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Lorsque Ie document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmi it partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant Ie nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 • f : : 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 •n n v2 t w -S'! T? »»-. -a'l ■ ORECiOlW HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. CONTAINING A FULL AND ACCUBATE DESCRIPTION OF THE GODNTRT, A NARRATIVE OF THE DISCOVERIES AND SETTLEMENTS CONNECTED WITH IT, AND ALSO OF THE DISPUTED CLAIMS OF GREAT BRITAtN AHO AMERICA. miWi.'-*'*' TO WHICH IS ADDED THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. THIRD EDITION. BRADFORD: Prtnted anH Sold by S. Ibbetson* And also Sold by A. IIEYWOOD, Bookseller, Oldham Street, Manchester, And by all Booksellers in Town and Country. 184:0* pf/'xHE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. I To THE Senate of the United States — In answer to the inquiry of the Senate, contained in tbeir resolution of the 17th instant, I whether, in my "judgment, any circumstance connected with, or growing out of the foreign re- I hiiions of tills country, require at this time an increase of our naval or military force," and if so, " what those circumstances are," I have to express the opiuiou that a wise precaution demands sucli increase. In my annual message of the 2d December last, I recommended to the favourable consideration of Congress an incrt^ase of our naval force, especially of our steam navy, and the raising of au adequate military force to guard and protect such of our citizens as might think proper to emigrate to Oregon. Since that period, I have seen no cause to recall or modify these recommendations. On the contrary, reasons exist which, in my judgment, render it proper not only that they should be promptly carried into effect, but tliat additional provision should be made for the public defence. The consideration of such additional provision was brought before appropriate Committees of the two Houses of Congress, in answer to calls mode by them in reports prepared, with my sanc- tion, by the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy, on the 30th December, and the 8th January last ; a mode of communication with Congress not unusual, and under existing circum- stances believed to be most eligible. Subsequent events have confirmed me in the opinion tbM these recommendations were proper and precautionary measures^ It was a wise maxim of the father of his country, that "to be prepared for war, is one of the' most efficient means of preserving peace ;" and that, "avoiding of occasion of expense by culti- vating peace," we should "remember, also, that timely disbursements to prepare for danger fre- quently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it." The general obligation to perform thi» duty is greatly strengthened by facts known to the whole world. A controversy respecting tlie Oregon territory now exists between the United States and Great Britain ; and while as far a» we know, the relations of the latter with all European nations are of the most pacific character, she is making unusual and extraordinary armaments and warlike preparations, naval and military^ both at home and in her North American possessions. It cannot be denied that, however, sincere may be the desire of peace, in the event of a rup-' ture those instruments and preparations would be used against our country. Whatever may have been the original puiiiose of these preparations, the fact is undoubted that they are now proceeding, in part at least, with a view to the contingent [iossibility of a war with tlie UniteA •States. The general policy of making additional warlike preparations was distinctly announced^ in the Speech from the Throne, as late as January last, and has since been reiterated by the Ministers of tlie Crown in both Houses of Parliament. Under this aspect of our relations with Great Britain, I cannot doubt the propriety of increasing our means of defence, both by land and sea. This can give Great Britain no cause of offence, nor increase tlie danger of a rapture. If, on the contrary, we should fold our lu-ms in security, and at last be suddenly involved in hostili- ties for the maintenance of our just rights, without any adequate preparation, our responsibility to the country would be of the gravest chai-acter. Should collision between the two couotries be avoided, as I sincerely trust it may be, the additional charge upon the treasury, in making the necessary preparations, will not be lost ; while, in the event of such a collision, they would be indespensable for the maintenance of our national rights and national honour. I have seen no reason to change or modify the recommendations of my aunnal message in re^ gard to the Oregon question. The notice to abrogate the treaty of the 0th of Augpist, 1827, i» authorised by the treaty itself, and cannot be regarded as a warlike measure ; and I cannot with- hold my strong conviction that it should be