Lord Lyons to Mr.
Seward.
Washington,
May 18, 1863.
Sir: With reference to the note which you did
me the honor to address to me on the 12th of January last, and to our
subsequent correspondence on the subject of preventing the Indians on
the northern frontier of the United States from being supplied with arms
and ammunition, I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a letter
on the subject from the colonial department of her Majesty’s government
to the foreign office, and an extract from a letter from the Hudson’s
Bay Company to the colonial department.
Trusting that the information contained in these papers will be
satisfactory to you, I have the honor to be, with the highest
consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, &c., &c., &c.
[Untitled]
Downing Street,
March 26, 1863.
Sir: With reference to your letter of the
18th ultimo, I am directed by the Duke of Newcastle to acquaint you
that immediately on its receipt his grace suggested to the Hudson’s
Bay Company that they should use all their authority and influence
to prevent hostile Indians on either side of the frontier from being
supplied with arms, ammunition, or military stores, to be used
against the peaceful inhabitants of the United States.
The Duke of Newcastle has much satisfaction in transmitting an
extract of a letter of the Hudson’s Bay Company, by which it will be
seen that not only did they forthwith send out directions in
conformity with his grace’s suggestions, but that they had already
to a great extent anticipated his wishes by very proper instructions
previously sent out to their officers, prohibiting, in the strictest
manner, the sale from the company’s stores of any arms or military
stores to any of the Indians at war with the people of the United
States. I am, &c,
E. Hammond, Esq., &c., &c., &c.
[Untitled]
Extract of a
letter from the Hudson’s Bay Company dated, February 26, 1863.
During my absence from London, on Saturday last, Mr. Fraser, the
secretary of this company, acknowledged the receipt of Mr. Elliot’s
letter of the 21st instant, transmitting copy of a circular which
the governor general of Canada has addressed to the superintendent
of the Indians in the northwestern parts of the province, and at the
same time acquainted Mr. Elliot, for your grace’s satisfaction, that
copies, both of the letter and circular, had, by that day’s post,
been forwarded to Governor Dallas, at Red River settlement, and to
the Hudson’s
[Page 607]
Bay Company
agents throughout Canada, with instructions to give effect to your
grace’s wishes.
I think it will be satisfactory to your grace to learn that I have in
some measure anticipated your suggestion on this subject.
Immediately on the receipt of the news of the intended visit of the
Sioux Indians to Fort Garry, and of the rumors in circulation at St.
Paul as to the object of that visit, I addressed a letter, dated
February 5, to the company’s representative at Red River settlement,
in which I enjoined him to prohibit, in the strictest manner, the
sale from the company’s depot of arms, ammunition, or military
stores to any of the Indians at war with the people of the United
States.
In consideration of the gravity of the circumstances, I felt it to be
of importance that the hands of the government of Rupert’s Land
should be fortified by this injunction, at the same time that I have
little doubt that the usual policy of the company, which has always
been that of avoiding to give the Indian tribes any encouragement or
assistance while in hostility with white neighbors, would have been
acted upon without these instructions.
His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, &c., &c., &c.
