{"AIPUUID":[{"label":"AIPUUID","value":"54899811-1a27-41ea-bbd9-50ba2bda797f","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/terms#identifierAIP","classmap":"oc:DigitalPreservation","property":"oc:identifierAIP"},"iri":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/terms#identifierAIP","explain":"UBC Open Collections Metadata Components; Local Field; Refers to the Archival Information Package identifier generated by Archivematica. This serves as a link between CONTENTdm and Archivematica."}],"AggregatedSourceRepository":[{"label":"AggregatedSourceRepository","value":"CONTENTdm","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/dataProvider","classmap":"ore:Aggregation","property":"edm:dataProvider"},"iri":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/dataProvider","explain":"A Europeana Data Model Property; The name or identifier of the organization who contributes data indirectly to an aggregation service (e.g. Europeana)"}],"AlternateTitle":[{"label":"AlternateTitle","value":"[Oregon Historical Quarterly]","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/alternative","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:alternative"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/alternative","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; An alternative name for the resource.; Note - the distinction between titles and alternative titles is resource-specific."}],"CatalogueRecord":[{"label":"CatalogueRecord","value":"http:\/\/resolve.library.ubc.ca\/cgi-bin\/catsearch?bid=7951155","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isReferencedBy","classmap":"edm:ProvidedCHO","property":"dcterms:isReferencedBy"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isReferencedBy","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; A related resource that references, cites, or otherwise points to the described resource."}],"Collection":[{"label":"Collection","value":"British Columbia Historical Books Collection","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:isPartOf"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included."}],"Contributor":[{"label":"Contributor","value":"Young, Frederic G.","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/contributor","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:contributor"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/contributor","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource.; Examples of a Contributor include a person, an organization, or a service."}],"Creator":[{"label":"Creator","value":"Oregon Historical Society","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/creator","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:creator"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/creator","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; An entity primarily responsible for making the resource.; Examples of a Contributor include a person, an organization, or a service."}],"DateAvailable":[{"label":"DateAvailable","value":"2016-12-01","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","classmap":"edm:WebResource","property":"dcterms:issued"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; Date of formal issuance (e.g., publication) of the resource."}],"DateIssued":[{"label":"DateIssued","value":"1921","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","classmap":"oc:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:issued"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; Date of formal issuance (e.g., publication) of the resource."}],"Description":[{"label":"Description","value":"\"Title varies: v. 1-26 (March 1900-June 1926) as Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society. Supersedes the society's Sources of the history of Oregon. Indexed in International index. Table of contents for each issue; index for annual bound volumes. A cumulative index for v. 1-40 (1900-1939) was published in 1941. Cumulative index for v. 41-60 in process.\" -- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 160.
\"Title varies. To vol.26, December, 1925, as Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society. Superseded the Society's Sources of the history of the Oregon. Indexes for annual bound volumes; cumulative indexes for vols. 1-40, 1900-1939, and vols.41-60, 1940-1960. Also indexed in the International Index. Includes articles and reviews of importance for the pre-colonial period of British Columbia.\" -- Strathern, G. M., & Edwards, M. H. (1970). Navigations, traffiques & discoveries, 1774-1848: A guide to publications relating to the area now British Columbia. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 230.","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/description","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:description"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/description","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; An account of the resource.; Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, a table of contents, a graphical representation, or a free-text account of the resource."}],"DigitalResourceOriginalRecord":[{"label":"DigitalResourceOriginalRecord","value":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/collections\/bcbooks\/items\/1.0342889\/source.json","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/aggregatedCHO","classmap":"ore:Aggregation","property":"edm:aggregatedCHO"},"iri":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/aggregatedCHO","explain":"A Europeana Data Model Property; The identifier of the source object, e.g. the Mona Lisa itself. This could be a full linked open date URI or an internal identifier"}],"Extent":[{"label":"Extent","value":"364 pages : map (1 folded), illustrations, advertisements ; 22 cm","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/extent","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:extent"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/extent","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; The size or duration of the resource."}],"FileFormat":[{"label":"FileFormat","value":"application\/pdf","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/format","classmap":"edm:WebResource","property":"dc:format"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/format","explain":"A Dublin Core Elements Property; The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource.; Examples of dimensions include size and duration. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as the list of Internet Media Types [MIME]."}],"FullText":[{"label":"FullText","value":" THE QUARTERLY\nof the\nOregon Historica!|Socief\u00a7|\n.volum^^xxii\nMarch, 1921.\nNumber 1\nCopyright, 1921, by the Oregon Historical Sociefy^S1^\nThe Quarterly disavows responsibility for the positions taken by contributors to its pages \u25a0\n^J||NTEN,W||\nPages\n] Alice Applegate Sargent\u2014A Sketch of Rogue River Valley\nHistbry .\\ . , N L . S. 1-11^\nLindsay Applegate\u2014The South Road Expedition .7 12-45 1\nG..F. Coan\u2014Federal Indian Relations in the Pate^^^Northw^St^'^\n1S49-1853 .-:46-89\nPRICE: FIFTY CENTS PER NUMBER; TWO DOLLARS^ PER YEAR\nEntered at the post office at Portland, Oregon, as second-class matter THE\nQUARTERLY\nVOLUME XXII\nMARCH, 1921.\u2014DECEMBER, 1921.\nEdited by\nFREDERIC GEORGE YOUNG\nThe Ivy Press, Portland, Ore. TABLE OF CONTENTS\nSUBJECTS OF PAPERS\nPages\nBore's, John, Log of the Columbia, 1790-3 (Reprint)\nAnnotations by F. W. Howay and T. C. Elliott 257-351\nEmigrant Road Into Southern Oregon, Notesi and Reminiscences of Laying Out and Establishing the Old,\nin the Year 1846\nBy Lindsay Applegate 12-45\nFederal Indian Relations in the Pacific Northwest, The\nFirst Stage of, 1849-52\nBy C. F. Coan 46-89\nGray, Captain Robert, Remnant of the Official Log of the\nColumbia, 1792 (Reprint)\nAnnotations by T. C Elliott 303-11\nIndian Relations in the Pacific Northwest, The First Stage\nof the Federal, 1849-52\nBy C. F. Coan 46-89\nOregon, The Origin of the Name\nBy T. C. Elliott 91-115\nOregon Bound, Correspondence of S. H. Taylor, 1853 117-160\nOregon Boundary Question, The Last.Phase of the\nBy Andrew Fish 161-224\nRogue River Valley, A Sketch of, and Southern Oregon\nHistory\nBy Alice Applegate Sargent 1-11\nSaw Juan Island, The Struggle for, or The Last Phase of\nthe Oregon Boundary Question\nBy Andrew Fisfe 161-224\nSouthern Oregon History, A Sketch of the Rogue River\nValley and\nBy AHce Applegate Sargent 1-11\nREVIEW\nE. Ruth Rockwood, Smith's Pacific Northwest Americana 252-6\nDOCUMENTS\nBon's, John, Log of the Columbia, 1790-3 , 257-351\nCarver, Jonathan, Petition for Payment for Services and\nExpenses in Connection with Travels to Interior\nParts of North America 111-3\n\u2014Second Petition for Payment for Services and Expenses in Connection with Travels to Interior Parts\nof North America 113-5 Pages\nGray, Captain Robert, Remnant of the Official Log of the\nColumbia ... 352-6\nRoberts, Reverend William, The Third Superintendent of the\nOregon Mission, The Letters of, Second Installment\nEdited by Robert Moulton Gatke 225-251\nRogers, Robert, Proposal of, to Explore for Northwest\nPassage 101-5\n\u2014Second Proposal of, to Explore for Northwest\nPassage 106-110\nTaylor, S. H., Letters of, to the Watertown (Wisconsin)\nChronicle, Oregon Bound 117-160\nWhitman, Dr Marcus, Requests of, at Boston of American\nBoard of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, March,\n1843 357-9\nAUTHORS\nApplegate, Lindsay, Notes and Reminiscences of Laying Out and\nEstablishing the Old Emigrant Road Into Southern Oregon in the Year 1846 12-45\nCoan, C. F., Federal Indian Relations in the Pacific Northwest,\nThe First Stage of, 1849-52 46-89\nElliott, T. C, The Origin of the Name Oregon 91-115\n\u2014Annotations on John Boifs Log of the Columbia, 1790-3.303-311\n\u2014Annotations on Remnant of Captain Robert Gray's Log\nof the Columbia, 1792 352-6\nFish, Andrew, The Last Phase of the Oregon Boundary\nQuestion 161-224\nGatke, Robert Moulton, Editing Letters of Reverend Wm.\nRoberts 225-251\nHoway, F. W., Annotations on John Boifs Log of the Columbia,\n1790-3 265-351\nSargent, Alice Applegate, A Sketch of the Rogue River and\nSouthern Oregon History \u2022 l-n\nTaylor, S. H., Correspondence of, Oregon Bound, 1853 117-160\nWhitman, Dr. Marcus, Requests of, at Boston of the American\nBoard of Commissioners of Foreign Missions 357-9\nYoung, F. G., Introduction to John Boifs Log of the Columbia,\n1790-3 257-264 THE QUARTERLY\nof the\nOregon Historical Society\nVolume XXII\nMarch, 1921\nNumber l\nCopyright, 1921, by the Oregon Historical Society\nThe Quarterly disavows responsibility for the positions taken by contributors to its pages\nA SKETCH OF THE ROGUE RIVER VALLEY\nAND SOUTHERN OREGON HISTORY*\nBy Alice Applegate Sargent\nPART I.\nLying between the Cascade mountains on the east, and the\nCoast range on the west, and tempered by the warm oceanic\ncurrent from Japan, the Rogue River Valley has a climate\nunsurpassed except perhaps by the coast valleys of Greece.\nTHE ROGUE INDIANS\nAbout the year 1834 we find the Rogue River Valley a\nwilderness inhabited by a tribe of Indians. These Indians were\na branch of the tribe living in northern California whom we\nnow know as the Shastas. But the original name was not\nShasta but Chesta. They were the Chesta Scotons and the\nIndians living in the Rogue River valley were Chesta Scotons.\nThe first white men to set foot in the valley of whom we\nhave any authentic record, were some French Canadian trappers who were trapping for furs for that great British monopoly\nthe Hudson's Bay Company. These men made their way into\nthe valley and set their traps along the river, but the Indians\n* Read before the Greater Medford Club in the Spring of 1915. 2 Alice Applegate Sargent\nstole the traps, and the trappers always spoke of them as the\nrogues; the river was the river of the rogues and the valley\nthe valley of the rogues. Old pioneers have assured me that\nthis is the way by which the river, the valley and the Indians\ncame by the name.\nAnother story as to the origin of the name is this: That the\nriver was called Rouge or Red river by some French voyageurs\non account of the cliffs at the mouth of the river being of red\ncolor. By an act of the legislature in 1853-4 Rogue river was\nto be Gold river, but it has never been so called.\nFIFTEEN PIONEERS, OPENERS OF THE SOUTHERN ROUTE\nIn the year 1846 fifteen pioneers from the Willamette valley\ncame into the Rogue river valley, seeking a route by which\nimmigrants could reach the Willamette valley without having\nto travel the long northern route across the Blue mountains and\ndown the Columbia river as they had to come. Their names\nwere: Jesse Applegate, Lindsay Applegate, Levi Scott, John\nScott, Henry Boygus, Benjamin Burch, John Owens, John\nJones, Robert Smith, Samuel Goodhue, Moses Harris, David\nGoff, Benit Osborne, William Sportsman and William Parker.\nLindsay Applegate was my father, Jesse Applegate, my\nuncle.\nEach man was equipped with a saddle horse and a pack\nhorse. As they made their way through the Rogue river valley\nthey were constantly followed by the Indians and had to be\non guard day and night. When they had to pass through\nheavy timber and brush they dismounted and led their horses,\ncarrying their guns across their arms ready to fire. The Indians\nwere armed with bows and poisoned arrows, the pioneers with\nthe old-time muzzle loading rifles. They made their way\nthrough the valley, crossed the Cascade mountains into the\nKlamath country and thence east to the Humboldt river. Here\nthey met a train of immigrants. They brought back with them\none hundred and fifty people, the pioneers traveling ahead and The Rogue River Valley\nmaking a road over which the wagons could pass. This train\nwas taken through to the Willamette valley. Now that we\nhave our splendid Pacific Highway, built at enormous cost,\nwith all the modern implements, rock crushers, steam rollers,\nand plows, and by the labor of hundreds of men, it is well for\nus to remember that the first road in southern Oregon and\nthrough the Rogue River valley was built by the labor of fifteen\nmen with nothing but axes in their bare hands, and amidst\nperils and hardships that would strike terror to any but the\nstoutest hearts. It was free to all, a work of humanity, the only\nrecompense to the builders was a consciousness of duty nobly\ndone.\nPART II.\nIn 1848 a party of pioneers from the Willamette valley came\ninto the Rogue River valley on their way to the gold mines in\nCalifornia. They prospected for gold on Rogue River and on\nthe stream we now know as the Applegate and then pushed on\nto California. My father was with this party also and the\nstream and valley were named for him.\nIn 1850 two men, Cluggage and Pool by name, equipped a\npack train at the mining town of Yreka, California, and carried\nsupplies between Yreka and towns in the Willamette valley.\nThey followed a narrow trail across the Siskiyou mountains\nand along the bank of Bear creek. It was their custom when\nthey reached this valley, to stop to rest and recuperate their\nanimals. The wild grass grew so high in the valley that the\nman who herded the mules had to stand on the back of his\nhorse in order to locate the rest of the herd.\nCluggage had worked at mining and one day, while they\nwere in camp in the valley, went up into the hills where Jacksonville now is. Following up a gulch or ravine, he came to a\nplace where the heavy rains had washed the soil entirely away,\nleaving a ledge of rock exposed. Taking his bowie knife from Alice Applegate Sargent\nhis belt he dug around in the rocks and sand and found nuggets of gold. He returned to camp and reported his discovery\nto Pool. Together they went back to the spot and staked out\ntheir mining claims.\nReturning to Yreka they bought a camp outfit and mining\ntools and returned to work their claims. They had kept quiet in\nregard to their discovery, but in some way it became known and\nin two months from the time Cluggage found the nuggets of\ngold a thousand men were on the spot. Claims were staked\nout and every man went to work to dig out the gold. No time\nwas spent in building cabins; a man would throw his saddle\nblanket over a manzanita bush and put his bed under it. Some\nbuilt shelters of bark and brush while others put up tents.\nFortunes were taken out that winter, and many who had families in the east and elsewhere went back in the spring and\nsummer and brought them to the Rogue River valley. This\nwas the beginning of the settlement. Some took up land in\nthe valley while others settled in Jacksonville and Ashland.\nThe county of Jackson was organized by an act of the legislature on the 12th of January, 1852. Until 1853 there were but\nfour white women in Jacksonville, namely, Mrs. McCully, Mrs.\nEvans, Mrs. Lawless and Mrs. Gore.\nThe winter of 1852 was an exceptionally hard one. Snow\nfell until all trails were completely blocked. Flour rose to one\ndollar a pound and salt was priceless. Some adventurous men\nwent to California on snow shoes to buy salt. Provisions gave\nout and towards spring the people had to live on wild game,\nmeat cooked without salt. The summer of 1852 was very dry,\nabout such a summer as the one just past, and the wheat and\npotato crop were not a great success, but the following season\nwas more favorable.\nAshland was founded in 1852 by Abel D. Helman and Robert\nHargadine. A saw mill was built on Mill creek, and in 1854 a\nbig flouring mill was built there, the first in the Rogue River\nvalley. Ashland was named from Ashland, Ohio, Mr. Helman's The Rogue River Valley\nnative town, and called Ashland Mills on account of the saw\nand flouring mills. The town was known as Ashland Mills for\nmany years.\nThe first school in the Rogue River Valley was taught by\nMrs. McCully in Jacksonville, and was a subscription school.\nThe first white child born in the Rogue River valley was\nWalter Gore, son of a pioneer of 1852, born on December\n3rd 1852.\nIn 1853 the Indians began war on the white settlers, but\nwere soon subdued and a treaty made with them at Table Rock..\nStockades were built at different places in the valley, for the\nprotection of the settlers. Fort Lane was built in 1853-4 on a\nhill facing Table Rock and occupied by regular troops for three\nyears. The old site is on a hill west of some old buildings at\nTolo and south of Gold Ray Dam.\nIn 1853 many immigrants came into the valley; many buildings were erected, but as all supplies had to be brought from\nCrescent City by pack animals, not a pane of glass could be had\nthat year for window lights; cotton cloth stretched over the\nopenings was used instead.\nDuring the spring steps were taken to found a Methodist\nchurch in Jacksonville. The pastor was Rev. Joseph S. Smith.\nThe church was built and used jointly by Methodists and\nPresbyterians for many years.\nThe town of Phoenix was founded in 1854, the land being\ndonated by Samuel Culver, whose old dwelling still stands by\nthe roadside. The town was named originally Gasburg.\nThe first newspaper printed in southern Oregon was called\n\"The Table Rock Sentinel\", printed in 1855. The editor was\nG. W. T'Vault.\nJackson county in 1855 was the richest and most populous\ncounty in Oregon. But in that year the Indians again began\nwar. The 9th of October has been called the most eventful\nday in the history of southern Oregon, for on that day nearly\ntwenty people were murdered by the Indians and their homes Alice Applegate Sargent\nburned. The settlers were totally unprepared and taken by\nsurprise. A Mrs. Haines was taken prisoner and her fate is\nstill wrapped in mystery, although the Indians claimed she died\na week later; her husband and two children were killed. Mr.\nand Mrs. Jones were killed. The next family in their path was\nthe Wagner's. A woman had made her way to the Wagner\nhome who wished to go to Jacksonville. She spent the night\nat the Wagner home and next morning Mr. Wagner agreed to\ntake her to Jacksonville as he had a span of horses and a\nwagon. On his return two or three days later nothing was\nfound of his home but a heap of ashes. Long afterwards, when\nthe war was over and the Indians had become friendly towards\nthe whites, some members of this war party told of Mrs.\nWagner's fate. When they surrounded the house she barricaded as best she could. The Indians wanted to get possession\nof her and tried to induce her to come out of the house, fearing\nto try to enter as they knew she was armed. Finally they set\nfire to the house hoping to drive her out and then capture her.\nWhile the house was burning she stood where they could see\nher. Taking down her long hair, she combed it out before a\nmirror and then sat calmly in a chair until the flames closed\naround her. Her little girl had been captured and died soon\nafter, so the Indians claimed. At the Harris' home were Mr.\nand Mrs. Harris, their two children, a boy aged ten and a girl\ntwelve, and a man who was employed about the place. This\nman was in a field and was killed. Mr. Harris was shot while\non the porch near the door, Mrs. Harris dragged him into the\nhouse, bolted the door and collecting a number of firearms\nprepared for defense. The daughter was shot in the arm and\ndisabled and Mr. Harris died in about an hour. Mrs. Harris\ncontinued to fire at the Indians through the crevices between\nthe logs. After a time an Indian messenger arrived with some\nmessage to the Indians who all immediately ran towards the\nriver. As soon as they had disappeared Mrs. Harris and her\ndaughter fled from the house, knowing the Indians would set The Rogue River Valley\nfire to it on their return. They hid in a thicket of willows until\nthey were rescued by a company of troops the following day\nand taken to Jacksonville. When Mrs. Harris ran to meet the\nsoldiers, carrying her little girl in her arms, covered with blood\nand blackened by powder. Major Fitzgerald, the officer in\ncommand cried out, \"Good God! are you a white woman?\"\nwhile tears ran down the cheeks of the bronzed and bearded\nmen.\nThe little son of Mrs. Harris had disappeared. Every ravine\nand thicket for miles around was carefully searched by men\naided by the soldiers, but not a trace of the missing child was\never found. What pen could picture the grief of the sorrowing\nmother as the long years rolled by bringing no solution of the\nawful mystery. I have not the time to go farther into details.\nThe war was brought to a close in 1856 and the Indians\ntaken to the reservation in the Willamette country.\nDuring the Indian wars there was quite a body of troops in\nthe Rogue River valley. Two companies of volunteers from\nCalifornia, six companies, which were organized here in the\nvalley, and one from Douglas county, besides the regular\ntroops stationed at Fort Lane.\nThe toll road was built across the Siskiyou mountains in\n1857-8 under authorization of the Oregon legislature. The\nOregon and California State Company was organized in 1860\nto carry mail between Sacramento and Portland. A wagon\nroad was built between Jacksonville and Crescent City this\nsame year and a stage line established.\nA company of volunteers was organized in Jacksonville in\n1861 called the \"Baker Guard.\" In 1863 a company of state\ntroops was organized in Ashland. It was Company A 1st\n.Regiment, 1st Brigade of Oregon Militia and was called the\n\"Mountain Rangers.\"\nA telegraph line was established in 1866 and the little valley\nof the Rogue was put into communication with the outside\nworld. Alice Applegate Sargent\nA woolen mill was built in Ashland in 1867-8 at a cost of\n$32,000. This mill was destroyed by fire some years ago.