Pugets Sound Agricultural Company

The Puget Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC), commonly referred to with variations of the name using Puget Sound or Puget's Sound, was a joint stock company formed around 1840 as a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). The purpose of the company was ostensibly to promote settlement by British subjects of land on the Pacific coast of North America. Company operations were centered at Fort Nisqually in the Columbia District (known to Americans as the Oregon Country). At the fort (near present day Olympia, Washington) the company developed dairy, livestock and produce farms. The company also operated many large farms in the area of Fort Victoria on Vancouver Island. The primary reason for the company's incorporation was to protect HBC board members and shareholders from accusations and suits resulting from violation of that company's terms of license, which were only to trade with the native peoples and did not include the right to engage in commercial farming.

Background

In 1838, George Simpson of the HBC requested from Parliament in London additional powers to raise food for sale to visiting ships, notably to provide a supply contract with the Russian America Company, and to promote the settlement of the Oregon Country. This request was denied so the HBC created a subsidiary company to be kept at arms length to accomplish this task.

The Oregon Treaty

The Oregon Treaty that was negotiated in between Great Britain and the United States and went into effect in July 1846 upon the exchange of ratifications settled the Oregon question.cite web
last = LexUM
year = 1999
url = http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/ca_us/cgi-bin/disp.pl/en/cus.1846.28.en.html?query=annee(1846)&langue=en&selection=&database=en&method=all&retour=/ca_us/cgi-bin/srch.pl?numhits=25~~language=en~~database=en~~method=all~~sujet=~~titre=~~query=~~nomsign=~~annee=1846
title = Treaty between Her Majesty and the United States of America, for the Settlement of the Oregon Boundary
work = Canado-American Treaties
publisher = University of Montreal
accessdate = 2007-01-12] This treaty had specific provisions regarding the Puget Sound Agricultural Company in Article IV, namely that the United States would respect PSAC property but had the right to purchase any of the properties.

Later years

In 1863, Great Britain and the United States agreed to arbitrate the disposition of the PSAC properties in US territory.cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Puget Sound Agricultural Company
work = Hbc Heritage
publisher = Hudson’s Bay Company
date =
url = http://www.hbc.com/hbcheritage/history/business/other/pugetsound.asp
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-01-17 ] The PSAC was awarded $200,000 in compensation in 1869 for all of its properties south of the Canadian-US border as spelled out in the 1846 US-British treaty. Meanwhile the company’s operations had shifted north, including agricultural ventures on Vancouver Island.cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = IV. Fort Vancouver: Vancouver Barracks, 1861-1918
work = Fort Vancouver
publisher = National Parks Service
date =
url = http://www.nps.gov/archive/fova/clr/clr2-4.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-01-17 ] Finally in 1934 the company ceased to exist as it was no longer listed on the stock exchange.

ee also

* History of Olympia, Washington

External links

* [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/icc/v11/iccv11ap320.pdf Indian Claims Commission: Steilacoom Tribe v. U.S. A]
* [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/icc/v11/iccv11ap304.pdf Indian Claims Commission: Steilacoom Tribe v. U.S. B]

References