Many Yankee merchants had become involved in…

Many Yankee merchants had become involved in the continuous trade of pelts to China within a few years of the Columbia Expedition’s voyages, and by 1801 sixteen American vessels are engaged in this triangular route.

These mercantile activities encroach upon territorial claims by other nations to this disputed region, notably those of Spain and of Russia, and in the coming years they will be used in support of American claims to the Oregon Country, and will contribute to the limiting to California and to Alaska, respectively, of the Spanish and Russian claims.