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AIAO AN ACtJOtJNT OF THE CHARAOTKEISTICS AND PRESENT CONDmON<» TOE OREGON T^&^ MEMBER OF waui^iva ^J* \jx& tOSlCEStLY QBOANIZED OREGON LEGISLATURE, ACCOMPANIED BY A MAP. '*"**• i \ NEW-yORK. WtLLUM H. COLYER, No. 5 HAGUE-STREET. HOTOUKIfliS 4( Co., Bottw. N. HICKMAN, and SBURTZ « TAX- 1846. ,.,-'■--"„ 'm-i^iS^fi 'fi ^m ;-'-s' ;'c >/.;; .. .-r :Vi. - ■ ^ ■■ ry ■'>»^ 3l' WILLIAM H. COLYER, No. 5 Hague- s TREET . 1845. » %&»> 7ljf«-8*« 7 .-?^-.; IV •(j^ ,^'-. ?; 1 THU HISTORY OF OREGOI, GEOGRAPHICAL AND POLITICAL. BY GEORGE WILKES. IMBRACTNO AN ANALYSIS OF TIIE OLD SPANISH CLAIMS, THK BRITISH FRETKHk 8ION8, THE UNITED STATKS TITLE; AN ACCOUNT OF THE PRESENT CON- DITION AND CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY, AND A THOROUGH EXAMIN- ATION OF THE PROJECT OF A NATIONAL RAIL ROAD, FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. TO WHICH IS ADDED A JOURNAL OF THI EVENTS OF THE CELEBRATED EMIGRA' TING EXPEDTTION OF 1(^41 ; CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE ROUTE FROM y MISSOURI TO ASTORIA, A TABLE OF DISTANCES, AND THE PHYSICAL AND POLITICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TERRITORY, AND ITS SETTLE- MENTS, BY A MEMBER OF THE RECENTLY ORGANISED i.. M U'C^ *^ OREGON LEGISLATURE. THE WHOLE CONCLUDING WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING THE TREATIESj DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE, AND NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN SPAIN, RUSSIA, GREAT BRITAIN, AND THE UNITED STATES, IN RE- LATION TO THE NORTH WIST COAST. I \.i NEW YORK: WILLIAM H. COLYER, No. 5 Hague-street. 1845. I I ■ £a tired according to on Act of Congtctt > BY WILLIAM H. COLYER, Ik the Clork'i OAea of tho Southern District of New Yoric, ia the year 184% I PREFACE. Th£ deep interest taken in the Oregon question at the present mo* ment ; its paramount importance as a feature of our national policy) and the prevailing inacquaintanco with its particular merits, have) together, induced the author to prepare the following pages, in the absence of the requisite work for the reference oi the public. There appears to be a peculiar necessity for a publication of thig kind at present, for recent events have shown it is no extravagance to suppose that a period may arrive '.vhen it will be necessary for us to be assured, whether we are to buckle on our armor, and to draw our swords in a righteous cause or no. In a monarchy, where the sovereign has a direct and absorbing personal interest in every war, he pays pamphleteers to make it popular with The People. In a Government like ours, this duty, when just) devolves upon its citizens, and such of them as perform it, are re« warded with consciousness of having acquitted themselves of a natural obligation, and in the additional gratification of lending another impulse to a righteous cause. To accomplish his object in the best manner, the following pages have been arranged in two distinct parts; the first embracing the features of title, geography, and natural advantages ; and the second) the descriptions of a traveller of the characteristics and capabilities of the country in dispute. In the preparation of the first, care has been taken to furnish a cleaT) concise and straightforward relation of events, and to avoid the technicalities and pedantries which usually confuse the mind in the attempted consideration of such subjects. For the data of this portion of the work, the author has availed himself freely of the best authorix ties on the subject, and he takes this opportunity of acknowledging his indebtedness to the work of Robert Greenhow, published for the use of Congress in 1840, and also to the more recent journal of LieU" tenant Wilkes. It will be observed by those already conversant with the Oregon Question, that the author has left what is called " the French Title" from the category of our claims. He did this because he esteemed it of but little weig it ; but those who are curious on the subject, will ,3^b-ifU. ' PREFACE. find a careful deduction of it in the Appendix, as prepared by a Com- mittee of Congress, in 1843. The project of a National Rail Road across the continent, though generally denounced as visionary and impracticable, has long been the author's favorite idea, and he claims for it that attention which every scheme deserves from its opposers. It was not his intention to advance it as early as the present time, but the rapid progress of events has precipitated his design, and a similar proposal from another source, has induced him to bring it forward now, principally from an appre- hension that the grandest scheme the world ever entertained, may be prostituted to the selfish interests of a private corporation. The second part of the work, consists of a journal, prepared from a series of letters, written by a gentleman now in Oregon, who him- self accompanied the celebrated emigrating expedition of 1843. They make no pretensions in their style, but are merely simple, conversational epistles, which, in their familiar, off'-hand way, furnish a large amount of useful practical mformation to the emigrant, and much interesting matter to the general "reader. The author has done scarcely more to this portion than to thrpw it into chapters, and to strike from it such historical and geographical statistics as had been drawn from other sources, and arranged in the preceding portions of the work. These letters fell into his hands after the adoption and commencement of his original design ; and adapting them to his pur- pose, by linking them with his own MSS., a deal of research was saved him by the valuable and peculiar information they contributed. In conclusion, though much of his labor has been performed in haste, the author thinks it hardly necessary to offer an apology for the manner in which it has been accomplished. Instead of fishing for credit, he has desired only to be useful, and he would much prefer confirming the just determination of a single man, than to pleasing the fancies of a thousand critics. He has therefore been content to be correct, and he will feel over-paid if he have opposed a single obstacle to the manifold deceptions and misstatements of the calculating monarchists who unhappily form a portion of the Citizens of this Republic, or have con- tributed a mite to the great movement that will advance the destiny of his country more rapidly than all other influences combined. NoTF..— The map i'acinff the title-page is taken from an English publication on the Oregon Question, and from the extreme haste with which the publisher has been obliged to proceed, is the best he is enabled to furnish, for the present. Though shorn of two degrees of the southern portion of Oregon, it is accurate in the profile of the coast, in the course of the rivers, nnd in all the principal features of the territory. It will bo noticed thut along the line of Frazer's River runs the words—" Route of Makenzio, in 1793 ;" and as no mention is made in the following pages of Mr. Makenzie, it may be proper to state that he was a Scotch Fur Trader, who had been engaged in the years 1789-90 and -91, in exploring the Great Slave River, to the North Sea, and in 1793, descended Frazer's River, to its mouth. This exploit, however, has no bearing on the question of title, as Galiano, and Valdes, and Vancouver had visited it some weeks before. As a further explanation, it may bo necessary to say that Queen Charlotte's Sound, and the Gulf of Georgia, are northern portions of the Strait of Fuca ; and an easterly line from the southern point of the small island immediately, under mark of longitude 133°, to the Rocky Mountains, is the northern boundary we claim. HISTORY OF OREGON. PART I. Historical Account of the Discovery and Settlement of Oreaon Terri- tory^ Comprising an examination of the old Spanish Claims, the British Pretensions, and a deduction of the United States Title. Oreoon is a vast stretch of territory, lying on the north west coast of North America. