Fur Trade | Page 2 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

December 6, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Islanders Fill Labor Demands

As early as 1811, Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) had already hired twelve Hawaiians on three year contracts to work for them in the Pacific Northwest. By 1824, HBC employed thirty-five Hawaiians west of the Rocky Mountains.

“On 21 January 1829 the Hudson’s Bay Company schooner Cadboro, Aemilius Simpson master, arrived at Honolulu from Fort
Vancouver with a small shipment of spars and sawn lumber.” (Spoehr)

The earliest location of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s store appears to have been on the Ewa, or north side of Nu‘uanu street, adjoining the ‘Blonde’ lot (Boki’s bar) cornering on King, premises that became well known as ‘Aienui’ – great debt.

“On 23 October 1833 the Governor and Committee in London appointed George Pelly the Company agent in Honolulu. … George Pelly arrived in Honolulu from England in August 1834. His instructions from London outlined his duties, paramount of which were the sale of Company produce from the Northwest Coast …”

“… provisioning of Company vessels passing through Honolulu, and providing freight for Company vessels homeward bound to England.” (Spoehr) Between 1829 and 1859, the Hudson’s Bay Company was a leading merchant house in Hawai‘i.

“The ships of the Company engaged in the North-west trade appear to have made Honolulu a port of call en route from London early in its career here, leaving such freight and miscellaneous merchandise as found a ready market, and occasionally so on the homeward voyage.” (Thrum)

Historians suggest “that young Hawaiian males left Hawai’i as workers on whaling ships and traveled to China, Europe, Mexico, and the U.S. mainland. In addition, many ventured into the Pacific Northwest territory, worked in the fur trade, and ended up settling in those areas.” (pbs-org)

The number of Hawaiians working as contract laborers for the Hudson’s Bay Company steadily grew. The large number of Hawaiian workers in the village at Fort Vancouver led to the name “Kanaka Town” in the early 1850s.

In an agreement between Kekaunaoa (Governor of Oahu and father of Kamehameha IV & V) and Pelly (agent for Hudson’s Bay Company in Honolulu), notes,

“Kekuanaoa allows Mr. Pelly to take sixty men to the Columbia River, to dwell there three years and at the end of the said term of three years Mr. Pelly agrees to return them to the island of Oahu.”

“And if it shall appear that any of the men have died it is well; but if they have deserted by reason of ill-treatment, or remain for any other cause, then Mr. Pelly will pay twenty dollars for each man [who may be deficient].” (NPS)

The agreement illustrates the common practice for HBC, that drew workers from the Islands and elsewhere. “Delaware and Iriquois Indians mingled with men of the South Seas in its employ, and with Canadian yoyageurs and Scotch factor served out their lot, even if it meant, as it sometimes did, death in the wilderness.” (Blue)

The Islands “furnished valuable recruits to the explorers and traders who followed in Cook’s wake, and to the whalers who followed them.” (Blue)

As the year 1859 started, Pacific whaling entered its decline, the Agency’s competition in the importation of goods increased. Janion Green and Co. (forerunner of Theo H. Davies), Hackfeld and Co. (forerunner of Amfac,) C Brewer, and Castle and Cooke (the beginnings of the Big Five) were established firms.

The Honolulu market was overstocked with goods, and trade was slow. In 1859, HBC decided to close its Hawaiʻi operations; a couple years later, they were gone.

