Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

Furnishings

a. General remarks--bedrooms. Rather detailed annual inventories of "articles in use," plus supplementary information available in a variety of sources, provide a quite satisfactory basis for refurnishing the office proper. Strangely, however, the inventories include no beds, "washhand Basins," "E. Ware Jugs," or other items associated with living quarters.

One is left to assume that the bedrooms in the Old Office were among the apartments inventoried under the heading "Bachelors Hall & No 1, 2, 3, 4, 5" already noted in Chapter IV on the Bachelors' Quarters. Or, because the number of articles listed under that heading appear to have been little more than sufficient to furnish the Bachelors' Quarters adequately, the sleeping apartments in the office may have been overlooked. The Fort Vancouver inventories appear at times to have some unaccountable lapses.

At any rate, it is hardly necessary to discuss here the furnishings in the rooms of the clerks at Fort Vancouver. This topic has already been adequately treated in Chapter IV, while the quotation from Ballantyne in this chapter links the general description to the particular circumstances associated with quarters attached to an office. When reading Ballantyne, however one should bear in mind that canoe paddles would not normally have been among the sporting paraphernalia of an employee at the Columbia depot, because by 1845-46 canoes were seldom used west of the Rockies except by natives. [77]

b. Office proper--furniture and equipment. The logical place to begin a discussion of the office furnishings appears to be the annual inventories, although as will be realized, these lists apparently were not complete. The Fort Vancouver Depot inventory taken in the spring of 1844 contained the following list under the general heading "Articles in Use":

In a different section of the same 1844 inventory of "Articles in Use" appears the following list:

There is no indication in the inventory that these mathematical and surveying instruments were physically situated in the office, but such a location seems logical. Thus the list is included here for what it may be worth.

The list of "Articles in Use" in the office made during the spring of 1845 is much like that of 1844, but there are enough differences to make its reproduction worthwhile:

The major contribution of the 1845 list, of course, is the inclusion of three desks. The omission of these important items from the 1844 inventory is difficult to explain. The 1845 inventory also contains a list of "Mathematical Instruments," but except for spelling and punctuation it is identical with that of 1844, and there thus seems to be no reason to reproduce it here. But a section headed "Nautical Instruments" may be of interest, although, as with the "Mathematical Instruments," there is no indication that these valuable articles were housed in the Old Office:

The inventories of 1846 and 1847 do not appear to contain lists of articles in use in the office, but as usual the inventory made during the spring of 1848 is quite detailed in this respect. Of course the office inventoried in 1848 was the New Office and not the Old Office, but a number of the items appear to have been the same ones that were listed in 1844 and 1845. Clearly, they had merely been shifted over to the new building.

This 1848 list is highly instructive. Several items appearing thereon, such as the stove and the additional tables, were almost certainly new acquisitions required for the larger structure. But it is difficult to see how the Old Office functioned without such articles as candlesticks, penknives, and snuffers, which were not mentioned in 1844 and 1845 but which appear in the 1848 inventory. Other items, such as the iron cash box and the case of scales and weights, may or may not have been present in the Old Office. For these reasons the New Office inventory of 1848 is presented as a part of this discussion of the Old Office:

Before attempting to make a summary of the information provided by these inventories, it seems desirable to discuss certain items in the lists as well as certain others not included in the inventories but that are known from other sources to have been either surely or probably present in the Old Office. In roughly alphabetical order, they are as follows:

Bookcase. As has been seen in Chapter IV on the Bachelors' Quarters, a "large Book Case" from Astoria probably was utilized at Fort Vancouver from 1825 to 1860. As was also discussed in that chapter, this book case very probably housed the "Library" of the Company-owned books at the depot. The titles of those books are known.

It was suggested in Chapter IV that this bookcase and the depot library may have been located with the employee-owned subscription library, possibly in the Bachelors' Quarters. It is quite as likely, however, that the Company's books may have been placed in the office in the bookcase listed in the inventories. In fact, this listed bookcase may have been the very one that was a relic of the early American post at the mouth of the Columbia. And if so, it may some day be identified and returned to the reconstructed Old Office.

It should also be recognized, however, that it evidently was not unusual for offices at the Company's establishments to contain book cases, sometimes rather crudely made, for the storage of journals, letter books, and account books of various types. For a photograph of such a case at Fort Chipewyan, see Plate LXII. That the bookcase in the Old Office may have been for this latter use possibly is indicated by the words of Clerk Thomas Lowe, who wrote in his journal on August 20, 1845, that he was "busy arranging the old Books and papers in the office."83 In actuality, given the meagerness of the evidence, any decision as to the type and contents of the bookcase in the Old Office will be purely guesswork.