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean ; on the north by latitude 54° 40' ; on the east by the Rocky mountains, and on the south by the forty-second parallel. This geo- graphical arrangement separates the coast into three grand divisions ; first, that below the forty-second parallel belonging to Mexico ; se- cond, the section lying between 42°, and 54° 40' to the United States ; and third, all above the last named limit, to the Russian crown* — thus* shutting Great Britain out from any inch of seaboard territory. The whole of this immense region (Oregon) is nine hundred and sixty miles in length ; its breadth along its northern boundary is about five hundred miles, and widening gradually with the south-easterly course of the Rocky mountains, it stretches to about seven hundred miles along its southern line. Its whole surface may, therefore, be estimated at four hundred thousand square miles. Previous to entering into a description of its general characteristics, it is necessary first to analyze with accuracy the nature of our claims, for the purpose of ascertaining the degree of interest we are warranted in bestowing on it. This course will be found the more important, as we shall see that Great Britain, with characteristic modesty, lays claim to it for herself. There are four modes by which nations may obtain possession and sovereignty over countries ; and these are by discovery ; by settle- ment ; by conquest, and by purchase — the latter, including all subordi- nate modes of cession arising out of political arrangement. These rules, or principles, are laid down and governed by a general system called international law, the nature and qualities of which it will be necessary for us to exactly understand, before we can proceed satisfactorily with our inquiry. International Law is simply no law at «//, for the first idea of law implies a superior power prescribing and dictating to an inferior one — a notion that is perfectly incompatible with the equality of nations. International law is, therefore, merely a collection of moral maxims put forth by certain ethical writers named Grotius, PufFendorf, Baron Wolfius and Vattel, which, being founded in the main on accurate bases, have-been generally used by diplomatists as ready elucidations of the principles that should govern the general course and policy of nations. The adoption of this course saves them the special trouble of elaborating an argument on a natural right, by producing one ready See Appendix, No. 1. b HISTORY OF OREGON. made to their hand. The custom of resorting to these writers by diplomatists in the arrangement of their disputes, has given them a sort of authority, which has been confounded with the notion of an imperative rule. As, however, all nations are equal, there can be no international law but the great principle of right. Wherever the maxims of these writers square with this, they are doubtless as obli- gatory as any law can be ; for all powers are subject alike to the rules of everlasting justice, which are the type and essence of the only su- premacy to which the nations of the earth must bow. But, whenever on the contrary, they do not agree with this divine principle, it is equally obligatory on all to reject them. There is another view in which a government like ours has a spe- cial and peculiar right to deny the obligatory nature of this collection of essays, and that is embraced in the fact of their being drawn from monarchial theories. We, therefore, who are Avorking upon a new and antagonistic principle, are not bound by any scheme which con- flicts with our own grand design ; for it would be absurd in the ex- treme for a State which achieved its existence through the denounce- ment of an arbitrary and unjust system, to admit the binding force of its inconsistent parts. We want no such system of international law ! The prevailing sentiment of national honour, common to every free people, is the best conservator of the rights of nations ; for while it imperatively exacts immediate redress for every wrong, it rejects every unworthy policy with unqualified disdain. The principles of justice, eternal and invariable, are understood by all without the elaborate filterings of an artificial code, and they have the advantage moreover, of applying equally to Monarchies and to Republics. The just do right without a written rule ; the bad outrage it in opposition to a thousand — the first find their reward in the approbation of the world ; the last their punishment in the alternative of war. No written code can alter these tendencies, nor affect their results. No nation will obey a rule which runs in derogation of its rights. What need then of a system which offers no additional inducements and enforces no additional penalties ? We do not introduce these views of international law here, because any of its principles makes against our claims to Oregon, but for the opposite reason that they substantiate them ; for we wish to be under- stood, that while we have a right to accept a proposition waged against us, and turn its premises to our own account, we do not there- by bind ourselves irrevocably to the whole system of which it is a part. Great Britain in support of her pretensions to the sovereignty of Oregon, produces two principles from this code which relate to the rights drawn from discovery and occupation. We accept the chal- lenge, because it happens to be founded on correct principles, and because it enables us to beat her on her own ground. The following are the rules alluded to. They are extracted from Vattel, who is considered the standard authority on international law. "All mankind have an equal right to things that have not fallen into the hands of any one ; and these things belong to tho person who first takes possession of them. When, therefore, a nation finds a country uninhabited and without an owner, it may lawfully take possession of it ; and after it has sufficiently made known its intention or will in this respect, it cannot be deprived of it by another nation. Thus naviga- HISTORY OP OREGON. » tors going on voyages of discovery, furnished with a commission from, their lovereign, and meeting with islands or other lands in a desert state, have taken possession of them in the name of their nation ; and this title has been usually respected, provided it was soon after followed by a real possession." — Book 1, Chap. 18, Sec. 207. " When a nation takes possession of a country that never yet belonged to another, it is considered as possessing th directly to meet with Asia. "^ .Really this preacher expects a great deal from our symplicity, for he coolly tells us that he accomplished a sailing distance of nearly, if not quite, four hundred miles under the most adverse circumstances, in two days. Moreover, vv^e find upon an examination of the maps, that the coast between these latitudes, so far from ruwning continually " north-west, as if it went directly to meet with Asia,'''' does not in any part trend one point toward the west. By comparing the two accounts, we find that the first historian, (Mr. Francis Pretty,) whose relation being published immediately upon its conclusion, may be regarded as the official journal of the voyage, sets the latitude of 5th June at 43*^, while the other, whose work was not ventured before all the actors had departed from the stage, marks it 48"^. It may be that Fletcher's manuscript has it.-- degrees of latitude indicated by figures, and that a peculiarity of fsrmation has confounded 43 with 48 ; but if the inconsistency is not explained in this way, we must of necessity conclude, that the Preacher, whose hard task it was, to make robbery and ravage square with the ordinances of religion, has been gradually brought to consider romance as his peculiar province, and to estimate a serviceable fiction over a common-place fact. The character of this production of .Af r. Fletuher's appears to have been pretty well under- stood by the historians of the last century, for while but three writers previous to 1750, (and those of but little reputation,*) adopt his state- ments, tiiey are rejected by the great mass of authorities, comprising Ogilby, in his History of America, De Laet, in his History of the New World, Heylin, in his Cosmography, Locke, m his History of Navigation, Dr. Samuel Johnson, in his biography of Drake, and Dr. Robertson, in his Standard History of America, none of them allowing Drake the credit of an advance above 43^, while the latter positively states that he turned back at the 42d parallel. When in addition to the indisputable veracity of these writers, we take into consideration that they are all, with one exception, Britons, who cannot be accused of an indifference to the glory of their country, we must reject the claim "which is based upon the counter-statement, as without foundation. Even admitting the latitude thej' ask, the very principles of inter- national law they have advanced, plunges them into an inextricable difficulty. By the rule which we have extracted from Vattel, « dis- covery, to confer a title, is clogged with a proviso in the concluding •clause, that a real possession must follow soou after. Now we shall see * John Davis, Admiral Monson, and Captain Burney. 