By the close of the eighteenth century, British explorers Captain James Cook and Captain George Vancouver, plus American fur trader Captain Robert Gray had explored the coast of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia and discovered the rich profits to be made in furs from the region. The fur trade extended up the Columbia River into the Oregon Territory, a vast Pacific Northwest area.

Great Britain and the newly independent United States had agreed to share occupancy of the region, but eventual boundaries between the two countries’ claims had yet to be set.

McLoughlin Becomes Chief Factor at Fort Vancouver

The Hudson’s Bay Company, already well established in Canada, soon controlled the fur trade of the Columbia District, which included all the valleys of the Columbia River and its tributaries. To establish British presence and better capture the interior trade, the company moved its headquarters in 1825 from Fort George at the mouth of the Columbia to Fort Vancouver on the river’s north shore 100 miles inland.

Dr. John McLoughlin, trained as a physician in his homeland of Canada, became chief factor for Fort Vancouver and its operations. The company traded with the local natives for beaver and other furs and also employed its own trappers. At the time, beaver fur was in demand for manufacturing fashionable top hats for London gentlemen.

To make the fort self-supporting, McLoughlin established the Oregon Territory’s first large-scale farm to supply all of Fort Vancouver’s fruits and vegetables. Medicinal herbs were grown for the fort’s pharmacy. The farms also supplied other Hudson's Bay Company forts in the Oregon Territory, and surpluses were sold to Russian fur trappers operating in Alaska.

British officials, American missionaries, seamen and visiting botanists were guests at McLoughlin’s elegant dining table over the course of the fort’s operation. The fort also included a flour mill, small saw mill and carpentry and blacksmith shops.