“In the summer of 1865 some Hawaiian fishermen and their “wahine,” who had sailed the placid Pacific in search of new realms for their nomad spirits, arrived in San Francisco bay only to discover that the cool fogs bred dire distress in lungs used to none but the fervid breezes of a tropic sea …”

“… so on they kept until, after a day and night of clear weather, they reached Vernon, a busy farming community on the banks of the Feather river.” (The San Francisco Call – March 26, 1911)

“It was here that San Mahalone and his companions built their huts and that today their children and grandchildren are peopling this colony this begun over 40-years ago …”

“… preserving their individuality and accumulating properties and competencies on the fertile lands of Sutter county.” (The San Francisco Call – March 26, 1911)

“Hawaiians also migrated to Yolo County, California to participate in the Gold Rush and created their own Kanaka Village. There is evidence that Hawaiians settled across California in the late-1800s and even intermarried with Native Americans. “

“Many scholars speculate that Hawaiians migrated to the mainland in order to gain more economic opportunity and to flee from the dramatic Westernization that was changing the face of Hawai’i.” (pbs-org)

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Hudson_Bay_Company,_Honolulu,_by_Paul_Emmert-1853

September 28, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Columbia

“The little ship ‘Columbia’ of Boston, only eighty-three feet long, was the first American vessel to circumnavigate the globe, and a few years later was also the first to visit our Northwest Coast.”

“This last voyage was perhaps the most famous one ever undertaken by an American merchant ship, and its consequences were everlasting. A young American seaman first called attention to the importance of the fur trade of the Northwest.”

“The two vessels sailed from Boston on September 30, 1787 … When the expedition arrived on the northwest coast, … Capt. Robert Gray then took command of the Columbia”. (Niles National Register, November 25, 1837)

“The cargo of hardware, tools, toys, beads, etc, brought from Boston was gradually exchanged during the long winter for furs, which were taken to Canton, the two captains then exchanging commands. The proceeds of the skins were used to purchase tea, which was brought back to Boston.” (Old Shipping Days in Boston, 1918)

“On his return (Gray) called at the different clusters of islands in the South seas, and among the rest at the Sandwich, where, as well as in other places, he met with the most friendly attentions from the natives, go at Owyhee, where their king resided.” (Niles National Register, November 25, 1837)

“The ‘Columbia’ … spent three weeks at the Hawaiian Islands, laying in a store of fruits, yams, potatoes, and hogs. They were kindly received there”. (Porter)

“Such was the confidence placed in captain Gray, both by king and people, that they permitted him to bring away with him to Boston their crown prince (Attoo), fully relying on his promise to return him to them.” (Niles National Register, November 25, 1837)

They secured a cargo of furs from the northwest “and, in pursuance of the owners’ plan, was carried to Canton for sale. … From China the ship, loaded with teas, sailed for home by way of the Cape of Good Hope. In August of 1790 she dropped anchor in Boston harbor, the first American vessel to circumnavigate the earth.” (Howe; The Atlantic Monthly, 1903)

“(The) second voyage, on which she sailed September 28, 1790, was destined to write the good ship’s name on the map of the country.”

“It was nearly two years later when, having taken Attoo back to Hawaii in the humble capacity of cabin boy, and having spent a winter on the coast, Captain Gray, cruising to the southward, saw what he took to be the mouth of amighty river.”

“There were breakers to warn him against entering it. To this forbidding aspect of things we may owe the entry in Vancouver’s journal at the same point …”

“‘Not considering this opening worthy of more attention, I continued our pursuit to the northwest.’ For Captain Gray the breakers were an obstacle only to be overcome.”

“After several efforts he drove the ship through them, and found himself in a noble stream of fresh water. Up this river he sailed some twenty-four miles, and having assured himself that he might continue farther if he chose, returned to the sea.”

“The headlands at the mouth of the river he named, like a true son of Boston, Cape Hancock and Point Adams. He raised the American flag, buried some coins of his young country, and named the river after his vessel, the Columbia.”

“Upon this discovery and the explorations of Lewis and Clark in the next decade, the American government based its successful claim to the Oregon country.”

“Yet for the Boston merchants whose enterprise wrought such momentous results, the second voyage, like the first, was but a small success.”

“In spite of the abundant salutes and cheers which greeted the Columbia when she sailed into Boston harbor in July of 1793, the ship and her inventory were sold at once by auction at a Charlestown wharf.”

“It was hers, however, to open the way to an important commerce.”