10 mSTORT OFOREGOIT. in the progress of our inquiry, that one hundred and ninety-eight yearn elapsed, before another English navigator entered the northern latitudes^ of the North-west coast. As the most romantic imagination ca» hardly construe this into being soon enough after, we shall not hesitate to strike the pretensions, on the score of Drake, from off' the record. jjgj From the date of the expedition of Cabrillo and Ferrelo ( 1543,) " we hear of no further discovery to the north, except what is- contained in the account of a voyage made by Francisco Gali or Guelli, a merchantman, who in his course from China to Mexico i» said to have reached the vicinity of the American continent, in 57i- degrees, and to have sailed along in sight of its coast, till he arrived at the bay of San Francisco, in latitude 37 J. But little reliance i» to be placed upon this account, however, as by Guelli's own statement, the land first seen by him " was very high and fair, and wholly without snow," which could not have been the case with the land in that latitude. It makes but little difference whether he is entitled to all he claimed or not, for subsequent discoveries cover all the ground which this could have occupied, if it were ever so substantial, jgg. The next discovery by the Spaniards on the North-west coast, "took place in 15S7, by Jean de Fuca,a Greek pilot, who received the direction of a squadron fitted out by the Viceroy of Mexico for the discovery of a strait which was supposed to lead into the Atlantic ocean. Arriving between latitudes 48 and 49, he fell upon the great arm of the sea which separates " Quadra and Vancouver's Island" from the continent, and which now bears his name. This he thorougly explwed along its eastern course, and having remained in it for twenty days, returned to Mexico. From the policy pursued by the Spanish Government of concealing everything that related to their American possessions, the' existence of this strait was unknown to the rest of the world for a Ions; time, and when its discoverer disclosed it to an English merchant some years afterward, it was derided as a- fable. j^^ In 1787 an Austrian vessel fell upon it and entered it to the distance of sixty miles, and as it corresponded in all its remarkable peculiarities with the one described by De Fuca nearly two hundred years before, justice was at once rendered to his memory by the bestowal on it of his name. From 1592 up to 1774, the Span- iards occupied themselves principally in forming .settlements upon the j„^^ coast and in the interior of their northern possessions ; but in the latter year, another expedition was despatched under the charge of Juan Perez, which traversed the coast up to the 54th degree, down to forty minutes of which point the Russians had already ex- tended their trading settlements. Proceeding south, Perez anchored in a spacious bay under 49°, which he named Port San Lorenzo, but which, on a subsequent visit by Captain Cook, received from that navigator, its present name of Nootka Sound. After leaving Port San Lorenzo, Pen^z saw the Strait of Fuca in his southern course, J... but did not stop to examine it. In the following year another expedition under Heceta, Bodega and Maurelle examined the whole shore fiom 40° up to 58°, and the former, on his return voyage, while between 46° and 47°, noticed an opening in the land at 46"" 16', which appeared to be a harbor or the mouth of some river. He re~ HISTORY OF OREGON. 11 1778. ported the fact, giving his opinion to that effect, and subsequent Span- ish maps accordingly laid down a river there, which they called the San Roque. We have now brought the Spanish discoveries down to 1775, to which time no other European nation had set foot upon the coasts between 38° and 54° 40', neither had any ever reached a higher lati- tude than 43°. In 1778, three years after this latter expedition, Captain Cook arrived in the North Pacific, and under 49iV' fell in with the port San Lorenzo of the Spaniards. This, he named Nootka Sound, and ascribed the merit of its discovery to himself in the face of numerous evidences that Europeans had been there before him, for he teliis us in his own account, that not only did the natives appear familiar with his ships, but he found among them articles of Spanish manufacture. Thus vanishes Cook from the shadow^' list of English discoverers of the coast of Oregon ; for until the word discovery is born again and receives a new definition, it will hardly possess sufficient elasticity of application to stretch its qualities to two distinct visitations of the same spot, separated by a distance of three years ; and unless its mean- ing is considerably enlarged, it will scarcely extend from the outside of an island twenty miles at sea, to the body of the continent behind it. Having disposed of the two main pillars of the English title, we next come to the examination of the filling in, the flimsy material of which we shall find in keeping and correspondence with the unsub- stantial quality of the first. In doing this, we shall be obliged to extend the scope of our nar- rative somewhat, as well to correct certain gross misrepresentations which have been made to the injury of the Spanish title, as to afford a proper idea of the unworthy subterfuges which the desperate di- plomacy of Britain h.is employed to effect the establishment of their own, in opposition to it. This course is necessary, moreover, to a correct understanding of the whole subject, as the circumstances to be related nearly kindled a general European war, and as they led to a treaty, whose c/a/merf concessions on the part of the English, admits virtually the integrity^ of the title of Spain. j..g In the month of January, 17S8, two Portuguese vessels named the " Felice," and " Iphigenia," arrived on the north-west coast of North America. The former was under the command of John Meares, a half-pay lieutenant in the British navy, and the latter was under the direction of William Douglas, also a British subject. They were engaged in the fur trade, and were owned by John Cavallo, a Portuguese merchant of Macao. As it is important to establish their nationality, it is necessary to state that they sailed under the Portu- guese flag, and contained instructions to their commanders written in the Portuguese language. These directed theui, in express termi?; " to oppose with force any attempt on the part of any Russian, EniiUsh or Spanish vessels to interfere with them, and if possible to capture them, to bring them to China, that tUey might be condemned as legal prizes by the Portuguese authorities of Macao, and their crews punished as pirates." This, of course, conclusively refutes the assumption that they were Eiicjllsh. The first of these Poituguese vessels, the Felice, under the command of Meares, arrived at Nootka on the 13th May, when that officer finding he would need a small 12 HISTORY OF OREOON. ( :n vessel for the shallow inlets and rivers of the coast, immeiliately com- menced building one. Leaving a portion of his crew to complete her construction, Meares sailed towards the south to examine his trading ground. He endeavored unsuccessfully to explore the Strait of Fuca, and on arriving at the portion of the coast between 46" and 47^ — the locality of the mouth of the Columbia — he sought for the great river which Heceta three years before had asserted emptied into the ocean in 46° 16'. Here he was unsuccessful again, and chagrined at the result, named the inward curve of the shore " Deception Bay^" and the northern promontory of the harbor " Cape Dmtppo'mtmeut^^^ chronicling the circumstance in his own journal in the following Words : — " Wc can novo with safely assert that there is no such river as that of Saint Roc exists, as laid down in the Spanish charts^ After his unsatisfactory search, Meares returned in the latter part of July to Nootka. In September following, the American sloop Wash- ington, Captain Gray, anchored in the same harbor. The little ves- sel commenced by Meares h'ld been completed, and received the name of the " North West America ;" and the Iphigenia, the other Portuguese