\nWhen I was a child there were eight large flouring mills in\nthe valley, and hundreds of pounds of flour were carried out of\nthe valley by pack animals and wagons, besides what was consumed in the valley. From the old Barron farm at the foot of\nthe Siskiyous to Rogue River the valley was golden with grain,\nand the yield was from thirty to fifty bushels of wheat to the\nacre. Almost every farmer in the valley had planted an\norchard, many of them very large. I have never seen finer\nfruit, for in those days the fruit was perfectly free from disease\u2014a wormy apple was unheard of. Spraying was not necessary and smudging was never resorted to, as there was always\nan abundance of fruit. When the orchards came into bearing\nthe country east of the Cascades, and the mining towns in\nCalifornia were supplied with fruit from the Rogue River\nvalley. The first apples raised in the valley were Gloria\nMundis, raised on the Skinner place on Bear Creek and sold to\na wealthy miner from Gold Hill for two dollars and fifty cents\neach.\nCONCLUSION\nJacksonville, besides being the first town founded in the\nRogue River Valley, was at one time the richest and most\nflourishing. It had been settled by people of education and\nculture who were wide awake and progressive. I marvel now\nthat people so isolated could have kept so abreast of the times.\nWhen this valley was dotted with beautiful farms and Ashland called Ashland Mills, Phoenix known as Gasburg, and\nJacksonville was the hub of the universe (so to speak), my\nfather moved his family from Douglas County where I was\nborn, to southern Oregon, and we lived for two years at the\ntoll house on the\" Siskiyous.\nFREIGHT OVER SISKIYOU TOLL ROAD\nLooking back to that time, I realize that it was a wonderful The Rogue Rtver Valley 9\nexperience for a child. Every day the road was thronged,\nthere were immense freight wagons drawn by six and eight\nyoke of oxen, towering Marietta wagons drawn by six span of\nhorses; these we called the \"bell teams.\" The leading span had,\nfastened to the collars, bows of iron which were hung with\nlittle bells. These bells were worn to warn other teams, as\nthere were only occasional places on the narrow mountain\ngrade where these teams could pass one another. When the\ndriver of a team came to one of these places he would stop and\nlisten. If he heard the faintest sound of bells there was nothing\nto do but wait until the other team passed. Then there were\nthe long trains of fifty, sixty, and eighty pack mules all following the bell mare in single file.\nTwice daily the great red and yellow stage coaches went\nswinging by, drawn by six splendid horses. Unless a horse\nweighed so many hundred pounds and was so many hands high,\nthe Oregon and California Stage Company would not so much\nas look at him. They were all matched horses and I recall\nespecially the sorrels and the grays. There were long trains of\ntravel stained immigrants with their weary ox teams. Think\nwhat the feelings of these people must have been when they\ncrossed the Siskiyou mountains and beheld far below them the\npromised land, the Rogue River Valley, lying like a beautiful\ngarden between the mountain ranges.\nFORESTS FULL OF GAME\nI must not forget the wagons loaded with apples on their way\nto the mining towns in California. The wagon boxes were\nlined with straw and the apples piled into them. These apple\npeddlers advertised their fruit in an unique way by having a\npointed stick fastened to a corner of the wagon bed on which\nwas stuck an apple.\nWhen winter came and the snow fell deep on the Siskiyous,\nas it sometimes does, father used several yoke of oxen and a big\nbobsled to keep the road open to travel. Sometimes the snow\nwould fall steadily, filling the road behind them and all day 10\nAlice Applegate Sargent\nlong the weary oxen would have to travel back and forth over\nthe long mountain grade. The forests were swarming with\nwild animals, panther, wild cats, black, cinnamon and grizzly\nbear, and great gray timber wolves which would howl in a\nblood curdling way in the forest at dusk.\nImmigrants were pouring into Oregon over the old road laid\nout by the fifteen pioneers in 1846. The Modoc and Piute\nIndians made travel unsafe even at that late date. A report .\ncame to my father that a train of immigrants coming over that\nroute was in great peril. Father called for volunteers and in a\nvery short time forty-one men were equipped and ready to go\nto the help of the immigrants. They rode rapidly for several\ndays before they met the train. I have no recollection of my\nfather's or brother's return, but I distinctly recall the story that\nfather told of the rescue. When the party finally discovered\nthe immigrants they had corralled their wagons and prepared\nto defend themselves as best they could against the Indians.\nThe rescuing party prepared a flag of truce by fastening a\nwhite cloth to a long pole, to show that they were friends, and\nthen rode slowly forward. They had ridden almost up to the\nwagons before they saw any signs of life, then a wagon cover\nwas thrown up and an aged woman with snow white hair\ncalled out to them \"Glory be to God, we are saved.\" They\nbrought this train in safety to the Rogue River valley and we,\nno doubt, have some of these same people living in Medford\ntoday.\ncoming of railroad\nThe next great event in the history of the valley was the\ncoming of the railroad which was built into Ashland from the\nnorth. The first train of cars ran into Ashland on May 4th\n1884, an event celebrated in an imposing way. Ashland was\nthe terminus until 1887 when the railroad was completed and\nthe Rogue River Valley was linked by bands of steel with the\noutside world.\nMedford, the little city of which we all feel proud, was The Rogue River Valley\n11\nfounded in December, 1883, by J. S. Howard. It was not incorporated until a year later. Bear Creek, which runs through\nthe city, was named originally Stewart River for Captain\nStewart, an army officer who was killed in a fight with the\nIndians on the banks of the stream on the 17th of June, 1851.\nAnd now, as the years roll on, let us not forget the brave\nand self-reliant men and women who brought civilization into\nthe wilderness and made it possible for us to have peaceful\nhomes in the Rogue River Valley. NOTES AND REMINISCENCES OF LAYING OUT\nAND ESTABLISHING THE OLD EMIGRANT\nROAD INTO SOUTHERN ORGEON\nIN THE YEAR 1846.\nBy Lindsay Applegate\nAfter the lapse of thirty-one years (as there has been no\nhistory of this circumstance placed before the public), I propose to give a plain statement of facts from notes taken at the\ntime and from memory, giving motives that led to the enterprise. Our immigration of 1843, being the largest that had\never crossed the plains, our progress was necessarily slow,\nhaving to hunt out passes for our wagons over rivers, creeks,\ndeep gullies, digging down the banks where nothing but a pack\ntrail had been before, cutting our way through the dense forests before we could reach the valley of the Columbia, and then\nit appeared as though our greatest troubles had begun; for\nhere we had to encounter cataracts and falls of the Columbia\nand the broad and lofty Cascades, with their heavy forests.\nAt Fort Walla Walla, on the banks of the Columbia river,\nwith our teams about exhausted, we were advised to leave\nour wagons and animals over winter at that place in the care\nof the Hudson's Bay Co. A portion of the immigrants, including my two brothers' families and my own, accepted the proposition, providing we could secure boats in which to descend\nthe river, as it was supposed we might secure them from the\nHudson's Bay Co. Under these considerations we made arrangements with the said Company for the care of the latter\nthrough the winter. We failed in our efforts to obtain boats;\nhaving a whipsaw and other tools with us, we hunted logs\nfrom the masses of drift wood lodged along the river banks,\nhewed them out, sawed them into lumber, and built boats,\nand with our families and the contents of our wagons, com- The South Road Expedition\n13\nmenced the descent of the river. Dr. Whitman procured us\nthe service of two Indians to act as pilots to The Dalles. From\nthere we thought we would have but little trouble by making\na portage at the Cascades. We did well till we reached The\nDalles, a series of falls and cataracts. Just above the Cascade\nmountains one of our boats, containing six persons, was caught\nin one of those terrible whirlpools and upset. My son, ten\nyears old, my brother Jesse's son, Edward, same age, and a\nman by the name of McClellan, who was a member of my\nfamily, were lost. The other three who escaped were left to\nstruggle the best they could until we made the land with the\nother boats. Leaving the women and children on shore while\nwe rushed to the rescue, it was only with the greatest effort\nthat we were able to keep our boats from sharing the same\nfate. William Doake, a young man who could not swim,\nheld on to a feather bed until overtaken and rescued. W.\nParker and my son Elisha, then twelve years old, after drifting through whirlpools among cragged rocks for more than a\nmile, rescued themselves by catching hold of a large rock a\nfew feet above water at the head of Rock Island. At the time\nof the disaster it was utterly impossible to render them any\nassistance for it was only with the greatest skill that we succeeded in saving the women and children from sharing the\nsame fate. It was a painful scene beyond description. We\ndare not go to their assistance without exposing the occupants\nof the other boats to certain destruction, while those persons\nwere struggling for life in the surging waters. The whole\nscene was witnessed by Gen. Fremont and his company of\nexplorers who were camped immediately opposite, and were\npowerless to render us any assistance. The bodies' of the\ndrowned were never recovered, though we offered a reward\nto the Indians who searched the river for months. We reached\nthe Cascades without any other incidents worth relating.\nWe then made a portage around the falls, packing the most\nof our effects on our backs, dragging our boats over the rocks,\nMk 14\nLindsay Applegate\nreloaded and proceeded on our way to Vancouver, ascended\nthe Willamette river to the falls, there made another portage\naround the falls, reloaded again, ascended the river twenty-\nfive miles, coming to a place called Champoeg, where we finally left our boats and made our way across the valley to\nLee's Old Mission, ten miles below where Salem now stands,\nand on the first day of December entered one of the old buildings to remain for the winter.\nPrevious to this, we had been in the rain most of the time\nfor twenty days. Oh, how we could have enjoyed our hospitable shelter if we could have looked around the family circle\nand beheld the bright faces that accompanied us on our toilsome journey almost to the end! Alas, they were not there!\nThat long and dreary winter, with its pelting rains and howling winds, brought sadness to us. Under these sad reflections, we resolved if we remained in the country to find a better way for others who might wish to emigrate, as soon as we\ncould possibly afford the time. From what information we\ncould gather from old pioneers and the Hudson's Bay Co., the\nCascade mountains to the south became very low, or terminated\nwhere the Klamath cut that chain; and knowing that the Blue\nmountains lay east and west, we came to the conclusion there\nmust be a belt of country extending east towards the South\nPass of the Rocky mountains, where there might be no very\nlofty ranges of mountains to cross. So in 1846 after making\narrangements for subsistence of our families during our absence, we organized a company to undertake the enterprise,\ncomposed as follows:\nLevi Scott, John Scott, Henry Boygus, Lindsay Applegate,\nJesse Applegate, Benjamin Burch, John Owens, John Jones,\nRobert Smith, Samuel Goodhue, Moses Harris, David Goff,\nBenit Osborn, William Sportsman, William Parker. Each\nman had his pack-horse and saddle-horse, making thirty animals to guard and take care of.\nA portion of the country we proposed to traverse was at The South Road Expedition\n15\nthat time marked on the map \"unexplored region.\" All the information we could get relative to it was through the Hudson's\nBay Co. Peter Ogden, an officer of that company, who had\nled a party of trappers through that region, represented that\nportions of it were desert-like, and that at one time his company was so pressed for the want of water that they went to\nthe top of a mountain, filled sacks with snow, and were thus\nable to cross the desert. He also stated that portions of the\ncountry through which we would have to travel were infested\nwith fierce and war-like savages, who would attack every party\nentering their country, steal their traps, waylay and murder\nthe men, and that Rogue River had taken its name from the\ncharacter of the Indians inhabiting its valleys. The idea of\nopening a wagon road through such a country at that time,\nwas counted as preposterous. These statements, though based\non facts, we thought might be exaggerated by the Hudson's\nBay Co. in their own interest, since they had a line of forts\non the Snake river route, reaching from Fort Hall to Vancouver,-and were prepared to profit by the immigration.\nOne thing which had much influence with us was the fact\nthat the question as to which power, Great Britain or the\nUnited States, would eventually secure a title to the country,\nwas not settled, and in case a war should occur and Britain\nprove successful, it was important to have a way by which we\ncould leave the country without running the gauntlet of the\nHudson's Bay Co.'s forts and falling a prey to Indian tribes\nwhich were under British influence.\nOn the morning of the 20th of June, 1846, we gathered on\nthe La Creole, near where Dallas now stands, moved up the\nvalley and encamped for the night on Mary's river, near where\nthe town of Corvallis has since been built.\nJune 21\u2014Moved up the valley and encamped among the\nfoothills of the Calapooia mountains.\nJune 22\u2014This day we traveled along the base of the Cala-\npooias, our course being nearly southeast, passing near a prom- 16\nLindsay Applegate\ninent peak since called Spencer's Butte. In a little valley near\nthe butte, on the south side, we discovered Indians digging\ncamas. On perceiving us, most of them secreted themselves\nin the timber. One of our party succeeded in capturing an old\nIndian, and representing to him by signs the course we wished\nto follow, the old fellow preceded us two or three miles, and\nput us on a dim trail which had been marked by twisting the\ntops of the brush along the route. It had only been used as\na foot-trail and but seldom at that. It led us into a prairie at\nthe base of the main Calapooia chain. Crossing the prairie, we\nfound the little trail where it entered the mountains with difficulty, and being guided by the broken brush, reached at sundown a little stream on the Umpqua side, where we camped\nfor the night in a beautiful little valley where the grass was\ngood and the ground almost covered with the finest strawberries I had ever seen.\nThe next morning, June 23, we moved on through the grassy\noak hills and narrow valleys to the north Umpqua river. The\ncrossing was a rough and dangerous one, as the river bed was\na mass of loose rocks, and, as we were crossing, our horses\noccasionally fell, giving the riders a severe ducking. On the\nsouth side we encamped for the night.\nOn the morning of the 24th, we left camp early and moved\non about five miles to the south branch of the Umpqua, a considerable stream, probably sixty yards wide, coming from the\neastward. Traveling up that stream almost to the place where\nthe old trail crosses the Umpqua mountains, we encamped for\nthe night opposite the historic Umpqua canyon.\nThe next morning, June 25th, we entered the canyon, followed up the little stream that runs through the defile for four\nor five miles, crossing the creek a great many times, but the\ncanyon becoming more obstructed with brush and fallen timber, the little trail we were following turned up the side of the\nridge where the woods were more open, and wound its way\nto the top of the mountain. It then bore south along a narrow The South Road Expedition\n17\nback-bogie of the mountain, the dense thickets and the rocks on\neither side affording splendid opportunities for ambush. A\nshort time before this, a party coming from California had been\nattacked on this summit ridge by the Indians and one of them\nhad been severely wounded. Several of the horses had also\nbeen shot with arrows. Along this trail we picked up a number of broken and shattered arrows. We could see that a large\nparty of Indians had passed over the trail traveling southward\nonly a few days before. At dark we reached a small opening\non a little stream at the foot of the mountain on the south, and\nencamped for the night.\nOn the morning of the 26th, we divided our forces, part going back to explore the canyon, while the remainder stayed to\nguard the camp and horses. The exploring party went back\nto where we left the canyon on the little trail the day before,\nand returning through the canyon, came into camp after night,\nreporting that wagons could be taken through.\nWe found everything all right on the morning of the 27th,\nalthough the Indians had hovered around us all night, frightening our horses a number of times. From the tracks we could\nsee that they approached very closely to our encampment.\nMaking an early start we moved on very cautiously. Whenever the trail passed through the cuts we dismounted and led\nour horses, having our guns in hand ready at any moment to\nuse them in self-defense, for we had adopted this rule, never\nto be the aggressor. Traveling through a very broken country\nthe sharp hills separated by little streams upon which there\nwere small openings, we came out at about noon into a large\ncreek, a branch of Rogue river, now called Grave creek, on\nwhich we rested about two hours. During the afternoon our\ncourse was over a more open country\u2014through scattering pine\nand oak timber. Towards evening, we saw a good many Indians posted along the mountain side and then running ahead\nof us. About an hour by sun we reached a prairie of several\nhundred acres, which extends down to very near the bank of\nKM 18\nLindsay Applegate\nRogue river. As we advanced towards the river, the Indians\nin large numbers occupied the river bank near where the trail\ncrossed. Having understood that this crossing was a favorite\nplace of attack, we decided as it was growing late, to pass the\nnight in the prairie. Selecting a place as far from the brush\nas possible, we made every preparation for a night attack.\nIn selecting our camp on Rogue river, we observed the\ngreatest caution. Cutting stakes from the limbs of an old oak\nthat stood in the open ground, we picketed our horses with\ndouble stakes as firmly as possible. The horses were picketed in the form of a hollow square, outside of which we took\nup our positions, knowing that in case of an attack there\nwould be a chance of losing our horses and that that would\nbe a complete defeat. We kept vigilant guard during the\nnight, and the next morning could see the Indians occupying\n. the same position as at dark. After an early breakfast we began to make preparations for moving forward. There had\nbeen a heavy dew, and fearing the effects of the dampness\nupon our fire-arms, which were muzzle-loaders, of course,\nand some of them with flint-locks, we fired them off and reloaded. In moving forward, we formed two divisions, with\nthe pack horses behind. On reaching the river bank the front\ndivision fell behind the pack horses and drove them over, while\nthe rear division faced the brush, with gun in hand, until the'\nfront division was safely over. Then they turned about, and\nthe rear division passed over under protection of their rifles.\nThe Indians watched the performance from their places of concealment, but there was no chance for them to make an attack\nwithout exposing themselves to our fire. The river was deep\nand rapid, and for a short distance some of the smaller animals had to swim. Had we rushed pell mell into the stream,\nas parties sometimes do under such circumstances, our expedition would probably have come to an end there.\nAfter crossing, we turned up the river, and the Indians in\nlarge numbers came out of the thickets on the opposite side and The South Road Expedition\n19\ntried in every way to provoke us. Our course was for some\ndistance southeast along the bank of the river, and the Indians,\nsome mounted and some on foot, passed on rapidly on the\nother side. There appeared to be a great commotion among\nthem. A party had left the French settlement in the Willamette some three or four weeks before us, consisting of\nFrench, half-breeds, Columbia Indians and a few Americans;\nprobably about eighty in all. Passing one of their encampments we could see by the signs that they were only a short\ndistance ahead of us. We afterwards learned that the Rogue\nRivers had stolen some of their horses, and that an effort to\nrecover them had caused the delay. At about three o'clock, we\nleft the river and bore southward up a little stream for four\nor five miles and encamped. From our camp we could see\nnumerous signal fires on the mountains to the eastward. We\nsaw no Indians in the vicinity of our camp, and no evidence of\ntheir having been there lately. They had evidently given us\nup, and followed the other company which the same night encamped in the main valley above. Under the circumstances,\nwe enjoyed a good night's sleep, keeping only two guards at\na time.\nOn the morning of June 29th, we passed over a low range\nof hills, from the summit of which we had a splendid view of\nthe Rogue River valley. It seemed like a great meadow, interspersed with groves of oaks which appeared like vast orchards. All day long we traveled over rich black soil covered\nwith rank grass, clover and pea vine, and at night encamped\nnear the other party on the stream now known as Emigrant\ncreek, near the foot of the Siskiyou mountains. This night,\nthe Indians having gone to the mountains to ambush the\nFrench party as we afterwards learned, we were not disturbed. Here our course diverged from that of the other\ncompany, they following the old California trail across the\nSiskiyou, while our route was eastward through an unexplored\nregion several hundred miles in extent. 20\nLindsay Applegate\nOn the morning of June 30th, we moved along the north\nbank of the creek, and soon began the ascent of the mountains\nto the eastward; which we found gradual. Spending most of\nthe day in examining the hills about the stream now called\nKeene creek, near the summit of the Siskiyou ridge, we moved\non down through the heavy forests of pine, fir and cedar, and\nencamped early in the evening in a little valley, now known\nas Round prairie, about ten or twelve miles, as nearly as we\ncould judge, from the camp of the previous night. We found\nno evidence of Indians being about, but we did not relax our\nvigilance on that account. We encamped in a clump of pines \u25a0\nin the valley and kept out our guard.\nOn the morning of July 1st, being anxious to know what\nwe were to find ahead, we made an early start. This morning we observed the track of a lone horse leading eastward.\nThinking it had been made by some Indian horseman on his\nway from Rogue river to the Klamath country, we undertook\nto follow it. This we had no trouble in doing, as it had been\nmade in the spring while the ground was damp and was very\ndistinct, until we came to a very rough, rocky ridge where we\nlost it. This ridge was directly in our way. Exploring northward along the divide for considerable distance without finding a practicable route across it we encamped for the night\namong the pines. The next morning, July 2d we explored\nthe ridge southward as far as the great canyon of the Klamath\nbut, having no better success than the day before, we encamped at a little spring on the mountain side. The next day,\nJuly 3d, we again traveled northward farther than before,\nmaking a more complete examination of the country than we.