Fort William was a fur trading outpost built in 1834 by the American Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth, a Boston merchant, backed by American investors. It was located on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

on Wappatoo Island near the future Portland, Oregon. After a few years, in 1837 Wyeth sold the post to the British Hudson’s Bay Company, which had much more power in the region from its base at Fort Vancouver on the north side of the Columbia River near Fort William. In 1835 the fort settlement was the site of a murder and the first Euro-American trial to be held in what is now the state of Oregon.

Background

The fort was built by Wyeth and his company as part of the Pacific Trading Company, a joint-stock company formed by Wyeth to exploit the fur trade in the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

. Henry Hall of Boston's xx He also held Fort Hall in southeastern Idaho, to take advantage of trade in the Rocky Mountain region. His intention was to establish a fishery at Fort William, and export salmon to the East and Hawaii. The island chosen was previously visited by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and was previously inhabited by Native Americans. By the time Wyeth established his outpost, the island was void of any human habitation due to epidemics of infectious

diseases A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that ar ...

that had swept through the lower Columbia region. As the Natives did not have any immunity to the new Eurasian diseases, nearly 90% of them died from smallpox,

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

and other illnesses following European contact.Oregon History Project: Spreading Old World Contagions.

Oregon Historical Society The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) is an organization that encourages and promotes the study and understanding of the history of the Oregon Country, within the broader context of U.S. history. Incorporated in 1898, the Society collects, preser ...

. Retrieved on February 26, 2008.

Location

Wappatoo Island, now Sauvie Island, lies just north of the main

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. The north end of the island is at the confluence with the Multnomah Channel. The post was built on the north end of the island, but was moved the next year toward the center of the island due to seasonal flooding. Fort William was west of and on the opposite side of the river from the Hudson’s Bay Company’s (HBC) Fort Vancouver, established in 1824 on the north side of the Columbia. It was about upriver from the mouth of the Columbia and the HBC post of Fort George (formerly Fort Astoria).

Operation

Wyeth and crew attempted various commercial interests from their outpost in the Pacific Northwest. They cut lumber and exported it to the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

, built boats and canoes, and built a -long building to use in processing fish. They intended to ship salmon to the East and to Hawaii. Wyeth and his employees also attempted to trap animals in the

Deschutes River Deschutes River may refer to: * Deschutes River (Oregon) **Little Deschutes River (Oregon) The Little Deschutes River is a tributary of the Deschutes River (Oregon), Deschutes River in the central part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is about lon ...

watershed of central Oregon. They were unsuccessful and the young company was unable to survive against the HBC and, in the Rocky Mountains, the

American Fur Company The American Fur Company (AFC) was founded in 1808, by John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant to the United States. During the 18th century, furs had become a major commodity in Europe, and North America became a major supplier. Several British co ...

, made a monopoly by John Jacob Astor. John Ball, one of Wyeth's men, wrote that they were no match for the HBC, which up fur trade prices as much as ten to one whenever any American trader appeared on the lower Columbia River. online a
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/ref> The post had difficulties; its first supply ship sent to the Northwest Coast wrecked, and the second ship was late. The first ship was being used to export salmon. Wyeth abandoned the post in 1836 and the following year, leased it to the Hudson’s Bay Company. After Wyeth left the Pacific Northwest,

John McLoughlin John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857) was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver fro ...

, the Chief Factor at Fort Vancouver, ordered Fort William demolished and a dairy farm built on the island. Wyeth also sold Fort Hall in present-day Idaho to the HBC the following year.

Murder

Fort William was the site of the first public trial, by European Americans, in Oregon. In 1835, the post’s gunsmith,

Thomas J. Hubbard Thomas Jefferson Hubbard (1806 – April 24, 1877) was an Oregon pioneer and politician who was acquitted of murder charges in the first American murder trial in what is now the state of Oregon. At the trial the murder was determined to be justifia ...

, attacked and killed the fort’s tailor in an argument over a young Native girl. The naturalist John Kirk Townsend was appointed magistrate, although he was a friend of Hubbard's. The jury acquitted Hubbard when they ruled the death was justifiable homicide. This verdict was likely the result of evidence that the tailor had alcohol-induced rages.

References

{{Coord, 45, 39, 14, N, 122, 49, 48, W, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-OR William Fur trade History of Portland, Oregon Oregon Country Pre-statehood history of Oregon Sauvie Island 1834 establishments in Oregon