vessel commanded by Douglas, arrived on the 24th of the same month. Elated with the success of his enterprise, Meaues transferred the cargo of the latter vessel to his own with the utmost despatch, and filled with new designs inspired by the result, set out four days afterward for Macao. In the following month, the ship Columbia of Boston, commanded by captain Kendrick, arrived at Nootka, and a few days afterwards, the two remaining Portuguese vessels, (the Iphigenia and the North West America) departed for the Sandwich Islands, leaving the Ame- rican vessels to winter on the coast. j^g., Meares arrived at Macao in December, and finding that Caval- " lo, his owner, had become a bankrupt, determined to turn his in- formation and position to the best account for himself. An opportunity was not long in offerins: itself to his designs. Two vessels belongins; to a rival association, called the " King George's Sound Company," arrived at Macao under the command of James Colnett, another British ofiicer under half pay. Meares immediately made overtures to an agent of that association, who came in one of the vessels (perhaps through some previous direction communicated by Meares, while all parties were on the N. W. coast together in the previous summer) to unite the interests of both concerns. The suggestion was adopted, the interests conjoined, and two vessels, the Princess Royal and the Argonaut, (the latter bearing Colnett, who had chief direction) were despatched to Nootka, with the intention of esliiblishing a permanent post there for the transaction of their trading operations. Meares re- mained at Macao as resident agent, with all the affairs of the associa- tion entirely at his control.- In the mean time, Spain, who had heard with uneasiness of the movements of the fur traders in the North Pacific, began to be alarmed lor the safety of her possessions in that quarter, and remonstrances were made by he;- to the' courts of England and of Russia, against the encroachments of the subjects of those two nations, in particular. To more effectually guard against these transgressions, as well as to resist a projected seizure of Nootka by the Russians, the viceroy of Mexi- co directed a squadron then lying at San Bias, under the command of HISTORY OF OREGON. 13 Don Esteran Jose Martinez, to proceed at once to the scene of the intended aggression. Dufore the arrival of Martinez at Nootka, the Iphigcnia and North West America, returned there from the Sandwich Islands, but in a most forlorn condition, the former being a mere wreck, and almost incapable of repair. On the Gth of May, 1780, nine days afterwards, Martinez arrived, proclaimed that he had come to take possession of the country for the crown 6f Spain, landed artillery, and commenced the erection of a fort. This was the first actual occupation ever n\ade of Nootka. The most kindly feeling prevailed among all parties for a time, and the Spanish commander afibrded the Iphigenia whatever materials she stood in need of, in order that she might go to sea immediately ; accepting in payment, bills drawn upon Cavallo, of Macao, as her owner. This amicable state of feeling lasted but a week, for upon Martinez being informed that the written instructions of the Portuguese vessels, di- rected them to seize and carry to Macao any English, Russian, or Spanish vessels, they could manage to overcome, he took possession of the Iphigenia, and put her officers and crew under arrest. They were liberated, however, in a few days, through the intercession of captain Kendrick of the Columbia, and the omcers of the Iphigenia signed a declaration to the effect that she had not been interrupted in her operations, and that they had been kindly treated by Martinez during their stay at Nootka. Viana and Douglas as captain and su- percargo, respectively, engaged to pay for themselves, and for Juan Cavallo, the owner of said vessel, to the order of the Viceroy of Mexico, her full value, in case her capture should be pronounced legal. Mar- tinez then fully equipped her for sea, and enabled her to make ^ vastly profitable voyage ; a circumstance which could not have happened without his special aid. Pretty lenient treatment for men whom he might have sent to Mexico to be tried for piracy, and a pretty hazar- dous policy moreover, when an additional force belonging '.o the same company was daily expected to arrive, which might ha .re overpow- ered him, and reversed the case by sending him, according to their instructions, to Macao, to he tried on the same charge. One of the vessels of the associated companies, the Princess Royal, arrived at Nootka on the 16th of June, and brought with her the news of the failure of Juan Cavallo ; upon which, Martinez determined to hold the North West America (then there) as security for the bills which he held on the bankrupt. The Princess Royal was well treat- ed by the Spaniards, and sailed on the second of July from Nootka on a cruise. As she was leaving the harbor, the Argonaut came in. Upon being boarded by the Spaniards, Captain Colnett arrogantly de- clared he had come to take possession of Nootka for Great Britain, and to erect a fort there under the British flag. This declaration, in connexion with some insolent conduct on the part of Colnett on the following day, who even went to the extent of drawing his sword upon the Spanish commander, in the latter's own cabin, determined Martinez to trifle no longer with such intemperate offenders, so he seized the Argonaut, and subsequently the Princess Royal, and de- spatched the former, with the crews of b')ih, to San Bias, Mexico, as prisoners under the charge of a Spanish officer. Those who were cap- tured in the North West America, which vessel was merely held as u HISTORV OF OREOOrr. r; I •j collateral security for the obligations of its owners, were sent in the Columbia as passengers to Macao, their passages not only being paid by Martinez, but an allowance being also made them for their wage*. Having thus disposed of his mission, Martinez sailed from Nootka for Mexico in November, leaving Captain Kendrick of the sloop Washing- ton alone upon the coast. The Columbia, with the news of these circumstances, arrived at .j^gj Macao in 1789, and Meares full of his wrongs immediately took ' depositions from some of the seamen, and posted off to London to see what capital he could make out of the circumstance. On his arri- val there, he got up a memorial filled with the grossest misrepre- sentations and downright falsehoods, and adopting a new idea which probably had been suggested to him after his arrival, he asserted that in 1788 he had purchased a vast district of country from King Maqui- na, the monarch of Nootka, and that he had erected a fort there, with other buildings, by way of taking formal possession of the place for the British crown. ' This remarkable document then concludes by praying for an indem- nification of the losses sustained by the memorialist and his associates^ through the seizure and detention of their vessels, in the very mode- rate sum of six hundred and fifty-three thousand dollars ! This story of the purchase of a territory for the crown of Great Britain, by a Portuguese agent, in a Portuguese expedition, is peculiarly English in its extravagant pretensions. That it was the scheme of an after- thought is evident from a number of circumstances. In the first place, Meares in his journal of these voyages, written and published before the design of the memorial was conceived, makes no mention Avhat- ever of any such purchase of territory from the respectable monarch aforesaid ; neither does he speak of the erection of the fort or the hoisting of the British flag. In the second place, he entirely overlooks these all important circumstances in the depositions which he took from the crew of the North West America previous to his departure from Canton ; (none of whom say one word about them,) and in the third, to render the assertions of the memorial on this point more than questional ble, he was able to trump up only one pretended witness in the person of a common seaman to sustain them, and that too on the very day of its presentation to parliament. It is a significant fact, moreover, that the king's speech which laid the grievances set forth in this memorial before the nation, makes no allusion to the seizure of any lands or buildings belonging to the British crown at Nootka, though ' that assumption found its way into the treaty framed shortly