James Douglas (governor) - Years in Fort Vancouver and Fort Victoria

Years in Fort Vancouver and Fort Victoria

Douglas spent nineteen years in Fort Vancouver, serving as Chief Accountant until 1834 when he was promoted to Chief Trader of the post. Being Chief Trader was a very important position - only held by four others in the District. He received his commission as one of "the gentlemen of the interior" on June 3, 1835 in York Factory upon joining the Council of the Northern Department. In 1838 Douglas was put in charge of the District. While occupying the position Douglas denounced slavery of natives and made settlement with the Russian American Company, which had been active in the northern coastal fur trade. In return for the leasing of fur trading territory on the northern coast from Mount Fairweather south to 54°40′, the Russian-American Company received 2000 otter pelts and a number of other supplies. He also created the Pugets Sound Agricultural Company in an attempt to bring more British into the Columbia River valley to overpower the American presence there.

In September 1840 he was awarded with a commission as Chief Factor, the highest possible rank for field service with the HBC. As Chief Factor his first major contribution was to go on a personal visit south to California, where he met with a Mexican administrator and received permission to create a trading post in San Francisco. In 1841 Douglas was charged with the duty of setting up a trading post on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, upon the recommendation by George Simpson that a second line of forts be built in case the Columbia River valley fell into American hands (see Oregon boundary dispute). Charged with this task, Douglas founded Fort Victoria, on the site of present-day Victoria, British Columbia. This proved beneficial when in 1846 the Oregon Treaty was signed, extending the British North America/United States border along the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Georgia.

In 1849 Britain leased the entirety of Vancouver Island to the HBC with a condition that a colony was to be created. Douglas moved the headquarters of the western portion of the Company from Fort Vancouver to Fort Victoria. He was not initially appointed to be Governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island - the position instead went to Richard Blanshard, an English barrister. However, most practical authority rested with Douglas, as the chief employer and person in charge of its finances and land, and he effectively drove Blanshard from the position. Douglas acknowledged the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and had a policy to trade the natives for their land. Costs for each parcel of land were usually in the form of blankets, often three for each man. This policy also stemmed from a desire to have good interactions with natives while avoiding violence. After the resignation of Blanshard in 1851, the British Government appointed Douglas as the Governor of Vancouver Island. However, he was still Chief Factor of the HBC, which led to a number of years of balancing the important and time-consuming duties of both positions and was often the subject of controversy in local political debates and editorial tirades.