promptly given. The other recommendations are in conformity with the existing treaty, and woiild afford to American citzens in Oregon no more than the same measure of protection which has long been extended to British subjects in that territory. The state of our relations with Mexico is still in an unsettled condition. Since the meeting of Congress another revolution has taken place in that country, by which the Government has passed into the hands of new rulers. This event has procrastinated, and may possibly defeat, the settlement of the differences between the United States and that country. The Minister of the United States to Mexico, at the date of the last advices, had not been received by the exist- ing authorities. Demonstrations of a character hostile to the United States continue to be made in Mexico, which has rendered it proper, in my judgment, to keep nearly two-thirds of our nrmy on our south-western frontier. In doing this, many of our regular military post* have been reduced to a small force, inadequate to their defence, should an emergency arise. In view of these "circumstances," it iu my "judgment" that "an increase of oar naval and military force is ut this time required." to place the country in a suitable state of defence. At the same time it is my settled purpose to pursue such a course of policy as may be best calculated to preserve, both with Oraat Britain and Mexico, an honourable peace; which nothing will so effectually promote, as unanimity in our oouncilB, and a Arm maintenance of all our just rights. JAMES K. POLK. Waahington, Maioh 24, 1846. ' 4 OREGON. The Oregon is a vast tenitory situated between tlie42o and rj3o north lat. and llOoaud 1-330 vest long. It contains 3t)3,000 square miles, is three times as large as Great Britain and Ireland, and of equal extent to the 13 original states of America. On tlie coast is Vancouver's Island which is 260 miles in l«ngth, and 50 in breadth, and contains 12,000 square miles — hero the Mormons, it is said, intend to take refuge from the fierce persecution which they have en- dured in the western states of the Union ; also Queen (.'harlotte's or Washington's Island, 150 miles in length and 50 in breadth, containing an area of 5,000 square miles. This territory is Ijounded on the east by Canada and tli« United States, on the west by the Pacitic Ocean, on the north by the British and Russian possessions, and on the south by Mexico. It is divided from Canada and the United Ttates on the east by the Rocky Mountaius, a long range stretching par- allel with the Pacific from Isthmus of Panama almost to the Artie Oceuu; uud presenting a «orresponding 'Chain to the Andes in the southern hemisphere. " Among the Indians and early explorers this range was known as the C'hippewyan ]\Tountains. Rising in the midstot'vast plains and prairies, traversing several degrees of latitude, dividing the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific, and securing to bind with diverging ridges the level regions on its flanks, it has been figuratively termed " the backbone of the norlherit coiUhictit. They consist of ridges, knobs and peaks viu-iously disposed, some of them from the height of 15,000 to 25,000 feet above tlie level of the sea. The more elevated parts of them are covered with perpetual snow, which gives them a brilliant and luminous appearance ; and from this they are sometimes termed " The Sh'uihif) Mountains" Some parts of this range bear traces of volcanic action, and vestiges of extinguished craters are to be seen on the elevated heights, while some of the adjoining vallies are strewed with broken stones of volcanic origin. In the rugged defile and deep vallies of these mountains are the haunts or places of refuge of tribes of savages once tlie inhabitants of the prairies, but now broken up and scattered by war and violence."* — driven by the wrongs and cruelties of the free and enlightened citzens of the states to findu home in these mountain fastnesses where, for from the abodes of civilized man, they may enjoy the life which God has given them. The river from which the territory derives its name is a prominent feature of the country, and is very frequently referred to in the disputed claims. By the Americans it is termed the ''Columbia." that name being given to it by Captain Gray in 17U1, in honour of his ship which anchored at Its mouth. This trivial circumstance is announced with a great flourish of trum- pets by the Americans, tho' it cannot in any way prove the validity of the American claims from the fact that the name "Oregon," a purely fabulous one, was given by Carver, a British subject, in 1706, and which name it had borne for a quarter of a century before Gray's pretended dis- covery. Before the year 1760, the river was described in Spanish charts as the St. Roc. The whole territory has been termed the Valley of Oregon, and on this (as is afterwards adverted to) the Americans found a claim to the sovereignty in right of Captain Gray's alleged discovery, on the principle that