after ; and it is a positive fact, too, from evidence that will hereafter appear, that there were no such lands or buildings there to seize. The British government, however, demanded atonement from Spain for these outrages on its flag, but though it prudently avoided representing the Felice and Iphigenia as British vessels, it was guilty of the monstrous inconsistency of claiming for itself the discoveries and territorial acqui- sitions of an agent and employee of a Portuguese association. By way of giving weight to its demands, the armament of two large fleets was ordered, and similar warlike preparations resounded through all the naval arsenals of indignant Spain. The latter, however, being disap- pointed in expected aid from France, and being embarrassed, more- over, in her finances, and in her foreign and domestic relations, was nilTORT or OREGOK. n obliged to submit to the haughty terms imposed upon her. These •are embraced in a treaty between the two high contracting powers noo ^'g"^^ <^° ^^^ '^^^^ October, 1790, the first and second articles of which, provide for the restoration of all buildings and tracts e opinions of the leaders of the British parliament opposed to this assumption however, and we shall shortly see its dtinial by Spain. But even admitting it to be so, they gain nothing by it, for in four years afterward a war broke out between the two contracting parties, which, by the rules of international law, annulled all existing inter-arrangements that had no nrescribed limits and that depended for their continuance i\pon a state of per- fect amity, and Spain resumed at once, whatever she had resigned by the Nootka treaty, if she had in reality resigned anything at all. On the conclusion of peace, the treaty was not revived ; consequently it is a nullity, and all that Britain accomplishes by advancing her pretensions on it now, is the virtual acknowledgment of the integrity of the Spanish claims which have fallen to us, and which she had so perseveringly endeavored to acquire. This convention being concluded, the next thing was to take pos- session of the tracts of landj buildings^ forts , Sic. wrested from Mr. Meares at Nootka in 1789, and the English Government in 1791 despatched two ships under Captain George Vancouver, to effect ,the purpose. This officer arrived at Nootka on the 28th August, ' 1792, where he found the Spanish Commissioner in possession and ready to perform his share of the transfer. Negotiations between the two parties were then opened, and it became necessary '' to ascertain what lands on the North West coast of America were in the possession of British subjects, and what buildings were standing in those lands in 1789, when the Spanish first occupied Nootka." For this purpose Quadra applied to Maquina and his principal chiefs, who upon being questioned, positively denied that any lands had been bought, or any nouses built by the English at Nootka in 1789, or at any other time. The Commissioner then applied to Captains Gray and Ingraham as well as to the Portuguese captain of the Iphigenia, all of whom hap- pened to be there at the time. The two ffrst replied at length in a circumstantial account* (now on file in the office of the Secretary of State, at Washington) which, after explaining with manly fairness all the events that provoked the seizure of Colnett's vessels, contains the following paragraph : — "We observe your wish to be acquainted what house or establishment Mr. Meares had at the time the Spaniards arrived here ? We answer in a word-^none /' On the arrival of the Columbia in 1788, there was a house, or rather a hut, con- aistint; of rough posts covered with boards made by the Indiana ; but this. Captain Douglas pulled to pieces prior to his sailing to the Sandwich Islands in the same year. Tne boards he tooii on board the Iphigenia, and the roof he gave to Captain Kendrick, which was cut up and used as firewood on board the Columbia ; so that on the arrival of Don Estevan Jos6 Marlines, there was no vestige of any house remaining. As to the land Mr. Meares said he purchased from Maquina, or any other chief, we cannot say further than we never heard of any, although we remained among theae people nine months, and could converse with them perfectly well. * See Appendix, No. 4* HISTORY OK OREOON. 17 noiiilm tliJH, wo liavn •akfd M«qii!itA niiil nthor cliiofn liiicc our lito arrivnl, if <;n|)l:»iii Mi'arfii Jivnr i)urcliii--"'d iiny Uml iii Nooiku »oui. riflusivtdy rtd'utfd. VancouvtT, wlio must hav(^ . keenly lelt the morlifu'iiHou of the dileniitiB into which the nu'ndacity of Meart'8 had placed him — " tin; Irnct of land " dwindling to u hundred yards square, and the " erections " to the remains of one miserabli' hut — had no resource hut to break ofl" the nea;otiution, and wend to Hngland for new instructions. Quadra offered him the small spot temjMH'arily occupied by Meares, restricted however, with the express understanding that sitch cession should not interfere -with Ihc riphts of his catholic Mnjcsly to Nootka^ or any other portions of tlje adjoining coasts; but tlijs was refused by the Urilish comniissioner, who having sent one of his lieutenants off with despatches, Kailcd from Nontkii on thu 13th October, and left the Spaniards in pos- session of the jjort. In 1794 Vancouver left the coast without eli'ecting his object, and shortly afterwords, the Spaniards think- ing it unnecessary to kc^ep up a military force at so inconsiderable a place, withdrew to Mexico. Jn 1796, \vc have the authority of Lieu- tenant Broughton (whose conduct towards Captain Gray we shall have occasion shortly to analyse) for the statement that in the pre- vious year, (1775,) the Spaniards had delivered up th« port to Lieutenant Pearce, who had been despatched by the way of Mexico to hasten the termination of the business. This account, however, is denied by IJelKbam in his history of Great Britain, who, though a Briton himself, and tenacious of the interests of his country, says : " It is nevertheless certain from the most authentic subsequent information, that the Spanish fag, flying at the fort and settlement of ' Nootka, was ivrer struck ; and that the v}hole territory has been vir- tually rdiiujiiished by Great Britain.'''' This is by far the most re- liable story of the two, as Broughton says he derived his information from Maqninn only, who handed him a letter (he does not say from whom) to that effect, in 1796; while Belsham asserts the contrary on strength of his own inquiries and the pledge of his reputation as a historian. The latter's account is also the most probable, as Great liritain was at this time engrossed in a war with Republican France, during which she would hardly consider such an obscure and insig- nificant spot as Nootko, as worthy of so grave a notice. In 1796 Spain declared war against Great Britain, and all previously existing arrangements were rendered null and void. Having completed the abstract of the Spanish title up to 1790, our attention is next claimed for an examination of the American disco- veries, settlements, and purchases, which, in themselves, will be found sufficient to establish our rights to Oregon against the world. For the purpose of conducting the inquiry in a regular manner we shall have to turn a few years back. 2 !» KISTOttT OF OltEGOW THE UNITED STATES' TITLE. After the conclusion of the revolutionary war, the enterprise cA' our People turned immediately to commercial pursuits, and before three years had rolled over the Republic, her infant marine had plumed its wings on the billows of every ocean. As early as 1787, an asso- ciation of Bostqn merchants despatched the ship Columbia, Captain Kendrick, and the sloop Washington, Captaire Gray, to the Nortiv Pacific, t(y be engaged in the fur trade. They arrived at San Lorenzo,, or Noolka, in the latter part of September, HS^B, where, as we have seen, they spent the winter. In the following year, Captain Gray,, in the sloop, explored the Strait of Fuea for fifty miles in an east- wardly direction, and collected information from the natives on the shore, which brought him to the conclusion that the passage commu- nicated northward with the Pacitic, at an opening in latitude 61^^' which he had previously discovered, and to which he had given the- name of " Pintard's SouniJ." This opinion was the first intimation' the world ever had that Nootka was situated on an island. An erro- neous account of this expedition' was uent to England