As already stated, the Hudson's Bay Company withdrew headquarters
to the north of the present boundary after it became fixed in 1846.
Meantime settlement, especially in the Willamette valley, was going on
apace and cities and towns arose. Though the fur trade departed, the
fisheries have remained and the city of Astoria has been reared chiefly
on a diet of fish--for the salmon and sturgeon, as well as smaller
fish, of the Columbia, were ever justly celebrated. Ships of all
nations found their way in increasing numbers across that bar which has
ever been the chief drawback to navigation to and from the Columbia.
Across the broad river down which the express boat propelled by the
light-hearted, gaily-singing voyageurs, made its way in former times,
the swift express train now travels with passengers who mayhap have
crossed the continent in less time than would, in the early days, have
been consumed in a trip from Spokane to Fort Vancouver.