islands east of that channel, but the desire, which never can amount to a claim, should not be listened to for a moment. While I was in England no minister was preposterous enough to lend the authority of the British government to the cupidity of the Hudson's Bay Company in this particular. I think you must find in the Department of State a copy of a very short letter of mine to Lord Palmerston, inclosing him a chart of those waters as drawn by our own Coast Survey. I think in that letter I mentioned the center of the Straits of Haro as the boundary. That chart would show by the depths of the soundings that the Straits of Haro are the channel intended in the treaty, even if there had not been a distinct understanding on the part of the British government as well as the American at the time of the signing of the treaty. Lord Palmerston, in his reply acknowledging the receipt of the chart, made no pretense of adopting the wishes of the Hudson's Bay Company, and he never did so, even in conversation. I never had occasion in England to make any peremptory statement on the subject, because nothing was ever said or hinted there which required it; but whenever conversation turned upon the subject, whether with Lord Palmerston or with the Under Secretary of the Colonial [65] Office, *I always spoke of the Strait of Haro as undeniably the channel of the the treaty, and no member of the British government ever took issue with me. In running the line through the center of the Straits of Haro there may be one or two small islands about which a question might be raised, but as to the important group that the Hudson's Bay Company covet, the demand, if made, should be met at the outset as one too preposterous to be entertained as a question. Yours, sincerely, ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, Esq., GEORGE BANCROFT. Commissioner, &c. No. 53. Declaration of Rear-Admiral Wilkes. WASHINGTON CITY, February 16, 1872. nel of Haro. In answer to the memorandum on the Haro question, I have to state that I have a full knowledge of the Islands and waters Rear Admiral lying between the Straits of Fuca and the Gulf of Georgia, Wilkes on the Chanhaving surveyed the whole whilst I was in command of the United States exploring expedition, and I state of my own knowledge that the Canal de Haro is the best and shortest route between the same. The depth of water is very great and all obstructions to the navigation of the Canal de Haro are visible. Indeed it may be said to be an arm of the sea passing from the Straits of Fuca to the Gulf of Georgia and separating the Island of Vancouver from the main or continent of America, comprising now the Territory of Washington, and it is the natural communication between the Gulf of Georgia and Fuca Straits, leading or trending north and south, and has now become the great highway of commerce, between Victoria, on the Island of Vancouver, and the Fraser's river, a few miles north of the forty-ninth parallel, the boundary of the United States and the Northwest British America. The strait of Haro may be navigated at all times, day or night, with perfect safety, and nature has conferred upon it all that could be desired to be a well-defined national highway, between the island of Vancouver and the smaller and intricate passages through the small archipelago lying on its eastern side, which all are more or less intricate, narrow in places to a few hundred yards, and with very rapid tides. One of these [66] passages *lying on the east of this small archipelago was named by me as Ringgold Channel, but at times called the Rosario Strait; its width does not entitle it to the name of a strait, and with its many and dangerous islets, rocks, and shoals, it is a very unsafe and difficult channel to navigate even in the day time, and impossible with any assurance of safety in the night time. It cannot be compared with the Strait of Haro in any point of view, and can only be used by small vessels seeking anchorage in the event of disaster, and bad or boisterous weather. While the Strait of Haro affords like facilities for anchorage under the islands on the east side, it may be safely navigated, and affords ample protection in its sea-room for the largest class of vessels. The Strait of Haro, though known at the time of my survey in 1841, it was not visited, as there were no vessels engaged in those waters, except the small and very inefficient steamer called the Beaver, commanded by Captain McNeil, who spoke of it to me as the best passage, although he was obliged to pass through the Rosario passage on account of the necessity of seeking the small coves at night in passing along the east shore towards Fraser's river to supply the Post of the Hudson's Bay Company, and this was only achieved twice a year. All the vessels now engaged in the trade from Victoria to Fraser's river and the Gulf of Georgia, invariably pass through the Haro