by Meares, representing that Gray had sailed through and through the strait, and had come again into the Pacific in the 56th degree of north latitude. This, while it proves Meares to be incapable of a stra^htforward story, also proves that he could not at that time have entertaifled an}' notion of claiming the island for the British crown, for such a report, by admitting the superior claim of another, is levelled directly against that assumption. Sailing north, Gray next circumnavigated, for tho first time, " Queen Charlotte's Island," lying between latitude ^l'' and 54° and believing himself to be the original discoverer, named it Washington's Isle. He was not altogether correct in this opinion, for its northern point had been reached by Juan Perez in 1774, and in 1787, it was visited by Dixon^ an English captain, who, con- ceiving it to be an island, named it after his vessel, the Queen Charlotte. In the latter part of the summer, Gray, having completed his trading operations, (ratlier unsuccessfully,) sailed on his return tO' Nootka. The Columbia left Nootka in August, 1789, for Macao, with the officers antl crew of the North-west America. On her way out she met the Washington, when it was agreed that Gray should take command of the ship, proceed to China, and from thence to the United States by the Cape of Good Hope, while Kendrick remained upon the coast. During the yeais '89 and '91; Kendrick ranged up- and down the coasts discovering nany ne^v islands, sounds, and in- lets ; and in August of tlie latter jo>r, he purchased by formal and public arrangement, and by regular deed, several large tracts of land near Nootka from Maquina, ^Vicannish, and other chiefs of the sur^ rounding country. This purchase is spoken of by tjeveral English writers, one of whom describes it, as being in " a most fertile clime, embraciiKj four degrees of latitude.'''' After making this parchase,. Kendrick sailed for the Sandwich Islands, where he was killed by the natives, at Owhyee. In September of this year, Gray returned to the Pacific in the Columbia, followed by the brig Hope, under the- tommand of Joseph Ingraham, the former mate of the Columbia. HISTORY OF OREGON. 19 51^ Four other American vessels, also bound on the fur trade, arrived shortly after, and with the Washington, made seven vessels in all, bearing the stars and stripes on the billows of the north Pacific. Gray in his return reached the coast near Cape Mendocino, and sailing northward, observed an opening in the land in latitude 46° 16', from which issued a current so strong as to prevent his near approach. Being convinced that it was the outlet of a great river, he endeavored to enter it by repeated efforts, but being defeated through a period of nine days, he abandoned the attempt and continued his course to the north. In August we find him at 54° 30' north, where he discovered the broad inlet in the continent, now called the " Portland Canal," which he navigated in a north-easterly direction to the distance of eighty miles. In the meantime the brig Hope and the other American vessels were prying in every nook and inlet of the coast, in indefatigable pursuance of their trading operations. The Columbia, after wintering at Clyoquot, a port near Nootka, , set out with her enterprising commander in the spring of 1792, to renew her explorations. It was about this time, that Vancouver arrived upon the coast to meet the Spanish Commissioner, Quadra, who was already awaiting him at Nootka. He reached the coast at about 43°, and commenced a careful search for the river, laid down on the Spanish maps at 46° 16'. Like Meares, he was unsuccessful, and declares in his journal " though he had sought for it under the 7nost favorable circumstances of wind and weather^ it was his deliberate opinion no such river existed in that latitude.'''' He sailed onward, and on the second day afterward, met Gray at the entrance of the Strait of Fuca, who in his good old ship had just left his winter quarters. Gray informed Vancouver of his northern discoveries, as well as his discovery of a great river in 46° 16' ; upon which Vancouver abruptly told him he was mistaken, and in noticing this circumstance in his journal, very complacently remarks — ^" this was probably the opening passed by us on the 27th," adding — "we have now explored a great part of the American continent, extending nearly two hundred and fifteen leagues, under the most favorable circumstances of wind and weather, and have seen no appearance of any opening in its shores, the whole coast forming one compact, solid, and nearly straight barrier against the sea." A little piqued at the Englishman's stolidity, Gray pushed on southward, determined to demonstrate the correctness of his assertions. In his course, he discovered Bulfinch's harbor, the name of which, in common with the appellations bestowed by him on his other discoveries, the British geographers have altered to suit their own purpo.ses: On the 11th May, Gray arrived opposite the entrance of the river, and heedless of the risk, in his ardent spirit of enterprise dashed boldly through the breakers on its bar, and in a few moments slid out upon the tranquil bosom of a broad and majestic river.* Gray spent nine days in it, trading meanwhile with the natives, repairing and painting his vessel, and in filling the casks of the ship with fresh water from the stream. On the 20th, after having navigated it as far as the draught of his vessel would allow, (between 25 and 30 miles) he named it after his own good ship, spread his sails to the wind, and beat out over the bar, against a head wind, into the ocean. * See Appendix, No. 5. 20 HISTORY OF OREGON". This would appear to bo pretty conclusive evidence of the discovery of sovuilhhuj. But we shall shortly see that the diplomatic keenness which could perceive a most wonderful discovery in the mere sailing past a scollop in the shore, by Meares, crowned with the assertion that no river existed in that quarter, cannot find in the actual entrance of a river, in that very place, and in its navigation to the distance of nearly thirty miles inland, any discovery at all. As xoe intend, however, to- claim it as a discovery, and to have all the rights and privileges flowing therefrom, we may as well here refer again to the rule that the nation which discovers the mouth of a river, by implication discovers the ■whole country watered by it. Applying this principle to our discovery of the mouth of the Columbia, we extend our own title with the limits of its mighty branches, from the 53d parallel on the north, to the 42d on the south ; and from their gurgling sources at the bases of the Rocky .Mountains, to the resistless volume that swells the tide of the Pacific. Having taken this principle as the rule of our rights, we will now briefly advert to the disgraceful attempt which has been made by two British officers to cheat Gray of his reward. As we allude to Van- couver and one of bia lieutenants — Uroughton, we shall have to fol- lowtheir cour.se for a while. We left them on the 7th May parting with Captain Gray at the Strait of Fuca, from which point they sailed in an easterly direction along its southern shore, landing once or twice to beat drums, blow trumpets, and display flags and gaudy uniforms to naked savages, by way of taking formal possession of the country, in violation of the solemn convention whose stipulations it was their special duty to conserve.* While they were thus engaged in amusing the innocent and unconscious natives, two Spanish schooners, named the Sutil and the Mexicana, which, under the command of Galiano and Valdes, had been engaged in a minute survey of the northern coasts, arrived in the .Strait for the purpose of thoroughly exploring that also ; and getting the start of the Britons, they led the way along its northern course. A meeting took place between the parties how- ever, and to settle all disputes and jealousies, it was agreed to make the search in company. This arrangement wsvs; faithfully carried out ; the parties entered the Pacific at Pintard's Sound, discovered by Captain Gray, and the territory on which Nootka was situated was found, according to his predictions, to be an island. The combined fleet shortly afterwards arrived at Nootka, when from the circum- stances of the joint circumnavigation, it was called Quadra and Van- converts island, the first branch of the appellation being the name of the Spanish commissioner then at that place. We have seen that no arrangement was efiected by the two commissioners, and Vancouver, in view of the hopelessness of forcing any advantage from the resolute Spaniard, prepared to take his departure. His preparations were accelerated into haste by being informed by Quadra, that the indefati- gable Yankee whom he had met in the spring, off the strait of Fuca, had succeeded in entering the river, the existence of which he (Van- couver) had denied, and, moreover, that he had explored it to a con- siderable distance from the ocean. In proof of this, Gray's charts * An omission has l>f!en niadn under the date of 1790, of a Spanish pxpedi'lion under the comiinnd of liieiiteriHiit Qitiinppr, which siirvryed the Strait of Fuca for 100 miles, disciivorini; the harbors which Vaiicotiver in tiio above espedi'ioii named " .Adrnirahy fiilct, Port Uisuovcry, Deception ratsHge," &c. H13T0UY 0*" OREGON. 