\nhad previously done, and at last found what seemed to be a\npracticable pass. Near this was a rich grassy valley through\nwhich ran a little stream, and here we encamped for the night.\nThis valley is now known as long prairie.\nOn the morning of July-4th, our route bore along a ridge\ntrending considerably towards the north. The route was good, The South Road Expedition\n21\nnot rocky, and the ascent very gradual. After crossing the\nsummit of the Cascade ridge, the descent was, in places, very\nrapid. At noon we came out into a glade where there was\nwater and grass and from which we could see the Klamath\nriver. After noon we moved down through an immense forest,\nprincipally of yellow pine, to the river, and then traveled up\nthe north bank, still through yellow pine forests, for about six\nmiles, when all at once we came out in full view of the Klamath\ncountry, extending eastward as far as the eye could reach. It\nwas an exciting moment, after the many days spent in the\ndense forests and among the mountains, and the whole party\nbroke forth in cheer after cheer. An Indian who had not\nobserved us until the shouting began, broke away from the\nriver bank near us and ran to the hills a quarter of a mile\ndistant. An antelope could scarcely have made better time,\nfor we continued shouting as he ran and his speed seemed to\nincrease until he was lost from our view among the pines.\nWe were now entering a country where the natives had seen\nbut few white people. Following the river up to where it\nleaves the Lower Klamath Lake, we came to a riffle where it\nseemed possible to cross. William Parker waded in and\nexplored the ford. It was deep, rocky and rapid, but we all\npassed over safely, and then proceeding along the river and\nlake-shore for a mile or so when we came into the main valley\nof the Lower Klamath Lake. We could see columns of smoke\nrising in every direction, for our presence was already known\nto the Modocs and the signal fire telegraph was in active\noperation. Moving southward along the shore we came to a\nlittle stream coming in from the southward, and there found\npieces of newspapers and other unmistakable evidences of civilized people having camped there a short time before. We\nfound a place where the turf had been cut away, also the willows, near the bank of the creek and horses had been repeatedly\ndriven over the place. As there were many places where animals could get water without this trouble, some of the party Lindsay Applegate\nwere of the opinion that some persons had been buried there\nand that horses had been driven over the place to obliterate\nall marks and thus prevent the Indians from disturbing the\ndead. The immense excitement among the Indians on our arrival there strengthened this opinion. Col. Fremont, only a\nfew days before, had reached this point on his way northward\nwhen he was overtaken by Lieut. Gillispie of the United States\narmy with important dispatches and returned to Lower California. The Mexican war had just begun and the \"pathfinder\" was needed elsewhere. On the very night he was overtaken by Lieut. Gillispie, the Modocs surprised his camp,\nkilled three of his Delaware Indians and it is said that, had it\nnot been for the vigilance and presence of mind of Kit Carson,\nhe would probably have suffered a complete rout. At this\nplace we arranged our camp on open ground so that the Indians could not possibly approach us without discovery. It is\nlikely that the excitement among the Modocs was caused,\nmore than anything else, by the apprehension that ours was a\nparty sent to chastise them for their attack on Fremont. We\nwere but a handful of men surrounded by hundreds of Indians\narmed with their poisoned arrows, but by dint of great care\nand vigilance we were able to pass through their country safely. On every line of travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific,\nthere has been great loss of life from a failure to exercise a\nproper degree of caution, and too often have reckless and foolhardy men who have, through the want of proper care, become\nembroiled in difficulties with the Indians, gained the reputation of being Indian fighters and heroes, while the men who\nwere able to conduct parties in safety through the country of\nwarlike savages, escaped the world's notice.\nFROM TULE LAKE TO THE SPRING IN THE DESERT.\nOn the morning of July 5th we left our camp on the little\ncreek (now called Hot creek), and continued our course along\nthe shore of Lower Klamath Lake. This threw us off our\ncourse considerably, as the lake extended some miles to the The South Road Expedition\n23\nsouthward of our last camp, and we did not reach the eastern\nshore until the day was far spent. We camped on the lake\nshore, and the next morning, July 6th, we ascended a high\nrocky ridge to the eastward for the purpose of making observations. Near the base of the ridge, on the east, was a large\nlake, perhaps twenty miles in length. Beyond it, to the eastward, we could see a timbered butte, apparently thirty miles\ndistant, at the base of which there appeared to be a low pass\nthrough the mountain range which seemed to encircle the lake\nbasin. It appearing practicable to reach this pass by passing\naround the south end of the lake, we decided to adopt that\nroute and began the descent of the ridge, but we soon found\nourselves in the midst of an extremely rugged country. Short\nlava ridges ran in every conceivable direction, >while between\nthem were caves and crevices into which it seemed our animals were in danger of falling headlong. The farther we\nadvanced the worse became the route, so that at length we\ndecided to retrace our steps to the smooth country. This was\ndifficult, as our horses had become separated among the rocks,\nand it was some time before we could get them together and\nreturn to the open ground. Then we discovered that one of\nour party, David Goff, was missing. While in the lava field\nhe had discovered a band of mountain sheep, and in pursuing\nthem had lost his way. Some of the party went quite a distance into the rocks, but could hear nothing of him. We decided to proceed to the meadow country, at the head of the\nlake, by encircling the lava beds to the northward, and encamp\nuntil we could find our comrade. While we were proceeding\nto carry out this program, we discovered a great number of\ncanoes leaving the lake shore, under the bluffs, and making\nfor what appeared to be an island four or five miles distant.\nWe could also see a lone horseman riding leisurely along the\nlake shore, approaching us. This soon proved to be our lost\nfriend. The Modocs had discovered him in the lava fields,\nand probably supposing that the whole party was about to 24\nLindsay Applegate\nassail them from the rocks, they took to their canoes. He said\nthat, seeing the Indians retreating, he concluded he would\nleave the rocks and ride along the lakeshore where the going\nwas good. We nooned in a beautiful meadow, containing about\ntwo sections, near the head of the lake.\nAfter spending a couple of hours in this splendid pasture,\nwe re-packed and started on our way towards the timbered\nbutte, but had not proceeded more than a mile before we came\nsuddenly upon quite a large stream (Lost river) coming into\nthe lake. We found this stream near the lake very deep, with\nalmost perpendicular banks, so that we were compelled to turn\nnorthward, up the river. Before proceeding very far we discovered an Indian crouching under the bank, and surrounding him, made him come out. By signs, we indicated to him\nthat we wanted to cross the river. By marking on his legs\nand pointing up the river, he gave us to understand that there\nwas a place above where we could easily cross. Motioning\nto him to advance, he led the way up the river about a mile\nand pointed out a place where an immense rock crossed the\nriver. The sheet of water running over the rock was about\nfifteen inches deep, while the principal part of the river seemed\nto flow under. This was the famous Stone Bridge on Lost\nriver, so often mentioned after this by travelers. For many\nyears the water of Tule Lake have been gradually rising, so\nthat now the beautiful meadow on which we nooned on the\nday we discovered the bridge is covered by the lake, and the\nback water in Lost river long ago made the river impassable;\nis now probably ten feet deep over the bridge.\nAfter crossing the bridge we made our pilot some presents, and all shaking hands with him, left him standing on the\nriver bank. Pursuing our way along the northern shore of\nthe lake a few miles, we came to a beautiful spring, near the\nbase of the mountains on our left, and encamped for the night.\nAfter using the alkali water of Lower Klamath Lake the previous night, the fresh, cold water of this spring was a real The South Road Expedition\nluxury. There was plenty of dry wood and an abundance of\ngreen grass for our animals, and we enjoyed the camp exceedingly. Sitting around our fire that evening, we discussed the\nadventures of the past few days in this new and strange land.\nThe circumstances of the last day had been particularly interesting. Our adventure in the rocks; the retreat of the whole\nModoc tribe in a fleet of thirty or forty canoes across the lake\nfrom Goff; the singularity of the natural bridge; the vast\nfields of tule around the lake, and the fact that the lake was\nan independent body of water, were subjects of peculiar interest and only intensified our desire to see more of this then\nwild land.\nJuly 7th, we left the valley of Tule Lake to pursue our\ncourse eastward, over a rocky table land, among scattering\njuniper trees. We still observed the timbered butte as our\nlandmark, and traveled as directly toward it as the shape of\nthe country would admit. This butte is near the State line,\nbetween Clear lake and Goose lake, and probably distant fifty\nmiles from the lava ridge west of Lost river, from which we\nfirst observed it, and supposing it to be about thirty miles away.\nIn pursuing our course we passed through the hilly, juniper\ncountry between Langell valley and Clear lake without seeing\neither the valley or lake, and at noon arrived at the bed of a\nstream where there was but little water. The course of the\nstream was north or northwest, and appearances indicated that\nat times quite a volume of water flowed in the channel. This\nwas evidently the bed of Lost river, a few miles north of where\nthis singular stream leaves the Clear river marsh.\nLeaving this place, we pursued our journey through a similar country to that passed over during the forenoon, and encamped at a little spring among the junipers, near the base\nof the timbered hill, and passed a very pleasant night.\nOn the morning of July 8th, we passed our landmark and\ntraveled nearly eastward, over a comparatively level but extremely rocky country, and nooned in the channel of another 26\nLindsay Applegate\nstream, where there was a little water standing in holes. On\nleaving this place we found the country still quite level, but\nexceedingly rocky; for eight or ten miles almost like pavement. Late in the afternoon we came out into the basin of a\nlake (Goose lake), apparently forty or fifty miles in length.\nTraversing the valley about five miles along the south end of\nthe lake, we came to a little stream coming in from the mountains to the eastward. The grass and water being good, we\nencamped here for the night. Game seemed plentiful, and one\nof the party killed a fine deer in the vicinity of the camp. From\na spur of the mountains, near our camp, we had a splendid\nview of the lake and of the extensive valley bordering it on\nthe north. On the east, between the lake and mountain range\nrunning nearly north and south, and which we supposed to\nbe a spur of the Sierra Nevadas, was a beautiful meadow country, narrow, but many miles in length, across which the lines\nof willows and scattering pines and cottonwoods indicated the\ncourses of a number of little streams coming into the lake\nfrom the mountain chain. A little southeast of our camp there\nappeared to be a gap in the mountain wall, and we decided to\ntry it on the succeeding day.\nJuly 9th we moved up the ridge towards the gap, and soon\nentered a little valley, perhaps containing a hundred acres, extending to the summit of the ridge, thus forming an excellent\npass. The ascent was very gradual. The little valley was\nfringed with mountain-mahogany trees, giving it quite a picturesque appearance. This shrub, which is peculiar to the\nrocky highlands, is from fifteen to twenty feet high and in\nform something like a cherry tree, so that a grove of mountain mahogany strikingly resembles a cherry orchard. About\nthe center of the little valley is a spring of cold water, making\nit an excellent camping place, and for many years afterwards\nit was the place where the immigrants were wont to meet and\nlet their animals recuperate after the long, tiresome march\nacross the so-called American Desert; for this Sierra ridge The South Road Expedition\n27\nseparates the waters of the Pacific from those of the great\nbasin which extends from the Blue mountains far southward\ntowards the Colorado. The little stream on which we encamped before entering this pass is called Lassen creek, taking its name from Peter Lassen, who led a small party of immigrants across the plains in 1848, following our route from\nthe Humboldt through this pass, thence down Pitt river to the\nSacramento. From the summit of the ridge we had a splendid view. Northward the ridge seemed to widen out, forming\nseveral low ranges of timbered mountains, while southward it\nseemed to rise very high, as we could see patches of snow\nalong the summit in the distance. East and south of us, at\nthe foot of the ridge, was a beautiful green valley, twenty or\nthirty miles in extent, and containing a small lake. A number of small streams flowed from the mountain into and\nthrough the valley, affording an abundance of water for the\nwants of a settlement. This fertile valley on the border of\nthe desert has since been called Surprise Valley, and now contains quite a population.\nAs we stood on the Sierra ridge, we surveyed the vast desert plains to the eastward of Surprise Valley, apparently without grass or trees, and marked by numerous high rocky ridges\nrunning north and south. After deciding on our course, we\ndescended the mountain and soon came to a little stream, the\nbanks of which were lined with plum bushes completely loaded\nwith fruit. There was a grove of pines at hand, and there we\ndecided to noon, as the day was extremely hot. Game seemed\nplentiful about this rich valley, and while we were nooning a\nlarge band of antelope grazed in sight of us. Spending about\ntwo hours among these pines, which were the last we saw during our long and weary march on the desert, we packed up\nand moved across the valley eastward. After crossing the\nvalley we entered a very sandy district, where the traveling\nwas laborious, and next ascended to a table land, the surface\nof which was covered with small gravel. By this time most 28\nLindsay Applegate\nof our horses were barefooted, and our progress through the\nrocky country was consequently very slow. The country was\nso desert-like that we had about despaired of finding water\nthat night, but just at dark we unexpectedly came to a little\nspring. There was but little water, but by digging some we\nwere able to get quite enough for ourselves and horses, though\nit kept us busy until about midnight to get the horses watered.\nAlthough we had met with singularly good fortune in thus\nfinding water at the close of the first day's march on the desert, we could not always expect such good luck in the future;\nand as we lay down in our blankets among the sagebrush that\nnight, we could not help having some gloomy forebodings in\nregard to the future of our expedition.\nFROM THE LITTLE SPRING ON THE DESERT TO BLACK ROCK.\nOn the morning of the 10th of July, we found an abundance\nof water in the basin we had scraped out at the little spring\nearly in the night, so that we were able to start out on the\ndesert much refreshed. Our horses, however, looked very\ngaunt as there was a great scarcity of grass about the spring.\nThe landscape before us, as we made our start this morning,\nwas anything but inviting. It was a vast sand plain. No trees\nor mountains were in sight. Far in the distance were some\ndark looking ridges. There was no vegetation excepting dwarf\nsage and grease wood growing in the sand and gravel. At\nabout three o'clock in the afternoon we came to a huge volcanic wall, varying in height from twenty or thirty to several hundred feet, extending north and south as far as the eye\ncould reach and apparently without any gap through it. We\ndivided at the wall so as to explore it both ways. The party\ngoing southward, after proceeding a few miles, came to a\nlittle stream, forming a beautiful meadow at the base of the\nwall, and flowing through a narrow gateway into the ridge.\nThey immediately dispatched one of their party in pursuit of\nus with the good news, and we returned to the meadow early\nin the afternoon, and decided to turn out our horses and give The South Road Expedition\n29\nthem a. chance to feed and rest, while we explored the defile\non foot. We found it a very remarkable chasm, extending\nnearly due east. The gateway was about sixty yards in width\nand the canyon was, at some places, a little wider than that\nperhaps, and at others, was only wide enough for a wagon\nroad. The little bottom was grassy and almost level, and, indeed, a remarkable track for a road. In many places, the cliffs\non either side towered to a height of several hundred feet, and,\nin some places actually overhung the chasm. Those overhanging cliffs afforded excellent sheltering places for the Indians, and the signs betokened that it was a great place of resort for them. Sage hens and rabbits were plentiful, also\nmountain sheep, but the latter were so wild that we did not\nsucceed in killing any of them. After making quite an extended trip into the canyon, we returned to the little meadow\nand spent the night.\nOn the morning of July 11, we again entered the gorge and\ntraveled ten or twelve miles to a place where the stream\nformed quite a pool, and nooned. At this season, the stream\nran no further than the pool. Here another canyon comes\nin from the north, and at the junction there is quite an area of\nlevel ground\u2014perhaps two acres\u2014mostly meadow, forming an\nexcellent camping place. After noon we proceeded on our\nway, following the dry bed of the stream, and, after a march\nof perhaps ten miles, came out on the east side of the ridge.\nHere we found a lake basin of several acres in extent, where\nthere was but a little water and a great deal of mud, hence\nstrongly suggesting the name of Mud Lake, which it has since\nalways borne. Earlier in the season, when the little stream\nthat feeds it flows all the way through the canyon, this is\ndoubtless quite a lake. The country eastward had a very forbidding appearance. Rising from a barren plain, perhaps fifteen miles away, was a rough, rocky ridge, extending as far\nas the eye could reach towards the north, but apparently terminating abruptly perhaps fifteen miles south of our course. 30\nLindsay Applegate\nAlong the base of the ridge, towards its extremity, were seen\ngreen spots, indicating water. After considering the situation\npretty thoroughly, we concluded that it would be the surest\nplan to depart from our usual course and travel southward to\nthe extremity of the ridge, as, by so doing, we would probably\nkeep clear of the rocks and be more certain to find water. So\nwe followed the dry outlet of the lake, in a southwesterly direction, for a distance of three or four miles and we camped\nat a little spring.\nIn this vicinity quite a tragedy occurred while Capt. Levi\nScott, accompanied by a detachment of regular troops, was en\nroute to meet the immigration of 1847. It was his intention\nto make an effort to hunt out a direct route from Mud Lake\nto Humboldt, thus saving the distance lost by our change of\ndirection in 1846. It appears that Mr. Scott and a man named\nGarrison, leaving the train encamped at Mud Lake, started\nout in a due easterly direction towards the black ridge to ascertain the practicability of finding a way across it. When out\nabout ten miles they came across two Indians. Not being able\nto talk with them, they undertook, through signs, to learn\nsomething about the country. The Indians appeared to be\nfriendly, but, taking advantage of Scott and Garrison while\nthey were off their guard, strung their bows and commenced\nshooting with great rapidity. Garrison was mortally wounded,\nand Scott, while in the act of firing, was shot through the\narm with an arrow, which passing through, entered his side,\npinning his arm to his body. Scott fired, however, killing his\nIndian and the other took to flight. Scott's were, fortunately,\nonly flesh wounds, but Garrison had been pierced by two arrows and died soon after being conveyed to the camp. Thus\nthe effort to make the cut-off failed, and to this day has never\nbeen made.\nThe little spring, where we encamped, furnished an abundance of water; the grass was good, but fuel extremely scarce,\nthere being nothing in this line but dwarf sage brush. The South Road Expedition\n31\nOn starting out on the morning of the 12th of July, we observed vast columns of smoke or steam rising at the extremity\nof the black ridge. Reaching the ridge a few miles north of\nits extremity, we traveled along its base, passing a number of\nsprings, some cold and others boiling hot. At the end of the\nridge we found an immense boiling springs from whence the\nsteam was rising like smoke from a furnace. A large volume of water issued from the spring which irrigated several\nhundred acres of meadow. Although the water was strongly\nimpregnated with alkali, it was fit for use when cooled, and\nthe spot was, on the whole, a very good camping place for the\ndesert. The cliffs, at the extremity of the ridge, were formed\nof immense masses of black volcanic rock and all about were\nvast piles of cinders, resembling those from a blacksmith's\nforge. This place has ever since been known as \"Black Rock,\"\nand is one of the most noted landmarks on the Humboldt desert. At this place we rested a day and consulted as to the\nbest course to pursue in order to reach the Humboldt, or, as\nit was then called, Ogden's river. The result of the council\nwas that we agreed to separate, one party to travel eastward\nand the other to pursue a more southerly direction.\nIn pursuance of the plan decided on at Black Rock, on the\nmorning of July 14th, we separated into two parties; eight\nmen starting out in a southerly direction and seven men, including myself, towards the east. The country before us appeared very much like the dry bed of a lake. Scarcely a spear\nof vegetation could be seen, and the whole country was white\nwith alkali. After traveling about fifteen miles we began to\ndiscover dim rabbit trails running in the same direction in\nwhich we were traveling. As we advanced the trails became\nmore plain, and there were others constantly coming in, all\npointing in the general direction toward a ledge of granite\nboulders which we could see before us. Approaching the ledge,\nwhich was the first granite we had seen since leaving Rogue\nriver valley, we could see a green mound where all the trails 32\nLindsay Applegate\nseemed to enter, and on examining the place closely we found\na small hole in the top of the mound, in which a little puddle of\nwater stood within a few inches of the surface. This was a\nhappy discovery for we were already suffering considerably\nfor want of water and our horses were well nigh exhausted.