Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/313

DEDICATION OF THE McLouGHLiN INSTITUTE. 305 take charge of the affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company west of the Rocky Mountains, and particularly in the Oregon Coun- try. The Oregon Country was a vast empire in area. It comprised all the country from the present northern boundary of California and Nevada to the southern boundary of Alaska, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Its in- habitants were an hundred thousand Indians, savages unac- customed to be controlled ; with the tribes often hostile to each other and to the white men. For the support and maintenance of his authority, he had but himself and his under-officers and the employees and servants of his company. He assumed command as a leader and he ruled as a master. For more than twenty-one years, until his resignation became effective in 1846, he continued as the autocrat of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany in the whole Oregon Country. He was respected, obeyed, and loved by all his subordinates and was feared, respected, and obeyed by the Indians. The Indians called him the "Great White Chief." Although he sometimes punished In- dians, tribes as well as individuals, as they deserved, there were no Indian wars in the Oregon Country until after he resigned from the Hudson's Bay Company. Dr. McLoughJin selected Vancouver as a place to build a fort, to be his residence, and to be the chief depot and head- quarters of the Hudson's Bay Company west of the Rocky Mountains. He conducted its affairs in a most able manner. He welcomed and made the infrequent travelers his guests. He treated rival traders with the same generous hospitality that he extended to those who came merely to see the country, although he fought, commercially, those traders as com- petitors. His helping hand was given to the early settlers, who tried to build homes in the Willamette Valley before the great immigrations came. He welcomed as friends the early Methodist, Presbyterian, and Catholic missionaries. He as- sisted them to establish their missions in Oregon, and gave them personally every aid and protection until they could take care of themselves, although at the time none of these missionaries were of his religious sect or denomination. With-