Book press. In his diary for August 20, 1845, Lowe mentioned that he had spent time "getting the Book Press repaired." [84] It will have been noted that the office inventories reproduced earlier mention no such article, yet there clearly was one in the depot and almost surely in the office, because that apparently was where Lowe was making things tidy on that day.

Exactly what sort of a device Lowe's "Book Press" was is not clear, but perhaps it resembled the small book or letter press illustrated in Plate LXI.

Cash box. Although it is sometimes believed that a safe now on display in the visitor center at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site was employed at the Columbia depot during the period of Dr. McLoughlin s service as manager, there apparently is no valid evidence to support such a notion. This writer has examined a number of inventories for 1846 and prior years, and no mention of a safe can be found. In fact, not even a strongbox is listed until the inventory of 1848, when "1 cast iron cash Box" is reported as being in the New Office ( as has been mentioned, there seem to be no office inventories for 1846 and 1847).

Yet it seems likely that there was a strongbox of some type at the fort by 1845-46. Although coin and gold dust figured little in Columbia District trade until the California gold rush, there probably was often a certain amount on hand that required safekeeping. A strong box may have been kept in the Chief Factor's residence and may even have been his personal property, because none appears on the inventories of Company-owned articles prior to 1848.

At McLoughlin House National Historic Site in Oregon City there is a small strongbox, or safe, that is said to have belonged to Dr. McLoughlin at the fort. This writer is not aware of the basis for this identification, but the box is here mentioned as a possible subject for further study. What may be this same item, labeled "Dr. John McLoughlin's safe and strong box," is pictured on the first page of a pamphlet entitled Souvenir Book, Historical Story of the Hudson's Bay Company and Old Fort Vancouver (published in Vancouver, Washington, 1925). A copy of this booklet may be found in the Provincial Archives of British Columbia in Victoria.

Another possible model for a strongbox to be exhibited at Fort Vancouver is a small iron chest on display in the British Columbia Maritime Museum in Victoria. Identified as a Hudson's Bay Company "Strong Box," it is 20-1/8 inches long, 14-3/8 inches wide, and 14-1/8 inches high. It is black in color and has handles at each end and a lock on the hinged top. [85]

Desks. The inventories give no hint as to the design of the desks in the office, but based upon the custom of the time it seems reasonably safe to assume that they were the high, long-legged, slant-top desks of the type almost universally employed in British countinghouses. A desk of this sort is in the restored and refurnished office at Lower Fort Garry. [86]

Maps. In March 1844, when making out his indent for Outfit 1847 to be shipped in 1845, McLoughlin ordered six Arrowsmith maps of North America and two of South America. [87] Although the intended use of these maps is, of course, not mentioned in the requisition, it is not beyond reason to imagine that at least one of each type was designed for use at the depot. And in what more logical place could they have been hung than in the office, where officers and clerks kept track of the district's far-flung operations? Additional copies perhaps were in the manager's personal office in his residence. It is possible that the maps ordered in 1844 were available at Fort Vancouver during the spring of 1846, because it was not unusual to break into the reserve outfit for special items.

Scales. Early in 1841 the Governor and Committee in London became worried by reports that a large number of counterfeit Spanish and Mexican coins had been sent to the Pacific region to be passed off at the establishments of the Hudson's Bay Company and the Russian American Company. "In taking dollars in payment for goods," they warned Governor Simpson on March 1, "it will be necessary to examine the coins with great attention" and to weigh them. For this purpose they forwarded three "sets of scales and weights (troy)," one of which was directed to Fort Vancouver. [88]

The writer has not been able to examine all the invoices or lists of Columbia imports to see when, or if, these scales were received, but perhaps they constituted the "1 case brass Scales and Weights 1 oz to 1/2 grain" listed in the 1848 office inventory.

Stools. Robert Ballantyne described the stools in the office at Upper Fort Garry as "very tall." [89] Undoubtedly the stools in the office at Fort Vancouver were also of this traditional type. In fact , the listing of stools in the inventories is an additional argument for believing that the desks were also tall.

Summary. An examination of the available evidence leads to the conclusion that the Old Office could well have contained the following items of furniture and equipment during Outfit 1845:

c. Office proper--account books, stationery, and supplies. In order to restore the interior of the Old Office to an approximation of its appearance in 1845-46, more will be needed than merely furniture and equipment. Account books of various types should be open on the desks and filed on shelves much as shown in Plate LXII. Sheets of blotting paper and letter paper should be scattered about on desks and tables as if the clerks had just dropped their work at the sound of the dinner bell. A few printed forms in French and English for employee "engagements" or contracts and printed bill of lading forms might well be in evidence. And of course such supplies as pencils, pens, "pink office tape," colored wafers, red sealing wax, India rubber, and ink powder should be conveniently at hand.

