The Columbia Border Dispute
While most of the attention of the 1830s and the first half of the 1840s was focused on the East coast of British North America, in the second half of the 1840s a more pressing concern would arise that of the dispute with the Americans over the border of the Columbia District. The conflict would lead to the signing of the Columbia treaty and establishing the borders of British North America and would end the vast majority of Border conflicts between the United States and British North America.
Prince Rupert Land
In 1670 the Hudson Bay Company would be formed to run the day to day business of running Prince Rupert Land, as well as to get into the fur trading business. The region of Prince Rupert land, so named for Prince Rupert of Bavaria, was mostly wilderness with a number of indigenous people living there. As their primary purpose in North America was to trade, the HBC was far more willing to engage in trade with the indigenous people of the regions they operated in. Their need to work with them in order to get the various furs they desired lead to the made beaver currency being issued to help keep track of the book keeping.
Following the Treaty of Utrecht where the French gave up their claims in what would become Canada, this would expand Prince Rupert’s Land’s well land exponentially. The vast teeming wilderness would stretch from the Hudson to the Pacific. The HBC managed this region on behalf of the British.
Lead up to the conflict
In 1818, the London Convention was signed between the British and the Americans that would set up Columbia territory to be jointly administered by the British and American Authorities for ten years. Despite this joint administration, the British and Americans set up their own forts throughout the area in order to stake claims to it.
As time began to expire in the treaty over joint administration, a number of failed attempts at reaching a settlement were attempted, including one at the 49th parallel and one at the snake and columbia rivers. But despite that the British and Americans refused to budge on their claims.
During this period the main reason for it not increasing tensions further was due to the fact that this was rather isolated. Mostly populated by native tribes and various forts. Moreover other attentions had demanded the attention of the Americans and British. Thus the claims lay unresolved and the forts kept being built and the claims kept being unresolved.
Fifty Four - Forty or fight!
Two things in the 1840s would change the conflict and exasperate the tensions between the British and the Americans. Those being the first Opium War and the election of James K. Polk.
While at first, it would seem like The First Opium war had little to do with this particular dispute, it did reveal to the British several factors. First as the conflict was in the pacific, it brought the need to have additional ports in the Pacific. First for military purposes, especially if war was ever to break out with a more civilized power in the region. But also for commercial activity ports in the Columbia district would give the the British more influence in China. The Port of Victoria in particular would be principal hub of the Opium trade in British North America and the gateway to the orient.
Though it would be decades off, some started to think of the possibility if there was railroad that connected the pacific coast to the east coast of British North america, though at the time it was clear that the current trains were not suitable for the task, the rail mania that had gripped the nation helped factor this into the British.
However, just as important as future economic plans for the region was the election of James K. Polk to the office of Presidency of the United States of America. President Polk was a firm believer in manifest destiny and sought to expand America across the continent. After taking Texas and Mexican land, Polk set his sights on British North America and specifically the Columbia district. The slogan Fifty-Four forty or fight was thrown around to express America’s interest in taking all of their claims in Oregon. Famously he stated in his inaugural address that:
Nor will it become in a less degree my duty to assert and maintain by all constitutional means the right of the United States to that portion of our territory which lies beyond the Rocky Mountains. Our title to the country of the Oregon is "clear and unquestionable," and already are our people preparing to perfect that title by occupying it with their wives and children.
Thus with the interest of the British in keeping their claims to the territory and the Americans doing likewise there was a great deal of concern both in London and in Washington that this will spill out to war. The Governor-in-chief of the HBC during this time, George Simpson, was instructed to draw up war plans including defensive works and making deals with indigenous people in case of war. Furthermore, several Royal navy ships would arrive in the pacific as a sign that the British were interested in this territory.
The Columbia Treaty
However, both nations ultimately did not wish to go to war. A number of American politicians, foremost among them being Daniel Webster, realized the folly of war with the British. If war broke out that could very well end the economic relationship between the United States and the British. Moreover, the might of the British empire was to much for the Americans. The Royal navy had a presence in both the Atlantic and Pacific, among other parts of the globe. Likewise the British did not want a fight. Though they sought to protect their interests in the region, their primary goal was economic.
To that end to avoid war, after a number of attempts at peace, the Columbia treaty would be signed. The Columbia treaty used the Columbia River as the border but to avoid any future disputes they would draw a line at the 117th longitude. This allowed the British to keep the regions they had their settlements and the Americans to do likewise.
It also stipulated the border between the United States and British North America between Columbia and the Great lakes would be the 49th Parallel as well as protecting the commercial and property rights of both Americans and British subject in the region.
Effects of the Columbia treaty
The most obvious effect was that with the signing of the treaty, war was avoided and relations improved. With the Columbia treaty being designed to avoid future conflicts over such territory, it meant that relations between Britain and the United States could increase and that war would become far less likely.
Very shortly after signing the treaty, the territory was organized by the United States into the Oregon Territory and it would not be long after in 1859 would Oregon achieve statehood for Oregon as a free state.
Likewise for the British, the territory would be organized not long after into two colonies: the colony of Vancouver Island and the Colony of Columbia. However while both would be colonies, the British still left the day to day affairs to the Hudson bay company to run. It did help that the colonial governors happened to also be leaders within the company to help smooth things over.
Though the HBC was not interested in colonizing the land, the British were. They wanted to increase Victoria’s population to make that city the key city in the region. To that end, like in eastern British North America, the British supported immigration to the region. More over, many Americans that had migrated to the region would assimilate themselves to British culture.
The various indigenous tribes of the regions were faced with different realities depending on what side of the border they found themselves. Those that found themselves on the American side found themselves rather quickly at war with the United States as the Americans sought to take their land and wipe them out in pursuit of Manifest Destiny.
Those who found themselves on the British side were much more lucky. The HBC was the ones administering the region and they were far more interested in turning a profit then taking land from the tribes that lived there, especially if it was more profitable just to trade with them. That is not to say conflict did not break out, it certainly did. It is more that the British policy was to make money over to settle the land, even with the increased push for immigration to Columbia their policy remained to make money.