\nThe day had been an exceedingly hot one and the heat reflected\nfrom the shining beds of alkali, had been very oppressive. The\nalkali water at Black Rock had only given us temporary relief\n\u2014our thirst was really more intense from having used it. Unpacking our horses, we staked them in the bunch grass about\nthe granite ledge, and began digging down after the little vein\nof water which formed the puddle in the rabbit hole. The\nwater seemed to be confined to a tough clay or muck which\ncame near the surface in the center of the mound, thus preventing it from wasting away in the sand. Digging down in\nthis clay we made a basin large enough to hold several gallons\nand by dark we had quite a supply of good pure water. We\nthen began issuing it to our horses, a little at a time, and by\nmorning men and horses were considerably refreshed. Great\nnumbers of rabbits came around us and we killed all we wanted\nof them. This is the place always since known as the Rabbit\nHole Springs.\nLooking eastward, on the morning of July J5th, from the\nelevated table lands upon which we then were, we saw vast\nclouds of smoke, completely shutting out the distant landscape.\nThe wind blowing almost constantly from the southwest, kept\nthe smoke blown away so that we could get a tolerably good\nview towards the south. Our wish was to continue our course\neastward, but the country, as far as we could see in that direction, being a barren plain, we concluded to follow the granite ledge, which extended in a southeasterly direction from the\nspring, believing the chances of finding water would be better\nby following that route. The smoke, as we afterwards learned\nwas caused by the burning of peat beds along the Humboldt\nriver, the stream we were now wishing to find, though we The South Road Expedition\n33\nhad no correct idea of the distance we would have to travel\nin order to reach it, nor of the difficulties to be encountered.\nPursuing our way along the ridge, searching everywhere care-\niSttlly f;\nPr v If\ni\nI k\nOregon Historical Society\nTHE QUARTERLY\nof the\nVolume XXII\nSeptember, 1921\nNumber 3\nCopyright, 1921, by the Oregon Historical Society\nThe Quarterly disavows responsibility for the positions taken by contributors to its pages\nTHE LAST PHASE OF THE OREGON BOUNDARY\nQUESTION*\nThe Struggle for San Juan Island\nBy Andrew Fish\nIntroduction\u2014The Diplomatic Background\u2014\\The Hudson's\nBay Company and Vancouver Island\u2014The Hudson's Bay Company and Colonization\u2014The Effect of the Gold Rush\u2014San\nJuan Island\u2014The Crisis of 1850\u2014'General Harney's Vigorous\nAction\u2014The Crisis of 1850\u2014Governor Douglas' Belligerent\nResponse\u2014The Advent of Admiral Baynes\u2014Washington\nIntervenes\u2014Arrival of General Wvnfield Scott\u2014Generals\nScott and Harney\u2014Who Was to Blame?\u2014President Buchanan's Attitude\u2014Later Stages of the Diplomatic Struggle\u2014\nSummary and Conclusion.\nIntroduction.\nMy story concerns San Juan, an island which lies in the\nGulf of Georgia and is included in the State of Washington.\nThough too insignificant a matter to find a place in the general\n' histories of our country, the contest between America and\nBritain for the sovereignty of these few acres at one particular\njuncture almost led to hostilities between the small armed contingents on the northwest coast; an event which, in a time\n\u2666Offered as part fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of A. M. at\nthe University of Oregon, May, 1921.\n\u25a0M 162\nAndrew Fish\nwhen feelings were none too friendly, not inconceivably might\nhave brought on a war between the two powers.\nThere were anxious moments for diplomats in Washington\nand London. Contrary to some popular notions, in this case\nat least the diplomats' anxiety was not to bring on hostilities\nbut to prevent them. The cause of their anxiety was that, far\naway on the debated frontier, otherwise admirable servants of\ntheir governments displayed more patriotism than discretion,\nand were concerned more with possession than peace. The\nquestion was given a considerable proportion of space in one\nof President Buchanan's annual messages on the state of the\nnation, where it jostled with affairs that are better remembered,\nas, for instance, the wild doings in Kansas of one John Brown;\nand in private notes and correspondence among statesmen an\nominous word occurred and recurred, if only to be spoken of\nas denoting a state of things highly undesirable and to be\navoided if at all consistent with national self-respect. The\nstrain was soon over and high politicians breathed freely again.\nA temporary settlement brought composure, though the final\ndisposition was not made for a dozen years or so. The scene\nof the final stage of this diplomatic war is Berlin in the year\neighteen hundred and seventy-one. In Berlin, the capital of a\nbrand new Empire, the sovereign destiny of little San Juan was\ndiscussed by scholars and statesmen of the United States,\nGreat Britain, and Germany. It was decided by the Emperor\nhimself while yet the gilt of his crown had lost none of its\nbright newness. If on the face of it this does not seem to allow\nself-determination to San Juan, let me hasten to say that the\ndecision awarding the territory to the United States was tailed\nwith joy by the settlers and proclaimed to be an act of justice.\nIf the matter was comparatively trivial to statesmen seeking\na solution, peaceful or otherwise, of such problems as slavery\nin these States and Territories, and the possible consequences\nto European relations of an Italian war of liberation, with the\ncomplications of Louis Napoleon's adventures in that connection, it was of some importance to the handful of pioneer Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n163\nAmericans and Britishers of the Northwest\u2014the advance guard\nof European civilization. Not only were the acres themselves\ndesirable, but upon the just settlement of the dispute depended\nin some measure the spirit in which the citizens of the two\nneighbor nations were to dwell together.\nFurthermore, it was viewed as one skirmish in the war\nbetween the settlers on the one hand and the giant monopoly,\nthe Hudson's Bay Company, on the other. A fundamental\nantagonism is represented here\u2014that between the individualism\nof the settler whose ideal was that of personal independence,\nand the characteristic outreaching of an impersonal corporation\nwith its host of servants. Behind this again lay the essential\nopposition between two economic ideas, an opposition that has\nbeen apparent throughout the history of the Pacific Northwest.\nFor the settler the basis of material existence was cultivated\nland, but for the Company it was wild land; one primarily\nworked for grain and cattle, and the other traded for furs.\nThe more land under cultivation the fewer fur-bearing animals.\nWhile it is true that in the case of San Juan Island it was\ngrazing land for the incidental business of stock raising that\nthe Company was after, nevertheless the hostility between the\naims of the grain-grower and the fur trader accounted for the\nlong-standing bitterness felt by the farmers toward the Hudson's Bay Company, and to a large extent for the outburst of\nwarlike temper over San Juan. The victory of the ranchers\nmeant much more than actual possession of the land. It\nmeant that; it meant a victory for the flag; and it also meant\n\u2022 a successful blow at the power interested in preventing the\nspread of the industry and culture of the white man, the\npower doing its utmost to postpone the inevitable day when\nthe forest should be cleared to make habitations for civilized\nman, and when the redeemed soil should be turned to his uses.\nOf course, even in British North America, the demand for\nsettlement could not be denied by the Company for long; but\nthe difference in aims accounted for the hatred shown by settlers to the Company.\nvfpl 164\nAndrew Fish\nThe Diplomatic Background.\nThe expansion of Europe on the North American continent\nbegan with the successful expeditions of the Spanish soldier\npioneers; the realm of the Aztec ruler, Montezuma, in Mexico\nwas effectively annexed to Spain by 1521. Already the\nSpaniards were in possession of some of the most desirable of\nthe West Indian islands; they had established' themselves in\nCentral America, and had penetrated Florida to the north.\nAfter Cortez's justly famous capture of Mexico City, various\nexpeditions made brilliant discoveries along the Pacific coast\nand up through the interior to regions now included in the\nState of Kansas.\nEurope, of course, was not a unit, and expansion was\neffected through the most intense and bitter rivalry among the\nleading European nations. After Spain came England. Attempts at settlement were being made before the sixteenth\ncentury had run its' course, but not until 1607 at Jamestown,\nwas a permanent foothold gained. From this developed the\nOld Dominion of Virginia. Separate movements beginning\nin 1620 produced the New England settlements; royal grants\nopened up still further tracts of land to English colonists; and\nan inconveniently situated Dutch Colony lying between the\nEnglish northern and southern groups was quietly annexed so\nthat the Atlantic coast from Canada to Carolina was under\nthe same flag.\nNot only Spain and England, but France also must expand.\nShe had her intrepid discoverers as had the others; in 1608\nChamplain founded Quebec, and to the north of the English\nthere grew up the great French Empire, Canada. The writing\nof this magnificent epic was the life-work of Francis Park-\nman. North, west, and south along the valley of the Mississippi went these adventurous Frenchmen, annexing enormous\nstretches of territory to the French crown. The result was\nthat by claiming the whole Mississippi region under the name\nof Louisiana any possible expansion of the English was' Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n165\nblocked\u2014a fact that had important consequences for both\nnations concerned.\nThrough European complications not wholly germane to our\npresent purpose, France and England were engaged in a\nmighty war throughout the greater part of the eighteenth century. . The real significance of this great struggle is now\nclearly seen to be that it was for a world empire affecting\nthe future of such vast but dissimilar countries as America\nand India. Aside from Europe, and only considering the relative positions of the two countries in America, it is difficult to\nsee how hositilities could have been avoided. The fortunes of\nwar greatly favored England; Wolfe took Quebec in 1759,\nAmherst took Montreal in 1760, and great victories were won\nover France and her ally Spain at sea. By the peace treaty\nEngland, among other things, got all territory in North\nAmerica east of the Mississippi between the Hudson Bay on\nthe north and the Gulf of Mexico on the south. To Spain\nwent the territories west of the river. So ended the great\nstruggle between the two leading powers of Europe for world\nempire, a struggle which was the most important fact of world\npolitics during the eighteenth century. The success of Great\nBritain was complete and, so far, final.\nThe pressure of the French removed, the colonies claimed\ncomplete self-government in 1776. This claim they successfully maintained by force of arms; the peace negotiations\nwhich ended the war gave to the new republic the line of the\nGreat Lakes for its limit on the north and the Mississippi on\nthe west. The southern boundary was the subject of a dispute with Spain which lasted until 1819 when Florida was\nadded to the United States.\nThe southern line has little to do with our present purpose,\nbut the acquisition of Louisiana from the French in 1803 has a\ndirect bearing. The territory called Louisiana, stretching\nfrom the borders of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from\nthe Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, had been taken from\nSpain by Napoleon in 1800. In view of France's international\nM\nm 166\nAndrew Fish\nposition her possession of New Orleans was an alarming circumstance to the Americans, who were at the time developing\nto the west and dependent upon the Mississippi for transportation and upon New Orleans as a port of shipment for their\nproducts. By a stroke of policy in which was mingled sagacity and sheer good luck Jefferson, who was then president,\npurchased from Napoleon, hard pressed in Europe and with no\nleisure in which to develop a colonial empire, not New Orleans\nonly but the whole of Louisiana for what seems to us today\nthe ridiculously small sum of fifteen million dollars. This important step doubled the area of the United States; it also led\nto disputes with Great Britain about the northern boundary.\nThis line was eventually fixed in 1818 by a treaty signed by\nboth parties in which it was agreed to accept the forty-ninth\nparallel of north latitude from the Lake of the Woods to the\nRockies. We must remember that forty-ninth parallel, it plays\nan important part in subsequent events.\nThe forty-ninth parallel was definite enough so far as it\nwent, but it was not at the time accepted as the dividing line\nbetween the possessions of the two powers lying between the\nRocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, the region known\nas the Oregon Country. Four powers had established and\nacknowledged rights on the Pacific Coast\u2014Spain, the United\nStates, Great Britain, and Russia. By agreement with the\nUnited States in 1818, the northern limit of the Spanish sphere\nwas set at the forey^econd parallel; by treaties between the\nUnited States and Russia, and Great Britain and Russia, in\n1825 the parallel of fifty-four degrees and forty minutes was\naccepted as the southern Russian boundary. The Oregon\ncountry lay in between, having for its eastern boundary the\nRocky Mountains. Over this territory the United States and\nGreat Britain waged a long, and sometimes very.bitter, diplomatic war; indeed, it seemed at times as if the matter might\nbe pressed to a decision by more destructive weapons than the\narguments of diplomats. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n167\nWhen on October 20, 1818,1 the line of the forty-ninth\nparallel from the Lakes of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains was agreed on, the difficulties in the way of a decision as\nto the Oregon country were.too great, and the settlement was\npostponed by arranging for a joint occupation for ten years,\nwithout prejudice to the claims of either party. On the face\nof it this seemed to be quite fair to all interests, but in reality\nit greatly favored the Hudson's Bay Company, which soon was\nwell established in the region; it was in fact the greatest human\neconomic factor. The agreement was renewed in 1828, but\nthe necessity for some permanent form of government was\nbecoming more and more acute, mainly on account of the increasing population of American settlers.\nThe sentiment in favor of the claim of the United States to\nthe whole of the territory was so strong that in May, 1844,\nthe Democratic Convention gave it a place in their party platform, declaring that the title of the United States to the whole\nof Oregon was \"clear and unquestionable\" and that \"no part\nof the same ought to be ceded to England, or to any other\npower.\" During the election the issue was summed up in a\nphrase which has more alliteration than sound judgment\u2014\n\"Fifty-four Forty or Fight!\" President Polk adhered to the\nclaim in his inaugural address, but the attitude of the administration soon modified, for on July 12, 1845, James Buchanan,\nSecretary of State in Polk's cabinet, suggested the forty-ninth\nparallel, and offered to make free to Great Britain such ports\non Vancouver Island south of that line as she might desire.2\nPakenham, the British Minister at Washington, refused this,\nbut in so doing misunderstood the sentiment of his government. London was favorable but by the time this news reached\nWashington the administration was not prepared to renew the\noffer. A British offer of arbitration made in December of the\nsame year was refused by Buchanan. Then quite suddenly the\nway opened. As the result of suggestions emanating from\nBuchanan in February, 1846, and of the ready response in\n1 For the diplomatic aspects of this whole question see John Bassett Moore:\nHistory and Digest of International Arbitrations, Vol. i.\n2 Sen. Ex. Doc. 1, 29th Cong., 1st Sess. (Quoted by Moore.)\n\u2022\u2022I\nI 168\nAndrew Fish\nLondon to the advances so made, by June Pakenham presented a draft treaty which was accepted by the Senate and\nby the President without the alteration of a word. The\nboundary was to be along the forty-ninth parallel, but it was\nprovided that the whole of Vancouver Island should remain\nBritish; in the words of the treaty the line should go \"to the\nmiddle of the channel which separates the continent from\nVancouver's Island, and southerly through the middle of the\nsaid channel and of Fuca's Straights, to the Pacific Ocean.\"\nThis was substantial victory for Washington as the British\nclaim had been the forty-ninth parallel until it meets the Columbia River, and from thence the line of the river. The\nnavigation of the river was important in view of the business\nof the fur company whose chief depot was at Fort Vancouver.\nFifty- four-forty canhardly have been seriously_meant, so that\nthe only concession made bytHe~TTnited States was that with\nregard to Vancouver Island. With the treaty signed it really\nseemed as if the long wrangle was finally ended in mutual good\nwill. Little was known by diplomats of the geography of the\nregion, and if they knew there was more than one channel that\nmight be covered by the terms of the treaty, affecting variously the sovereignty of some small island territories, there is\nno hint of it in that document. Moore suggests that the\nnegotiators, anxious not to jeopardize again the much desired\nsettlement, refrained from entering into controversy about\nwhat must have seemed to them a very small matter. What,\nafter all, are a few pin-points on the map of the great Pacific\nNorthwest? Yet the controversy over a few of those pinpoints, and principally over one of them, is the excuse for the\npresent writing.\nThe Hudson's Bay Company and Vancouver Island.\nThe Hudson's Bay Company, or more properly, the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into\nHudson^ Bay, is a corporation whose fortunes are interwoven Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n169\nwith those of the whole Pacific Northwest. It was originally\nformed in 1670 and received from Charles the Second of England a charter securing to them\n\"the sole trade and commerce of all those seas, straits,\nbays, rivers, lakes, creeks, and sounds, in whatsoever latitude they be, that lie within the entrance of the straits\ncommonly called Hudson's Straits, together with all lands\nand territories upon the countries, coasts and confines of\nthe seas, bays, etc., aforesaid, that are not already actually\npossessed by or granted to any of our subjects, or possessed by the subjects of any other Christian prince or\nstate.\"3\nAfter the cession of Canada to Great Britain by France in\n1763 many traders began to compete with the great Company\nin their business of bartering with the Indians for furs, especially in the new territories of the west. These individual speculators eventually formed the North-West Ji&rf Company of\nMontreal. The result of the competition between the servants\nof the two corporations was deplorable. The Indians were\ncorrupted by liquor; dark stories are told of what white men\ndid to each other in the scramble for the gains of this exceedingly profitable employment, and the supply of furs was in\nsome danger of giving out through indiscriminate slaughter.\nBy 1821 the unwisdom of this strife was recognized and an\namalgamation took place. A license was obtained granting\nexclusive trading rights in the regions west and northwest of\nthe old grant. The North-West Company lost its identity, and\nin 1838 the Hudson's Bay Company procured a new license\nfor monopoly trading rights in the western lands for twenty-\none years. This was not renewed on its expiration in 1859.\nThe license of 1838 defined the territory affected thus ;\n\"The exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in\nall such ports of North America to the northward and\nto the westward of the lands and territories belonging to\nthe United States of America as should not form part of\nany of our provinces in North America, or of any lands\nor territories belonging to said United States of America,\nor to any European Government, State or Power.\"4\n3 See Ency. Brit. 11th Ed. Art. Hudson's Bay Company.\n4 Quoted in \"The Treaty of Washington\" by Caleb Cushing p. 217.\n<\u25a0\np! 170\nAndrew Fish\nFrom this the interest of the Company in the boundary question becomes sufficiently apparent. This corporation, so typical a product of the Commercial Revolution which has played\nso large a part in determining the economic structure of modern society, from its headquarters in London was exercising\npowers of invisible government, retarding a diplomatic settlement, while in the regions concerned it was exercising powers\nthat were not invisible to retard civilization generally and the\nsettlement of farmers in particular. Perhaps after such a statement a word of explanation is necessary. While the Hudson's\nBay Company was a sinister influence behind so many of the\ndifficulties of northwestern development it was not because of\nany extra measure of original sin in the Company or its officials, but simply because of the nature of its operations. The\nstory of its transactions presents the tangled web of good and\nevil common to all human stories.\nThis is not the place to do more than note a few of the\nchief events leading up to those we have specially to consider.\nDr. John McLoughlin built Fort Vancouver on the banks of\nthe Columbia River in the years 1824 and 1825 and remained\nlong enough in charge of that station and exercised his power\nso wisely as to earn, even among the American pioneers, the\ntitle \"Father of Oregon\". The fort was the headquarters of\nthe Company on the Pacific and the center of an extensive\nand lucrative business, not only with the natives for furs but\nwith the settlers who began to arrive very soon after the establishment of the fort, and who by the forties were entering in\nconsiderable numbers. In 1843 the Company saw fit to build a\ndepot and fort at Victoria, then known by its native narne of\nCamosun, at the southern end of Vancouver Island. This was\ndestined to supersede Vancouver as the principal station. The\nreasons for the change are not far to seek. The boundary\nquestion could not be postponed very much longer as American\nsettlers were present in such force in the Willamette Valley by\n1841 as to take preliminary steps toward the formation of a Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\ngovernment. The subject was being urgently pressed upon\nthe attention of Congress, and in 1843 a provisional government was actually established. Two strong reasons, then,\nwould present themselves for moving headquarters: it was\ndesirable to have a situation on territory that was likely to\nremain .British, and it was necessary to get in front of colonization if trading with the natives was to continue, for fur-\ntrading and farming are incompatible. Furthermore, the establishment of substantial commercial interests on the island would\nstrengthen the British claim to possession; nor were the officials of the Company unintelligent in their attitude to the new\neconomic situation presented by the rapid increase in settlement. If the golden days were going when paltry trinkets\ncould be exchanged for valuable pelts procured by innocent\nIndians, good business in general supplies could be done with\nthe shipping population of the Pacific Ocean. They were in\nthe business themselves and knew how to cater to the skippers\nof vessels trading with China and the South Seas, or engaged\nabout the perilous business of the whale-fisheries. Victoria\nwas a very suitable spot. There was more reason for the\nfoundation of Victoria than for that of many a western city.