“In the years immediately following, a lucrative trade, largely in the hands of Boston merchants, was carried on in direct pursuance of the Columbia’s example, even in the matter of circumnavigation with stops at the Sandwich Islands and China.”

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Columbia_on_river

May 4, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Captain Cole

Fur traders and merchant ships crossing the Pacific needed to replenish food supplies and water. The maritime fur trade focused on acquiring furs of sea otters, seals and other animals from the Pacific Northwest Coast and Alaska.

The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe and the United States.

Needing supplies in their journey, the traders soon realized they could economically barter for provisions in Hawai‘i; for instance any type of iron, a common nail, chisel or knife, could fetch far more fresh fruit meat and water than a large sum of money would in other ports.

A triangular trade network emerged linking the Pacific Northwest coast, China and the Hawaiian Islands to Britain and the United States (especially New England).

Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) was a fur trading company that started in Canada in 1670; its first century of operation found HBC firmly focused in a few forts and posts around the shores of James and Hudson Bays, Central Canada.

As early as 1811, HBC had already hired twelve Hawaiians on three year contracts to work for them in the Pacific Northwest. By 1824, HBC employed thirty-five Hawaiians west of the Rocky Mountains.

“(Y)oung Hawaiian males left Hawai’i as workers on whaling ships and traveled to China, Europe, Mexico, and the U.S. mainland. In addition, many ventured into the Pacific Northwest territory, worked in the fur trade, and ended up settling in those areas.” (pbs-org)

Ships sailed from London around Cape Horn around South America and then to forts and posts along the Pacific Coast via the Hawaiian Islands. Trappers crossing overland faced a journey of 2,000 miles that took three months.

On January 21, 1829 the Hudson’s Bay Company schooner ‘Cadboro’ arrived at Honolulu from Fort Vancouver with a small shipment of poles and sawn lumber. Another goal of the trip was to recruit Hawaiians for HBC operations on the Northwest Coast.

One such recruit who later came from the Islands to work with the HBC was ‘Captain Cole’. Cole entered the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company at O‘ahu in 1840.

On the continent, ‘Captain Cole’ was witness to a killing.

“Just after midnight on April 21, 1842, John McLoughlin, Jr – the chief trader for the Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Stikine (situated at what is now Wrangell on the Alaska panhandle), in the northwest corner of the territory that would later become British Columbia – was shot to death by his own men.”

“The men were known to have disliked McLoughlin and some had threatened to kill him, but the company’s governor, Sir George Simpson, relied on their accounts of the incident to conclude that the murder was a matter of self-defense”.

They claimed it was “their only means of stopping the violent rampage of their drunk and abusive leader. Sir George Simpson, the HBC’s Overseas Governor, took the men of Stikine at their word, and the Company closed the book on the matter.” (Komar)

It is estimated that by 1844 between 300 and 400 Hawaiians were in HBC service in the Pacific Northwest, both in vessels and at posts.

Journal entries in early 1848 identify Cole as “Captian Cole,” but in later entries for 1848 and 1849 he is simply referred to as “Cole.” He was posted to Fort Stikine in the Columbia District as a ‘midman,’ middleman, from 1841-1843.

Cole continued in service to the HBC until November 23, 1844, when he returned to Honolulu. He re-enlisted in 1847, serving as a laborer at Fort Victoria (1847-1849) and Fort Rupert (1849-1850), where he died of tuberculosis on March 12, 1850. (Fort Victoria Journal)

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Stikine, Alaska

April 20, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hope

“(T)he maritime fur trade on the Northwest Coast of America had its origin in the accidental discovery by Captain Cook’s sailors that the furs which they had obtained at Nootka in exchange for the veriest trifles were of great value in the eyes of the Chinese. Naturally the earliest of these traders came from India and China.”

“In September of (1788) appeared at Nootka a new flag – that of the United States of America. This first American venture consisted of the Columbia and the Washington, commanded by captains Gray and Kendrick.”

