Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 17.djvu/229

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DOCUMENTARY 221

for his opinion, but no action of mine can justify any one imputing to me the unfairness of withholding information on business from my colleagues to entrap them into any measure, as if I had known you had written them on the subject, I would not have troubled them about it but my letters [sic]' speaks for itself.

5. In regard to the remarks in your fifth paragraph re- lating to the murder of my son in which you write, "I trust I may not be called upon to resort [revert?] to this to both of us most painful subject/' permit me to say that I am astonished how you could think that such a remark would prevent a parent demanding of you information as to the measure you took when you delivered the murderer of his son to the Rus- sians, if that man is to be prosecuted, and you may depend every endeavour of mine will be exerted to have that affair thoroughly examined and which I would have attempted to have done before this but that I considered it the duty of the Company to examine this affair, the murder of one of their officers by their servants under his command in one of their establishments, but since it has not been done I forward with this a copy of all the depositions to my agent to be by him placed before council, and to follow such measures as my means may justify as I have fully explained in my despatch No. 1 and will observe, as I informed you in paragraph of mine of March 1843 C. F. Douglas proceeded to the coast and examined the men who were at Stikine when my son was murdered and I send you a copy of the depositions he took and an extract of the letter he wrote the Governor and Committee by which you see Heroux and P. Kanaguasse ten months before the murder, were known to have been concerting measures to murder my deceased son and Mr. R. Finlayson and in the night of the murder Francois Pressie proposed also to murder my late son, and Mr. Douglas according to my orders delivered P. Kanaguassie and Pressie to the Russian authorities and if this affair is not thoroughly examined, so that justice be done and the men see that they cannot murder their officers with