The Hudson's Bay Company Puts a Price on Washington Territory
A proposed £500,000 sale of the company's Puget Sound land claims alarmed settlers and left Congress uncertain about who really owned the ground.
An item of no small import to the people of this town and county appeared in a territorial paper of the 17th ult., relative to the Hudson's Bay Company's claims in Washington Territory. Lord Napier, the British Minister at Washington, has been authorised by the Company to dispose of all of their property in our Territory for the sum of £500,000. Several persons favoured the purchase, but the disposition of Congress being doubtful, the matter was brought to no notice. The proposition referred to the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, which owns some of the best farming lands in the Territory, and much of the land has been improved by our people.
“Lord Napier, the British Minister at Washington, has been authorised by the Company to dispose of all of their property in our Territory for the sum of £500,000.”
In 1858 the Hudson's Bay Company's enormous Puget Sound land claims were still a live question of who owned the ground beneath settlers' farms. The proposed £500,000 sale shows how imperial property, congressional indecision and local settlement collided. It rhymes with modern debates over land titles, public domain and who profits from real estate.
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