Fort Vancouver Cultural Landscape Report

Operations at Fort Vancouver
(continued)

Agriculture (continued)

Field Crop Production

By far the most important cash-barter crop at Fort Vancouver was wheat. Great quantities of it were raised, particularly after the establishment of the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, and the development of an export trade to the Russians in Alaska. Much of it was also ground into flour in the fort's gristmill; towards the mid-1840s, wheat was shipped into the mill from the Willamette Valley by batteau and barges, and flour shipped out. But great quantities of peas were also raised for provisions for the Department's posts. Barley, oats and buckwheat were also raised, and for some years, smaller crops of Indian corn. Potatoes were another mainstay, and although production figures are often missing for this crop, it is almost certain it was raised throughout this historic period. Acreage was also planted in turnips, upon which sheep were allowed to overwinter, and possibly pigs were also placed on these fields. This began at least as early as 1836, when Slacum mentioned the large quantities of turnips and pumpkins planted. [255] McLoughlin later stated that by 1837 sheep were penned on turnips; it is possible turnips were planted as a rotation crop with grain, and that the livestock allowed to feed in these fields to manure the ground. [256] In the "rainy and boisterous" winter of 1844-45, James Douglas said the sheep suffered far less than the cattle, many of which died, "...having been fed all winter on turnips." [257]

At the end of this historic period, in the inventory prepared by the Company in the winter of 1846-47, following the settlement of the boundary dispute between the U.S. and Great Britain, listed almost nine thousand acres in and around Fort Vancouver. The inventory included 1,419 1/2 acres under cultivation. [258] This differs from the 1,200 acres the British government's military reconnaissance team noted in 1846, and also from the testimony given by Thomas Lowe on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company when a final settlement was under adjudication regarding the Company's "possessory rights" provided for in the treaty. Lowe indicated that the actual acreage under cultivation was "much more" than the amount in the inventory, but that it was not fenced. [259]

In 1829, Jedediah Smith reported, "eighty bushels of seed wheat were sown..." [260] McLoughlin reported in August to London that the crops looked "uncommonly fine." The harvest was reported to Simpson as: 1500 bushels wheat, 396 bushels white peas; 191 bushels grey peas; 200 bushels barley; 250 bushels Indian corn. [261] John Dease, however, recorded in November of 1829 that the harvest produced "crop of wheat 25 kegs, pease 26 and barley a good deal." [262]

By 1830, fields were definitely located on Fort Plain: McLoughlin referred to flooding in the spring of that year, indicating crops were planted near the river by that time. In October, before all the crops were in, McLoughlin reported to London that "Our crop, except 36 bu. barley sown on the 11 Jly after the water was fallen and which is now almost ready to cut is all threshed. It yielded: 927 bu. Wheat, 120 Early peas, 192 Grey peas, 297 bu White peas, 600 bu. Indian Corn, 150 bu. Oats, 86 bu. Barley...And we have remaining of former years 110 bu. Wheat, 300 bu. Barley, 80 cwt. Flour. In short we have wheat and flour for two years, and more than a years stock of peas and corn. Hereafter we will not endeavor to do more than keep up the quantity of wheat, but to increase our peas and corn till we have a two years stock." [263] "Our crop, McLoughlin reported to Simpson in March of 1831, "though the extraordinary height of the water injured it very much was as follows: 1260 bushels wheat...183 bushels barley...583 bushels peas...600 bushels Indian corn...9000 bushels potatoes...and which will be sufficient to supply all our wants and enable us to give the New Establishment a full supply of provisions for one year..." [264]

In 1831 a drought reduced the yields of corn, potatoes and peas. In addition, post employees were plagued by intermittent fever, which reduced the manpower needed to harvest and thresh the grain. McLoughlin told Simpson the harvest that year included 2,307 bushels wheat; 1,100 barley; 32 oats; 106 "Early Pease;" 74 "Grey Pease;" 96 "White pease;" 200 Indian corn, and 560 barrels of potatoes. [265] However, in his letter to Alexander McLeod the following spring, the reported returns were somewhat less, except for Indian corn, which he said produced 400 bushels. [266] The corn and pea crops did not yield as expected--McLoughlin said the crops failed--and neither were sent to supply other posts or the coastal trading ships; McLoughlin suggested to Peter Skene Ogden at Fort Simpson, that he substitute hulled barley or ground wheat in employee rations. [267]

In 1832 George T. Allan, a clerk placed in charge of the farm that year, said it "...consists at present of about seven hundred acres of land under cultivation, and we raise in great quantities peas, barley, Indian corn, buckwheat, wheat, oats and potatoes. [268] Clerk John Work wrote in August to Edward Ermatinger: "There is a great change here since you left, you would be astonished to see the quantity of ground under cultivation and the immense crops which they have, the season has been favorable...He [McLoughlin] continues as assiduous as ever to every branch of the business. There is an increased bustle about the place." [269] Nathaniel Wyeth, on October 29, reported that the company had "200 acres of land under cultivation the land is of the finest quality." [270]

Of the location of the fields, Allan said, "On the east side of the fort there is a beautiful plain, great part of which is under cultivation and about sixty miles further to the eastward we have a splendid view of Mount Hood, which is covered with snow more or less all the year round." [271] He also noted, however: "To the north the country is thickly wooded but now and then relieved by pretty small plains, two of which we have cultivated, though one of them is about six miles distant." [272]

