Viola What makes you so sure your family was in British Columbia, have you checked Oregon,? specifically Astoria and Fort Vancouver and the Pacific Fur Company. At that time the southern boundary was not settled and Oregon was disputed territory, the present boundaries were not established until circa 1846 You must remember that the North West Company and the Hudsons Bay Company were competitors until they merged circa 1821,. There was also John Jacob Astor's "Pacific Fur Company" organized in 1811 which employed a number of former NWC men. The Pacific Fur Company established Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1811. In his book "Empire of the Bay" about the fur trade the HBC, NWC, etc: Peter C. Newman mentions a Duncan McDougal as being in charge of Fort Astoria, Oregon on when it was under siege by the NWC during the War of 1812. He might be your man. Quote Page 354/ Empire at Risk In the summer of 1812, while Napoleon was preparing to invade Russia, the United States declared war on Great Britain and for the next two years invaded and harassed its territories in North America. Using that conflict as a pretext, in the autumn of 1813 the NWC decided to pursue its Oregon venture and dispatched a hundred men under the command of John George McTavish and John Stuart down the Columbia. They laid siege to Astoria, aided by rumours of war that threatened the continued safety of its occupants, specifically that the Royal Navy's twenty-six-gun sloop HMS Racoon was on her way around Cape Horn assigned to shell the embattled fort. The former Nor Westers occupying the American outpost felt they had been abandoned by their own supply ships and began to talk surrender. (Astor had actually dispatched two ships to Astoria. The Beaver, then trading furs in Alaska, continued on to Canton where, hearing of the declaration of war, she stayed put. Another supply ship, the Lark, was wrecked off Hawaii.) It was hardly one of history s more savage sieges. The Astorians, most of whom were former Nor Westers, were decidedly uncomfortable defending a fortress flying the Stars and Stripes when their home country was at war with the United States. They had not only friends but relatives among the besiegers, so whenever the attackers ran out of food, the defenders would quietly sneak out and offer them a snack. Finally, on October 16, 1813, Duncan McDougall, who was in charge of the fort, had the bright idea that instead of surrendering he would sell Astoria to the friendly invaders. The price was a bargain, with the inventory (worth about $100,000) of otter and beaver pelts going for less than half-price (about $40,000). Part of the deal was that McDougall and most of the senior Astorians would be admitted back into the NWC as partners. HMS Racoon, her Royal Navy colours flying, appeared eight weeks later. William Black, her captain, could hardly believe his bad luck in having sailed eighteen thousand miles to this collection of shacks, which his four-pounders could have flattened before breakfast. Worse still, the purchase of Astoria by the Nor Westers had deprived him of the right to claim the furs as prize money. He was so annoyed he decided to stage the takeover ceremony any-way. End Quote Regards David On Thu, 25 Oct 2001 15:59:26 -0500, Viola Seward wrote: >Now this will all be If or When or Why or Where. It may help me. >Hopefully!! Have found my Marie Landry may possibly be Chippewa. All my >life i was told we were Chippewa. But have only found Cree on every >paper on my Landry family. Now my Marie Landry was supposedly born ca >1800 in BC. So did tribal families move a lot. You see lake Superior to >BC is a long ways. But also Marie landry had daughter Catherine >McDougall in ca 1818 in BC also. Now im thinking my Duncan McDougall who >worked for the North west Company later known as Hudson Bay Company >would more then likely have met Marie Landry at HBC or in near by >reserve. Would sure like to find which reserves were in BC around HBC. >Although they could travel by canoe or boat then. But was told by Gail >Morin to put Chippewa slash Cree behind her name. >NEXT. >My Duncan McDougall died at Lake Superior. So could Marie Landry have >had family who took care of Duncan there? It is said Duncan died a hard >death. So he must have had to be taken care of. >NEXT. >Catherine must have had some kind of schooling as she and her husband >Raphael Tremblay ran a store at Lac la Biche,AB. So does any one know of >the schools in ca 1825 or so? Catherine and husband Raphael Tremblay >were really quite well know around Lac la Biche,AB. Attended many >weddings, Was god parents to many children etc. >Can any one answer any of these questions? >Thank you. >Viola. > > >==== CAN-BRITISH-COLUMBIA Mailing List ==== >To New Subscribers : The online indexes to British Columbia Vital Records are at >http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/textual/governmt/vstats/v_events.htm#indexes >These records are freely available and there are several possibilities for accessing them at a low cost. > >