shetland|Shetland Islands]] was 57 men. This is exactly the same number as the combined number of workers from England and mainland Scotland.{{sfn|Winter|1967|pp=186–187}} The number of men hired from [[Upper Canada]], [[Lower Canada]], and [[Rupert's Land]] was in total 91. These men came from English, French Canadian, Métis, Iroquois, Cree, and other cultural backgrounds. Most notable however, was that Kanaka Hawaiians totaled 154 that year, or 43% of the total fort population.{{sfn|Winter|1967|pp=186–187}}
 
[[Factor (agent)|Chief Factor]] Dr. [[John McLoughlin]] was its first manager, a position he held for nearly 22 years, from 1824 to 1845.{{sfn|Mackie|1997|p=318}} McLoughlin applied the laws of Upper Canada to British subjects, kept peace with the natives and sought to maintain law and order with American settlers as well. McLoughlin was later hailed as the Father of [[Oregon]] for allowing Americans to settle south of the Columbia River. Against the company's wishes, he provided substantial aid and assistance to westbound American settlers in the territory. He left the company in 1846 to found [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]] in the [[Willamette Valley]].
 
[[James Douglas (governor)|James Douglas]] spent nineteen years in Fort Vancouver; serving as a clerk until 1834 when he was promoted to the rank of Chief Trader. From October 1838 to November 1839, while McLoughlin was on furlough in Europe, Chief Trader Douglas was in charge. In November 1839 Douglas was promoted to the rank of Chief Factor. Douglas took on several temporary assignments elsewhere, to set up HBC's trading post at Yerba Buena (San Francisco) California in 1841, and to establish [[Fort Victoria (British Columbia)|Fort Victoria]] in 1843, but from 1839 to 1845 there were normally two Chief Factors based at Fort Vancouver, with McLoughlin in charge and Douglas as his subordinate.{{sfn|Watson|2010|pp=340, 673, 1052–1056}}
 
===Agricultural production===
At its inception, Governor George Simpson wanted the fort to be self-sufficient as food was costly to ship. Fort staff typically maintained one year's extra supplies in the fort warehouses to avoid the disastrous consequences of shipwrecks and other calamities. Fort Vancouver eventually began to produce a surplus of food, some of which was used to provision other HBC posts in the Columbia Department. The area around the fort was commonly known as "La Jolie Prairie" (the pretty prairie) or "Belle Vue Point" (beautiful vista). In time, Fort Vancouver diversified its economic activities beyond fur trading and begin exporting agricultural foodstuffs from HBC farms, along with salmon, lumber, and other products. It developed markets for these exports in [[Russian America]], the [[Hawaiian Kingdom]], and Mexican California. The HBC opened agencies in Sitka, [[Honolulu]], and [[Yerba Buena, California|Yerba Buena]] (San Francisco) to facilitate such trade.{{sfn|Mackie|1997|p=xviii–xxiii}}
 
==Express==
{{Main|York Factory Express}}
[[File:York-Factory-Express.png|thumb|Route of the HBC York Factory Express, 1820s to 1840s. Modern political boundaries shown.]]
 
Fort Vancouver was supplied in part through the overland [[York Factory Express]]. It originated from a route used by the NWC between Fort George to Fort William on [[Lake Superior]].{{sfn|Mackie|1997|p=61}} Each spring two brigades were sent, one from Fort Vancouver and the other from [[York Factory]]. A typical brigade consisted of about forty to seventy five men. These men carried supplies, furs and correspondence by boat, horseback and in backpacks for various HBC posts and personnel along the route. Furs stored at the York Factory would in turn be sold at [[London]] in an annual fur sale. Indians along the way were often paid in trade goods to help them portage around falls and unnavigable rapids.
 
==Americans==
The HBC, which controlled the fur trade in much of what Americans styled the [[Oregon Country]], had previously discouraged settlement because it interfered with the lucrative fur trade. By 1838, however, American settlers were coming across the [[Rocky Mountains]] and their numbers increased each subsequent year. Many left from [[St. Louis, Missouri]], and followed a fairly straight, but difficult, route called the [[Oregon Trail]]. For many settlers the fort became the last stop on the Oregon Trail where they could get supplies before starting their homestead.
 
During the [[Great Migration of 1843]] an estimated 700 to 1,000 American settlers arrived via the Oregon Trail.
 