In mid-1832 McLoughlin told the Governor and Committee he expected a harvest of 3,000 bushels of wheat; two or three thousand peas, 2,000 barley, 1,500 oats, 800 Indian corn, 50 bushels of buckwheat, and 6,000 bushels of potatoes; however, in the fall he wrote a Alexander McLeod, saying the harvest was 3,500 bushels wheat; 3,000 peas; 3,000 barley; 2,000 oats; 1,500 potatoes. "I believe we would bear to be compared with any farm..." he told him. [273] Wyeth reported in the fall of 1832 that the farm raised 6,000 bushels of wheat, 3,000 bushels of barley; 1,500 bushels of potatoes; 3,000 bushels of peas, and "...a large quantity of pumkins." [274] A rough comparison of grain harvest figures between 1831 and 1832 indicates that land under production almost doubled between these two years. It appears that the wheat crop did better than expected, and potatoes less, but in any case, McLoughlin wrote to Simpson in the fall of 1832 that the harvest would satisfy the needs of the fort for two years. [275]

It appears that in 1833 more land was put into cultivation. John Ball reported on January 1 that McLoughlin was, "This year...extending his operation." [276] In February of 1834, clerk John Work told Edward Ermatinger, "The Doctor's perseverance has made a great change you would scarcely know the place every bit of cleared ground and a great deal more which has been cleared is under cultivation and the quantity of grain produced is immense." [277] William Tolmie, describing the farm in May, said there was "...farm steading which is extensive & placed about 300 yards behind & above fort. From the "upper prairie", viewing the plain below, he said, "...From this part to bank of river is a level plain generally 3/4 mile broad & divided by fences into large wheat & barley or pease fields or broad meadows. [278]

The harvest of 1833 was reported as satisfactory by McLoughlin. He said he expected to bring in "...3000 bushels wheat, more than 3000 peas, 1500 barley, 1000 oats, 1000 buckwheat." [279] Earlier in the year he had told William Tolmie that "Wheat here yields a return of 15 fold, barley from 40 to 50..." [280] The grain crops were processed this year in the new thrashing mill, which McLoughlin had built the winter of 1833-34. [281]

In 1834 John Kirk Townsend, who along with botanist Thomas Nutall, arrived with Nathaniel Wyeth on September 16, 1834, said "He [McLoughlin] has already several hundred acres fenced in, and under cultivation, and like our own western prairie land, it produces abundant crops, particularly of grain, without requiring any manure. Wheat thrives astonishingly; I never saw better in any country..." [282] This year McLoughlin reported to London that the yields were much the same as 1833, noting that barley, peas and oat productions was somewhat lower. [283]

In 1835 McLoughlin reported the crops "suffered greatly from drought," and told London in September he expected the harvest to be 4,000 bushels of wheat, 2,500 of peas, 1,200 of barley, 1,000 of oats, and only one-third of the "usual quantity of potatoes." [284] In December, 1835, Samuel Parker noted in his journal that the final yield was "...five thousand bushels of wheat, of the best quality I ever saw; one thousand three hundred bushels of potatoes; one thousand of barley, one thousand of oats, two thousand of peas, and a large variety of garden vegetables." [285]

In March of 1836, the Capendales arrived from London; as noted earlier, they left in November. McLoughlin's annual report to London in the fall gave no information on yields--he only said, "Our crops are as good as usual." [286] However, several visitors at the post did report harvest numbers in journals and correspondence. Narcissa Whitman said in September: "They estimate their wheat crops at 4000 bushels this year peas the same oats and barley between 15 and 1700 bushels each. The potatoes and turnip fields are large and fine." [287] Henry Spaulding noted at the end of September: "Doct. McLoughlin's farm, the largest in the Columbia, produced this year its usual crops. 4500 bushels of wheat. 4,000 of peas, 1700 of barley, 1500 of oats, potatoes not gathered, corn but little." [288] From these figures it can be estimated that additional acreage was placed under production for the grain crops this year.

William Slacum arrived in December of 1836. He reported--almost certainly with great exaggeration--that the farm had three thousand acres "fenced and under cultivation" and that it "...will be much increased in the ensuing year." Slacum also reported phenomenal numbers for the year's yield, way out of line with other figures. [289]

In 1837, for the second year, McLoughlin apparently sent no detailed reports on harvest results to London or to Simpson. James Douglas later reported the harvest yielded a "fair average crop." [290]

In the spring of 1838 Chief Trader James Douglas was put in charge of the fort when McLoughlin left on furlough for Europe. McLoughlin told him that each fall the farm should have stored 5,000 bushels wheat, 4,000 peas, 2,000 oats, and 1,500 barley, to ensure adequate provisions. [291] That spring, however, flooding was particularly severe: the Columbia rose early that year, and rose again in May. Douglas attempted to put up levees to contain the water, but the force of the flood broke through, destroying eighty acres on Fort Plain. In October, Douglas reported ploughing, harrowing, and sowing a second crop of peas, barley, buckwheat and potatoes, which had mostly been harvested, and that he was engaged in ploughing one hundred acres of summer fields to plant a wheat crop. [292] Herbert Beaver's by now somewhat jaundiced view of the farm operations was reported by him in a letter to a colleague in March of 1938: "If I were to be asked where our farm is, I really could not tell, a stockyard redolent with mice, and a considerable quantity of dilapidated fences being the only symptoms of it; for, although a large piece of ground was sown, last autumn, with wheat, it looks anything but a wheatfield..." [293]

Despite a drought in 1839, Douglas reported to London that the crops were sown early, there was no flooding, and that the harvest was "abundant." [294] Frs. Demers and Blanchet reported that about five hundred bushels of grain were planted in 1839, leading to an "abundant harvest." [295]

