Information about Columbia District

Map of Columbia District

Columbia District was a regional department of the Hudson's Bay Company, and included all of the Columbia River basin, extending as far north as the Thompson River. To the north of it was the New Caledonia fur district, in what is now north-central British Columbia. After 1825, the operations of New Caledonia and Columbia were integrated, although New Caledonia continued in use to describe the core region as before.

The district was originally administered from Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River. With the signing of the Oregon Treaty in 1846, however, the US-British North America boundary was fixed on the 49th parallel, and the U.S. part became known as the Oregon Territory. The administrative headquarters then shifted to Fort Victoria, which had been founded in 1843 in anticipation of the results of the dispute. In addition to Fort Vancouver, Fort Nez Percé (near present-day Wallula, Washington), Fort Langley, Spokane House, Fort Colville, and Kamloops House were other major trading posts in the district.

After 1846 New Caledonia became loosely applied as a name for the remainder of the British coast north of Puget Sound, which had been Columbia District as far north as at least Queen Charlotte Strait (Forts Simpson and McLaughlin were administered from Fort St. James, the capital of New Caledonia). Even though part of the Columbia District, the unchartered territory of the remainder of the Columbia District after 1846 became informally referred to as New Caledonia, such that in the Fraser Canyon in 1858 and farther north in the Cariboo during the 1860s, were referred to as being New Caledonia, as also had been Fort Langley since 1827. By then the Columbia District proper had been more than halved and the name had fallen into relative disuse, until revived when the new Mainland Colony needed a name.

With the creation of the Crown Colony on the British mainland north of the then-Washington Territory in 1858, Queen Victoria chose to use Columbia District as the basis for the name Colony of British Columbia, i.e. the remaining British portion of the former Columbia District.

In their British Columbia Chronicle, historians Helen B. Akrigg and G.P.V. Akrigg coined the term "Southern Columbia" for the "lost" area south of the 49th Parallel, but this has never come into common use, even by other historians.

Historical figures of the Columbia District

External links

"Fort Vancouver Cultural Landscape Report" produced by the US National Parks Service.

Hudson's Bay Company
Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson

Private
Founded London, England May 2, 1670
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Revenue $7.0 billion CAD ($59.
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Columbia River

Bonneville Dam, in the Columbia River Gorge

Countries | Canada,United States
States | Washington,Oregon
Provinces |
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Thompson River is a major tributary of the Fraser River in the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches called the South Thompson and the North Thompson. The river is named for Columbia River explorer David Thompson.
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''Main article: History of British Columbia

New Caledonia was the name given to a district of the Hudson's Bay Company that comprised the territory largely coterminous with the present-day Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada.
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British Columbia
Colombie-Britannique

Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour Without Sunset (diminishment))

Capital Victoria
Largest city Vancouver
Official languages English
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Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District (known to Americans as the Oregon Country).
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The Oregon Treaty, officially known as the Treaty with Great Britain, in Regard to Limits Westward of the Rocky Mountains, and also known as the Treaty of Washington
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''See also British colonization of the Americas for an overview.

British North America consisted of the loyalist colonies and territories (i.e., post-1783) of the British Empire in continental North America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
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The Oregon Territory is the name applied both to the unorganized Oregon Country claimed by both the United States and Britain (but normally referred to as the Oregon Country), as well as to the organized U.S. territory formed from it that existed between 1848 and 1859.
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Victoria, British Columbia
British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria

Flag
Coat of arms

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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1810s 1820s 1830s - 1840s - 1850s 1860s 1870s
1840 1841 1842 - 1843 - 1844 1845 1846

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Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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Fort Nez Percés
Fur Trade Outpost

Fort Nez Percés in 1818.

Constructed: 1818
Company built: North West Company
Location: Wallula, Washington
Continent: North America
Later Ownership: 1821, Hudson's Bay Company
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Wallula, Washington

Seal
Motto:
Location of Wallula, Washington
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Washington
County Walla Walla
Area
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Fort Langley, is a Parks Canada National historic site, a former trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, now located in the village of Fort Langley, British Columbia. It is commonly referred to as "the birthplace of British Columbia.
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Spokane, Washington
Downtown Spokane as seen from Palisades Park looking east.

Seal
Nickname: The Lilac City
Motto: Near Nature. Near Perfect.
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Colville, Washington

Seal
Motto:
Location of Colville, Washington
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Washington
County Stevens
Area
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Kamloops, British Columbia

Coat of arms
Logo

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Queen Charlotte Strait exists between Vancouver Island and the mainland in British Columbia, Canada. It connects Queen Charlotte Sound with Johnstone Strait, Discovery Passage and then to the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound.
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District of Fort St. James
Location of Fort St. James in British Columbia
Coordinates:
Country Canada
Province British Columbia
Region BC Interior
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Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, aka the Fraser Gold Rush, occurred in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River at its confluence with the Nicoamen River, a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser at present-day Lytton.
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The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Although the first gold discovery was made in 1859 at Horsefly Creek by Peter Dunlevy, followed by more strikes at Keithley Creek and Antler Creek in 1860, the actual rush did not begin until 1861,
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For the historic fort, see .

Fort Langley is a village with a population of 2,700 and forms part of the Township of Langley. It is the home of Fort Langley National Historic Site, a former fur trade post of the Hudson's Bay Company.
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British Overseas Territories are fourteen^[1] territories which the United Kingdom considers to be under its sovereignty, but not as part of the United Kingdom itself.
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The Washington Territory was a historic organized territory of the United States that was formed in February 8, 1853 from the portion of the Oregon Territory north of the lower Columbia River and north of the 46th parallel east of the Columbia.
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Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from 1 May 1876, until her death on 22 January 1901.
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The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony of British North America from 1858 until 1871. It was largely coterminous with the present day Canadian province of British Columbia.
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For other people with this name see David Thompson

David Thompson (April 30, 1770 – February 10, 1857), was an English-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker, known to some native peoples as "the Stargazer".
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John McLoughlin, baptised Jean-Baptist McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857), was the Chief Factor of the Columbia Fur District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver.
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Sir James Douglas, KCB, (August 15, 1803 – August 2 1877), was an employee and officer of the Hudson's Bay Company and a British colonial governor. From 1851 to 1864, he was Governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island.
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Samuel Black ca. 1780 - February 8, 1840, was a Canadian fur trader and explorer noted for his exploration of the Finlay River and its tributaries in present-day north-central British Columbia, which helped to open up the Muskwa, Omineca, and Stikine areas to the fur trade; as well
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