“After about a year spent on the coast the Columbia sailed for China with the furs collected by both vessels, and thence to her home port, Boston, where she arrived August 10, 1790.”

“Though the voyage had proved a great disappointment, financially, yet other enterprising Boston merchants determined to essay another venture. The vessel they selected was the Hope, a brigantine of seventy tons and slightly built.”

“In command they placed Joseph Ingraham, who had been mate of the Columbia. This move angered the owners of that vessel, who seemed to think that as they had introduced Ingraham to the fur trade they had some vested right in his services.”

“The Hope sailed from Boston September 16, 1790. … On January 4, 1791 the Falkland Islands were sighted just west of Falkland Strait.”

“‘Remaining very long at sea is often of disheartening seamen and thereby bringing on sickness, only the sight of land, even if no refreshments are procured it, has often a wonderful effect; it awakens them from lethargy occasioned by the sameness of viewing nothing and water’.” (Ingraham)

“Three months after his departure from the Falkland Islands Ingraham anchored in the Bay of Madre de Dios in the Marquesas. (He then) sailed to the westward.”

“Late that afternoon (April 21, 1791) two islands appeared under his lee. Startled by the discovery them he bore away towards them and soon two others appeared upon the horizon. The next day three more were seen. Feeling confident that these we no part of the Marquesas group and that they had never been seen by Europeans, he named them after Washington and other prominent Americans.”

“But Ingraham was in search of furs, not on a voyage of discovery. He hastened towards the Sandwich Islands. On May 17 only five casks of water remained; early on the morning of the 20th, Ingraham was delighted to see the snow-capped summit of Mauna Loa appear above the western horizon.”

At Owyhee (Hawai‘i) he met Tianna … “Hogs, fowls, potatoes, plantains and sugar cane were obtained as the vessel skirted the shores of Owyhee, Mowee (Maui) and Atooi (Kauai).”

“Finally on June 1 the Hope emerged from the channel between Atooi and Oneehow (Ni‘ihau), and the course was set for the Northwest Coast of America.”

“The anniversary of the Declaration of Independence occurred while the Hope lay in Magee Sound. … ‘I caused a hog of 70 lbs weight to be roasted whole, on which we all dined on shore. I with my officers and seamen drank the President’s and made the forest ring with three cheers; after which every one returned to their several employments as we could not time to sit long after dinner.’” (Ingraham)

“(H)e had left a boar and two the hope that they might increase and be of use to future visitors; and desiring that these animals be not molested until they multiplied.”

“Gray of the Columbia was the first to show the Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands how to cultivate the potato. Thus to the credit of the Americans are the introduction of domestic animals and vegetables in those islands.”

“On the morning of July 7 the fast was cast off and the Hope towed out of the sound, ready to begin trading. … Having obtained about three hundred sea otter skins and completely cleared the village of the least particle of fur, Ingraham sailed on July 19 through Cox Strait or Parry Passage, and shaped his course eastward. …”

“It was now the 15th of August; only a little over a month since he had begun his trading at Cloak Bay; and in that interval Ingraham had collected more than eight hundred and fifty sea otter skins. Each day added a few to his stock …”

“… but all the cloth and clothing were gone; and in the competition with at least three other vessels this would place him at a distinct disadvantage. He therefore decided, instead of wintering on the coast, to sail to China, dispose of his cargo of furs, obtain further supply of trading goods, and return to Queen Charlotte Islands in time for the opening of the next season.”

“The crew were set to work to take out the furs, beat, clean, and dry them, obtain wood and water, and prepare for the voyage across the Pacific. These necessary occupations consumed about a fortnight. The Hope still lay at anchor in the little cove at Cumshewa’s village, visited each day by the natives.”

“The trade went steadily on, and the stream of furs flowed uninterruptedly into her hold. When, at last, the vessel was ready to sail, Ingraham found that he had more than fourteen hundred sea otter skins and upwards of three hundred sables, besides beaver, wolverine, etc.”