In 1840, McLoughlin reported to London that the crops "were as good as usual." [296] In 1841, Simpson reported to London that the harvest at Fort Vancouver included 4,000 bushels wheat, 3,500 bushels each of barley, oats and pease, and "a very large quantity of potatoes and other vegetables." He said the wheat was "...of very fine quality, weighing from sixty-five to sixty-eight pounds a half a bushel," which Charles Wilkes, visiting that year, confirmed in his observations that "...wheat averaged sixty-three pounds to the bushel." [297]

Simpson also said that more than 1,200 acres of land were under cultivation at Fort Vancouver that year, although apparently Mill Plain had yet to be established as a farm; George Emmons, with the U.S. Exploring Expedition in 1841, the year the new miller and farmer Daniel Harvey arrived, noted that sheep and cattle were located on mill plain that summer, and did not mention any cultivated fields there. [298]

In August of 1842 McLoughlin only told London that, "Owing to the high water, our crop at Vancouver is not so good as usual." [299] No mention of the establishment of the farm on Mill Plain was noted by Chief Factor McLoughlin in his report to London in October of 1842, but it was probably in this year that some fields were established on the plain. [300] In July of 1843, clerk Thomas Lowe recorded in his journal that the harvest had begun both near the fort "and also at the Saw Mill plain," and in August wrote that the harvest at mill plain had produced a "heavy crop" of oats, but a "light" one of wheat. The reports on the harvest this year were also limited, although McLoughlin said the "crops have been more abundant, than I ever knew them at this place." [301] In March of 1844, McLoughlin reported a yield of 3,000 bushels of wheat and noted the farm had on store 1,000 bushels of peas, 1,200 bushels of barley and 2,000 bushels of oats, although these quantities may have been the remainder of more than one year's harvest, after supplying the Departmental posts and fulfilling contracts for the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company. [302]

In November of 1844 McLoughlin reported that "Our Season has been very fine, and in the Summer we had fine growing showers, and the Crops, thank God, were abundant through the whole country." [303] The yields, he said included 4,000 bushels of wheat, 2,500 of peas, 3,000 of oats, and 1,200 of barley. In November of 1845 he told London the crops at Vancouver yielded about 4,000 bushels wheat, 4,000 peas and 5,000 oats. [304] In March of 1846, however, James Douglas and Peter Skene Ogden, replacing McLoughlin as managers of the farm, told George Simpson that the 1845 crops were "...deficient in weight and scarcely amounted to an average yield." The loss was credited to bad weather during the harvest. [305] Their report tallies with a report by Lieutenant Warre, who said the plain near the fort was "partially flooded" and therefore not completely cultivated. [306] It also agrees with a report by Joel Palmer, who visited the fort in 1845, and noted that the fence had been washed away for a three mile stretch of "...the prairie along the river" and that this area had been abandoned for cultivation. North of this stretch, Palmer said, the area extending "nearly down to the fort" was farmed. [307] From Palmer's description, it appears that some fields were planted at the southeast end of the Lower Plain, near the Dairy and Piggery; the 1844 Peers map does indicate some kind of enclosures in that area, and the 1846 Covington farm map also shows fields flanking either side of the dairy, although neither of these maps indicate the length was anywhere near three miles.

The harvest of 1846 was "abundant," according to Douglas and Ogden. They reported 5,000 bushels of wheat, 2,000 peas, 1,500 oats, 300 barley and 6,000 potatoes. They also noted that turnips and colewart were left in the ground on about 240 acres as winter feed for the livestock. [308] Thomas Lowe's journal that year noted that on July 31, the crops on the "Plain look well, and Mr. Harvey will be able to commence harvest in a week's time." In September, all the grain had been harvested and "the bams are as full as they can hold." [309]

Livestock Operations

Initially the livestock operation at Fort Vancouver was intended to provide meat for the Company's own posts and coastal vessels in the Columbia Department, in the form of salted beef and pork, and, presumably dairy products. Because horses were required in great numbers as transportation--and sometimes food, in the early years--for the fur trade, and were necessary for large scale farm work, it was apparently decided to breed them at the post, rather than rely on trading for them with the Indians, primarily the Nez Perce. Later salted pork, butter and wool became major export items--plans to export hides and tallow never materialized to any great degree. After 1830, and even more after 1839-40, a small percentage of the livestock business was conducted with Company employees and early American immigrants settled in the Willamette Valley, in exchange for a percent of the increase of the herds, and later, for wheat.

In the spring of 1829, George Simpson reported to London:

As I formerly remarked, the principal object of removing the Establishment from the mouth of the River, to this place, was to command the means of subsistence, and it is only necessary to contrast our situation in that respect at Fort George Four Years ago, with our present condition, to shew with what activity & perserverance it has been prosecuted. At that time, our Stock of Cattle was 31 head, of Hogs 17 and the produce of the Soil was 1800 Bushels of Potatoes. Now, our Stock of Cattle is 153 Head, (independent of calves) of Hogs 200 odd head, besides the consumption of the Establishment of fresh Pork and about 6000 lbs of Salted Pork--of Goats 50 head...all of which, has been attended to and done independent of the usual routine business of the Establishment, with a regular compliment of 20 men, while at Fort George there was never less than 40 men. [310]]

Simpson's numbers were somewhat at odds with an inventory of of livestock at Fort Vancouver for the year 1829, which listed 43 milk cows; 18 working oxen, 4 bulls; 46 heifers & steers; 43 calves, 1 year; 18 calves this spring; 108 hogs; 74 young pigs; 8 Buck goats; 11 she goats; 14 kids; 22 horses & mares. [311] And neither of these tally with the numbers reported by Jedediah Smith who was at the post in the spring of 1829: "...about two hundred head of cattle, fifty horses and breeding mares, three hundred head of hogs, fourteen goats, and the usual domestic fowls." [312] Regardless of the exact numbers, it is evident that the number of livestock had increased from the post's beginnings in 1824-25. Sheep--later to become a significant part of the Company's livestock operation in the Columbia Department--were not raised at Fort Vancouver, or any other Columbia Department post until the late 1830s.

