Boundary Settlement
Part III

By Edward Huggins
The Sunday Oregonian
August 26, 1900

The upshot was, the boundary, question was easily settled, and the 49th parallel of latitude was fixed ad the line of demarcation between the two countries, very much to the indignation and dismay of the British settled within the limits of the 49th parallel and the Columbia River, and on the Columbia River especially, all of which I learned from letters of that date now in my possession. 

When the treaty was made the British Plenipotentiaries were careful to protect the rights of any and all British subjects who claimed to own land within the limits of the disputed boundary, and the treaty contained a special, clause which bound the United States Government either to confirm these rights or purchase them at a price to be agreed upon. 

Some time prior to the date of the treaty, the Puget Sound Agricultural Association was Incorporated in London, with a capital of $1,000,000, and the farms and lands at Nisqually, comprising about 180,000 acres and including within its boundaries nearly all the prairie land in Pierce County, and the Cowlitz farm, along with the large herds of horned cattle, sheep and horses at that time running upon these lands; also all the improvements upon the lands, tools, etc, were sold to this new British company by the Hudson's Bay Company for a large money consideration.

The Hudson's Bay Company retained Fort Vancouver and all the other establishments named, with large tracts of land around each post. When the treaty was made it was stipulated that if the United States Government thought that it would be to its benefit to obtain possession of these claims by purchase, a Commission was to be named, and evidence produced of claim and the value of same. 

The Commission was to agree, if it could, upon the amount of money the claims were worth, and if the award was satisfactory to the companies, it was to be paid over to them, but if the Commission failed to agree, it was to be settled by arbitration, and I think some European monarch was named and accepted as referee. In the event of the arbitrators falling to agree.

The treaty made all these provisions, and furthermore, the Donation Land Act added to the protection of these foreign companies, as it specially provided that citizens could not take claims under this act upon lands owned or claimed under the treaty of 1846, between, the United States and Great Britain, and all Government surveys were stopped when they touched the boundaries of the lands claimed by these two companies. 

In consequence many settlers upon the prairie lands of Pierce County and the Cowlitz farm lands, could not enter their lands until after 1870, when the companies' claims were settled, and the lands opened to survey and entry. Prior to this, the many settlers, including the residents of the city of Steilacoom, were only squatters, and could not sell and give title to their lands. 

Fort Steilacoom was on land claimed by the Puget Sound Company. The first company of United States artillery (the Fourth Regiment), Captain B. H. Hill, landed from the old transport Massachusetts at Vancouver In the Summer of 1849, and in August a chartered ship, the Harpooner, brought the company to Steilacoom. The Government rented a lot of log buildings standing on the present site of the state Insane asylum, then a farm belonging to the Puget Sound Agricultural Company for the use of the troops, and paid $50 a month. 

These buildings were used as barracks till 1857-58 when the new and larger quarters were constructed, the Government continuing to pay the Puget Sound Agricultural Company $50 per month for a mile square of ground to be used as a military reserve. The Government paid rent until the abandonment of the post in 1868. The troops in garrison at that time were transferred to Sitka, Alaska. 

I was the agent of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company for a number of years, and signed leases for the company and collected rents. I also, in the name of the company, had a beef contract with the United States Government and supplied Fort Steilacoom for many years. Some years the contract price of beef was 18 cents per pound. With reference to the sporting proclivities of the two British Commissioners. Captain Gordon fished a great deal in what was formerly known as Chambers Lake, near Roy. 

Fifty years ago, and before the outlet of the lake was lowered, the water covered almost all of what is now arable land, and Muck Creek or river, ran through it, and the finest trout fishing in the country was to be found there. The lake, after Gordon's visit, was called Gordon's Lake. In 1855 I put a commodious boat upon the lake, and I often took my visitors to fish there, and if I were to tell of the quantity and size of the trout some of them caught there, I should certainly be charged with tampering with the truth.