Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2015

The Oregon Dispute and the Fortunes of the Fur Trade West of the Rockies

(Abstract)

Fu Chengshuang

With the rise of the beaver fur trade on the Northwestern coast of North America, merchants from Britain, Russia, Spain, the United States and elsewhere were all drawn into the struggle for the Oregon region, sparking the Oregon dispute. Famous fur trading companies such as the North West Company, the Hudson’s Bay Company and the Pacific Fur Company became the instruments and representatives of the fight among Britain, the United States and others for economic and political dominance, with each advancing the policies of his own country. Thus the fur trade west of the Rockies was strongly political from the very beginning. Although the Hudson’s Bay Company defeated the American fur traders in the Columbia region, it lost the Columbia River Valley area during the Oregon boundary negotiations between Britain and the U.S. in 1846. The Oregon dispute concluded with the old colonial powers compromising with the newly emerging forces in the North American continent and the fur trade giving way to agricultural development.