General Management

For the most part, livestock were allowed to range freely on lands not cultivated at Fort Vancouver. The land near the fort, James Douglas said in 1838, was "...not adapted for herding on a large scale," which probably accounted for the frequent references to animals being moved about the farm, in an attempt to find sufficient pasture. According to Douglas, the only "tolerable" pasture was in the low-lying lands along the river. [313] Cultivated areas were fenced to keep livestock out during the growing season, and probably to keep them in when their manure was required to fertilize the soil. As noted earlier, in some instances the company used movable pens to ensure livestock fertilized particular areas destined for cultivation, and to protect them from wolves. There are sporadic references throughout this period to livestock on Fort Plain, in the vicinity of the stockade and along the river, and at least periodically on the Mill Plain to the east, and on the Back Plains during the years the land there was allowed to lie fallow and during seasons when there was sufficient grass on them. But the bulk of the livestock, according to many reports, was pastured on Lower Plain, west of the post, where, according to A.C. Anderson, "A long line of fence was formerly erected immediately above the head of the lower plain, in order to confine the cattle on the lower ranges; there was a gate upon the road, at which a gate keeper was stationed night and day, in order to prevent estrays." [314] M.T. Simmons, at the post in 1844, said later said the company "... had large quantities of horses, cattle and sheep, ranged from Prairie de The to the Cath la pootl, about 25 to 30 miles..." [315] When the river was high, and the lower lands were flooded, cattle, horses and sheep were moved to higher pastures inland. [316] By 1838, according to Chief Trader Douglas, a good portion of the cattle at the post was sent to pasture on Sauvie Island or to the Willamette Valley's Tualatin Plains, where the Company already maintained a herd of horses. [317]

It appears as if various bands of livestock were constantly accompanied by herders. Dugald Mactavish, at the post off and on after 1839, later said there were "...Always herdsman with cattle, who moved about with them from place to place and prevented their wandering towards the north beyond the places fit for pasturage." There were, he said, "generally a head-man, a herder, a white man, with sufficient number of Indians for cattle. They camped out with the different bands of cattle, and watched that they had wherewith to eat and that they did not go astray. Principally of California stock those that were herded out in this way." [318] In 1838 James Douglas told London that seven men were constantly employed in tending cattle. [319] Sheep were attended by shepherds and sheepdogs; as noted earlier, it is probable that shepherds were lodged in small wagons or huts on wheels, which could follow the flocks as the grazed.

Dairy cattle, and horses and apparently oxen used for work on the Lower Plain Farm were kept penned, either at the dairy or dairies in the Lower Plain; those in use on Fort Plain were kept at the stable and byre below the stockade near the river front. [320] Dugald Mactavish said: "There were two dairy establishments there [on Lower Plain] where a great many cows were milked, using corrals and parks for that purpose and for keeping the cattle together." [321] According to Mactavish, hogs were kept at the Lower Plain Farm in pens, and also on Fort Plain--there were at least two piggeries on Fort Plain in 1846.

Charles Wilkes, in 1841, was told "...little or no hay is made, the cattle being able to feed all the year round on the natural hay, which they find very nutritious, and fatten upon it. The grass grows up rapidly in the beginning of the summer; and the subsequent heat and drought convert it into hay, in which all the juices are preserved. Besides this, they have on the prairies along the river, two luxuriant growths of grass; the first in the spring, and the second soon after the overflowing of the river subsides, which is generally in July and August. The last crop lasts the remainder of the season. Neither do they require shelter, although they are penned in at night." [322] While care was taken to herd animals to good pasture, in bad winters cattle were brought into barns near the fort and on Mill Plain, "...wherever there was cultivation and fed with hay and straw," according to Dugald Mactavish. In the severe winter of 1846-47, over 3,400 head of sheep, horses and cattle were "kept about the straw sheds for weeks together," where they were allowed to feed; despite precautions taken by the farm managers that year--250 acres of turnips and colewart had been left in the ground to help overwinter the livestock--many animals died. [323]

In addition to penning livestock against wolves, strychnine was inserted into bait to control the predators, at least at Fort Nisqually, and probably at Vancouver as well. [324] From time to time hogs died from mysterious diseases, against which, according to James Douglas, the principal defense was the "best manner possible" of housing and feed. [325] In 1835 McLoughlin reported that a weed "in our plains" was poisoning "a great number of our Pigs but it will get extirpated." [326]

There is very little information available regarding the actual livestock breeding process at Fort Vancouver, although great pains were taken to improve both cattle and sheep with animals imported from England. What is known will be noted below. There is virtually no information regarding how horses or oxen were broken for use.