Straits, which verifies my opinion when I first surveyed it that it would become the great and only highway between the Straits of Fuca and the Gulf of Georgia, and such it has now become. I consider that in the treaty between the British government and the United States there is no other passage that could be considered as adapted to the terms of the treaty, and both parties to that instrument must have been of like views in relation to it. All the charts used as information show the same broad channel and superiority of the Gulf of Haro over any other line to the sea, and there can scarcely be a doubt that it was so understood by the Commissioners of both sides. CHARLES WILKES, Rear Admiral of the United States Navy. [67] *No. 54. Commodore Case to the Secretary of the Navy. SIR: Statement of Com modore Case on the canal de Haro, BUREAU OF ORDNANCE, NAVY DEPARTMENT, February 13, 1872. I was a Lieutenant on board of the sloop-of-war "Vincennes," attached to the United States expedition commanded by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, and one of the surveying party in July, 1841, which surveyed the canal de Haro, the main ship-channel for vessels bound from the sea northward inside of Vancouver's Island, for the Strait of Georgia, Fraser's River, &c. The canal is deep, clear, and navigable for vessels of all sizes or draught. While we were engaged in the survey of the Straits of Juan de Fuca and its adjacent waters, the only vessel then navigating them was the Hudson Bay Company's steamer Beaver, which was employed by it supplying stores to, and collecting peltry from, its trading-ports on the coast, and which, I am of the opinion, used either the canal de Haro, or Straits of Rosario channels according as to where she was coming from and bound to. When coming from the sea and bound north for the straits of Georgia, Fraser's river, or any place inside of and adjacent to Vancouver's Island, the main ship-channel is the Canal de Haro, it being the nearest and most direct. But when coasting along the main-land and bound north, from any of the ports in Puget's sound, Hood's canal, &c., for the strait of Georgia, Fraser's River, &c., the straits of Rosario would be the nearest and most direct. * H. LUDLOW CASE, U. S. N., SIR: No. 55. Mr. Gibbs to the Secretary of State. 77 WALL STREET, NEW HAVEN, February 20, 1872. Statement of Mr. canal de Haro. The superior depth and width of the Canal de Haro are fully exhibited not only on Wilkes's Charts, but on those George Gibbs on the of our own Coast Survey, and I presume on those [68] of the British Commission *on the boundary. It would be therefore useless to add any merely verbal statement as to that fact. The reason for Vancouver's not surveying it was, that his object being to find a passage to the eastward, he hugged the main shore on returning from the examination of Admiralty Inlet and Puget's Sound, and thus went northward through what is now called Rosario Strait; but that it was known to him from the charts of Quadra is evident from his having laid it down on his chart by the name of the canal de 66 Arro," ," and his delineation of the whole group of the disputed islands. The reason that Governor Simpson, in his voyage from Nisqually to Sitka, (Overland Journey Round the World, during the years 1841 and 1842, by Sir George Simpson,) took the same passage, was doubtless because, however roundabout from the Strait of Fuca, it is the most direct from Admiralty Inlet. The pretense that the Hudson Bay Company was unaware of the existence of the Canal de Haro is as absurd as it would be, were the inhabitants of Brooklyn to ignore the passage between Long and Staten Islands, and claim the Kill von Kull as the outlet of the Sound and Hudson River to the sea. * * It appears from Mr. R. M. Martin's work on "The Hudson's Bay Territories and Vancouver Island, London, 1849," page 35, that "the Chief Factor" [since Governor Sir James Douglas] "surveyed the south coast of Vancouver's Island in 1842, and, after a careful survey, fixed on the port of Camosack" [now Victoria] "as the most eligible site for the Hudson's Bay Company's factory within the Straits of de "Fuca ;" and further, Mr. Douglas, after investigating the south coast of the Island, says, "Camosack is a pleasant and convenient site for the establishment, within fifty yards of the anchorage, on the border of a large tract of clear land, which extends eastward to Point Gonzalez at the southeast end of the island," &c. No man who knows Governor Douglas will charge him with stupidity, negligence, or want of knowledge of his own interests, and it is drawing too much on human credulity to sup pose that his examinations did not lead to a knowledge of the strait, if he was not aware of it before. At any rate the Indians who frequented the new trading-post, coming not only from the Gulf of Geor gia, Johnston's Straits, and the northern