\nAs early as 1837 the south end of Vancouver Island was\nexplored by W. McNeil of the Hudson's Bay post at Fort\nSimpson.5- In 1842 (the year American sentiment was strongly\nexpressed) James Douglas, who was factor at Vancouver,\nmade a careful preliminary survey and reported favorably on\nthe site, although the harbor at Esquimalt was better and easier\nto enter. Camosun was the better place for a fort and there\nwas suitable arable and pasture land in the immediate vicinity.\nIn the spring of 1843 fifteen men under Douglas started out.\nMen from the northern posts were also ordered to join the\nparty and assist in the work. Douglas and his men touched\nat Cowlitz where supplies were obtainable; at Nisqually, the,\n\"Beaver\", first steamship in these waters, awaited them. They\nleft Vancouver on March first and arrived at Camosun on the\nfourteenth. Father Bolduc, a Jesuit missionary, zealous soul\n5 Bancroft: History of British Columbia p. 84. 172\nAndrew Fish\nthat he was, immediately began to exercise his offices upon\nthe Indians and is said to have baptized until exhausted.\nDouglas gave aid but had also other work to do; a site for the\nfort must be selected and material for its erection gathered.\nThe \"Beaver\" went north for the other part of the expedition,\nleaving those on the spot to prepare timbers, dig a well and so\nforth. She was back on the first of June and the work was\npushed ahead. In another three months stockades, bastions,\nstore, and dwelling houses were ready. Supplies came from\nVancouver and the new community was fairly launched.\nRoderick Finlayson took command in 1844, and was practically ruler of the island. As an example of the economy of\nDouglas and the ingenuity of Finlayson it is recorded that\nFort Camosun was built without a single nail; nothing but\nwooden pegs were used. As to the name, it was changed from\nCamosun to Albert, honoring the Queen's consort, but soon\nafterwards it became Victoria, whether from fresh access of\npatriotism or not I am unable to say. Cattle was taken from\nthe mainland; ground was broken by primitive ploughs; ships\nfrom England began to arrive; whalers called, and presently\nBritish naval vessels used it as a station.\nOnly the regular business of a trading post was carried on\nfor some years, but a change took place after the discovery\nof gold in California in 1848. As a supply depot for mines\nVictoria got some of the overflow business of San Francisco;\nalso some of the miners preferred to spend the winter in this\nless expensive and less riotous place. These facts affected the\neconomic situation in that it not only brought more business\nbut provided gold as a medium of exchange. It also caused\ngreat excitement and unrest among the population. Finlayson6 gives us an illuminating picture of the coming of the\nstrangers into this somewhat primitive society.\n\"These rough-looking miners landed here from their vessels, which entered the harbor early in 1849. I took them\nfirst to be pirates, and ordered our men to prepare for\naction. I, however, entered into conversation with them,\n6 See Bancroft p. 181. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n173\nand finding who they were, was satisfied as to their friendship for us. They had leather bags, full of gold nuggets,\nwhich they offered to me in exchange for goods.\"\nThis gold he took at eleven dollars an ounce in trade.\nIn 1849 the first independent party of colonists, that is, those\nother than Hudson's Bay Company servants, arrived in the\ncolony and it will be necessary to discuss a little the prospects\nfor settlement under the crown grant made to the Company by\nthe British Government.\nThe Hudson's Bay Company and Colonization.\nWe have noted the inherent and fundamental opposition of\nthe trader and the farmer in these Indian lands newly opened\nto the white man. The Hudson's Bay Company officials apparently saw that permanent settlement was bound to come\nthroughout the northwest as it had done in the Willamette\nValley, and yet they resisted it as long as they could. If\ncolonization had to go forward, it should be, if they could\ncompass it, just as slowly as they might think best for their\ninterests. They offered to take over from the British Government the whole of the territory now comprising British Columbia (the mainland was then called New Albion) and administer it for settlement. Interest in emigration was keen in\nEngland at the time on account of the distress everywhere\nprevalent (Chartism reached a crisis it will be remembered in\n1848), and the government did not dare to grant this even if it\nhad wished to. The Company graciously consented to entertain the idea of restricting their plan to the island, but this\noffer was opposed from two quarters when the government\nseemed to favor it. Radical members like Roebuck attacked\nthe scheme on the ground that it gave too much to a great\nmonopoly at the expense of settlers; even Mr. Gladstone\nopposed it. Another attack from a somewhat different quarter\nwa9 that of men like James Edward Fitzgerald who had colonization schemes of their own, conceived in a more generous\nspirit. 174\nAndrew Fish\nLieutenant Adam D. Dundas of the Royal Navy, who had\nspent two years on the Northwest Coast, in a confidential\nreport to the British Government, advised strongly against the\ngrant.7. He considered the island \"highly favorable for the establishment of a colony\" but had \"no hesitation in saying that\ntheir [the Company's] system would be wholly and totally\ninapplicable to the nursing of a young colony\". However, Sir\nJ. H. Pelly, the Governor of the Company in England, by\nmeans not difficult to conjecture, had more power with the\nGovernment than all his opponents combined. The matter was\ndebated in the House of Commons and the members of the\nadministration were bombarded with hostile letters but all to\nsmall purpose. In 1849 the Crown granted the whole of Vancouver Island to the great Company on condition that it should\nbe opened up for settlement.\n\"The grant is embodied in a charter, which ....\ngrants the land of Vancouver's Island with all mines to\nthe Company. The condition of the grant is declared to\nbe the colonization of the island. With this object the\nCompany are bound to dispose of the land in question at\na reasonable price, and to expend all the sums they may\nreceive for land or mineral (after the deduction of not\nmore than ten per cent for profit) on the colonization of\nthe island, reserving also to the Crown at a reasonable\nprice such land as may be required for naval establishments.\n\"The manner in which these provisions are intended to\nbe enforced is this. The Company are to certify every\ntwo years the number of colonists and the amount of\ntheir land sold; and after five years Her Majesty's Government has power to cause a farther enquiry to be,made\ninto the condition of the island. If the result of this\nenquiry be that the Government is satisfied that the conditions of the grant are not fulfilled, the grant may be\nrevoked.\n\"When the Company's license to trade terminates, i. e.,\nin 1859, Government may repurchase the land on payment\nof the sums expended by the Company on the island and\nthe value of their establishments.\"8\n7 Report o>f the Provincial Archives Department of the Province of British\nColumbia, 1913, p. 49.\n8 Ibid, p. 71. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\nMuch depended, of course, on the terms upon which land\ncould be procured. These terms were not stipulated in the\ncharter, but were approved by the British Minister for the\nColonies. The price was one pound per acre and no lot was\nto be less than twenty acres. If large tracts of land were\ntaken, the price was the same, and the purchaser undertook to\ntake out with him five single men or three married couples for\nevery hundred acres. All minerals were to remain in the possession of the Company but the owner of the land might work\ncoal by paying a royalty of two shillings and six pence per ton.\nWhile it was true that the American settler had to provide for\nhis own public improvement and was without the parental\nguidance of his government, the terms upon which he could\nprocure land touch the farthest limits of generosity compared\nwith these. The British settler by declaring intention to naturalize might have given to him in the Oregon Country 320\nacres without any irksome restrictions and conditions, and if\nhe were married 640 acres would be donated to him. It is clear\nenough that the Company had determined to control, if they\ncould not prevent, colonization.\nAttempts at settlement were made, notably by Captain Grant\nat Sooke, who took out a party from Great Britain, but the\nmost successful settlers were ex-servants of the Company.\nThey had experience and were more or less used to the ways\nof the Company.\nVictoria was made the political capital by the establishment of a government in 1850 with Blanchard as first governor.\nThere was misunderstanding over the terms of his appointment, and the following year he returned to England, being\nsucceeded by James Douglas, the chief Hudson's Bay officer\nof the Northwest. Until 1859 .Douglas continued to hold both\npositions, thus completing control of the monopoly over all\nthe affairs of the colony. All land must be purchased from\nthe monopolizers; they alone had the supplies needed by the\nsettler; they alone provided a market for his product; prices\nin buying and selling were fixed by them. A petition signed 176\nAndrew Fish\nby fifteen men and presented to Governor Blanchard when it\nwas known that he had decided to resign, after protesting\nagainst the appointment of James Douglas, asked for the creation of a council. The signers evidently had no idea of being\nable to prevent Douglas' appointment, but thought they might\nmodify the autocracy. The council was formed, but it could\nscarcely alter the basic facts of the situation. This state of\nthings lasted until 1859, when the reign of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany came to an end.\nThe gold rush to the Fraser River and the Cariboo country\ncompletely changed Victoria, giving to it the metropolitan\ncharacter which it still retains. After the mainland and the\nisland united under one colonial government in 1866 the city\nbecame the political capital and so remains.\nEffect of the Gold Rush.\nThe discovery of gold, beginning in 1856, brought great\nchanges to the colony, altering its character and leading up to\nthe end of the Hudson's Bay Company's regime. The city of\nVictoria became a base for mine operations, and rapidly increased in size. The chief diggings, which were on the mainland, were reached by ship from Victoria to New Westminster,\nFort Hope, or Fort Yale on the Fraser River. The big rush\nbegan in 1858, drawing many Americans from Washington,\nOregon, and California. The population became predominantly\nAmerican, both in Victoria and in the mines. Governor Douglas assumed responsibility for the government of the new\nregion while he was still filling the double role of head of the\nGovernment of Vancouver Island and chief factor of the-Hud-\nson's Bay Company. Very soon national jealousies expressed\nthemselves in the regulations about claims and conditions generally at the diggins, while the Company showed a disposition\nto exact from the miners for transportation all the traffic\nwould bear. This was after it became evident that the movement had assumed considerable proportions. In the early days Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n177\nthe gold seekers found their way from Victoria in canoes, or by\nwhatever better means could be secured. The irruption of\nthese outsiders into his peaceful domain seems to have been\nunwelcome to the governor. At all events it presented unwonted problems and raised anxious questions. In the first\nstages of the movement, as early as May 8, 1858, Douglas\nwrote in an anxious strain to the Colonial Office in London\ndescribing disturbed conditions and voicing fears.9 Intense\nexcitement, we are told, prevailed even as far south as San\nFrancisco. \"Boats, canoes, and every species of small craft,\nare continually employed in pouring their cargoes of human\nbeings into Fraser's River.\" The men seemed to be well provided with tools, capital, and intelligence. They had been represented as specimens of the worst population, \"the very dregs,\nin fact, of society.\" The Governor candidly admits, however:\n\"Their conduct while here would have led me to form\na very different conclusion; as our little town, though\ncrowded to excess with this sudden influx of people, and\nthough there was a temporary scarcity of food, and dearth\nof house accommodation, the police few in number, and\nmany temptations to excess in the way of drink, yet quiet\nand order prevailed, and there was not a single committal\nfor rioting, drunkenness, or other offences, during their\nstay here.\"\nRemarkable enough, all must agree. But after all, should\nthese foreigners be welcomed?\n\"Taking a view of the subject, simply in its relation\nto trade and commerce, apart from considerations of national policy, such perhaps would be the course most\nlikely to promote the interests of this colony; but, on the\ncontrary, if the country be thrown open to indiscriminate\nimmigration the interests of the Empire may suffer from\nthe introduction of a foreign population, whose sympathies may be decidedly anti-British. Taking that view\nof the question it assumes an alarming aspect, and suggests\na doubt as to the policy of permitting the free entrance of\nforeigners into British territory for residence without in\nthe first place requiring them to take the oath of allegiance,\nand otherwise to give such security for their conduct as\n9 Copies of Extracts of Correspondence relative to the Discovery of Gold in the\nFraser's River District in British North America. Presented to Parliament July 2,\n1858, by the Government. (Copy consulted at the Provincial Archives at Victoria, B. C.)\nm 178\nAndrew Fish\nthe Government of the country may deem it proper and\nnecessary to require at their hands.\"\nLondon had not so much reason to fear the Americans as\nhad Victoria, and the British Government was quite explicit\nin expressing its sentiments when it sent a dispatch to Douglas\nthrough the distinguished Colonial Secretary, Sir. E. Bulwer\nLytton. Douglas was commended for his vigilance, and was\npromised the help he might need for maintaining order and\npreserving national rights. However:\n\"It is no part of their [Her Majesty's Government's]\npolicy to exclude Americans and other foreigners from\nthe gold fields. On the contrary, you are distinctly instructed to oppose no obstacle whatever to their resort\nthither for the purposes of digging in those fields, so\nlong as they submit themselves, in common with the subjects of Her Majesty, to the recognition of Her author-\n^ ity, and conform to such rules of police as you may have\nthought proper to establish.\"\nRemembering that the Governor was still the chief officer\nof the Hudson's Bay Company's Victoria post and therefore\nhad what might be called the \"Company\" attitude toward immigration and the still unsettled claims to the islands in the\nGulf of Georgia, we may attach considerable significance to\nthe fact that Sir E. Bulwer Lytton finds it necessary to include\nin the instructions the following wise injunction:\n\"Under the circumstances of so large an immigration\nof Americans into English territory, I need hardly impress upon you the importance of caution and delicacy\nin dealing with those manifold cases of international relationships and feeling which are certain to arise, and\nwhich but for the exercise of temper and discretion might\neasily lead to serious complications between two neighboring and powerful states.\"\nThe tide of immigration was too strong to stem; moreover\nthe attempt to stem it was prohibited by express injunction.\nBut the Company still had its trading monopoly and proceeded to exploit, when it was no longer feasible to exclude,\nthe immigrants. (It may be said by the way that the Com- Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n179\npany's affairs in the Northwest were investigated by a House\nof Commons Committee in 1857 and 1858, and, on the recommendation made, the monopoly was not renewed when it ex-c\npired in 1859. This was the result of great opposition both\nin British Columbia and in England.) Complaints were loud\nand powerful enough to reach Washington, causing the United\nStates Government to send a special agent to the seat of the\ntrouble. Mr. John Nugent, Special Agent of the United States,\nwas in Victoria and vicinity during October and November,\n1858; he presented his report in January, 1859.10\nThe grievances of the Americans were sufficiently serious\nto have been made the subject of conversations with the British representative. \"Repeated assurances\" of Lord Napier,\nthe British Minister at Washington, had aroused the hope that\nthe heavy exactions would be lightened if the request were\npresented in specific detail. The Special Agent was to procure first-hand information; also to do what was possible to\nlessen the friction between the citizens of the two powers. The\nreport states:\n\"The chief purpose of the special agency intrusted to\nme I understand to be, to infuse among the citizens of the\nUnited States, temporarily resident in the vicinity of Fraser\nRiver, a spirit of subordination to the colonial authorities,\nand of respect for the laws of Great Britain, and, at the\nsame time, by such representations to the Governor of\nVancouver Island as circumstances would suggest, to endeavor to obtain from the functionary the abrogation of\nthe rigorous systems of exactions theretofore pursued,\nand the adoption for the future of such a policy toward\nAmericans as would not be inconsistent with their right\nas the citizens of a friendly power, and would, furthermore, tend to promote among them feelings of kindness\nand good will towards the government and the subjects\nof Great Britain. Some such intervention by the United\nStates was deemed necessary, for the reason that much\nexasperation was alleged to exist among those of our\ncitizens, then making their way to the Fraser River mines,\nagainst the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company and\n10 Ex. Doc. No. Ill, 35th Cong. 2nd Sess.\nI\u2122*\nV Andrew Fish\nthe authorities of Vancouver's Island, in consequence of\nthe onerous exactions to which they were said to have\nbeen subjected by those officials.\"\nInteresting information is given in the report about conditions in general. It is estimated that somewhere between thirty\nand thirty-three thousand went into the gold region, most of\nthem during the three months of May, June and July of 1858.\nThose who came first had to use canoes, skiffs, whale-boats and\nthe like, because American ships were excluded from the river\nand no other transportation was available. Many lost their\nlives with the destruction of their crazy craft. Presently Mr.\nDouglas, \"Governor of Vancouver's Island and chief factor of\nthe Hudson's Bay Company,\" issued permits to Americans to\nnavigate the river on payment of a fee for each trip. He\nreserved the right to withdraw permission when he saw fit,\nwhich would be, of course, when British vessels were available\nfor the traffic. As the license was issued in the name of the\nHudson's Bay Company, Mr. Nugent urges that this was\nillegal.\n\"Great Britain had the right to exclude our steamers\nfrom the waters of Fraser River, but if Great Britain did\nnot choose to assert that right, how could the Hudson's\nBay Company's servants claim to make conditions with\nour people, and charge toll for the privilege of entering?\nAdmitting that they had the right of exclusive trade with\nthe Indians, that did not give them control of the navigation of the river.\"\nThe situation was somewhat Gilbertian; perhaps Mr. Doug-\nlas-as-Governor generously gave Mr. Douglas-as-Factor the\nbenefit of any doubt there might have been on the subject.\nAt all events while the two offices were combined in one person\nthere was no effective legal check on the actions of the Company. Lawful or otherwise, it made agreements with the\nsteamships of great advantage to itself. Only \"Company\"\ngoods were to be carried, or such goods as it might permit\nto be carried; freight rates for \"Company\" goods were fixed\nat about half the rate paid-by other traders; no passengers Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n181\nmight be taken unless they had taken out a mining license\ncosting five dollars per month; two dollars head-money must\nbe paid to the Company for each passenger; all vessels should\nbe owned and commanded by British subjects. The requirement as to nationality was a dead letter; it was probably included so that it might be used if it should serve the purpose\nof the Company to enforce it. The provision requiring all\npassengers to have a mining license was. particularly irksome,\nas many used the boats who did not intend to mine. In addition to these charges the Port Collector took twelve dollars\na trip for the necessary sufferance. Evasipn was not easy,\nfor a ship under command of a lieutenant of the British\nnavy was stationed at the mouth of the river to enforce payment. No distinction was made here between \"Company\" and\ngovernment taxes.\n\"If the passengers were so unfortunate as not to have\nmeans to pay mining license, head-money, and sufferance\ntax, their watches, pistols, knives, or other personal effects were held in pledge for payment. In the absence\nof such personal effects, bags of flour, beans and coffee,\nhams, and other provisions were retained, and I have been\nassured that the deck of the brig was covered with those\narticles.\"11\nIt is pleasant to note that the disagreeable duty was not\ncarried out in a harsh spirit. Mr. Nugent tells us:\n\"It is but just to add that the officers immediately\ncharged with the performance of this unpleasant service\nacted with all gentleness and humanity compatible with\ntheir orders, and that they endeavored, by every means\nin their power, to mitigate the rigor of these amercements.\"\nThere remained another impost; to license fee, head^tax,\nand sufferance tax was added an import duty of ten per cent.\nDid this go to the government or to the Company ? In answering this question it must be remembered that there was no\norganized government of the mainland of British North America other than that exercised by the Company as an incidental\naccompaniment of its trading operations. As the Company\nptv\ni\n\u00abk\u00b0\n1\na* 182\nAndrew Fish\nwas not in a position to undertake the more complicated task\nof government under gold-rush conditions, Mr. Douglas, as\nGovernor of Vancouver's Island, took it upon him to assume\nresponsibility pending instructions from his home government. There was, of course, no legislating body for the territory in which the mines were located, and it might seem not\nunnatural for the Governor to impose a duty on imports on\nhis own responsibility. But did Mr. Douglas collect the tax\nin his capacity as governor or in his capacity as factor? Mr.