Cattle

In March of 1829 Governor Simpson set a policy of not killing any livestock at Fort Vancouver until the herd was large enough to sustain slaughter: the goal was six hundred head. He told McLoughlin, "If any of the English seamen put their threat in execution of killing Cattle in defiance of your authority, do me the favor to send the offender across the Mountains to be dealt with as may be considered advisable." [327] In 1832 clerk George Allan wrote a colleague, "We have abundance to eat here. The Dr. has not yet killed any of the cattle but we have such a variety of other good things as enables us to endure with calm philosophy the want of a...Beef." [328]

In the interim, meat was purchased from the Hawaiian Islands: McLoughlin sent Chief Factor Duncan Finlayson there in July of 1832, telling him to buy up to one hundred barrels of salted provisions because, "it is true we can kill some of our stock...I think its number is rather small to begin before two years hence." [329] In the spring of 1837 McLoughlin wrote to London, telling them the post could finally supply beef and pork "for our own establishments," but not for the marine department "I killed 40 Head cattle last summer, so you can see the tabou is broken..." he wrote a colleague. [330] Henry Spalding, at the post in the fall of 1836 noted a few cattle had been killed at Vancouver that year, and that he and his party were to be given half of a steer. [331]

Not much information regarding beef processing seems to be available. There was a butcher's shop in the stockade at Fort Vancouver, as several visitors noted, and a tanning pit was located in the river front complex, near pig sheds, a stable and an ox byre, according to a map prepared in 1846. There is no indication, of where cattle were slaughtered at the post, with the exception of two notes in Thomas Lowe's private journal in the fall of 1845 and 1846, when he wrote that "Mr. Roberts [probably George Roberts]...has been for two days at Sauve's Island killing cattle for salting," and "Mr. Sangster sent down to Multnoma Island [Sauvie Island] to superintend the killing of the Cattle there." [332] It is possible that all beef for the post and trade was slaughtered at Sauvie Island, where, after 1836, the Company operated dairies and pastured a large herd of cattle. As noted, no cattle--other than one or two steers killed for rennet--were slaughtered at Fort Vancouver prior to the summer of 1836, in accordance with Simpson's policy of increasing the herd.

During the years when no cattle were killed at the post, McLoughlin made efforts to obtain additional stock. In 1830 Captain Aemilius Simpson was sent to Monterey in the Dryad; one of his directives was to discern whether the Company would be allowed by the Californian government to purchase cattle, horses and mules and move them north by land to Fort Vancouver. [333] By the end of 1832 McLoughlin had succeeded in obtaining "a few cattle" from California, according to John Ball, who arrived at the post with Nathaniel Wyeth that fall. [334] Whether these were a result of the Simpson's inquiries or of John Work's trapping trip to California that fall, or of some other purchase whose records are lost, these were apparently the first of many cattle from California imported directly to Fort Vancouver. [335] By the spring of 1833 McLoughlin reported the farm's cattle herd numbered between 400 and 450; by the fall of 1836--the same year McLoughlin broke the "taboo," visitor Henry Spalding wrote to an associate that the cattle at Fort Vancouver totalled seven hundred head. [336]

A large influx of cattle were brought to the Oregon country in 1837, when settlers in the Willamette Valley, chafing under what they considered to be a Company monopoly on cattle, organized the Willamette Cattle Company. With the assistance of U.S. Navy purser William Slacum, who had been sent by the U.S. Government to gather intelligence on conditions in Oregon, a group of cattle buyers sailed to California on Slacum's ship, and drove them overland back to Oregon with a settler named Ewing Young acting as the outfit's leader. McLoughlin, Chief Factor Duncan Finlayson and Chief Trader James Douglas donated over eight hundred dollars towards the purchase price; McLoughlin later said he took half the stock in the company for the Hudson's Bay Company, "...so that by purchasing a larger number (as the expense of driving five hundred or a thousand was the same) because it would make the cattle cheaper. Those of the settlers that had means put it in the stock, those that had none, engaged as drivers at one dollar per day, to be paid in cattle at their actual cost." McLoughlin later estimated that about seven hundred head of cattle were purchased. The settlers traded the "California wild cattle" to the Company in exchange for keeping "the tame and broken in oxen they had belonging to the Hudson Bay Company." [337] The Rev. Herbert Beaver wrote to an associate in March of 1838 that the Company's share of the cattle were sent to McKay's farm in the Willamette Valley, and "have been suffered very lately to die of starvation, brought on by neglect...When too late, oats and bran were sent for their support." [338] Since Beaver had nothing good to say about the management of the Fort Vancouver farm, it is not known how accurate his report was.

By 1839 there were over eight hundred head of cattle grazing in Fort Vancouver pastures; according to one source, by 1846 there were 1,915 cattle at Fort Vancouver. [339] In 1838 James Douglas reported to London that 80 calves had been raised at Fort Vancouver, and in 1839 he reported an increase of 225 calves; it is not unreasonable, then, given the annual natural increase, that by 1846 there could have been almost 2,000 head of cattle at Fort Vancouver--probably including Sauvie Island, the dairies, and the Willamette Valley. [340]

As mentioned earlier, McLoughlin's policy regarding assistance to former employees and others who settled in the Willamette Valley included the permanent "loan" of two head of cattle, with McLoughlin reserving the right to take any increase in a settler's herd to assist new settlers. [341] As a result, the Oregon Cattle Company, discussed above, was formed in 1837. In fact, McLoughlin was generous in his loan of cattle--to the Methodist missionaries Jason Lee et. al., he later said he loaned "seven oxen, one bull and eight cows with their calves." [342]

In the summer of 1841, Francis Ermatinger, then a clerk stationed at Fort Vancouver, was sent to California as commander of a fur-trapping brigade. He returned in 1842 with eighty-three head of cattle, which he sold for his own profit. McLoughlin required Ermatinger to sign his proceeds over to the Company. In the fall of 1842 another group of Willamette Valley settlers set out for California to bring back cattle, horses, mules, and possibly sheep. The settlers, under the command of Joseph Gale, were followed back to Oregon by an American living in California, Jacob Leese, who brought a large flock of sheep and somewhere between 400 and 1,250 head of cattle. To avoid competition with the Company, McLoughlin bought Leese's herd of cattle, much to the displeasure of Governor Simpson and London, who by that time felt the Company had sufficient cattle. [343]

The cattle that came to Oregon from California were tough, bony animals with long horns; compared with the long-established breeds in Europe, they had little meat, but they were resistant to disease. [344] Charles Wilkes said they gave "...a very small quantity of milk but when crossed with those from the United States and England, do very well." He reported seeing "two or three very fine bulls, that had been imported from England." [345] From scanty available evidence, it seems that the imported bulls were chiefly brought to the post to improve milk--and thus butter and cheese production, rather than beef production.