end of Vancouver Island, but from Queen Charlotte's Islands and the whole northwest coast as far as the Russian possessions, knew and pursued the passage of the Canal de Haro and that only, and do so still. [69] *With regard to the channel actually in use at present, I can positively state that the Rosario Strait is not followed at present at all, by vessels of the Hudson's Bay Company; nor is the Strait of Haro in its entire length. Vessels bound northward from Victoria follow the latter as far as Stuart Island, and thence take the channel between Salt Spring Island on the east and the Saturna group on the west, going out into the Gulf of Georgia by Active Passage, between that group and Galiano Island, thus cutting off the detour round Java Head, and taking an almost straight line from the southern entrance of the Canal de Haro to the middle of the Gulf of Georgia on the fortyninth parallel, and to the mouth of Fraser river. This interior passage is perfectly navigable for large vessels, as in fact it is beyond the fortyninth parallel, Captain Prevost himself having gone through Virago passage in Her Britannic Majesty's ship of that name long before the Boundary Commission was organized. There seems to exist a general misapprehension of the amount of trade carried on by the Hudson's Bay Company's or other British vessels on these waters. Prior to the treaty of 1846, Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia river, was the great depot for the receipt and distribution of goods for the northwest coast, as well as the interior, and the annual ship from London delivered its cargo there. All furs were likewise received and packed there for transportation. Fort Langley, on Fraser River, was the nearest post of any magnitude. Fort Nisqually, on Puget's Sound, belonged to the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, and according to the testimony in the case of the Hudson's Bay and Puget's Sound Agricultural Companies' Claims, the goods received there were purchased of and accounted for to the Hudson's Bay Company. It never was a distributing post of the latter. GEORGE GIBBS, * Late United States Geologist, Northwestern Boundary Surrey. No. 56. Extract from letter of Messrs. Campbell and Parke to the Secretary of State. WASHINGTON, February 3, 1872. map should be examined showing the relative position of the Hudson Bay Company's establishment at Victoria on Vancouver's Island, Nisqually on Puget Sound, and Fort Langley on Fraser River, and the position of the Canal de Haro and Rosario Straits as avenues of communication between the three points. It would be well also to consider the relative importance of these three establishments in those waters. It is not at all probable that any vessel from foreign parts or from the Columbia River ever did communicate directly with Fort Langley (on Fraser River) without touching at the other posts on the lower waters, Victoria and Nisqually. It is well known, on the contrary, that these trips of the Hudson's Bay Company's vessels were made periodically for the purpose of distributing the regular supplies of food and merchandise for trading purposes, and receiving in return the furs collected at the several posts. Now, by referring to the map, it will be seen that a vessel leaving the Columbia River for the foregoing purpose would first touch at Victoria, then at Nisqually, and then at Fort Langley on Fraser River. In making this trip no navigator would dream of taking the Canal de Haro in sailing from Nisqually to Fort Langley, when the more direct and much shorter route lay through Rosario Straits. * Although Rosario Strait was generally used, (and good reasons have been given herein for this general use,) the Canal de Haro was not only known by these very Hudson Bay Company's employés to be navigable, but by their own affidavits it is shown that two of their own vessels made successful passages through this channel prior to the date of the treaty. ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, Late United States Boundary Commissioner. JNO. G. PARKE, Major of Engineers, Brevet Major-General. SIR: No. 57. Mr. Campbell to the Secretary of State. WASHINGTON, January 19, 1872. * The Haro channel I can say from my own knowledge that after the discovery of gold on Fraser River in 1858, the canal de Haro was the *ordinary channel of communication between Victoria the usual channel. and British Columbia, and doubtless now is, and ever will be. ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, [71] Late United States Boundary Commissioner. No. 58. The Attorney-General to the Secretary of State. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, SIR: I have the honor to inclose for your consideration and use a statement prepared and addressed to me by Henry R. Crosby, esq., for whose reliability I am willing to vouch. Hon. HAMILTON FISH, * * GEO. H. WILLIAMS, Attorney-General. |