Long lists of stationery and supplies might be reproduced here from various indents and lists of imports, but they would add little, if anything, to the inventory of "Stationary" on hand at the Fort Vancouver Depot in the spring of 1844 that is reproduced on pages 279-80 of volume I of this study. That list contains many more items than could possibly be obtained and exhibited in the restored Old Office.

While the inventories give reasonably good information concerning the types and sizes of stationery employed in the Columbia District, determining the actual appearance of these papers and obtaining specimens for display will be difficult. In 1844 the stationery for the Columbia District was purchased from the firm of Burrup & Blight in London, and penknives were obtained from George Lowcock. [90] It is possible that these firms or their successors are still in business and may be able to provide information. And, of course, examples of correspondence in the Company's archives may be examined with a view to determining if the papers can be duplicated.

The account books are a still more difficult matter. As has been seen in the earlier sections of this chapter, there were many different types of blotters, cash accounts, journals, letter books, and other record books kept at Fort Vancouver. If surviving examples from both the Columbia depot and other posts are representative, these books differed considerably in size and ranged from mere assemblages of paper sheets roughly stitched together to form a volume, sometimes with heavier paper covers and sometimes not, to large leather-bound ledgers elaborately stamped with the Company's arms.

In an attempt to provide curators with something more helpful than this generalized characterization, there follows descriptive information concerning several types of Company ledgers and account books drawn from personal observation and a variety of documentary sources:

Journals. No original Fort Vancouver "Journal of Occurrences" is known to survive, but many from other posts are still in existence. The best place to observe them, of course, is the Hudson's Bay Company Archives, although a number exist in repositories closer at hand. For example, sixteen volumes of the Fort Nisqually journal, 1833-70, are in the Huntington Library. Taking several at random, volume 9 (1852-54) is a bound ledger, measuring 8 inches by 12-1/2 inches by 1/2 inch. It has a stiff, marbled—paper cover, with a binding of red leather at the spine; the outer corners are guarded by triangles of red leather. A label on the inside of the front cover reads:

Burrup, Son &. Blight
Stationers and Account Book Manufacturers
12 East Front, Royal Exchange, London

Volume 2 (1835-36) is the same type and size, but it is only about 1/4 inch thick, and there is no leather at the corners. Volume 3 (1836-37) is about 3/8 inch thick and has black leather at the spine and no leather at the corners. Volume 5 (1846-47) has red leather at the binding edge and no corner protection. Most of the Nisqually ledgers and account books have white paper labels pasted on the outsides of the front covers, and the titles of the volumes are hand written on these labels in ink.

The original "Fort Kamloops Journal, August 3, 1841-December 19, 1843," kept by John Tod, is preserved in the Provincial Archives of British Columbia. It measures 12-1/2 inches by 7-3/4 inches and has stiff, marbled-paper covers with a calf back strip and corner angles. A label reveals that it was obtained from "Blight & Burrup, Stationers, 56. Lombard St., London."

Letter books. The only original letter book actually kept at Fort Vancouver That is known to have survived is now preserved in the Oregon Historical Society, Portland. It covers the period 1829-32. It is said to be "leather-bound" and of foolscap size. [91] Copies of the Fort Vancouver letter books are to be found in the Hudson's Bay Company Archives.

Inventory books. Sometimes listed in indents as 1 quire (24-25 sheets), but more usually 3-1/2 or 4 quires. [92]

Indents. As has been seen, the preparation of the annual district indent or requisition evidently required at least two different books:

(1) Columbia scheme books. On at least one occasion invoiced as being "38 Sheets s[uper] fine imperial sewed stiff M. C. [marble-covered] hot pressed"; also listed at times simply as "1-1/2 quires [38 sheets]." [93] But two "Scheme Books" requisitioned for Outfit 1838 were described as "10 sheets impt. [impl.?] ft [faint] x [ruled? ]." [94]

(2) Columbia indent books. Generally described in inventories and invoices as "3/4 quire demy. ruled." [95]

Fur invoice books. Ordered as 3/4 quire, sometimes 3/8 quire. Store invoice books. Ordered as 3 quires.