21 ivere laid before him. No man likes to be defeated in his prognosti- cations and opinions, and least of ail, an Enc;lisbtnan. In this case it v/iil be readily imagined the rule was not softened with Vancouver by his rival's being iVoni Ijoston bay. Und(ir these bitter i'eelings of disappointment and chagrin, Vancouver hastily set out for the river on tlie 13th of October — five months after the discovery — vith Gray's charts and descriptions for his guides, actuated by the resolute intention of recovering his reputation by discovering it over again. On the 18th, he arrived at Bullfinch''s J^ay, the name of which, maugre Gray's charts, he changed to VVhildley's harbor, after one of his lieutenants. Finding on his arrival at the mouth of tiu.- Columbia, that the draught of his own vessel would not admit of her entrance, he sailed on to the port of San Francisco, in Calilorniu, detaching liieiitenant Broughton to the service. This worthy representative and coadjutor entered the river in the Chatham, on the 2()th of October, (five tnonths to a day from the time of Gray's departure,) and there, to his surprise, Ibund anchored the brig Jenny, of Bristol, which vessel had also got its infor- mation relative to tiieriver, fiom Psootkaa ls of the ocean, at wl.ich ])oint, by the way. Captain Gray filled the casks of his ship. The conduct of the British government in adopting such an absurd pretence as this, is sulficiently discreditable ; but when contrasted with tlH> assumption in favour of Meares, it receives an additional tinct of dishonor, and betrays & desperation of molivt? approaching to insanity. in a tSlatemenl* presented by the British plenipotentiaries in 1S2G, to the xVmerican minister, embracing a number of pro{K),si lions of about equal weight, it is alleged that Mearcs (!) is really entilletl to the merit of the discovery of the Columbia, because, " he actually ealeiod its bay in 1788, to the northern headland of which be gave the name of Cape Disappointment, a name which it bears to this day." Thii-. reasoning on both sides of the question, may be considered as the climax of argument, and the world may now rationally hope to see * Sec Appendix, No. 6. |l *'! .'hi 22 HISTORY or OREGON. the long standing proposition, that black is white and "white is black, satisfactorily estubiished by the transcendent genius of British diplo- macy. What signifies it if the doctrine in favor of Mcares lets in the superior claim of Heceta, or if the rule of Vancouver wages destruction against Meares, the proposition is fortified at both ends, and those who like ntiay fire away at either. Glorious, wise, powerful, magnanimous England ! happy art thou in the possession of diplomatists, whose sagacity has discovered that a false position backed with power, is better than a true one supported only by the illusory strength of right, and who have the moral boldness to adopt a principle, maugre the whinlngs of all the theoretical ideoligists who dream of honor, and who waste their lives in speculative lules of ethics ! From the time of the breaking out of the war between Spain and Great Britain in 1795, up to the year 1816, the monarchies of Europe were too much engaged in wrestling with the energies of revolutionary France, and in resisting the stupendous power of the Empire, to pay any attention to a region so distant and insignificant as the North West coast of the Pacific ; but the citizens of the United States, whose happy geographical position preserved them from being em- broiled in the inhuman strife, availed themselves of the peculiar fa- cilities thus otiered to them, and carried on the trade exclusively between the North West coasts and the China seas. ISO;)" Up to the year 1803, the western boundary of the United States was the river Mississippi, which shut from our possession the vast region known by the name of Louisiana, now comprising Iowa, Missouri, Missouri Territory, Indian Territory, Arkansas, and the small portion at its southern extremity which still retains the former name of all. This immense country, stretching from Canada on the north, to the Gulf of Mexico on the south, and spreading breadthwise from the Mississippi to the Rocky mountains, was origi- nally owned by France, who obtained her title to it through the dis- covery of the mouth of the great stream which drains it, by two of her missionaries, in IfifiS, and by subsequent settlements under La Sale and others. In 1763, France ceded Louisiana to Spain. In 1803. ^*^'"^ Spain ceded it back again to France, and in 1803 it was ' purchased from France by the United States for the sum of $1.5,000,000. As soon as this purchase was made, the importance of Oregon as a Pacific gate to our possessions, became at once appa- rent, and Jefferson, under the direction of Congress, commissioned Captains Lewis and Clarke " to explore the river Missouri and its principal branches to their sources, to cross the Rocky mountains and trace to its termination in the Pacific some stream, whether the Columbia, the Oregon, the Colorado, or any other, which might offer the mo.s't direct and practlcnbfe water commimication across the cunti- jj^jj,^ neut for the piirpnites of commerce.'''' In 1805, these officers and their men crossed the mountains, and descending into Oregon^ discovered a number of streams flowing westward, which, upon ex- atnination, were found to disembogue into the Columbia or some of its huge branches, whose comprehensive arms embrace within their .s[)an the 42d and o8d parallels, and roll their silver bands from the mountains to the sea. On the l.nth of November, they reached its im. '"""*•'!) anhile men that settled in their country, and treated the Indians like good relations, they resolved to defend them from King George's war- riors, and were now ready to conceal themselves in the woods, close to the wharf, from whence they would be able with their guns and arrows to shoot all tho men that should attempt to land from the English boats, while tho people in the fort could 6re at them with their big guns and rifles. This proposition was oflfered with an earnestness of manner that admitted no doubt of its sincerity ; two armed boats from the Raccoon were approaching, and, had the people in the fort felt disposed to accede to the wishes of the Indians, every man of them would have been destroyed by an invisible enemy. Mr. McDougal thanked them for their friendly offer ; but added, that notwithstanding the nations were at war, the people in the boats would not injure him nor any of his people, and therefore requested them to throw by their war shirts and arms, and receive the strangers as their friends. They at first seemed astonished at this answer ; but, on assuring them in the most positive man- ner that he was under no apprehensions, they consented to give up their weapons for a few days. They afterwards declared they were sorry for having complied with Mr. Dougal's wishes ; for when they observed Captain Black, surrounded by his ofRcers and marines, break the bottle of port on the flag-staff, and hoist the British ensign, after changing the name of the fort, they remarked, that however much one might wish to conceal tho fact, the Americans were undoubtedly made slaves ; and they were not convinced of their mistake until the sloop of war had departed without taking any prisoners." ' It is not our intention to assert that McDougal should have accepted of this offer of the Indians against his own nation, but it proves that with such friends as the aborigines of the country, the settlement could never have been seriously distressed for supplies ; and, therefore, that his representations, on which the resolution to abandon the place was based, were false. Had Mr. Hunt possessed those means of resistance, and been in McDougal's situation, the property of the company would not have been sold, and the flag upon the fort would never have been struck. The war ended in 1814, and by the treaty of Ghent, signed on the 24th December, of that year, it was declared " that all territory^ places^ and possessions whatever, taken by either party from the other during, or after the war, should be restored without delay. ^^ In accordance with the provisions of this article, the President of the United States, in October, 1817, despatched the sloop of war Ontario, with Captain Biddle and J. B. Prevost as Commissioners to Astoria, and they duly received the surrender of that place by the British authorities, on the 6th day of October, 1818. In this same year a negotiation was carried on in London, between the plenipotentiaries of the two Governments, for the settlement of a northern boundary line,* which resulted in the establish- * See Appendix, No. 7. 