\nNugent reports that the Company collected through its financial\nagent, Mr. Finlayson, \"and not by the collector of the port.\"\nIn support of his statement that the Company were the beneficiaries, he offers a copy of a permit to enter certain goods\nfor the United States Boundary Commission free of duty.\nIt was signed by Finlayson of the Hudson's Bay Company.\nAn interpretation of the trading rights of the Company\nas giving power to levy import duties would not have been\nso easy to the Governor perhaps, if he had not been so intimately related to the Factor. On the face of it, this seems\nto have been an unusually extreme case of nepotism! Power\nof office was not merely kept in the family, but under the same\nhat. That feelings between the Americans and the British\nwere strained is not to be wondered at when the almost omnipotent Company represented Great Britain.\nIt was not only in levying taxes that the power of the Company was made oppressive; it was charged that government\nofficials, and even the justices, were unduly swayed by national\nprejudice. Under the peculiar conditions prevailing, much\nresponsibility rested on officers of the government acting' at\na distance from the capital. It was charged that Americans,\nafter having spent much money in obtaining a necessary flow\nof water for mining operations, were unjustly deprived of their\nwater rights in favor of some concern in which the official had\nbeen given an interest. At the outlying posts of the Company\nvery often the only persons capable of administering law were Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\nthe servants of the Company, and it must have been exasperating to a foreigner not too welcome to begin with, and with a\nchronic grievance against the well-nigh almighty monopoly, to j\nfind himself assailed by someone who was not only an official <\nof the Company but a magistrate into the bargain. What hope\nof justice was there? Furthermore, at Victoria, whose population at this time was overwhelmingly American, only those\nof British nationality could plead in the courts. Now there\nwas a sad dearth of English lawyers, but a good supply of\nAmerican. They might do all for a client short of conducting the case in court, but into the sacred precincts they might\nnot come\u2014at least to function professionally.\nThere were more serious charges than those concerning\nheavy taxes, corruption of officers, and denial of civil rights\u2014\ncharges involving relations with the Indians. The Indians of\nthe territory were generally warlike. The nature of the Company's business led the officers oTthe Company to make friends\nof the natives, for there could be no trade without confidence.\nThe traders were successful in establishing that confidence, and,\nwithout doubt, became very skilful in managing their savage\nneighbors. There is much to admire in the way these British\npioneers treated the Indians. The methods were the result\nof a shrewd blend of sternness and kindness. Good feeling\nmust be preserved, or there would be an end to the supply of\nfurs, and, a still more serious matter, life would be in jeopardy\nevery hour. The \"big stick\" was always within reach, however, in the form of strict punishment, according to the law.\nfor all infringements, with a strict search for offenders no\nmatter what trouble it involved. Or it might be in the form\nof a demonstration of the power of the white man's weapons,\nas in the case in which a few shots from the cannon on the\nfort at Victoria destroyed a number of Indian huts from which\nthe women and children (the men being at the fort) had been\ncarefully removed. This demonstration was immensely impressive. By such methods \"Company\" servants had real 184\nAndrew Fish\ni;\ninfluence with the Indians, and the Indians gave those servants\nrespect and confidence, mingled though it was with fear.\nAt least the native was at peace with the British as he was\nnot with the Americans. The settler was after his land; he\nknew it was to the interest of the cultivator to crowd him\nout of his hunting-grounds, and if in the process it meant\nhis extermination he felt instinctively that these land-hungry\nfarmers would not stop short. . To these American home-\nmakers the Indian was a natural enemy; \"the only good Indian\nis a dead Indian.\" Right or wrong, the spirit between the\nnative and the Americans could never be 'the same as that\nbetween the native and the British. Hostility was inherent\nin the situation, however much it might be mitigated by such\nfeelings of humanity as managed to survive in that atmosphere,\nor however softened by the influence of the missionaries. Unlike the servants of the Company the American farmers were\non terms of more or less constant enmity with the uncivilized\nnative.\nThis difference in attitude made it more difficult then ever\nfor Americans and British to understand each other; to the\nBritish the Americans seemed cruel and bloodthirsty, while to\nthe Americans it looked as if the British were sometimes unnaturally neutral in the deadly feud between the red men and\nthemselves. There were occasions when Americans were glad\nto have the protection of the Company, generously extended.\nAt other times much needed supplies of ammunition were forthcoming from fellow whites for which the Americans were duly\ngrateful. But it is alleged in Mr. Nugent's report, on the\nbasis of testimony offered to him by military officers and others,\nthat the Company was purchasing American equipment captured by the Indians, thus providing a market for stolen goods,\nand also that it was selling firearms and ammunition to the\nIndians at a time when these were more than likely* to be used\nagainst the Americans.11 Again, it is stated that \"Company\"\nagents went so far as to incite the redskins against the Amer-\n11 Ex. Doc. No. Ill, 35th Cong. 2 Sess. p. 8. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n185\nicans by misrepresenting the motives with which the Americans\ncame into the gold region. Says the report:\n\"Among the Hudson's Bay Company's people, there are\nsome gentlemen of high character and respectability. Mr.\nMcKay, Mr. McTavish, Mr. McLean, and the agent at\nFort Ylale, whose name I forget, have exhibited marked\ncourtesy and kindness towards Americans; but that my\nstrictures upon the generality of the subordinate officers,\nto whom they were intended to apply, were not too severe\nwill be admitted, when I state on the authority of Colonel\nSnowden, a citizen of Yuba county, in California, that\nhe learned from several Indian chiefs, that they and their\npeople were led to believe by the representations of the\nHudson's Bay Company's servants, that the Americans were\ncoming there to rob them of their cattle, of their food, and\ntheir squaws, and were advised by those same evil-minded\nindividuals to commence a war of extermination against\nour citizens.\"12\nOn the competency of Colonel Snowden as a witness I\ncannot pass judgment, nor on that of the Indians quoted;\nconsequently, I cannot say how much this evidence may be\nworth. So grave a charge can only be admitted on the most\nconclusive evidence. The most convincing thing about it is\nthat it states the logic of the situation, though it is to be hoped\nthat there was no actual incitement. Past question, however,\nthe opposed views regarding the Indian made understanding on\nthis subject between the two white peoples almost impossible.\nIt will be seen from what has been said that the quarrel\nwith the Americans was against the Hudson's Bay Company\nmuch more than against the British people. My last quotation from Mr. Nugent's interesting document will be on this\npoint.\n\"From all these petty exactions and oppressions,\nthese denials of justice and evidences of rampant prejudice, the conclusion is irresistible that whatever may have\nbeen the disposition of the British Government, the feeling of the Colonial officials and of the servants of the\nHudson's Bay Company was aught but friendly toward\nour people . . . I would here remark that from the\nm\nm 186\nAndrew Fish\n1\ntin':\nofficers of the navy stationed near Victoria, and from the\nEnglish gentlemen residing on Vancouver's Island, the\nAmericans received naught but courtesy, kindness and attention, from first to last; and by none have I heard the\nacts of the Hudson's Bay Company's servants more strongly censured than by subjects of Great Britain who have\nlong resided on the island, and who are cognizant of\nthe many abuses practiced by the Company and its agents.\"\nThe British people had small cause to take the Company's\nside; they had their own serious grievances against it.\nIt has seemed necessary to dwell upon these things in order\nto understand the highly charged atmosphere in wiiich the\ndispute over San Juan in 1859 almost brought about serious\nbloodshed.\nSan Juan Island\nI have already said that the long boundary dispute over\nthe Oregon country was settled in 1846 by a treaty which continued the boundary along the forty-ninth parallel \"to the\nmiddle of the channel which separated the continent from Vancouver's Island, and thence southerly through the middle of\nthe said channel, and of Fuca's Straits, to the Pacific, Ocean.\"\nBut \"the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island\" (the Gulf of Georgia) is studded with islands,\nthrough which there is more than one navigable passage. Two\nplayed prominent parts in the dispute: the Canal de Haro, the\nmost westerly, running for the most part along the coast of\nVancouver's Island; and the Riosario Strait, the most easterly,\nrunning between the islands and the mainland. The important\npoint was that if the Canal de Haro were the boundary the\nislands would be American, and if the line ran through Rosario\nStrait they would be British. The islands involved were San\nJuan, Orcas, Lopez, Waldron, Blakely, Decatur, Shaw, and\nsome smaller ones; in all an area of about one hundred and\nseventy square miles.13 San Juan, the most considerable, con-\n13 British Columbia by F. H. Howay and E. O. G. Scholefield. p. 301. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n187\ntained about 50,000 acres and was supposed to be of great\nstrategic importance.\n\"It is fourteen miles long by four and a half in width.\nIts superficial area is fifty-four square miles; it is eighteen\nmiles from Victoria; the capital of Columbia, and is six\nand three-quarter miles from the shore of Vancouver\nIsland,\"\nsays an official Canadian report of 1872.14\nThe Indians had it to themselves until 1850 when the Hudson's Bay Company established a salmon-packing plant. In\n1852 the Oregon Legislature, assuming that the intention of\nthe Treaty of 1846 had been merely to assure to Great Britain\nVancouver's Island and that the islands in the channel were\nAmerican territories, included San Juan in Island County,\nand the following year it became part of the newly-formed\nWashington Territory. Subsequently, in 1854, it was included\nin Whatcom County. It was in 1853 that the first steps were\ntaken toward actual occupation when from the British side\nthe steamer \"Beaver\" landed a flock of thirteen hundred sheep\nfor the Hudson's Bay Company.15 The accepted version on\nthe American side was that this was done in order to establish\na settlement claim to support British diplomacy in the contention over possession\u2014not a preposterous assumption. Mr.\nJ. M. Ebey, Collector of Customs for the Puget Sound at this\ntime, in fulfillment of the duties of his office, warned Governor-\nand-Factor Douglas that the sheep were liable to seizure for\nhaving been landed without payment of duty. In reply Douglas declared that the island was British territory, and forthwith\nappointed Mr. Charles J. Griffin, the clerk in charge of the\nsheep, as magistrate. Having no force at his disposal, Ebey\ncould only protest against this and arrange for an account to\nbe kept of all goods so that duty might be demanded at some\nmore favorable time. Mr. Webber was appointed inspector of\ncustoms and left on the island. Now, Captain Sangster was\ncollector of customs for Vancouver Island and, by the same\n14 Report of the Hon H. L. Langevin, C. B., Minister of Public Works,\nOttawa, 1872.\n15 For the story of the San Juan Controversy see H. H. Bancroft's \"History\nof British Columbia\" 1792-1887, Chap. 31. Also Howay and Scholefield's British\nColumbia, Chaps. 5 and 6.\n\u25a0UP\nMm 188\nAndrew Fish\ntoken, for its dependency San Juan, if the British claim could\nbe made good. He obtained a warrant against Webber for\ncalling himself a custom-house officer, and proceeded to serve\nit. Webber resisted and threatened \"to shoot the first man who\ninterfered with him in the possession of his rightful liberty,\nsaying, first, that he had committed no crime; and, secondly,\nthat he was on American soil, and would not recognize their\nright to issue any process against him.\"16 The incident closed\nwithout the arrest being effected. Webber kept the warrant\nas evidence and stayed on the island for a year when he was\nforced to leave by hostile Indians. It is illustrative of the\nattitude of the Indians that Webber found safety at the Hudson's Bay house on several occasions.\n\"He (Mr. Webber) was succeeded in office by Oscar\nOlney, who left from the same reason after a few months,\nand he in turn by the present inspector, Paul K. Hubbs,\nJr., all of whom have, at different times, been compelled,\ntemporarily, to avail themselves of the protection of Mr.\nGriffin, the Hudson's Bay Company's agent, and which, in\njustice to him, I must say was always freely accorded.\"17\nThe reason why the Americans had not settled on this island,\nso desirable agriculturally, was that the natives from the north\nwere wont periodically to make raids.\nBeing part of Whatcom County, Washington Territory, San\nJuan was, of course, assessed for taxes in 1854. In consequence of non-payment by the Company, the sheriff, Ellis\nBarnes, seized some sheep (over thirty of them) and sold them\nto the highest bidder. This was a challenge Douglas could\nscarcely evade, even if he wished to, and he wrote on the 26th\nof April, 1855, as Governor of Vancouver Island to Governor\nStevens of Washington Territory18 complaining in somewhat\nlegal phraseology that there had been demanded from\n\"Mr. Charles Griffin, a British subject,\" by \"an armed\nparty of American citizens ostensibly acting under the\ndirection of a person named Barnes, who styles himself\nSheriff of Whatcomb County . . . certain monies in\npayment of Taxes, on behalf and in the name of the United\n16 Exj Doc. No. 77, 36th Cong. 1st Sess. p. 2.\n17 Ibid. p. 3.\n18 See Douglas' letter and Stevens' reply in the Washington Historical Quarterly, VoL 2, ps. 352-3. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n189\nStates of America, a demand which as a British subject,\nacknowledging no authority except that emanating from\nhis own government . . . refuses to pay.\"\nWe may infer that the incident was not without some passion\nwhen we read further:\n\"Mr. Barnes and his followers during Mr. Griffijn's absence, and while his servants were, with one or two exceptions, dispersed at their several occupations did abstract\na number of valuable sheep, which they put into boats, and\nwere about to depart with the same when Mr. Griffin\nreturned and demanding restitution of his property was\nmenaced with violence and put in danger of his life.\"\nMr. Douglas thinks it would be a great injustice to assume\nthat the authority 'to levy Taxes on British subjects residing\non the Island of San Juan\" had been given by Governor Stevens ; it would \"prove an ungracious requital for the kindness\nwith which you generously vindicated, at Washington, the\ncause of truth and justice when a groundless charge was\nbrought against the character of this Government.\" He hopes\nthe Governor will prevent such acts in the future as they \"must\nultimately lead to dissension and bloodshed.\" He claims sovereignity for Great Britain:\n\"The Island of San Juan has been in the possession of\nBritish subjects for many years, and it is with the other\nIslands of the Archipelago de Arro declared to be within\nthe Jurisdiction, of this colony, and under the protection\nof British Laws. I have also the orders of Her Majesty's\nMinisters to treat those Islands as part of the British\nDominions.\"\nNevertheless there seemed to be some doubt, for he adds:\n\"Wisdom and sound policy enjoin upon us the part of\nleaving the question to the decision of the Supreme Governments, and of abstaining from enforcing rights, which\nneither party is disposed to acknowledge.\"\nDissension would \"be productive of the most serious evils,\"\nas \"both countries will suffer from the absence of that wholesome control which now holds the native Indian Tribes in\ncheck.\" Despite the claim to absolute sovereignty he proceeds: 190\nAndrew Fish\n\"This Government will be responsible for the acts of British\nSubjects and punish all offences committed by such on the\nArro Islands, and I trust your Excellency is disposed to exercise the same vigorous control in that quarter over the conduct\nof citizens of the United States.\"\nIt is to be remarked that the Hudson's Bay Company is not\nonce mentioned in this letter. Mr. Griffin, the aggrieved British subject, however, was Mr. Douglas' subordinate in the\nemploy of that Company, and the property seized belonged to\nthe Company and not to Mr. Griffin. It was apparently considered easier to appeal on behalf of a certain British citizen\nnamed Griffin than on behalf of a Company already, rightly\nor wrongly, in bad odour. \"The Island of San Juan has been\nin the possession of British Subjects for many years,\" pleads\nthe Governor-Factor. In actual possession not so very many\nafter all. It was only on the 13th of December, 1853, that the\nsheep were landed, an event which represents the first actual\nsettlement, and the letter was written on April 26, 1855, about\nsixteen months after. It is not known that any use whatever\nwas made of the island before 1850, when the Company began\nto use it for a few weeks, or perhaps a few months, during the\nyear. On the matter of sovereignty the instructions were quite\nclear. In September, 1854, presumably after the Sankster-\nWebber incident already related, Douglas received the following direct from the Foreign Office in London:\n\"In conveying to you the approval of Her Majesty's\nGovernment of your proceedings with respect to the sovereignty of the Islands in the Canal de Arro, I have to\nauthorize you to continue to treat these Islands ^as part\nof the British Dominions.\"19\nIt did not go through the Colonial Office which would have\nbeen the more usual route. Is it a possible explanation that\nthe Hudson's Bay Company in London had more influence at\nthe Foreign Office than at the Colonial Office?\nThe reply of Governor Stevens left no room for doubt as\nto his attitude. San Juan was United States territory, and the\n19 Hudson's Bay Company correspondencne.\nColumbia Archives, Victoria, B. C\nCopy consulted at the British Last Phase of Oregon Bound\nsheriff had acted according to the general laws relating to the\nduties of his office. \"The ownership remains now as it did\nat the execution of the treaty of June 15, 1846, and can in no\nwise be affected by the alleged possession of British subjects.\"\nAfter some arguments in support of his position he concludes:\n\"I shall take the earliest opportunity to send a copy of\nyour communication and of this reply to the secretary of\nstate of the United States, and in the meantime I have to\nreciprocate most earnestly your hope that nothing may\noccur to interrupt the harmony and good feeling which\nshould characterize the relations of neighboring states.\"\nIn referring the matter to Washington, Governor Stevens\nmade it an international question. The Company, also deciding to make it a question of diplomacy, presented a claim\nfor nearly $15,000 (\u00a32,990-13s) to the State Department\nthrough the British Minister. The upshot was that Mr. W. L.\nMarcy, the Secretary of State, wrote to Stevens on July 14,\n1855, and to the British Minister, Mr. John F. Crompton,\non July 17, defining the position as it was then understood.\nAs this point in the history of the question is important (it is\nthe point at which is fixed the status that was disturbed about\nfour years later as I shall relate), the communications had\nbetter be given rather fully. To Governor Stevens Mr. Marcy\nsaid:\n\"He (President Franklin Pierce) has instructed me to\nsay to you that the officers of the Territory should abstain\nfrom all acts on the disputed grounds which are calculated to provoke any conflicts, so far as it can be done\nwithout implying the concession to the authority of Great\nBritain of an exclusive right over the premises.\n\"The title ought to be settled before either party should\nexclude the other by force, or exercise complete and exclusive sovereign rights within the fairly disputed limits.\nApplication will be made to the British government to\ninterpose with the local authorities on the northern borders of our territory to abstain from like acts of exclusive\nownership, with the .explicit understanding that any forbearance on either side to assert the rights, respectively, 192\nAndrew Fish\nm\nHis?1\nshall not- be construed into any concession to the adverse\nparty.\n\"By a conciliatory and moderate course on both sides,\nit is sincerely hoped that all difficulties will be avoided\nuntil an adjustment of the boundary line can be made in a\nmanner mutually satisfactory. The government of the\nUnited States will do what it can to have the line established at an early period.\"20\nThe note to Mr. Crompton said:\n\"I am under some apprehension that collision may take\nplace between our citizens and British subjects in regard\nto the occupation of the disputed points along the line '\nbetween Washington Territory and the British possessions\non the north of it.\n\"In the hope of avoiding such a difficulty, I have, by the\ndirection of the President, addressed a letter to the governor of that Territory on the subject, and herewith furnish\nyou with an extract from it. I presume that the government of her Britannic Majesty will be willing to recommend to her subjects along the boundary in question a\nsimilar course until the line can be established. In that\nway I sincerely hope all collision may be avoided.\"21\nThat Governor Douglas was advised is evident from his reference to the subject in writing to General W. S. Harney on\nAugust 13, 1859. He says:\n\"With reference to San Juan, in particular, I have always acted with the utmost caution to prevent, so far as\nmight lie in my power, any ill feeling arising from collisions between British subjects and American citizens, and\nhave in that respect cordially endeavored to carry out the\nviews of the United States government as expressed in a\ndespatch from Mr. Marcy, dated 17 July, 1855, to Her\nMajesty's minister at Washington, a copy of which I herewith enclose for your information, as I presume that the\ndocument cannot be in your possession.\"22\nIt would seem, then, as if no trouble could possibly arise.\nClear and unmistakable instructions are issued (and apparently\naccepted in all good faith) to the responsible officials of both\n20 Ex. Doc. No. 65, 36th Cong. 1st Sess. p. 6.\n21 Ibid, p. 7.\n22 Ibid, p. 40,\nIF Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n193\nnations. Steps were taken in August, 1856 to determine\nfinally the boundary when an act was passed appointing a commissioner and a surveyor to serve with the British commission.\nArchibald Campbell was the commissioner, and Lieutenant\nJohn G. Parke was chief astronomer and surveyor. The British commissioners were Captain James C. Prevost, R. N. and\nCaptain Henry Richards R. D. Campbell and Parke joined\ntheir colleages at Victoria on June 22, 1857. Pending the final\ndisposition, the inspector of customs took account of goods\nlanded, and the county continued to assess for taxes. The arrangement looked about as trouble-proof as it could be made,\nbut we are to see how, in spite of it, trouble did occur.