Jewitt etc

[R K Henderson]

To clear up the issue of British presence on the coast,  Esquimault was
the Royal Navy's North Pacific station until well after Canadian
independence in 1867. Dozens of geographic names (Alert Bay, Otter Bay,
Barkley Sound) attest to its very high profile in these parts. When the
Royal Navy left, ca. 1890, the Royal Canadian Navy took over. Thus, there
was no time when the coast was actively possessed by the Crown.

HBC literally owned the dry into well into the 19th century, and its
ships (notably the redoutable Beaver) were the only reliable public
transport on the coast until the American invasion, ca. 1850.

Canada relinquished its claim to Washington when the treaty was
finalised. Prior to that time, the Company was the only duly-constituted
authority in Puget Sound. The Company maintained an especially high
profile in the current Olympia/Tacoma neighbourhood. The  capital of
Puget Sound was Fort Nisqually, a Company stockade in what is now
Steilacoom. Perhaps the greatest evidence of Company presence, aside from
the stockade itself, were the more than 1000 head of Company cattle
Nisqually contractors ran on the extensive prairies that existed there in
those days. Interestingly, the Company maintained at least a cultural
presence in the area even after the American invasion. HBC men were
jailed during Leschi's War, on the pretext that they were married to
Nisqually or Puyallup women. Really it was because Americans feared the
British might take advantage of the situation to repossess the territory.
Ludicrous, of course, but it points to the highly visible presence of
British subjects in the region.

So, rumours of Britian's disappearance from the Northwest are greatly
exaggerated.

Standing on guard for thee,

Robin Henderson

Rob's Canfact of the Moment:

Newfoundland and Nova Scotia are Iceland's Mazatlan, drawing thousands of
tourists from that country every year. Evidently, Halifax is all the
glamour Icelanders can stand.