in the case of discovery of a river, the right of sovereignty extends to the whole region drained by it. The total length of the river is about 1,000 miles, it has its source in the Rocky Mountaius, within 200 miles of the head waters of the Missouri, and receives many tributary streams before it disembogues in the Pacific. After flowing for 400 miles, it nnites with Clarke's river from the east, a stream of considerable size and importance, (called after the American traveller) and leading to one of the passes in the Rocky Mountains, It con- tinues its course first west and then south to its union with Lewis's liiver, the lai'gest tributary in the territory, named after Clarke's fellow traveller, which intersects the country to the borders of California. These rivers and innumerable small branches drain the country in every direction and abound with fish and beaver. The river Oregon is a mighty stream. For 30 or 40 miles from its mouth it is indented with deep bays, so as to vary from to 7 miles in width, and at a distance of 50 miles from its en- trance is two miles in breadth. Though it does not possess all the facilities for navigation of the Missisippi or Missouri, arising principally from the difliculty of ingress or egress from the Pacific, yet, in the present state of engineering and steam navigation, with little difficulty and moderate outlay, steamers similiar in power and draught to those that navigate the St. Lawrence, may ascend the Oregon to within a short distance of the Rocky Mountains. At 180 mi|es from the sea it meets the tide and disembogues in the Pacific, between Capes Adtun, and Disappoint- ment, in north lat. 46 24'. t- _ -' -V i '' ^' ' I-— The following description of I, the climate, resources, and value e country by a lafe resident theret will give a. g^eral idea of e of the teiTitorf . -^ \ ^\ \ \ L^ R /- ^ K i .^ p f l^t^ldgDik irtllil? ' -■ ^ + A, Simpson, Usi- *< In deHcribiiig the conntry it will be deHirable to oousider it in the diviaious wliich the differ- ont claims and propositions mark out. There arc : — I St. " Tl»e country between ftflo and 40o N., which were the most moderate of the American propositions given effect to, would fall to the share of Great Britain. 2nd. " The country between 49o and the Columbia River, which, (with a slight reservation to be adverted to) might some years ago have been secured for England. 3rd. " The country between the Columbia River and 42o, the Spanish (now Mexican) boundary acknowledged by the United States in 1810. " The first of the above divisions has a coast Hue of about 500 miles ; its breadth is about 350 miles. It thus forms a territory of 175,000 square miles, exclusive of the adjacent island — Queen Charlotte's — which has an area of upwards of 5,000 square miles. " This extensive territory is, at present, occupied solely by Indians, and by a fow officers and servants of the Hudson's Bay Company, engaged in the fur trade. This trade is conducted at two positions on the coast, and six in tlie interior country ; the coast trading houses being sup- plied by a coasting vessel from Vancouver, while the wants of the establishments in the upper country are supplied by land transport from the northern waters of the Columbia, The Indians of the coast are numerous, fierce, and treacherous. Their natural intelligence considerable ; and, occtipying a country in which deer and fish are abundant, they are but little dependant on the traders. In the interior country, the natives are much inferior in character and position. " This extensive tract is quite unfit for agricultural settlements. It is sterile and rocky; and its climate, though not so cold as that of the eastern side of America under the same lati- tudes, is more than equally objectionable from continual rainn during six months of the year, and dense fogs during the other six months. The shores are covered with forests of pines of peculiar value for ship-building ; and numerous indications have been observed of the existence of strata of coals, and mines of Iron. " The second division of territory has a coast line of two hundred miles, and its breadth (to the northern branch of the Columbia, which here runs parallel to the coast) is about the same, thus forming an area of forty thousand square miles. " This district is also, at present, valuable to civilized man only for the few furs traded with its Aborigines. The agricultural settlement at Fort Vancouver supplies merely the wants of those engaged in the fur trade, and another attempted on the Cowlitz River, near the straits of Juan de Fuca, has failed of success The country is not so rugged as that which I before described ; the climate is also better ; and the soil though not naturally fertile, is capable of successful cultivation. " To this division the extensive island known as • Vancouver's,' may be considered to belong. This island has an area of nearly twelve thousand square miles, and it possesses far greater advantages, in soil and natural configuration for settlement, than