Dairies

As mentioned previously, after Nathaniel Wyeth left Sauvie Island in the spring of 1836, McLoughlin effectively attached it to Fort Vancouver. It was used for pasturing cattle, as James Douglas reported in 1838, where the grass was good, although the island was subject to flooding at certain times during the year. Three dairies were established on the island. Charles Wilkes was told in 1841 that 150 cows at the dairies there produced butter and cheese for the Russians in Alaska. [346] When George Simpson returned to the Columbia for his third visit, he noted that about two hundred cows served the dairy, and two to three hundred more were allowed to pasture there "merely with a view to their breeding." [347] An 1844 inventory of livestock on the island indicated there were 437 cows, bulls, steers, heifers, calves and 44 oxen. [348]

According to Charles Wilkes, the dairies on the farm were moved periodically. They were always situated on Lower Plain, sometimes referred to as "Dairy Plain." Maps from 1844 and 1846 indicate at least one dairy was located southwest of the stockade, along the river, where a few structures, pens and fields were indicated along the river. It may be that this particular dairy was a stationary site, but that the other one or ones--some sources claim there was one dairy, some two--were moved about as the cattle were moved for grazing purposes. Wilkes noted that the dairy he visited in 1841 was "...removed every year, which is found advantageous to the ground, and affords the cattle better pasturage." [349]

In 1836, Narcissa Whitman noted the presence of between fifty and sixty cows; in 1837 Rev. Herbert Beaver noted there were "nearly one hundred cows...in milk." In 1838 James Douglas reported that the dairy produced fifty-eight kegs of butter, "in addition to the needs of the depot." [350] By 1840, 2,664 pounds of butter were being shipped to Alaska from the Columbia Department posts, including Fort Nisqually, Cowlitz Farm, and Fort Langley. This quantity rose to over five thousand pounds in 1843, but thereafter dropped to a little over three thousand pounds. [351]

Most of the cattle at Fort Vancouver and other posts were the Spanish cattle imported from California; they were not particularly good milkers, and, as Wilkes noted, the Company attempted to improve the breed with imported bulls. McLoughlin also noted "our cows are very bad milkers," sometimes yielding less than one pint of milk a day. In 1842, McLoughlin apparently thought the agreement to supply butter to Alaska was limited to what was needed for the personal use of the governor, and he dismantled the dairies at Fort Vancouver; when he was told the Russians would require all the butter the farms could produce, he apparently re-formed the dairies at the post--probably just the one listed in the 1846-47 inventory, in an attempt to ship as much butter as possible. It is probable that the number of cattle devoted to the dairies at the various posts after this time was fairly high, in an attempt to meet the butter quotas necessary to fulfill the contract with the Russian American Company. [352]

Not much was mentioned regarding the actual operation of the dairies. Narcissa Whitman, in 1836, described how cream was raised: "Saw an improvement in the manner of raising cream Their pans are of an oblong square, quite large, but Shallow. Flareing a little, made of wood and lined with tin, in the center is a hole with a long plug. When the cream has all arisen to the surface, place the pan over a tub or pail, remove the plug and the milk will all run off leaving the cream in the pan only. I think these in a large dairy must be very convenient." [353]

Sheep

During this period, sheep eventually became the most important livestock--in terms of sheer quantity--at Fort Vancouver, and in the region as a whole, through the operation of the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company. In the 1840s, the number of sheep owned by the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company rose from 2,342 reported in 1841, to 10,578, reported in 1846. Between 1842 and 1847 over 60,000 pounds of wool were shipped to London for marketing, as well as a little over 2,000 sheepskins. [354]

There is some indication that a Boston trading ship--either the Owyhee or a companion vessel, the Convoy, brought the first load of sheep to Fort Vancouver in 1829 or 1830. One story says the Owyhee brought sheep to the post from California, but they were all wethers--castrated rams. Historian John Hussey noted that the Convoy sailed and returned from Fort Vancouver to Hawaii, and that sheep may have come to the post via the Islands. [355] In 1831, McLoughlin requested a ram and a ewe of the "Merino Breed" be sent from London on the annual ship; it is not known if London complied with the request. [356]

By 1832 Nathaniel Wyeth had noted the presence of sheep at the post, and John Ball, who arrived with Wyeth, noted the Company was raising sheep at the post, in February of 1833. In the winter of 1835, the Rev. Samuel Parker reported two hundred sheep at the post. William Slacum, in 1837, also said there were two hundred sheep at Fort Vancouver. [357]

Early in 1837, two hundred sheep were supposed to have been shipped from San Francisco to Fort Vancouver, although only half survived the voyage. In March of 1838 James Douglas reported to London that Fort Vancouver had 361 ewes and wethers, 142 lambs, and 15 rams in their pastures. [358] In 1838 the first large scale importation of sheep to the Columbia Department occurred, when Captain William Brotchie went to California on the Nereide, and purchased eight hundred sheep through the shrewd and powerful General M.G. Vallejo. The sheep, however, were shipped to Fort Nisqually. [359] In the summer of 1840, the Columbia brought 700 California ewes to Fort Vancouver, and in 1841 about 3,000 sheep purchased from Vallejo and Governor Juan Alvarado were driven from California to the Willamette Valley by Company employees; some eventually joined the Fort Vancouver flocks, and the rest were sent on to Nisqually. [360]