==British response==
{{Main|Pugets Sound Agricultural Company}}
[[File:Fort Vancouver1859.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Fort Vancouver in 1859]]
 
The signing of the [[RAC-HBC Agreement]] with the [[Russian-American Company]] pushed the HBC into creating an agricultural subsidiary, the [[Pugets Sound Agricultural Company]] in 1840. Herds of sheep and cattle were purchased in Alta California and raised at [[Fort Nisqually]]. Agricultural products were sown and grown in abundance at [[Fort Cowlitz]] and exported with foodstuffs produced at Fort Vancouver to Russian America. Recruitment from retired HBC laborers residing in the Willamette Valley as agriculturalists, through the use of priests [[François Norbert Blanchet]] and [[Modeste Demers]],{{sfn|Blanchet|Demers|Bolduc|Langlois|1956|p=10}} utterly failed to convince any farmer to leave for vicinity of the Cowlitz farms.{{sfn|Galbraith|1954|pp=247–248}} While additional plans called for recruitment in Scotland, these too came to nothing.{{sfn|Galbraith|1954|p=249}}
 
The only successful source of early colonists for the PSAC would come from the Red River colony. In November 1839, Sir [[George Simpson (HBC administrator)|George Simpson]] instructed [[Duncan Finlayson (governor of Assiniboia)|Duncan Finlayson]] to begin promoting the PSAC to colonists.{{sfn|Galbraith|1954|p=252}} [[James Sinclair (fur trapper)|James Sinclair]] was later appointed by Finlayson to guide the settler families that signed the PSAC agreement to Fort Vancouver.{{sfn|Galbraith|1954|p=254}} They left [[Fort Garry]] (modern [[Winnipeg]]) in June 1841 with 121 people that consisted of 23 families. When they arrived at Fort Vancouver, they then numbered 21 families of 116 people.{{sfn|Galbraith|1954|p=254}} Fourteen of them were relocated to Fort Nisqually, while the remaining seven families were sent to Fort Cowlitz.{{sfn|Galbraith|1954|pp=254–255}}
 
==Oregon Treaty==
{{Main|Oregon Treaty}}
 
Signed in 1846, the [[Oregon Treaty]] set the [[Canada–United States border]] at the [[49th parallel north]], putting Fort Vancouver within American territory. Although the treaty ensured that the HBC could continue to operate and had free access to navigate the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, and the Columbia River, company operations were effectively stifled by the treaty and became unprofitable and were soon closed down.
 
==Restoration==
[[File:Ft. vancouver.jpg|thumb|The modern reconstruction, showing the outer palisade and the single corner bastion.]]
 
Because of its significance in United States history a plan was put together to preserve the ___location. Fort Vancouver was declared a [[US National Monument]] on June 19, 1948, and redesignated as [[Fort Vancouver National Historic Site]] on June 30, 1961. This was taken a step further in 1996 when a {{convert|366|acre|km2|adj=on}} area around the fort, including Kanaka Village, the Columbia Barracks and the bank of the river, was established as the Vancouver National Historic Reserve maintained by the [[National Park Service]]. It is possible to tour the fort. Notable buildings of the restored Fort Vancouver include a bake house, where [[hardtack]] baking techniques are shown,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/fova/planyourvisit/bake-house.htm |title=Reconstructed "Bake Shop" |access-date=2010-04-28 |archive-date=2010-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429080549/http://www.nps.gov/fova/planyourvisit/bake-house.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> a [[blacksmith]] shop,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/fova/planyourvisit/blacksmith-shop.htm |title=Blacksmith Shop – Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=6 April 2018 |archive-date=7 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407060342/https://www.nps.gov/fova/planyourvisit/blacksmith-shop.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> a carpenter shop and its collection of [[carpentry]] tools,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/fova/planyourvisit/carpenter-shop.htm |title=Carpenter Shop – Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=6 April 2018 |archive-date=7 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407054902/https://www.nps.gov/fova/planyourvisit/carpenter-shop.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[kitchen]], where daily meals were prepared.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/fova/planyourvisit/kitchen.htm |title=Kitchen – Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=6 April 2018 |archive-date=7 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407121257/https://www.nps.gov/fova/planyourvisit/kitchen.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
==See also==
* [[Naukane]] (John Coxe)
* [[New Caledonia (Canada)|New Caledonia]]
* [[Vancouver National Historic Reserve Historic District]]
 