the adjacent parts of the continent. " The diplomatists of the United States would, I have learnt from good American authority, until the present excitement arose, have surrendered both the above regions to England, with the reservation of the tract bounded by the Columbia River on the south, the Straits of Fuca on the north, the Pacific on the west, and the Cowlizt River on the east. This reservation would have given to their country the command of the Columbia River for fifty miles from its mouth. " In describing the third section of country, the most prominent subject is the River Columbia, which forms its principal outlet to the ocean. " The valley of the Columbia for one hundred and fifty miles from the sea, is to a distance of twenty miles covered by a dense forest of trees of gigantic growth, quite beyond the efforts of puny man to clear away. Open plains do occur, but they are few and far between, and not adapted for settlement, in consequence of the want of water in summer. The climate is but in- different. The rainy season extends from November to March, and the quantity of rain poured down upon the earth during that period is very great. Frost and snow are uufrequent. The summer is dry, and the heat intense and long continued, the themometer for four months fre- quently attaining 100' in the shade. " The country higher up the river is much in contrast to this. More distant from the wide Pacific, rains are here uufrequent ; the woods give place to plains of immense extent, and health and vigour are enjoyed by the residents, instead of the langour and depression felt by those of the valley." Until within a late period the Indians and the Officers of the Hudson's Bay Fur Company, have been almost the only inhabitants of Oregon. The manners, customs, and mythology of the Indian tribes possess a high degree of interest, but our space precludes all reference to them here. The trade in this region is conducted principally under the auspices of the Hudson's Bay Fur Company. The whole number of its officers and servants resident in the region does not exceed three hundred. They are as mingled motley and unwarlike a rabble as can be well imagined. Ilcbridcans, Orkneymeu, Canadians, and Sandwich Islanders, being in about equal numbers."* A. Simpson, Esq. In is give In of Mex Sound, In the mo In entran In save In the ter , Fuca ; northv ;His li( river Engla At (now of the Onhii S In ,the Bi houou i by lie ' In I ment i ; and tr I Bolon i ocrosE theC In h tli« differ- e American reservation T Mexican) 1th is about ent island — officers and onducted at s being sup- n the upper The Indians onsiderable ; ependant on position. and rocky; e same lati- of the year, 1 of pines of he existence breadth (to ut the same, traded with ;he wants of he straits of lich I before is capable of red to belong. !s far greater it parts of the an authority, (England, with ts of Fuca on ■ration would n its mouth, ver Columbia, a distance of the efforts of 'een, and not late is but in- f rain poured iquent. The r months fre- rom the wide !Dt, and health It by those of Fur Company, I mythology of erence to them son's Bay Fur oes not exceed irell imagined, al numbers."* Tlirougliout the Oregon territory are scattered from thirty to forty American Missionaries, Wesleyans and Presbyterian — who, in addition to their spiritual labours exert a considerable pol- itical influence. There are also " several French Canadian Priests labouring in this wilderness, and puttiug to shame the eflorts of their protestant brcthern after self aggrandisement by a singleness of purpose (which purpose is prupiujandhm) and entire devotion thereto."* The principal settlement deserving notice is that formed on the banks of the Widlainatte, flowing from the south into the Columbia, opposite Fort Vancouver ; a spot admirably adapted for the purpose. This settlement was founded by the officers and servants of the Hudson's Day Company, of whom "Many had wed a savage woman who had raised for them a dusky race."* Mr. Simpson thus describes his visit to the settlement : — " I spent several days in the Wallamatte Colony in May, 1840. It then contained about one hundred families. By far the greater port of these were French Canadians and their descendants. They formed a very respectable, and, considering the country and their previous mode of life, and very regular congregation, ministered to by Monsieur Blauchette, a most estimable and in- defatigable priest of the Roman Catholic faith. A few Americans hud also located themselves — etrag;;lers from whale ships and trapping parties : and the Wesleyan mission consisted of four familiu-s, comprising a clergyman, a surgeon, a schoolmaster and schoolmistress, and an agricul- ;tural overseer, undart of the said country ; the only object of the high contracting parties in that resiMJct being, to prevent disputes and differences among themselves." In 1824 the same offers were respectively made and refused for the same reasons, and the convention of lhl8 was left unchanged. In 