Up until the 1840s and the establishment of the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, most, if not all, of the sheep at Fort Vancouver were from California, and, like the California cattle, their products were not particularly marketable. Narcissa Whitman, who saw the sheep at the post in 1836, noted "... the sheep are of an inferiour kind." [361] James Douglas told London in October of 1838 that of the "breeds" at the post, one produced fine wool, one course, and one "middling" wool, that came from crossing the other two: "From the plan now followed of keeping ewes in a separate flock, and permitting only the fine wool rams to have access to them, the course wool varieties will soon entirely disappear." [362]

In the spring of that same year, Douglas had asked that London ship to Fort Vancouver rams "...of the Merino, or Cheviot or other valuable wool breeds..." in an attempt to improve the wool and its marketability. [363] In October of 1839, Fort Vancouver received a shipment of sheep from England, and two sheepdogs--Gether and Bell--one of which died soon after arrival, "...but Bell having now a numerous progeny, the stock is in a manner secure." After the imports' arrival, Douglas told London: "in order to preserve the different breeds distinct, the ewes are separated into three flocks, each attended by two of the English rams, and will remain so until winter, when the ewes distinguished by different marks will be reunited into one flock, apart from the rams, with a view of diminishing the expense of keep and the dangers arising from the neglect of careless herdsmen." [364]

Of the breeds present at Fort Vancouver, Captain Spaulding of the American ship Lausanne, reported that the "Merino and Saxony breeds" were most impressive. J.W. Nesmith, an American settler described the California sheep, which he saw in 1841-42, as "low in quality as they could well be, light in color and bone, coarse and light of fleece, of all colors...having in an eminent degree the tenacity of life common to all scrub stock." [365] Charles Wilkes, in 1841, noted the California sheep had a "a very inferior kind of wool," but that cross breeding with English rams had improved wool production: fleeces from the native-English crosses were, he said, "very heavy, weighing generally eight pounds, and some as many as twelve." Wilkes reported that the Company had, at that time, Leicester and Bakewell rams, as well as "other" rams. [366] Lieutenant Emmons, with Wilkes" expedition, noted that there were several different breeds of sheep, "but principally Californian. Many had been imported from England at considerable expense, and were among the largest that I have ever seen." [367] As has been noted, Daniel Harvey, destined for management of the Mill Plain Farm, brought six Merino and six Leicester rams and ewes, when he arrived from England in 1841. [368] The Merinos, originally from Spain, had a fine, long stapled wool; they had been imported into the United States as early as 1802, but they were not particularly hardy, a problem also at Fort Vancouver, as noted by Wilkes. [369] The Saxony breed, derived from the Merino, was a German development; they were exported to North America in the 1820s. The Leicester breed was English, and was noted both for its wool and meat. [370]

Wool sent to England from Fort Vancouver, beginning in the fall of 1839, had an uneven quality and was not properly cleaned. Despite the improvement in the breeds, reported by visitors, and the production of thousands of pounds shipped in the 1840s, the wool trade apparently was not a commercial success. [371]

Thomas Farnham, at the post in 1839, said a "Scotch shepherd" who arrived on the Company's ship from London that year was "to have the general oversight of a number of under shepherds, located with flocks of sheep in different portions of the "Company grant." [372] The shepherd was James Steel, who was stationed at Fort Nisqually, where the bulk of the agricultural company's sheep raising was to take place. Farnham also reported being told that a Company clerk told him he was to soon go to California to purchase more sheep, "destined for the Company's Grant. Dr. McLaughlin informed me that the Company intended to grow wool for the British market." [373] This signaled the push to develop the Puget's Sound's Agricultural Company sheep business. As noted earlier, in the 1840s, the sheep pastured at Fort Vancouver were listed on the accounts of the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company; in 1845 Thomas Lowe said, "Sheep here belonging to the Puget's Sound Company say about 750 ewes, began to lamb at the commencement of this month, and are doing well. They will probably have all lambed in the course of a month or so." [374]

By 1840, a visitor reported seeing 1,000 of "the finest and fattest" sheep "I ever saw." [375] In August of 1841, after the arrival of the sheep from California, Douglas reported to Governor Simpson that the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company had a stock of 4,500 ewes. [376] At Fort Vancouver, there were 2,500 sheep that year. In 1845, Lieutenants Warre and Vavasour reported 1,991 sheep at the post. Governor Pelly wrote to Lord Palmerston of the British Foreign Office in July of 1846, that the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company had 1,977 sheep at Fort Vancouver, valued at £2037, "...principally of the Merino South Down and Leicester Breeds and their progeny." [377]

Sheep were moved about the farm for pasturage. Lieutenant Emmons noted in 1841, that there was a sheep farm was "down the river," apparently in the Lower Plain, and that they were attended by a shepherd. He also reported seeing a large flock of sheep "and a few cattle" on a "high open prairie" about 1/2 mile from the site of the mills--the Mill Plain farm area. [378] Also, as noted earlier, the sheep were penned to protect them from wolves at night, and to help fertilize the soil; they were at least once reported as penned on turnips, which also provided fodder. [379] Shepherds at Fort Nisqually lived in small huts on wheels which could be moved from pasture to pasture, and it seems likely, since the directions for construction of these huts came from McLoughlin, that Fort Vancouver used such mobile homes as well. [380] At Fort Vancouver, the sheep were washed in the Columbia River prior to shearing. [381] It is unknown where the shearing was done, although in the late 1840s the unfinished schoolhouses north of the stockade were reportedly used as shearing sheds one year.