“Forty-nine days trade on the northern and eastern side of Queen Charlotte Islands. He attributes his success to the method, first introduced by him, of visiting a village, casting anchor and remaining until no more furs could be secured.”

“In this he is probably right, for the natives naturally preferred to deal in this way, rather than paddle out four or five leagues to a moving vessel, as they must do to trade with the others.”

“The results support this view, for the Columbia, pursuing the old fashion of flitting hither and thither had in about the same time obtained only six hundred skins, and the Hancock between five hundred and six hundred.”

“Just as the Hope was under way a canoe came out and traded twenty skins – the very last they possessed … ‘seeing we were about to leave them, they traded quick.’ He left Queen Charlotte Islands on September 1 for China by way of the Sandwich Islands.”

“On October 6 the island Owyhee (Hawaii) was seen at a distance of twenty leagues. … In four or five days Ingraham, having collected seventy hogs, some fowls, and a great quantity of vegetables, resumed his voyage to China carrying with him three Sandwich Island lads as an addition to his crew. He anchored in Macao Roads November 29, 1791.”

“(However,) that, owing to war between China and Russia, the Chinese, under the mistaken idea that the fur trade was wholly connected with Russian interests, had prohibited all vessels having furs on board from entering Canton, the great Chinese mart.”

“(H)e he had come to China to sell his furs, and sell them he would despite the prohibition. … There was no market; had there been one, it would have been flooded, for the cargoes of the Grace, Hancock, Gustavus, Hope and La Solide, added to those of the Spanish vessels from Manilla amounted to about eleven thousand sea otter skins.”

“After ten days spent in a vain endeavor to get the skins ashore, and in which they narrowly escaped seizure the boat returned. Some two hundred skins were sold to other captains who took the risk of running then ashore.”

“While slowly getting rid of his skins, disposing of a few here and a few there, and smuggling a boat load ashore to every available opportunity Ingraham was also obtaining his trading goods.”

“He purchased a large quantity of broadcloth and began on shore the manufacture of jackets and trousers, but when h attempted to put the cloth and the clothing on the Hope, the mandarins demanded $100 to be paid before they would allow them to leave the shore.”

“He and his friends Coolidge and Rogers agreed to invest the proceeds of their sales in a cargo of tea and to charter a small vessel, the Fairy, to transport it to Boston.”

“He accordingly purchased one thousand eight hundred and sixty chests of tea as his share of the lading, but soon discovered that he had obtained far too much. The tea was brought to Macao to be loaded; only a hundred chests had been put on board when the mandarins again interfered and seized sixty-seven chests.”

“On April 1, 1792 the Hope in company with the Grace for the Northwest Coast of America. Head winds drove them back, and it was not until the 26th that they finally left the Chinese coast.”

The Hope made it back to the northwest coast … “Ingraham was surprised to meet at Nootka the Sandwich Islander, Opie, whom he had brought out from Boston and Owyhee in May 1791. This man who had evidently an attack of the wanderlust had embarked with Vancouver in March 1792.”

“He now wished to return to his home and begged Ingraham to him a passage. This, however, was refused unless Vancouver would discharge him. When Vancouver declined to do so Opie suggested that he would desert and meet the Hope in a canoe outside Nootka, but to this Ingraham would not consent … in any event, the Hope was already overmanned.”

Then, “The season was ended. More than three months had been spent in the vain endeavor to procure a cargo of skins. … On October 12 Ingraham sailed from Nootka for China by way of the Sandwich Islands. His Journal ends here quite abruptly”. (All here from Howay)

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Ingraham Voyage-1Boston 2Cape Vert Islands 3Falkland 4Juan Fernandez 5Marquesas 6Hawaii 7Queen Charlotte-Vancouver 8Macau

December 22, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

John MacKey

Merchant ships crossing the Pacific needed to replenish food supplies and water. The maritime fur trade focused on acquiring furs of sea otters, seals and other animals from the Pacific Northwest Coast and Alaska.

The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe and the United States.