==Citations==
{{reflist}}
 
==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |last1=Blanchet |first1=François Norbert |author1-link=François Norbert Blanchet |last2=Demers |first2=Modeste Demers |author2-link=Modeste Demers |last3=Bolduc |first3=Jean-Baptiste-Zacharie |author-link3=Jean-Baptiste-Zacharie Bolduc |last4=Langlois |first4=Antoine |author4-link=Antoine Langlois |title=Notices & Voyages of the Famed Quebec Mission to the Pacific Northwest |editor-last=Landerholm |editor-first=Carl |___location=Portland, OR |publisher=Champoeg Press |year=1956}}
* {{citation |last1=Franchère |first1=Gabriel |last2=Huntington |first2=J. V. |title=Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America 1811{{hyphen}}1814.|publisher=Redfield|___location=New York|year=1854 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001605827 |access-date=2018-02-08 |archive-date=2018-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063317/https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001605827 |url-status=live}}
* {{citation |last=Dunn |first=James |title=History of the Oregon Territory and British North-American Fur Trade |publisher=Edwards and Hughes |___location=London |year=1844 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_YAFAAAAQAAJ}}
* {{citation |last=Galbraith |first=John S. |author-link=John Semple Galbraith |title=The Early History of the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, 1838–43 |journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly |volume=55 |number=3 |year=1954 |publisher=Oregon Historical Society |pages=234–259}}
* {{citation |last=Galbraith |first=John S. |title=The Hudson's Bay Company as an Imperial Factor, 1821–1869 |___location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1957a}}
* {{citation |last=Koppel |first=Tom |title=Kanaka: The Untold Story of Hawaiian Pioneers in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest |publisher=Whitecap Books |___location=[[Vancouver]] |year=1995 |editor-last=McLean |editor-first=Elizabeth}}
* {{citation |last=Mackie |first=Richard Somerset |title=Trading Beyond the Mountains: The British Fur Trade on the Pacific 1793–1843 |year=1997 |publisher=[[University of British Columbia Press]] |___location=[[Vancouver]] |isbn=0-7748-0613-3 |oclc=82135549 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKXgJw6K088C |access-date=2016-03-06 |archive-date=2016-04-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426045756/https://books.google.com/books?id=VKXgJw6K088C |url-status=live}}
* {{citation |last=Meany |first=Edmond S. |title=Three Diplomats Prominent in the Oregon Question |journal=The Washington Historical Quarterly |volume=5 |number=3 |year=1914 |pages=207–214 |jstor=40474377}}
* {{citation |last=Merk |first=Frederick |title=The Ghost River Caledonia in the Oregon Negotiation of 1818 |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=50 |number=3 |year=1950 |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=Oxford |pages=530–551 |doi=10.2307/1843497 |jstor=1843497}}
* {{citation |editor-last=Miller |editor-first=Hunter |title=Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America |series=Treaties, etc |volume=2 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |___location=Washington, D.C. |year=1931 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011354556 |access-date=2016-12-27 |archive-date=2016-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227202025/https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011354556 |url-status=live}}
* {{citation |last=Watson |first=Bruce McIntyre |title=Lives Lived West of the Divide: A Biographical Dictionary of Fur Traders Working West of the Rockies, 1793–1858 |year=2010 |publisher=University of British Columbia |___location=Kelowna, BC |isbn=978-0-9810212-7-0}}
* {{citation |last=Winter |first=Oscar Osburn |title=The British in Oregon Country: A Triptych View |journal=The Pacific Northwest Quarterly |volume=58 |number=4 |year=1967 |pages=179–187 |publisher=University of Washington}}
{{refend}}
 
==External links==
* [https://www.nps.gov/fova/index.htm Fort Vancouver National Historic Site]
 
{{Registered Historic Places}}
{{Columbia Department}}
{{Oregon Pioneer History}}
{{Authority control}}
 
[[Category:1824 establishments in the British Empire]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Vancouver, Washington]]
[[Category:Former colonial and territorial capitals in the United States]]
[[Category:Forts in Washington (state)|Vancouver]]
[[Category:Fur trade]]
[[Category:History of OregonBritish Columbia]]
[[Category:National Historic SitesHistory of the UnitedVancouver, StatesWashington]]
[[Category:Hudson's Bay Company forts in the United States|Vancouver]]
[[Category:Hudson's Bay Company forts]]
[[Category:Mexican–American War forts]]
[[Category:Military and war museums in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Museums in Clark County, Washington]]
[[Category:National Historic Sites in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Oregon Country]]
[[Category:Oregon Trail]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Vancouver, Washington]]
[[Category:Washington Territory]]