reap the natural advantages of the region. They had little interest in the Indians, except as they could use them to their profit; they had small regard for the rights of others, as they were outside the pale of rights and laws; they cared nothing for the conditions that they made for the future, as it was not to be their home. It was a period for romantic adventures, to pass away before the quieter but more beneficent regime of social order.
When, however, the scattered fur trading interests began to centralize by the formation of fur trading companies, some of the functions which belong to a civil government began to arise. The Pacific Fur Company, established by John Jacob Astor at the mouth of the Columbia Kiver in 1811, with its little fort, exercised a greater authority in the protection of life and property than had existed before . It aimed to produce a condition of things more in harmony with a normal and peaceable trade. Its English successor, the Northwest Fur Company, established in control of the region after the war of 1812, was still more powerful. After consolidation with its rival, the Hudson's Bay Company, its charter rights were extended, and, although only a trading company, the necessities of its position led it to the exercise of many of the functions of a civil government. Its control of its large number of employees was complete; its power over the native races was absolute; by judicious methods and quick retribution for offenses, it succeeded in rendering the wilderness a safe place for traders, explorers, and missionaries. Moreover, the possibilities for trouble which arose from the coming of American trappers and traders led to an additional step in the development of civil government, and one which more properly falls under that head.
In 1821 the English Parliament passed a bill by the