1814. 1616. , *« HISTORY OF OREGON. 27 )t>ent of the 49th parallel, from the north-western point of the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, as the divitl line between the British Possessions and the territory of the Staws, leaving the portion beyond the Rocky Mountains, bordering on the Pacific, subject to the restrictions of the following article : '* Art. 3. It ia agreed that any country that may bo claimed by cither party on the northwftst coast of America, westward of the Stony Mountaini, shall, together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and the naviuation of all rivers within iho same, bo free and open for the term of ten years from the date of the signature of the present Convention, to the vessels, citizens and subjects of the two Powers ; it being well understood that this agreement ia not to be construed to the prejudice of any r.laim winch either of the two high contracting parties may have to any part of the said country, nor shall if be taken to affect the claims of another Power or State to any part of the said country ; the only object of the high contracting parlies, in that respect, being to prevent disputes and difficulties among themselves." It is plain from the wording of this article that England relied very lightly upon the strength of her own claims to the territory in dispute ; the concluding clause being a virtual acknowledgment of the superior rights of Spain, whose anger is carefully deprecated, by the assurance that neither party aspired to her title, but that " their only object " in making this arrangement in regard to the common privileges of naviga- tion, fishing, &c., was to " avoid differences among themselves." It is not necessary to explain that while this arrangement goes to conclude the pretensions of its proposer it does not now in the slight- est degree affect us. The whole aim of the manoeuvre is sufficiently transparent to those acquainted with the political relations existing between the courts of Madrid and St. James at the periods of its per- formance. Impoverished and feeble Spain was looked upon by Great Britain as a much less formidable opponent than the Bepublic which had just emerged triumphantly from a war with her upon her own element. Her object, therefore, was to preclude us at all risks. She would be satisfied if she could make her own invalid title balance ours, for then she would magnanimously propose a joint relinquishment in favor of the third claimant whose cause she had so insidiously fortified.* After, this it would not have been long, of course, before exhausted Spain would have been forced to redeem one of the deep involvements incurred in the peninsular war, by turning the north west coast over to her subtle and grasping creditor. It would appear that our ministers at London divined this motive in the course of the negotiation, for an immediate offer was made on our part to Spain, and that power, wisely concluding to sell rather than to give away, closed with our overtures at once ; and thus England's over- reaching diplomacy was skilfully turned against herself. The negotiation with Spairi on this subject terminated on the 22d of February, 1819, (four months after the treaty of 1818 of which j^jg the above article is a part,) in what is now known as the " Flori- da treaty." By this treaty the United States purchased all Florida, and likewise all the territory belonging to the crown of Spain north of the 42d d?gree of latitude for the sum of five millions of dollars, in the shape of a release of that amount of claims held against her by our * This opinion ia strengthened by one of England's present offers of compromise which is, that both of us relinquish Oregon, for the common settlement of it for an independent nation, and also by her recently developed intrigues in relation to Cali- fornia and Texas. SB lUSTonV OV OIIEHON. 1818. inorclinuts, and of which tlio Unittnl States nssmnccl the payment- Tliis arran<;i!iiiont of course rner!5(;d tlie Spani.sh title in our own," and by llius reinovin!!; the only possibh; coni.licling claim, phiced tiie latter upon a basis oi'indirctl X300 ; and in ciia or non-payment, to imprison the debtor Rt their own forti, or III ilifl jail* of Canada. " And ihiiH in Hhown thnt the trade, and the civil and rriminnl juriadiciion in Oregon arn ht-ld by DritiHli aulijecia ; that American citizena are deprived of their own coinnH-rcial rnjlits ; that Ihny are hahle to be nrrei»trd on thf'ir own territory by (iniccrn iif Urili-th ciiiirtK, tried iti tlis Ainoricun doiiiniii by Uritiah jud^jea, and im- prisoned or hunj; iiccnrding to thn lawa ot the Uritiah empire, for acta don« within the lerritorini limits of the U«pubhc.*' We have hore an example of the very llbernl construction the British govornmont have put upon th« common right to " navi- gate the bays, creeks and harbors of the coast. In defianoe of 8 treaty expressly denying the arrogation of any riu;ht of sovereignty on the part of either of the high contracting parties over the other, it has seized upon the chief prerogatives, nay, the very essence of sovereignty itself, by the establishment of courts of judicature throughout the territory, and by the positive enforcement of its laws on all within it. That this course justifies any extremity of counter action on our part, in the shape of immediate occupation, or otherwise, is plain to the judgment of any unbiassed mind. Indeed, when we consider the inimical influences that have been unfairly brought to bear upon the interests of our citizens — withering their enterprise and para- lyzing their energies — we can hardly restrain from advocating retalia- tory proceedings to fulfil the measure of redress.* Having traced, in regular detail, the progress of every important event connected with the discovery and settlennent of the North West coast and the territory of Oregon, we may now take a brief and com- prehensive view of the whole subject, for the purpose of measuring at a glance the aspect and merits of the entiie question. We find, then, that a piece of territory, comprising four hundred thousand square miles, and lying on the North West coast between parallels 42"^ and 54° 40' north, is claimed by Great Britain and the United states respectively. We find that the English Government advance international law in support of their claims, and base their pretensions upon the prin- ciples which confer title by discovery, and which bestow the posses- sion and sovereignty of the whole region drained by a river and its tributaries, upon the discoverer of its mouth ; and we find that they have nothing better to oflTer than the voyages of Drake and Cook to entitle them to the benefits of the first, and that they seek to secure the latter by the exploits of Meares and Vancouver ! The United States accept these propositions, rebutting all the flimsy pretensions by which they are sought to be sustained on the other side, by the Spanish title ; and confirming its own, independent of both, on the exclusive merits of having first discovered, first ex- plored, and first settled the territory in question. The conclusions are established in the oiuer following. First — We find that Spain, whose claims are ours by purchase, * We have learned by recent information from Oregon, that the American aet- tlcrs beyond the Koci