1840, the same offer was again made by the United States, under the administration of Mr. Adams, with the addition of the free navigation of the River Columbia, south of that latitude. The negociation of this year result^d in the convention of 1827, " by which it was agreed to con- tinue in force, for an indefinite period, tlie p/ayisions of the tliird article of the convention of the 20th of October, 1818; and it wati further provided, that it shall be competent, however, to either of the contracting parties, in case either shall think 6t, at any time after the 2Uth of Oclo her, 1828. on giving a due notice of twelve months to the other contracting party, to annul and abrogate this convention ; and it shall, in such case be according entirely annulled and abroga- ted after the expiration of the said term of notice." This was the state of the question when Mr. Polk succeeded to the presidency of the United States. The Oregon had just become a popular question, and his administration adopted the popular cry for their line of policy. At the time when Mr. Polk came into olHce, the matter was then the subject of negociation, and great fault has been found with him in interfering before the negociatious had terminated, as evincing a desire to keep the matter from being dually settled. The President's first official notice of this subject is contained in the following : — Extract from Polk's inaugural address delivered March 4th, 1845 : — "Nor will it become in a less degree my duty to assert and maiutoin by all constitutional means the right of the United Slates to that portion of our territory which lies beyond the Rocky Mountains. Our title to the country of the Oregon is clear and unquesliunMc, and already are our people prepiuing to per- the first whito ie fullowed tlie ish Flags and nession of the kVest Fur Com- lunrntive nature ; to the North iith of the river vith China. lu I aud the crew Ic. The fort of yielded to the iices, territoricfl, situated on tlio I trading estab- kiin I^iver, and •re Bohl to the te BritiHli to the rtune to And an nagie of iiis pen tlie appearauce a celebrity Utile I United Stattes itiou of the 4!) Oregon territory iiistration of Mr. d to the Pacific. iiin8 to its junc- thc Columbia to m of a Rinall de- belong to Groat >f that year, by the norlli-west hours, bays aud )r the term of 10 itzeus, and sub- be construed to have to any part r or state to any it respect beiug, reasons, and the idtninistration of h of that latitude, ras agreed to cou- Eouveution of the ;eut, however, to the ^Oth of Oct I) :ty, to annul and illed aud abroga- cy of the United ition adopted the ;e, the matter was interfering before LUg finally settled. * • — ill it become in a bt of the United Our title to the preptuing to per- fect tliat title by occupying it with their wives and children. But 80 years ago our population i was confined on the west by the ridge of the Alleghanies. Within that period, within the life- I time I might say, of some of my hearers, increasing to many millions, have filled the eastern valley of the Mirfsissipi, adventurously ascended the Missouri to its head springs and are already engaged in establishing the blessings of self-government in vallies of which the rivers flow to sthe Pacific. The world beholds the peaceful triumphs of the industry of our emigrant!?. To us belongs the duty of protecting them adetiuately wherever they may be upon our soil. The juris- diction of our laws, and the benefits of our republican institutions should be extended to them in the distant regions which they have selected for their homes. The increasing facilities of Intercourse will easily bring the States, of which the formation in that part of our territory ean- ■jiot be long delayed, within the sphere of our federative Union, lu the meantime, every Dbligation imposed by treaty or conventional stipulations should be sacredly respected." CLAIMS or anEAT DBITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES. ' In 1843, the Oregon country was brought prominently into notice, principally by the writings fcf Washington Irving. Emigration to that territory had just commenced, and for the first tine fcince \wn, the disputed claims occupied the attention of the respective governments. ' In the year 1H4S, necociations were opened in London, aud in lH-14, were trausferred to tVashington. The correspondence, conducted by Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Buchanan, American Secretaries of State, and Mr. I'eekenham, the British Minister at Washington, is valuable and ^iteresting in the extreme, as it embraces a view of the riueslion from 1818 to the present time i^the respective claims being stated at length. ' The American claims to the Oregon ai'e based npon — • The nights America derived from Spain ) — ' The Rights America derived from France ; — and upon ■ The Discoveries, Explorations, and Settlements of American citzons. ' THE niOHTS AMERICA DERIVED FROM SI'AIN. In the year 1810, Spain ceded Florida to the United State, and with it all the rights, claims (md pretensions of his Catholic Miyesty, the King of Spain, to the country lying west of the i|{ocky Mouutaus and north of the ■k'i degree parallel. Aud on this cession America founds a tlaiin to Oregon. ' It may be remarked that the Oregon was the subject of negociation in 1818, whereas, tills Florida treaty was not concluded until a year after that date. ' In opposition to this claim it is urged, / 1st. That Spain could only have any claim from the discoveries of her navigators, and that I)rake, an Englishman, sailed along this coast anterior to their alleged discoveries. 