a
share in the trade." The retention of her Northwestern posts by Great
Britain at the close of the war, in contravention of the treaty, has an
obvious relation to the fur trade. In his negotiations with Hammond, the
British ambassador in 1791, Secretary of State Jefferson said: "By these
proceedings we have been intercepted entirely from the commerce of furs
with the Indian nations to the northward--a commerce which had ever been
of great importance to the United States, not only for its intrinsic
value, but as it was the means of cherishing peace with these Indians,
and of superseding the necessity of that expensive warfare which we have
been obliged to carry on with them during the time that these posts have
been in other hands."[181]

In discussing the evacuation of the posts in 1794 Jay was met by a
demand that complete freedom of the Northwestern Indian trade should be
granted to British subjects. It was furthermore proposed by Lord
Grenville[182] that, "Whereas it is now understood that the river
Mississippi would at no point thereof be intersected by such westward
line as is described in the said treaty [1783]; and whereas it was
stipulated in the said treaty that the navigation of the Mississippi
should be free to both parties"--one of two new propositions should be
accepted regarding the northwestern boundary. The maps in American State
Papers, Foreign Relations, I., 492, show that both these proposals
extended Great Britain's territory so as to embrace the Grand Portage
and the lake region of northern Minnesota, one of the best of the
Northwest Company's fur-trading regions south of the line, and in
connection by the Red river with the Canadian river systems.[183] They
were rejected by Jay. Secretary Randolph urged him to hasten the removal
of the British, stating that the delay asked for, to allow the traders
to collect their Indian debts, etc., would have a bad effect upon the
Indians, and protesting that free communication for the British would
strike deep into our Indian trade.[184] The definitive treaty included
the following provisions:[185] The posts were to be evacuated before
June 1, 1796. "All settlers and traders, within the precincts or
jurisdiction of the said posts, shall continue to enjoy, unmolested, all
their property of every kind, and shall be protected therein. They shall
be at full liberty to remain there, or to remove with all or any part of
their effects; and it shall also be free to th