Pugets Sound Agricultural Company

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(commonly referred to as: Puget, Puget's, or Pugets Sound Agricultural Company)

The Puget Sound Agricultural Company was a joint-stock company formed around 1840 as a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). The primary purpose of the company was to promote settlement by British subjects of land in the Oregon Country. Company headquarters were at Fort Nisqually near present day Tacoma, Washington.

1 Background
2 Activities
3 The Oregon Treaty
4 Later years
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Background

In 1838 George Simpson of the HBC requested from Parliament in London additional powers to promote the settlement of the Oregon Country.^[1] This request was denied so the HBC created a subsidiary company to be kept at arms length to accomplish this task.^[1]

[edit] Activities

[edit] The Oregon Treaty

The Oregon Treaty that was negotiated in between Great Britain and the United States and went into effect in July of 1846 upon the exchange of ratifications settled the Oregon question.^[2] This treaty had specific provisions regarding the Puget Sound Agricultural Company in Article IV, namely that the United States would respect PSAC property but had the right to purchase any of the properties.^[2]

[edit] Later years

In 1863 Great Britain and the United States agreed to arbitrate the disposition of the PSAC properties in US territory.^[1] The PSAC was awarded $200,000 in compensation in 1869 for all of its properties south of the Canadian-US border as spelled out in the 1846 US-British treaty.^[1] Meanwhile the company’s operations had shifted north, including agricultural ventures on Vancouver Island.^[3] Finally in 1934 the company ceased to exist as it was no longer listed on the stock exchange.^[3]