\ny\nm m\nTHE CRISIS OF 1859.\n1. General Harney's Vigorous Action.\nWithout warning to the British authorities, Captain George\nPickett (in a few years to achieve fame at Gettysburg) commanding Company D, 9th Infantry, landed with his men on\nSan Juan July 27, 1859,\u2014and the fat was_jn the fire. In\noccupying the island in this way he was acting under orders\nfrom General W. S. Harney, who, in October, 1858, had. taken\nup the command of the new Department of Oregon. General\nHarney's military experience had been mainly that of suppressing Indians; he came to Oregon from Utah where he\nhad shown great prowess in this type of warfare. Acting Assistant Adjutant Pleasanton, in transmitting the General's\norders to the Captain, stated the reasons for the step:\n\"The General commanding instructs me to say the\nobject to be attained in placing you thus is two-fold, viz.:\nFirst. To protect the inhabitants of the island from the\nincursions of the northern Indians of British Columbia\nand the Russian possessions . . . Secondly. Another\nserious and important duty will devolve upon you in the\noccupation of San Juan Island, arising from the conflicting interests of the American citizens and the Hudson's\n** 194\nAndrew Fish\nBay Company establishment at that point. This duty is\nto afford adequate protection to the American citizens in\ntheir rights as such, and to resist all attempts at interference by the British authorities residing on Vancouver's\nIsland, by intimidation or force, in the controversies of\nthe above-mentioned parties.\"\nA sufficiently uncompromising order. \"Resist\"\u2014no limit\nstated\u2014\"all attempts at interference\"\u2014no exceptions apparently contemplated.\nThe gallant captain was as thorough-going as his commander, and caused the following unequivocal order to be\nposted by Second Lieutenant James W. Forsyth, his post\nadjutant:\n\"1st. In compliance with orders and instructions from\nthe commanding general, a military post will be established on this island, on whatever site the commanding\nofficer may select; 2nd. All the inhabitants of the island\nare requested to report at once to the commanding officer\nin case of any incursion by the northern Indians, so that\nhe may take such steps as he may deem necessary to prevent any further occurrence of the same; 3rd. This being\nUnited States territory, no laws other than those of the\nUnited States, nor courts except such as are held by virtue\nof said laws will be recognized or allowed on this island.\nBy order of Captain Pickett.\"23\nIn a despatch dated August 6 General Harney supported\nCaptain Pickett in this attitude and said expressly:\n\"The general approves the course you have pursued, and\nfurther directs that no joint occupation or any civil jurisdiction will be permitted on San Juan Island by the British\nauthorities under any circumstances.\"24\nTo state it mildly, this was not the language of 1855; it\nbrought about a new situation.\nSome events that took place in 1859 and before, leading up\nto Pickett's action, should be related.\nThe commissioners met with difficulties that delayed the\nwork of determining the line, while the Americans wishing to\nsettle on San Juan were getting more and more impatient.\nWe said that the labors of the commission began in 1857. The\n23 I quote from H. H. Bancroft's History of British Columbia 1792-1887, p. 618.\n24 Ex. Doc. No. 65, 36th Cong. 1st Sess. p. 23. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n195\nfollowing year saw the gold-rush, which had so momentous\nan effect. One result was that disappointed miners drifted\nback to Victoria and eventually over to the American side in\nsearch of new opportunities. Many of these men were American, but in any case the land policy of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany made settlement in British territory almost impossible. The attractions of San Juan were stronger than fear of\nIndians and doubt of status, and a number of the returning\nminers squatted, according to the Company, pre-empted according to the Americans, on the island.25 The extent of\noccupation can be judged from a report by Mr. Henry R.\nCrosbie, an American magistrate who took part in some of the\nproceedings connected with the dispute. On May 20, 1859, the\nCompany had\n\"4,500 sheep, 40 head of cattle, five yoke of oxen, 35\nhorses, and 40 hogs on the island . . . with about 80\nacres fenced and under cultivation, sowed principally with\noats, peas, and potatoes. There were attached to the\nHudson's Bay Company station, besides Mr. Griffin,\neighteen servants, three only of whom were white, and\nthose three were naturalized American citizens, and exercised their rights as such at the territorial election held\non the second Monday in July last, at which time there\nwere twenty-nine actual settlers on the island.\"26\nThe Hudson's Bay men were a motley crew, some of them\nSouth Sea Islanders. $\u2022*\nAmong the American settlers was Lyman A. Cutler, another \"embattled farmer,\" who, as I shall tell, \"fired the shot\nheard\" throughout the North Pacific Coast region, the echoes\nof which were heard far off. In a sworn statement Cutler\nrelates that in April of 1859 \"he located on one hundred and\nsixty acres of land, agreeably to the pre-emption law.\" This,\nof course, was presuming that the sovereignty would be\nawarded to the United States. If San Juan eventually went\nto Great Britain, accounts as to title would have to be settled\nwith the Hudson's Bay Company or with the Government of\nBritish Columbia; and the prospect could hardly be satisfac-\n25 See narrative of Charles McKay in the Washington Historical Quarterly\nVol. 2, pp. 200-293.\n26 Ex. Doc. No. 77, 36th Cong. 1st Sess. p. 3. 196\nAndrew Fish\ntory for the farmer. Cutler put in some potatoes, and, as\nsupplies had mostly to be procured from Victoria by row-\nboat, they had more than ordinary value. Not far off was\nthe Company's establishment, with its accompaniment of livestock roaming pretty much at large. One of the hogs, having\ndone some damage to the potatoes, was shot by Cutler. His\nexplanation was that he did it under an impulse of irritation.\nIn any case he went to Mr. Griffin (the Company's agent)\nand offered to pay any reasonable sum that might be asked.\nMr. Griffin angrily demanded one hundred dollars which Cutler\nwould not pay. That same day, \"Mr. Dallas, one of the\ndirectors of the Hudson's Bay Company,\" and two other\ngentlemen, along with Mr. Griffin, came to Cutler's house (their\nvisit had nothing to do with the pig incident originally), and\nafter some verbal wrangling,\n\"Mr. Dallas . . . stated this was British soil, and if\nhe, Cutler did not make the reparation demanded\u2014one\nhundred dollars\u2014he would take him to Victoria; their\nsteamer [the Hudson's Bay Company's steamer Beaver]\nwas in port, and they had a posse at their command.\"\nThe deposition says farther that \"their manner and language were both insulting and threatening.\"27\nThis incident affords the reason for the occupation so far\nas it (the occupation) does not refer to defence against the\nIndians. A somewhat different account of it is given by other\nwitnesses.\nApparently as the result of this encounter a magistrate was\nappointed by the British authorities to reside on the island.\nMr. John F. De Courcy was commissioned Justice of the Peace,\nand took up his duties almost at the exact time at which Pickett\nlanded his forces. In considering the question of who was\nresponsible for disturbing the status of 1855, it would be well\nto note that the instructions issued to Mr. De Courcy by the\nColonial Secretary for Vancouver Island, Mr. William A. G.\nYoung, were dated July 27\u2014the day of Pickett's landing. The\npolicy outlined was determined, and the instructions issued,\n27 Cutler's deposition is given in Ex. Doc. No. 65, 36th Cong., 1st Sess. p. 53. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n197\nbefore the occupation was known in Victoria. Said Colonial\nSecretary Young:\n\"The Island of San Juan having been,' and being still,\nconsidered and treated as part of Her Majesty's Dominions, you will warn off all persons who may attempt to\nassert any rights of occupation as against the British\nDominion in the Island of Juan.\"28\nThe good Justice might \"warn off\" but he was told:\n\"You must in particular be most careful to avoid giving\nany occasion that might lead to acts of violence.\"29\nOn July 4, 1859, the Americans on the island celebrated\nIndependence Day according to custom. As an important part\nof the proceedings the Stars and Stripes were hoisted, and the\nflag remained for several days, so that when General Harney\nvisited San Juan on July 9, on a tour of inspection, it was\nstill flying. The occasion of the visit was fully improved by\nthe settlers in stating their case to the General, both with\nrespect to the Indians and to the Company. As to the Indians, Mr. Crosbie says30 that the American settlers had petitioned as early as May for protection. They asked General\nHarney\n\"to give them a small force, say a detachment of twenty\nmen, something that would give them a feeling of security, as continued apprehension was equally as bad as\nactual danger; it had prevented the settlement of San\nJuan and the adjoining isolated islands for years.\"\nMurders were being committed, and instead of the occasional visitation of troops the farmers asked for permanent\nprotection, their idea being, \"Say a small detachment of twenty\nmen.\" On July 18 General Harney ordered Captain Pickett\nto land with his company of sixty men, and Colonel Casey\nto be ready nearby with another company in the steamer \"Massachusetts.\" The General ordered that in the selection of a\nposition Captain Pickett was to \"take into consideration that\nfuture contingencies may require an establishment of from four\nto six companies retaining the command of San Juan harbor.\"\nIt is not likely that he was thinking of Indians when he wrote\n28 British Admiralty dispatches. Copies consulted at British Columbia Archives,\nVictoria, B. C.\n29 Ibid.\n30 Ex. Doc. No. 77, 36th Cong., 1st Sess. p. 4.\n^fe\nfjjj-\nh 198\nAndrew Fish\nthat. Governor Douglas displayed the expected belligerency\nand eventually four hundred and sixty-one soldiers landed\nwith howitzers and fifty tons of ammunition. The story of\nthe disembarkation of the re-inforcements under Colonel\nCasey almost beneath the noses of the British ships of war is\nan exciting one. It will be noted that the American occupation was purely military, whereas the British attempt had been\ncivil in character. It happened, however, that a magistrate\nof Whatcom County, Mr. Henry R. Crosbie, paid a visit to\nSan Juan on July 29, as he says,\n\"finding there was an English official claiming to be the\ncivil authority of the island, I remained as such [that is\nas magistrate] on the part of the United States.\"\nFrom that point, then, the American occupation was both\nmilitary and civil, with the military predominating.\n2. Governor Douglas' Belligerent Response.\nThe agent of the Company, Mr. Griffin, on Pickett's landing, protested that the island was the property of Hudson's\nBay Company, and that if the occupation on the part of\nPickett did not cease he would \"feel bound to apply to the\ncivil authorities.\" The Captain replied that he was there by\norder of his government and would \"remain till recalled by\nthe same authority.\" On the following day reinforcements\nbegan to move from Steilacoom.\nBy July 29th the great news had reached Victoria. The\nexcitement was intense. Douglas called on the Senior Naval\nOfficer of Vancouver Island, Captain Michael De Courcy, \"in\nthe name of the Queen\" to assist him in this crisis. \"I beg,\"\nhe says, \"you will immediately despatch a powerful vessel of\nwar to San Juan, and instruct the officer in command to prevent the landing of any further armed parties of United States\nsoldiers for purposes of occupation, and also the erection of\n\u2022i, Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n199\nfortifications of any description by the party already on the\nisland.\" In a further note he explained that the civil power\nwould deal with the party already landed; that power would\nif necessary call \"upon all subjects of Her Majesty, civil,\nmilitary, or naval, to render him assistance as may enable him\nto carry out the law.\" Not yet satisfied that all had been done\nthat was necessary, on the 30th he requested that \"another\npowerful vessel of war\" be sent, \"so as happily by the show\nof an overwhelming force to prevent the probability of any\nresistance being shown to the actions of the law, and the\nconsequent prospect of bloodshed.\"\nShips began to arrive. On the 30th Captain Pickett did\nnot feel comfortable, \"lying within range of a couple of war\nsteamers.\" The \"Tribune\" was a thirty-gun frigate and lay\nbroadside to the camp. On August 3 he reports to the General that \"the British ships the 'Tribune', the 'Plumper' and\nthe 'Satellite' are lying here in a menacing attitude.\" But the\nguns were silent. Pickett stated the case correctly: \"They\nhave a force so much superior to mine that it will be merely\na mouthful for them.\" Yet, despite the orders of the Governor, no advantage was taken of the superiority of power\neven when fortifications were erected and reinforcements were\nlanded. Captain De Courcy was a moderating influence on\nthe bellicose Douglas; he urged that the right to the island was\nstill in dispute, and declared that he\n\"considered it highly essential to do everything possible\nto prevent a collision with the United States forces, and\nnot disturb the amicable relations existing between the\ntwo countries, more particularly at the present time, when\nit was not improbable that Great Britain might be involved in the war raging in Europe.\"\nIt will be recalled that this was the time of the Italian war\nof liberation from Austria,\nIt was to be expected that the British authorities would\nissue some such proclamation as that of Governor Douglas\ndated August 2, in which he \"formally and solemnly\" pro-\nIgjf 200\nAndrew Fish\ntested against the occupation, and declared that the sovereignty of the island \"now is and always has been, in Her Magesty\nQueen Victoria and her predecessors, Kings of Great Biritain.\"\nThis pronouncement is purely formal, and harmless enough;\nit only makes clear that the long-standing claim is not to be\nconsidered prejudiced by the circumstances of the new situation. On August 3 in 'his message to the Legislative Council\nand House of Assembly of the Colony of Vancouver's Island\nthe Governor quite properly harked back to the note of Mr.\nMarcy written in 1855, and declared he could only conclude\nthat, the commission not yet having completed its work, that\nGeneral Harney was acting without authority from his government. Quite in the spirit of Mr. Marcy the Governor\nsays:\n\"Convinced that any assumption, on either side, of\nexclusive right to the disputed territory would simply be\na fruitless and mischievous waste of energy, neither detracting from nor adding to the claims of either nation,\nwise and considerate policy enjoins upon us the part of\nleaving so important a national question for settlement\nby the proper authorities, and of avoiding complications\nforeign to the views and wishes of and probably embarrassing to both governments.\"\nThe tone of this does not harmonize with that of the instructions to, and conversation with, the naval authorities, and even\nthis moderate message promises that the detachment of royal\nengineers and royal marine fight infantry ordered from New\nWestminster by her Majesty's ship \"Plumper\" will be landed\nat San Juan \"to protect the lives and property of British\nsubjects.\"\nThere was great activity on August 3 at San Juan. Captain Hornby of the \"Tribune\" requested by letter that Captain\nPickett would confer with him on the ship, but for some reason or other the request was refused. Captain Pickett had\nno objection to meeting Captain Hornby at the camp, however, and Captain Hornby seemingly did not consider his Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n201\ndignity in jeopardy by making the visit. Captain Hornby\nthought joint military occupation would equalize the positions\nof the respective powers, and offered this plan. General\nHarney subsequently refused it, and on the same day, August\n6, sent a reply to Douglas' proclamation in which a somewhat\ngarbled account of the alleged attempted arrest of an American\ncitizen is made the reason for the occupation. Nothing about\nIndians this time. The letter makes one thing clear\u2014the General is not acting on special orders from his government.\n\"As military commander of the department of Oregon,\nassigned to that command by the orders of the President\nof the United States, I have the honor to state, for your\ninformation, that by such authority invested in me I\nplaced a military command upon the island of San Juan\nto protect the American citizens residing on that island\nfrom the insults and indignities which the British authorities of Vancouver's Island and the establishment of\nthe Hudson's Bay Company recently offered them.\"\nLeaving nothing to chance, the next day the General sent\na request for a ship to the Senior Naval Officer on the Pacific,\nat San Francisco. On the day following that, Colonel Casey\nwas authorized to reinforce with four companies of soldiers.\nMi\nThe Advent of Admiral Baynes.\nAbout this time there arrived on the scene a bluff and\nhearty old salt in the person, of Rear-Admiral R. L. Baynes,\nCommander in Chief of the British naval forces in the Pacific,\nwho supplied* the necessary commonsense. He refused to go\nto war over the shooting of a pig. When told of Douglas'\norders he exploded with \"Tut, tut! no, no! the damned fools !\"31\nI do not know how the authority was distributed between\nDouglas and Baynes; the Admiral avoids the tone of positive\nauthority in addressing Douglas. He was for avoiding a clash,\nfeeling that the ultimate question of sovereignty, after all,\ncould be settled only by the two governments. He told the\nGovernor that he did not think that the United States officers\n'fei 202\nAndrew Fish\nwould \"molest, or allow to be molested, the few British subjects on the island,\" and continues in this strain:\n\"Wherever your Excellency may, from circumstances,\nfeel yourself called on to take active measures on the\npoint in question, I trust they may be such as I can\ncordially concur in. I feel confident that a joint military\noccupation would complicate the boundary question still\nmore, by evils that would result from it. I will therefore\nconclude by trusting that your Excellency has modified\nyour views on this subject, as it would be painful to me\nin the extreme to find that I could not act in accordance\nwith your views.\"\nThis was written the day after an excited debate in the\nHouse of Assembly, during which it had been angrily demanded :\n\"Why were the troops not landed according to promise ?\"\nThe Speaker of the House complained:\n\"His Excellency sends troops and ships. Why all this\nexpense and show, if for parade? Why were not the\ntroops landed? Instead of fighting, her Majesty's Captains take to diplomacy . . . They should have landed their troops and avoided all degrading negotiations.\nBut more troops have landed, in spite of post captains\nand admirals. Yes, a militia must be raised. We must\ndefend ourselves, for the position we occupy today would\nmake the iron statue of Wellington weep, and the strong\nstatue of Nelson bend his brow.\"32\nBut the breezy old Admiral did not see it that way; four\ndays after the outburst in the House, and three days after his\ndiplomatic rebuke of Douglas, he wrote very positively to\nCaptain Hornby. \"It is now my positive order,\" he said, \"that\nyou do not on any account whatever take the initiative in\ncommencing hostilities by firing on them, or on any work they\nmay have thrown up.\"33 This \"plain, little, big-hearted, unassuming, lowland Scotchman, lame, but full of salt and fresh\nfun\"34 brought cool sea breezes into the super-heated atmosphere. Through him actual hostilities were definitely prevented.\n31 See the Angus McDonald Memoirs printed in the Washington Historical\nQuarterly, Vol. 8, p. 195.\n32 British Colonist, Victoria, August 17th, 1859.\n33 Admiralty Dispatches.\n34 Angus McDonald, Chief Trader at Fort Cblville 1852-1872. See Washington Historical Quarterly, Vol. 8, p. 195. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n203\nOn the American side Coloney Casey displayed a more\nmoderate spirit than his general, or than Captain Pickett. In\nreporting to General Winfield Scott, General Harney related\nthe story of Pickett's adventures in a way that shows the General's turn for heroics:\n\"The senior officer of three ships-of-war threatened to\nland an overpowering force upon Captain Pickett, who\nnobly replied that whether they landed fifty or five thousand men, his conduct would not be affected by it; that\nhe would open his fire, and, if compelled, take to the\nwoods fighting.\"35\nThough brave and capable, Colonel Casey does not seem to\nhave had the lust for martyrdom; he sought rather to reach an\nagreement with the foe. He visited the harbor of Esquimalt\non August 11 and there tried to come face to face with Admiral\nBaynes for conference. Only what seems to the layman an\nunimportant point of etiquette prevented\u2014Baynes would not\ngo to Casey on the \"Shubrick,\" nor would Casey go to Baynes\non the \"Ganges.\" General Harney expressed regrets that this\nvisit had been made, and pushed along war-like preparations,\ntaking up the matter of war supplies with Governor Gholson of\nWashington Territory.\nWashington Intervenes and Scott Arrives.\nBritish sanity bore upon the situation from the great spaces of\nthe Pacific; American wisdom came from the east. When\ndespatches from the west reached Washington, negotiations\nhad reached the point where Lord Lyons (British Minister)\nwas proposing the middle passage as a compromise. The news\nof the occupation was a shock. Acting Secretary of War\nDrinkard wrote to Harney: \"The President was not prepared\nto learn that you had ordered military possession to be taken\nof the Island of San Juan.\" If Harney had reason to think\nthat the British authorities were about to disturb status, then\nhe was right to anticipate them. The President was especially\nanxious to know if he had consulted with Commissioner Camp-\n35 Ex. Doc. No. 65, 36th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 28. *\n204\nAndrew Fish\nm\nbell before acting. (He had not done so.) It should be\nmade clear to the British authorities that the action was not\nan attempt to pre-judge the question of sovereignty.\nIt was decided that Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott,\nCommander-in-Chief, be sent \"to assume the immediate command, if necessary, of the United States forces on the Pacific\nCoast.\" This act in itself showed that the issues involved\nwere very important; also that the government was not satisfied that Harney was equal to the occasion. The attitude of\nWashington was correct in every particular, and the instructions given Scott show a wide difference between the view of\nHarney and that of the President. Much, of course, must\nbe left to the discretion of Scott as he would have much\nfuller knowledge when on the spot than the government could\npossibly have.