Servants' account books. Several of these books kept at Fort Nisqually can be seen at the Huntington Library. They are bound ledgers, 8 inches by 11-1/2 inches by 3/8 inch, with stiff marbled-paper covers and red leather at the spine. These apparently were different from the Servants' fur trade bill books that appear in certain inventories. [96]

Abstract of accounts or abstract books. Evidently these books ordinarily came in a 2-quire size, but books of 1-1/2 and 4 quires were also used. At times sheets of paper for these accounts were ordered separately (unbound), as "1 quire Imperial quarto Paper ruled & printed pr abstract of accounts." [97]

District statements "A". Ordered in both 1-quire and 2-quire sizes, occasionally described as one quire, S[uper] fine demy." Sometimes books were ordered of only twelve sheets, "demy, ft [faint] x [ruled?]." [98]

District statements "B". Ordered in both 1/2-quire and 1-quire sizes, as, for example, "1/2 quire, S. fine demy." [99]

Accounts current, Columbia District. Usually 1-1/2 quires, but sometimes 1-1/4 quires.

Transfers "A" and Transfers "B". Not much information about these books appears in the Fort Vancouver indents and inventories, but evidently books of three quires were employed at York Factory, at least on occasion. [100] Perhaps stock blank ledgers were used for this purpose at Fort Vancouver.

Memoranda books. Listed as "Basil Memorandum Books," or sometimes as "Bound Basil Octavo, 1/3 quire," or "Octo. Mema. Books." [101]

Shop accounts. What evidently are examples of this type of book are to be found in the Fort Nisqually Collection in the Huntington Library, under the heading "Indian Accounts. " They measure 8 inches by 11-1/2 inches by 3/8 inch, and have stiff marbled-paper covers with red leather at the spine. Other account books in the same collection, also evidently kept in the shop, have the same dimensions, but there is no leather on the marbled covers; some merely have covers of plain heavy paper.

Engagement_register. In 1838 an order was sent to London from Fort Vancouver for the following: "1 Engagement Register 9 quires Sr fine medium bound in rough calf Russia banded and shod printed & ruled according to Pattern sheet in Packet Box--Alphabet letters on vellum outside the edge of sheet, Lettered on the Back 'Columbia Engagement Register' Company's Arms on the side." [102]

Ledgers. There were several other specific types of account books that apparently were ordered from London by the several districts, but it is not certain that they were used in the Columbia District. And at any rate, very little is known about them by this writer.

Evidently such volumes were sometimes printed and ruled for the types of accounts to be recorded.

On the other hand, the Columbia indents frequently called for general ledgers identified merely as "Books." rhese came in a variety of types and sizes, and evidently the clerks had to rule the columns according to the needs of the business at hand. [103]

The multiplicity of these "books" is illustrated by the following selection of entries from several requisitions. Prices and quantities have been omitted, and there may be some duplication:

Books Bound Basil octavo 1/3 quire
       Bound Basil octavo 1/4 quire
       Bound Russia Octavo 1/2 quire
       Bound Calf Folio 6 quire
       Bound Calf Folio 4 quire
       Bound Calf Folio 3 quire
       Bound Calf Folio 2 quire
       Bound Calf Folio 1 quire
       Bound Calf Quarto 2 quire
       Bound Calf Quarto 1 quire
       Bound Half Royal 1-1/2 quire
       Bound Half Folio 4 quire
       Bound Half Foolscap 6 quire
       Bound Half Foolscap 4 quire
       Bound Half Foolscap 3 quire
       Bound Half Foolscap 2 quire
       Bound Half Foolscap 1-1/2 quire
       Bound R. R. 4 quire
       Bound R. R. 3 quire
       Bound R. R. 2 quire
       Bound R. R. 1-1/2 quire
       Bound Mar[ble] Covd. Folio 1 quire
       Bound Mar[ble] Covd. Folio 3/4 quire
       Bound Mar[ble] Covd. Folio 1/2 quire
       Bound Mar[ble] Covd. Folio 1/4 quire
       Bound Mar[ble] Covd. Foolscap 1 quire
       Bound Mar[ble] Covd. Foolscap 3/4 quire
       Bound Mar[ble] Covd. Foolscap 1/2 quire
       Bound Mar[ble] Covd. Foolscap 1/4 quire
       Bound Mar[ble] Covd. Quarto 1/2 quire
       Bound Mar[ble] Covd. Quarto 1/4 quire [104]

       Demy 6 Quire Books calf bound
       Demy 1 Quire Books half bound calf back
       Demy 3/4 Quire Books half bound calf back
       Demy 1/2 Quire Books half bound calf back [105]

       Demy 1/2 Quire Books M. C. [marble-covered] [106]