Members of the crews of these early visitors were left at the islands either as agents for their ships or their owners, with instructions to learn the language and to collect cargoes of sandalwood, supplies, etc., or as deserters. (Cartwright)

“In the more precise terminology of the anthropologist (a beachcomber) is a regional variety of the world-wide class of individuals called by Hallowell ‘transculturites’…

“… persons who, throughout history, ‘are temporarily or permanently detached from one group, enter the web of social relations that constitute another society, and come under the influence of its customs, ideas and values to a greater or lesser degree’.” (Maude)

John Mackey (or M’Key), the first of the modern Hawai‘i beachcombers, had signed on at Bombay in 1785 as surgeon of the fur-trading vessel Captain Cook.

Left behind at King George’s Sound partly because of ill-health and partly to act as local agent, he soon became Indianized, being described as “equally slovenly and dirty with the filthiest of them all.” He was thus no amateur beachcomber when he landed in Hawai‘i. (Maude)

“John M’Key … was born in Ireland, and went to Bombay in the East India Company’s service. Two vessels (viz. the Captain Cook, Captain Loriè; and the Experiment, Captain Guise) were fitting out in 1785, on an expedition to the North West coast of America; that he engaged on board the Captain Cook as Surgeon.”

“They sailed from Bombay the 28th of November, 1785, and arrived at King George’s Sound the 27th of June, 1786. That being very ill of a purple fever (M’Key) was left behind for the recovery of his health, at the request of Mr. Strange, the Supercargo to both vessels.”

“Mr. Strange desired him to learn the language and to ingratiate himself with the natives, so that if any other vessels should touch there he might prevent them from purchasing any furs, promising at the same time to return for him the ensuing spring.”

“That the two vessels procured 600 prime sea otter skins during their stay here, and left the Sound the 27th of July, intending to sail for Cook’s River.”

“That the Sea Otter, Captain Hanna, from China, arrived at King George’s Sound in August, 1786, and that Captain Hanna offered to take (M’Key) on board, which he refused, alledging, that he began to relish dried fish and whale oil, was satisfied with his way of life, and perfectly contented to stay ’till next year, when he had no doubt of Mr. Strange sending for him …”

“… that Captain Hanna left the Sound in September. That the natives had stripped him of his cloaths, and obliged him to adopt their mode of dress and filthiness of manners; and that he was now a perfect master of their language, and well acquainted with their temper and disposition.”

“He had made frequent incursions into the interior parts of the country about King George’s Sound, and did not think any part of it was the Continent of America, but a chain of detached islands.”

“Mr. Etches assured me that no great dependance could be placed on M’Key’s story, he being a very ignorant young fellow, and frequently contradicting himself …”

“… but that entire credit might be given to that part of it respecting his adopting the manners of the natives, as he was equally slovenly and dirty with the filthiest of them all.”

“His knowledge of the language was greatly short of what he boasted; neither was he very contented in his situation, for he gladly embraced Captain Berkley’s offer of taking him on board, and seemed delighted to think he was going to leave so uncomfortable a place …”

“… however, admitting him to be possessed of but an ordinary capacity, he certainly must be better acquainted with the people here, from more than a year’s residence amongst them, than any occasional visitor could possibly be ; and there can be no doubt but that Captain Berkley found him extremely useful in managing his traffic with the natives.” (Dixon)

“In 1787, or less than ten years after the death of Cook, the Irish ship’s surgeon John Mackey, formerly in the East India Company’s service, was landed in Hawaii from the Imperial Eagle, en route to China, at his own request.” He may be considered the first foreigner to live in the Islands.

“Within a year he had been joined by three deserters – Ridler, carpenter’s mate of the Columbia; Thomas; and a youth named Samuel Hitchcock”

“Most of the early Europeans congregated on Hawaii itself, around the chief Kamehameha, who was quick to realise their importance to his plan for conquering the other islands; there were at least 11 with him in 1794.” (Maude)

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Imperial Eagle