Editing John McLoughlin (section)

===Fort Vancouver===
{{Main|Fort Vancouver}}

McLoughlin built [[Fort Vancouver]] as a replacement for Fort George, on the north side of the [[Columbia River]], a few miles upstream from the confluence of the Columbia and  [[Willamette River]]s.  The site was chosen by Sir [[George Simpson (administrator)|George Simpson]]. The post was opened for business on March 19, 1825. From his [[Columbia Department]] headquarters in Fort Vancouver, McLoughlin supervised trade and kept peace with the Indians, inaugurated salmon and timber trade with Mexican-controlled [[California]] and [[Hawaii]], and supplied [[Russian America]] with produce.

Fort Vancouver became the center of activity in the Pacific Northwest. Every year ships would come from London to drop off supplies and trade goods in exchange for the furs. It was the nexus for the [[fur trade]] on the Pacific Coast; its influence reached from the [[Rocky Mountains]] to the [[Hawaiian Islands]], and from Russian Alaska into Mexican-controlled [[California]]. From Fort Vancouver, at its pinnacle, McLoughlin watched over 34 outposts, 24 ports, six ships, and 600 employees. Under McLoughlin's management, the Columbia Department remained highly profitable, in part due to the ongoing high demand for [[beaver]] hats in Europe. John McLoughlin was worried Fort Vancouver would be attacked and plundered of its heavy stock of supplies, due to its proximity to the [[Willamette Valley]], in which there was already an American settlement of some size.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Rich |editor1-first=E.E. |title=The Letters of John McLoughlin from Fort Vancouver to the Governor and Committee. Third Series, 1844–46 (HBC Series) |date=1944 |publisher=The Publications of the Champlain Society |page=18 |doi=10.3138/9781442618381 |isbn=978-1-4426-1838-1 }}</ref>