Hogs

Raising hogs was an early and important agricultural activity at the post, particularly for use in supplying the interior posts with foodstuffs in the form of salted pork, and later to fulfill the contract with the Russian American Company. George Simpson's original goal was to produce enough pigs to make ten thousand pounds of cured pork each year. Because hogs--unlike cattle--were fast breeding and prolific, McLoughlin was able to report in 1829 that he would salt more than forty barrels of pork that year. [382] By 1834, with around three hundred hogs at the post, John Work wrote an associate, "...a hundred head of swine have been killed to make pork for the Naval Department." [383] In 1835, Rev. Samuel Parker reported three hundred hogs, and in 1836, visitor Henry Spalding told an associate there were four hundred hogs at the post. [384] By 1845, British Lieutenants Warre and Vavasour were reporting over 1,500 hogs at Fort Vancouver. [385]

It is not clear what breed of hogs, to the 1840s, was raised at the post. It is known that the first pigs were brought to Fort Vancouver from Fort George in the 1820s, but whether they were semiwild pigs, kept enclosed at Fort George, or fairly recently imported stock is not known. By 1844, however, the Company had imported Berkshire hogs, an English breed that matured rapidly, reaching a weight of between three and five hundred pounds in fourteen months. The breed was enormously popular in the United States, where they had been imported since the 1820s. [386] An inventory at Fort Vancouver that year listed three Berkshire boars, six sows, eleven sucklings, and thirty-five of the breed "fattening." As noted earlier, pigs were located on the Lower Plain, where McLoughlin showed a visitor how they dived for a species of oyster in the small lakes, and along the river on Fort Plain. There were, by 1846, at least two piggeries on Fort Plain--one located east and slightly north of the stockade, and another in the river front complex.

Miscellaneous Livestock

Horses were probably the most important and practical animals at the fort, necessary for all overland travel, both as mounts and as pack animals, and, occasionally, as food, and for work on the farm. In the early years of this period, there seems to have been a constant need for them--several fur-trading expeditions were told to purchase horses--and mules--if they had the opportunity, when traveling, particularly in California. In 1831 McLoughlin ordered a two year old stallion "of the largest size, hunter breed" for the post from England, and an English farm servant "accustomed to the care of horses," who could also "plough, sow & understand the management of cattle to be engaged for a term of 3 to 5 years as a laborer at not exceeding £25..." There is no record found to date to indicate McLoughlin got the horse or servant. [387] In 1833, American John Ball discussed McLoughlin's breeding of cattle, but the horses, he said, "they obtain from the Indians." [388]

Gradually, however, the post's herd increased in size. The 1844 inventory of livestock listed 594 horses "of all types," ten mules and one donkey at Fort Vancouver; at Sauvie Island there were an additional 124 horses and four mules. The British lieutenants noted in 1845 that the post had 702 horses. [389] There is no indication that any blooded horse stock was ever imported from England.

There is little information on how the animals were managed. Like the cattle and sheep, they were rotated from lower ground to higher ground during the flood season, and they were noted grazing on Lower Plain by William Tolmie in 1833. Charles Wilkes described how the horses were tended in 1841: "On our way back to Vancouver, we met the droves of horses and cattle that they were driving to the upper prairie, on account of the rise of the river, and the consequent flooding of the low grounds. This was quite an interesting sight. A certain number of brood mares are assigned to each horse; the latter, it is said, is ever mindful of his troop, and prevents them from straying. An old Indian is employed to watch the horses, who keeps them constant company, and is quite familiar with every individual of his charge." [390]

Horses were also used for recreation: Narcissa Whitman wrote in 1836: "We are invited to ride as often as once a week for exercise and generally ride all afternoon. Today Mrs. McLaughlin rode with us. She keeps her old habit of riding gentleman fashion. This is the universal custam of Indian women generally, they have saddles with high backs and fronts. We have been recommended to use these saddles as being a more easy way of riding, but have never seen the necessity of changing our fashion..." [391] In the 1840s, the crew of the Modeste, stationed at Fort Vancouver for some months, had a stable near the river; the officers and young gentlemen of the fort staged horse races in the fields below the fort, complete with picnics.

Some horses were apparently lodged in the stables in the river front complex, and others can be seen in paddocks or pens in the Kanaka Village area in early 1850s drawings. It is not known if these were the working farm horses, which seems most likely, or saddle horses. William Tolmie, in 1833, described a round-up in which "upwards of 100 horses" were driven into the central courtyard of the stockade, where "Canadians were busy lassoing some for use." [392] It is possible that at that time the stockade yard was used to pen the horses; by the 1840s, however, several references were made to a Company corral, which was located west of the stockade, just below Upper Mill Road.

There were goats at Fort Vancouver as early as 1828. Nathaniel Wyeth reported six hundred goats at the post in 1832, but this does not tally with other reports, which list around one hundred. William Tolmie noted that the goats grazed with cattle, horses and pigs in Lower Plain in 1833. [393] The post also had assorted poultry, beginning in 1826. In 1836 Narcissa Whitman said there were "Hens Turkeys Pigeons but no geese...There are several feather beds in the place, but they are made of the feathers of wild game, such as ducks cranes wild geese and etc." [394] The poultry probably came from the Hawaiian Islands: in 1835 James Lambert, the captain of the brig May Dacre brought Nathaniel Wyeth's Fort William on Sauvie Island over two thousand turkeys, four dozen fowl, and a pair of English ducks from Oahu. [395]