2nd. That Spain acknowledged the right of Great Britain to these territories by the Nootka Sound convention in 1700. The Nootka convention had its rise in the following circumstances : John Mears, a British iubject, landed at Nootka in 17H8, aud founded an establishment there. This establishment Ivas token possession of by the Spaniards, acting uuder the orders of the Viceroy of Mexico. Mears appealed to the British Government for redress, and the convention of 1790 was the result. c That convention provides, by its first and second articles, for the restoration of the lands and buildings of which the subjects of Great Britain had been dispossessed by the Spaniai'ds, and the payment of an indemnity for the injuries sustained. "And 5. As well in the places wliich are to be restored to the British subjects, by virtue of the first article as in all other parts of the lortli-western coasts of North America, or of the Islands adjacent, situate to the north of the Vf the parts of the said coast already occupied by Spain, wherever the subjects of either of the Iwo powers shall have made settlements since the month of April, 1780, or shall hereafter make ty, the subjects of the other shall have ftee access, and shall carry ou their trade without dis- rbauce or molestation " :■. This treaty was ratified by that of 1814, and after that the cession of the claims, rights, and retensions of his Catholic Majesty the King of Spain, to all territory north of the 42 parallel of as much value as is the grant of the whole coixtiueut of America by the Pope to his Catho- Be Majesty's Predecessors, } To tlii'<, Mr. Buchanan replies, "that tlie declaration of war by Spain against Great Britain £17!H), annulled its provisions and Areed the parties from its obligations." Mr. Pakenham phes. that "the stipulation of the Nootka Sound Convention might have been considered as jicelled, in consequence of the war which subsequently took place, were it not that by the ireaty concluded at Madrid on the 28th of August, 1814, it is declared "that all the treaties of •ommerce which liad subsided between the two nations (Great Britain and Spain) in 1706, were Ihereby ratified and confirmed." A most triumphant answer. THE RIGHTS AMERICA DERIVED FROM FRANCE. The treaty of 1703 between France and England provided, that " the confines between the fominions of his Brittanic Majesty in that part of the continent of America shall be fixed irre- ocablr by a line drawn along the middle of the river Mississipi from its source to the river berville, &c." The treaty Louisania transferred and vested in the United States all the claims acquired by France aad surrendered by England, among the rest, all country to the west of the Mississifi fyet, and according to tlie American interpretation of that treaty, to the 9i;?J[?Pj65il?jtyj \0 8 In oppoiiitlon to this it is urged, that the boundariei of LouisanU never extended beyond the •ources of the Missouri and MisBisaipi, or, at the farthest, beyond the cast of the Rocky Moun- tains, and also the opinio President Jefferson, (no mean authority) under whose auspices the acquisition of Louisania was accomplished, In a letter written by him in August, 1803, are to be found the following words : — "The boundaries (of Louisiana), which I deem not admitting question, are the high lands on on the western side of the Mississipi, enclosing all its waters (Uie Missouri of course^, and ter- minating in the line drawn from the north-west point of the LaJte of the Woods to the nearest source of the Mississipi, as lately settled between Great Britain and the United States." " In another and more formal document, dated in July, 1807 — that is to say, nearly a year after the return of Lewis and Clarke from their expedition to the Paciflo, and fifteen years after Gray had entered the Columbia River — is recorded Mr. Jefferson's opinion of the impolicy of giving offence to Spain by any intimation that the claims of the United States extended to the Pacific ; and wc have the authority of an American Idstorian, distinguished for the attention and research wliich he has bestowed on the whole subject of the Oregon Territory, for concluding that the western boundaries of Lousiana, as it was ceded by France to the United States, were those indicated by nature — namely, the high lands separating the waters of the Mississipi from those faUing into the Pacific." Vide official Correspondence. AHBBICAN CLAIMS ?BOM DIBCOVSBT, &C. The claim of the American government on the ground of discovery, is based on the alleged discovery of the River Columbia by Gray, in 1702. But that river was known long before Gray'H voyage — and his giving the name of his ship to the river is no proof of discovery whatever, as before that time the river was described in Spanish Charts as the 8t. Roc. This pretended dis- covery of Gray was in no way official or followed by any mark of recognition by the American government ; for so late as the year 1820, the American plenipotentarien in London remarked ; — "W.i:h respect to the mouth of the Columbia river, we know nothing of Gray's discoveries but through the British accounts," The claim to the Oregon by virtue of this alleged discovery of Gray on the assomption that the claim of discovery in case of a river extends to tlte region drained by it is opposed on the following reasons : — a. On Uie discovery of the waters of the Columbia by Carver, in 1708, which is undisputed ; and b. On the discovery of Frazer's River by Sir Alexander Mackenzie, in 1792, which is also undisputed. If the former assumption of the right of discovery of a river extends to the entire legion drained by it be idlowed in the case of Gray, it also holds good in the case of Frazer's river, and the head waters of the Columbia, and, therefore, the American offer of the 40o is, in fact, no compromise whatever, as the region north of that degree is drained by the head waters of the Columbia and Frazer's river. 2nd. On theexploratioiwofLewM and Clarke in 1805, and their discovery of the South branch of the Columbia. To this claim it is urged, that this discovery could give no better title, if so good, as the dis- covery of Mackenzie in 1702; or Thompson in 1811. 4th. On the settlement of Astoria, lo this is replied, that the British North West Fur Com- pany had settlements in Oregon in 1806 vid that Astoria was sold to the above company during the last war and has remained in its possession to the present time. THE BBiTiSH CLAIMS TO oBEOOH will be obvious from the replies to those of America. They may be thus briefly stated : — 1st, From the rights which Great Britain held in common with Spain not only over Oregon, but that part of California north of the harbour of St. Francisco ; which were acknowledged in the Nootka Convention, in 1700, and ratified by the treaty of Madrid, in 1814. 2nd. From the Discoveries of Drake in 1680, of Cook in 1776, of Captains Berkley and Dun- can in 1787, from the settlement at Nootka in 1788, from the discoveries of Vancouver and Broughton in 1792, of Mackenzie in the same year, and of Thompson in 1811. drd. From a continuous occupation from 1788. 4th. From a threefold greater contingnity ^han the United States. In this negociation Great Britain offered, in addition to former propositions, to moke free to America any ports, either on Vancouver's Island or on the coast, and also • separate pwdon of territory on the north of the river; America withdrew the former oflbr to make free the naviga- tion of the Oregon river to both nations. In December last negociations were again opened at Washington by an offer from the British Minister to refer the dispute to the arbitration of any Sovereign or State to be agreed upon by the contending parties ; or if there should be an objection to a crowned head, to a mixed eom- mission with an umpire, or a board of legal commissioners. The American Government replied, that if it would arbitrate at all, it would never consent to any other question than that of "Title ; and, ftirther, that the claims and interests of the United States will not admit of arbitration. On the 9th ult. the American House of Representatives, by a miyority of 163 to 64, Resolved that the President of the Uni'ed States cause notice to be given to the Oovemment of Great Britain that the convention iot the joint occupation of Oregon be^abrogaied and annulled at the expiration of twelve months. - .'v-**- .. This is the present state of the question. The violent speeol^eB of AUen and Quincy Adams, and the popular war ory The Whole Oregon or None, give liiUe Kope for peaee-'COine what may kded beyond tl>« le Rooky Moun- whose auspice* ds : — lie high lands on sourae^, aiid ter- to the uearettt StateH." , uearly a year teen yearH after the impolicy of extended to the the attention and for concluding ited States, were Mississipi ftoin on the alleged ng before Oray'8 ry whatever, as is pretended dis- l)y the American ndon remarked ; ny's discoveries illeged discovery nda to tlte region undisputed ; and , which is also Is to the entire lase of Frazer's >t the 40O is, ia ihe head waters y of the South ;ood, as the dis- West Fur Com- oompany during >se of America. ly over Oregon, koknowledged in erkley and Dun- Vancouver and to make liree to •rat* pwtion of kee the naviga- Grom the British agreed upon by } a mixed eom- remment replied, an that of Title ; r arbitration, to 64, Resolved nment of Great [annulled at the i Quincy Adams, -come wh«t m»y