\n\"His (the President's) main object is to preserve the\npeace and prevent collision between the British and American authorities on the island until the question of title\ncan be adjusted by the two governments . . . The\nPresident perceives no objection to the plan proposed by\nCaptain Hornby, of her Majesty's ship \"Tribune,\" to\nCaptain Pickett ;\u25a0 it being understood that Captain Pickett's company shall remain on the island to resist, if need\nbe, the incursions of northern Indians on our frontier settlements, and to afford protection to American residents\nthereon.\"36 (It will be recalled that Hornby's proposal\nwas to institute a joint military occupation. This had\nbeen refused by Harney.)\nIf hostilities should have broken out before Scott arrived?\n\"In that event, it would still be your duty, if this can,\nin your opinion, be honorably done, under the surrounding circumstances, to establish a temporary joint occupation of the island, giving to neither party any advantage\nover the other. It would be a shocking event if the two\nnations should be precipitated into a war respecting the\npossession of a small island, and that only for the brief\nperiod during which the two governments may be peacefully employed in settling the question to which .of them\nthe island belongs.\"\n36 Ibid, p. 27. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n205\nBut if the British, because of their superiority of available\nresources, shall have actually seized San Juan? This was\nlooked at as a possible but not a probable event; but\n\"if we must be forced into a war by the violence of the\nBritish authorities, which is not anticipated, we shall abide\nthe issue as best we may without apprehension as to the\nresult.\"37\nThanks to Admiral Baynes, no blood had been shed, and\nGeneral Scott had no serious trouble in carrying out his purpose. Joint military occupation was in due course proposed\nto Governor Douglas, but the Governor countered with a plan\nto withdraw the soldiers and have joint civil occupation. The\nmenace of Indians seemed sufficient reason to General Scott\nfor maintaining some forces on the island, and Douglas, after\nthe General had refused civil occupation, submitted the suggestion of joint military occupation to his government. On\nNovember 3 Douglas wrote to Scott:\n\"Should you, sir, after the explanations I have herein\ngiven in reference to my official powers and position, proceed to carry out your pacific mission,\u2014and divest the\nlarge military force now on San Juan of its menacing\nattitude by removing it from the island, we will instantly\nwithdraw the Bjritish naval force now maintained there;\nand as soon as I receive the instructions of my government, I shall be glad to co-operate with you in arranging a plan for the temporary maintenance of order and\nprotection of life and property upon the island.\"\nA positive assurance was given that nothing should be done\nby British authority to prejudice the status established by the\nMarcy correspondence of 1855. For his part Scott issued\norders immediately for the evacuation of the island, excepting that one company under Captain Hunt should remain.\nPickett was not to stay. Hunt was given copies of the correspondence so that he would understand\n\"the spirit in which it is expected you will execute the\ndelicate and important trust confided to you, the general\nhaving full confidence in your intelligence, discretion, and\n37 Ibid.\nft* $\nty\ni\n206\nAndrew Fish\n(in what is of equal importance in this case) your courtesies.\"38 (The italics are the General's.)\nSubsequently, the plan outlined to Douglas by Scott in his\n\"project of a temporary settlement\" was accepted by the\nBritish Government. In March, 1860, a force of Royal Marines\nunder Captain George Bazalgette, equal to the American force,\nwas stationed on San Juan; the two forces, at opposite ends\nof the island, carrying out their duties until final settlement\nin 1871, in perfect friendliness.\nGenerals Scott and Harney.\nThe responsibility for the crisis, so far as the American side\nis concerned, rested squarely with Harney. Pickett was supported in all he did by his general; Harney acted without\norders from Washington. We have seen that he was not\nsupported at general headquarters; General Scott in large\nmeasure reversed his (Harney's) policy. Further evidence\nof disapproval is given by the suggestion of Scott that Harney\nshould accept a transfer to St. Louis. Scott expected that\nthe British would ask for Harney's removal and told Harney\nso, suggesting that in such a case it would be a relief to the\nPresident if Harney were no longer in that command. A conditional order to report at St. Louis was sent by Scott, but\nit was left to Harney to decide for himself whether he should\ntake advantage of it. Said Scott: \"If you decline the order,\nand I give you leave to decline it, please throw it into the\nfire.\" Harney elected to stay where he was; he could not\nbelieve that there could be any embarrassment to the President in this, nor could he \"suppose the President would be\npleased to see [him] relinquish [the] command.\" After Scott\nleft for the east, Pickett was re-instated in his command and\nHarney issued orders in connection with his duties that could\nscarcely be harmonized with General Scott's instructions. This\nled to his recall to Washington, where a reprimand was administered by the Secretary of War\u2014not a severe reprimand,\n38 Ibid, p. 76. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n207\nas the Secretary had regard for his \"known high character\nand distinguished services,\" and Pickett was again removed.\nThere were, unfortunately, other subjects in dispute between these two officers, and something like a quarrel ensued.\nLate in 1859 or early in 1860 Scott wrote very strongly to\nthe Adjutant-General. He said:\n\"In dismissing this most nauseating subject [court-\nmarshalling of an officer for alleged insubordination], I\nbeg permission to add, that the highest obligations of my\nstation compel me to suggest a doubt whether it be safe\nin respect to our foreign relations, or just to the gallant\nofficers and men in the Oregon Department, to leave them\nlonger, at so great a distance, subject to the ignorance,\nand caprice of the present head-quarters of that department.\"39\nIt was not until June, 1860, however, that the recall was\nissued. The sympathy of the people in Washington Territory\nwas strongly with Harney, as is shown by resolution passed\nby the legislature.\nWho Was to Blame?\nThe rebuke to General Harney seems to have been de- j\nserved. Both sides, of course, were claiming title, but the\nreal status was that neither government was to take action\nimplying sole sovereignty until the Commission issued its\nfindings. On the basis of the Hudson's Bay pig affair Harney\nseized the territory and proclaimed through Pickett that \"no\nlaws other than those of the United States, nor courts except\nsuch as are held by virtue of said laws, will be recognized or\nallowed on this island.\" He had no special orders; nor did\nhe consult with Commissioner Campbell. Pickett evidently j\nfelt the weakness of his case when, as he plainly says, he \"endeavored to impress them [the three British captains] with I\nthe idea that [his] authority [came] directly through [Harney] from Washington.\" In the same communication we have\nthis:\n39 Ex. Doc. No. 65, 36ta Cong., 1st Sess. pp. 190-1.\nb* 208\nAndrew Fish\n\"I must add that they [the captains] seem to doubt\nthe authority of the general commanding, and do not wish\nto acknowledge his right to occupy this island, which\nthey say is in dispute, unless the United States government have decided the question with Great Britain. I\nhave so far staved them off, by saying that the two governments have without doubt settled this affair; but this\nstate of affairs cannot last, therefore I most respectfully\nask that an express be sent me immediately on my future\nguidance.\"40\nThis shows at least that Pickett was uneasy; there is no\nevidence that Harney was.\nCommissioner Campbell was surprised at the occupation.\nThat Pickett should land troops seemed to him natural enough\n\u2014it had been done before when' Indians threatened,\u2014but that\nPickett should refuse to allow British forces to land for the\nprotection of their nationals was strange. He saw Pickett's\nconfidential instructions and wrote to Harney that he could\nonly suppose it \"possible, if not probable\" that he had received\ninstructions from the War Department for the occupation of\nthe island. Not having heard from the State Department himself, however, he felt \"considerably troubled lest there might\nbe some misunderstanding.\" He advised \"caution; so as to\nprevent if possible any collision, which,\" he thought \"under\nno circumstances ought to be allowed to occur.\" He expressed\na fear that Harney's action might \"somewhat embarrass the\nr question,\" and declared, \"I shall be greatly relieved to learn\nthat you have some authority from the government for the\ndecisive step you have taken.\"41 Inferentially, then. Campbell\nblames Harney, for there was no \"authority from the government for the decisive step.\" In his explanation to the\ncommissioner Harney declared that the relative claims of the\ntwo governments were not in any way affected by his action.\n\"The British authorities chose to violate treaty stipulations\nmade in good faith, and maintained by the United States in\ngood faith, by attempting to arrest an American citizen on\nSan Juan Island to carry him to Victoria to be tried by British\n40 Ibid, p. 17.\n41 Ibid, p. 59. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n209\nlaws. To prevent a repetition of this outrage, until the government of the United States could be apprised of it, I have\nplaced troops on the island, with such orders as I have deemed\nnecessary to effect this object.\" To the Adjutant General at\nWashington he made the somewhat indefinite statement that he\n\"disclaimed any intention of asserting any sovereignty over\nthe island of San Juan, beyond that which the necessity of\nthe case had demanded.\"42 Ambiguous as this is I decline}\nthe task of harmonizing it with the proclamation of Pickett.\/\nThat proclamation was the establishment of a complete Amer-f\nican sovereignty or words are meaningless. But did Great!\nBritain violate the treaty as Harney alleges? That would]\nmake some difference, certainly.\nThe gravamen of the charge against the British authorities\nwas that they attempted to arrest an American citizen and\ntake him to Victoria for trial under British laws for an offense committed against a British subject. The offense was\nnot denied (indeed, the offender, perhaps needlessly, avowed\nhis deed)\u2014a Hudson's Bay Company's hog was shot\u2014but\nthe incident of the alleged attempted arrest is variously described. Harney did not get his story straight. As explained\nto Douglas the soldiers were ordered to San Juan\n\"to protect the American citizens residing on that island\nfrom the insults and indignities which the British authorities of Vancouver's Island, and the establishment\nof the Hudson's Bay Company recently offered them, by\nsending a British ship-of-war from Vancouver's Island\nto convey the chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company\nto San Juan for the purpose of seizing an American\ncitizen and forcibly transporting him to Vancouver's\nIsland to be tried by Btritish laws.\"43\nThis inaccurate account gave Douglas a fine opportunity to\ndeny the charge. That Harney was reflecting the popular\nfeeling in identifying the Company with the government there\ncan be no doubt, nor can it be doubted that there was some\njustification. It was not, however, technically correct, and\nDouglas, could point out that the Company's officers had no\n42 Ibid, p. 38.\n43 Ibid, p. 22.\nft*\nM 5B:\n%\n210\nAndrew Fish\nmore rights than had other British citizens. By this time\nDouglas' connection with the Company was at an end, though\nthe severance was very recent. His resignation of all official\nconnection with, and interest in, the Company had been demanded by the British Government as a condition of the\nappointment as Governor of British Columbia toward the end\nof 1858. The Governor emphatically says:\n\"To the reported outrage on an American citizen I beg\nto give the most unhesitating and unqualified denial. None\nof her Majesty's ships have ever been sent to convey the\nchief factor or any other officer of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany to San Juan for the purpose of seizing an\nAmerican citizen, nor has any attempt ever been made\nto seize an American citizen and to transport him forcibly\nto Vancouver's Island for trial.\"\nOf course not; Mr. Dallas, who was accused of the attempt\nto arrest, was not chief factor but a director of the Company,\nand President of Council in North America; he did not go in\na war-ship but in the Company's trading-steamer; he did not\ngo for the purpose of seizing anybody, he happened to be\nthere at the time; nor did he attempt to forcibly transport\nCutler, for, as Cutler himself deposes, he was only threatened. Mr. Dallas denied even the threatening, and gave a\ndifferent account of some of the other details of the affair.\n\"No demand of $100, or any other sum of money, was made\nupon him [Cutler], nor did I threaten to apprehend him, or\ntake him to Victoria. On the contrary, I stated distinctly\nthat I was a private individual, and could not interfere with\nhim. I have fortunately three unimpeachable witnesses to\nprove this.\"44\nAmong the contradictory statements we have to find sufficient evidence to warrant Harney seizing the island if he\ncan be warranted at all. He was demonstrably at fault in his\naccount of some parts; other parts are in doubt through conflict of evidence. Beyond cavil the culprit was not actually\narrested and no force was used upon him, even if we concede\n44 The British Colonist, June 7th, 1860. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n211\nthat he was threatened. Harney's reaction was to send 461\nsoldiers and several field-guns to take exclusive possession\u2014\na steam-hammer to kill a gnat. The truth seems to be that\nHarney took the prevailing hostile view of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany (a view that was in a large measure shared by the\nBritish residents on Vancouver Island) and allowed himself\nto take stronger action than his instructions permitted. On\nthe other hand, Douglas, but recently chief-factor for the\nCompany at Victoria and apparently still willing to support\nthe Company's aggressive policies, studiously refrained from\ncommitting acts that were technically wrong. He sent a\nmagistrate to the island before Pickett landed, as the result\nof the pig-shooting, but the limit of the commission was \"to\nwarn off all persons who may attempt to assert any rights\nof occupancy as against the British Dominion.\" Specifically\nthe justice was to be \"most careful to avoid giving any occasion that might lead to acts of violence.\" This is far short of\nsole occupation by force of arms, and in any case Harney knew\nnothing of this commission when he issued orders to Pickett.\nAfter the seizure, Douglas was ready to fight; he ordered the\nnaval force to respond to the call for help when the call\nshould come from the civil authorities. Furthermore, the\norders were explicit that the Americans were to be prevented\nfrom landing more troops.\nThis was war, and so it was understood at the time. Duncan\nGeorge Forbes Macdonald, surveyor with the British boundary\ncommission then on the spot, writing in 1862 declares:\n\"In this San Juan affair, let the people of England never\nforget how nearly we were thrown into all the horrors\nof war, at a time when the States were not, as now, disunited and helpless, by the intemperate policy of His Excellency Governor Douglas, who is Commander-in-Chief \u25a0\nof Her Majesty's Colony of British Columbia and its\ndependencies. But for the arrival of Rear-Admiral Sir\nRobert Baynes, K.C.B., at the eleventh hour, war with\nAmerica was certain. This I know, having been upon\nthe island when His Excellency's commands were re- !jp\nin\n212\nAndrew Fish\nm\nill\nceived. The good old Admiral and the captains of his\nfleet boldly refused to adopt a course which would have\ncreated a rupture between England and America. These\nnoble upholders of the British Flag contemplated with\ntrue feeling the awful effect of the boom of cannon and\nthe roll of musketry. To the chivalry and forbearance,\ntherefore, of these wise and valiant men the two kindred\nnations owe much indeed. It would be an unpardonable\nomission were I not to make special mention of Captain\nHornby, of the \"Tribune,\" who, although under the most\npositive instructions from the Commander-in-Chief to\ndeclare war at once, took upon himself the responsibility\nof delaying the execution until the arrival of the Admiral, who was daily expected.\"45\nFor additional evidence I quote from Angus McDonald\nwho has already been referred to. McDonald as Chief-factor\nat Fort Colville for the Hudson's Bay Company would not\nnaturally be suspected of bias against Douglas. He writes:\n\"Although Governor Douglas and Colonel Hawkms^ the\nBritish commissioner, were rather in favor of a war, the\nlucky arrival of Admiral Baynes muzzled their designs in\na council of war held at Victoria, where he told the Governor that if ordered to attack the American camp on\nSan Juan he would refuse doing it, and he hooted the\nidea of raising a war with America for such nonsense,\nit having as reported been started by a personal quarrel\nover a Hudson's Bay Company's pig.\"46\nThe Admiral seems to have shared in a measure the popular\nBritish opinion of the Company. Captain Hornby, writing to\nhis wife on December 4, 1859, says:\n\"I hear that the Governor has got much praise in England for keeping peace with the Yankees. That is rather\ngood, when one knows that he would hear of nothing but\nshooting them all at first and that peace was only preserved by my not complying with his wishes, as I felt\nhe was all in the wrong from the start.\"47\nThis evidence is hardly impeachable. To Baynes, Douglas\nurged that he had \"clear and definite instructions\" from his\ngovernment \"to treat the islands in the Haro Archipelago\nas part of the British Dominion\"; but, as Baynes pointed out\n45 Macdonald's British Columbia and Vancouver Island, London 1862, p. 257.\n46 Washington Historical Quarterly, Vol. 8, p. 195.\n47 Washington Historical Quarterly, Vol. 8, p. 195 (note).\nI Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n213\nin a despatch to the Admiralty, American squatters had been\npermitted to locate themselves without being warned off, also\nan American deputy collector of customs.48 The only instructions I have found were those issued before the Marcy correspondence of 1855, and these could hardly be appealed to\nwith fairness. On the evidence, then, Harney* would seem to\nhave been technically at fault, but Douglas must take his share\nof the brick-bats of blame. Harney disturbed the status without sufficient cause, but Douglas would have brought about i\nbloodshed over a teihnical breach that could easily have been j\nsettled by diplomacy, and was so settled when wiser men than |\nDouglas restrained him. We have seen that the aggressiveness\nand greed of the Hudson's B'ay Company had much to do with '\nproducing the state of mind in which the Americans of the\nregion were prepared to take arms if necessary in support of\nHarney. The honors for preventing bloodshed should be\nshared among the British naval officers, cabinet officers at\nWashington and General Winfield Scott. The General seems\nto have been amused by the heroics of his subordinates of the\nOregon department.49\ni\nPresident Buchanan's Attitude.\nThis San Juan seizure was looked upon as a very serious\naffair by President Buchanan, even though his administration\nwas harrassed by domestic dissensions as serious as any that\never tortured this country. In correspondence with Lord\nClarendon (whom he had known in London), among other\nmatters, the action of Harney was referred to.50 Lord Clarendon wrote:\n\"This affair at San Juan, tho' more serious than the\none at Nicaragua, is of a similar character. The over-\nzeal (which Talleyrand so much deprecated) and the\nover-slowness and the over-desire to make political capital without reflecting on the consequences, of employes,\nhave caused difficulties which put the firmness and good\nfaith of both governments to the test. I am much mis-\n48 Admiralty Dispatches.\n49 See his Memoirs, or note in Moore: Intematnional Arbitrations, p. 222.\n50 See Works of James Buchanan, Vol. 10.\n$ 8 '4Jh\nII\n214\nAndrew Fish\nP\nK\n>\/ \u25a0\u25a0\nm\nm\nm\nm\nm\nif\nfill1\nwfc*-\ntaken if you did not learn the proceedings of General\nHarney with as much regret as Lord Malmesbury did\nthose of Sir W. Ouseley [in the Nicaragua business].\nLord M. disowned his Plenipotentiary, and you seem to\nhave taken the best course open to you under the circumstances by .sending General Scott to supersede General\nHarney\u2014at least I hope I am not wrong in so interpreting the object of the mission with which he is\ncharged.\"\nHis Lordship is quite sure that the claim of Great Britain\nis sound, but thinks that above all things a collision should be\nprevented so that a calm judgment might be rendered.\n\"John Bull's usual habit,\" he says, \"is to take things\nquietly, but his dander has been roused by the highhanded proceedings of General Harney more than I ever\nremember upon occasions of the kind, and this miserable\nbusiness might be productive of the most disastrous consequences. May God of His infinite mercy avert from us\nall the responsibility and guilt of such disasters.\"\nThe President's answering letter did not discuss Harney,\nbut urged that his (the President's) action in sending General Scott must have satisfied even Lord John Russell.\nLord John, the British Foreign Minister at the time, had\nsent a disquieting despatch to Lord Lyons at Washington^\nit was this that was disturbing President Buchanan. We must\ncome back to this dispatch shortly, when we shall understand\nthe President's perturbation. Should Lord1 John act upon the\nprinciple he had enunciated and take possession by force, \"I\nsay with you,\" declared the President, \"May God of his infinite mercy avert from us all the responsibility and guilt of\nsuch disasters!\" He was sadly disappointed at the turn events\nhad taken for, as he said, he \"had earnestly hoped to settle all\nthe dangerous questions between the two countries during [his]\npresidential term.\" \"This was,\" he said, \"one of the prime\nobjects of my ambition but I now find it impossible.\" He fears\nthat the influence of the leaders of the Hudson's Bay Company\n\"has been and will be exerted, not in favor of peace but of\nwar.\" \"It worries me to think that after a two years* sue-\nm\nIt Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n215\ncessful trial to unite the people of the two countries in the\nbonds of kindred and intimate friendship, all my labor may\nprove to have been in vain.\" He is sorry to notice from the\ndate of Lord John's dispatch that it could not have been inspired by the knowledge of Harney's conduct.\nThe third annual message of the President, delivered on\nDecember 15, 1859, was taken up to the extent of about one-\ntenth by San Juan. Competing for attention were many other\nquestions, some of which have assumed a greater place in our\nhistory. The message deals among other matters with \"recent\nsad and bloody occurrences at Harper's Ferry,\" the Supreme\nCourt decision which established the right of every citizen \"to\ntake his property of any kind, including slaves, into the common territories belonging equally to all states of the confederacy,\" the execution of laws against the African slave\ntrade, and the necessity of a Pacific railway. Not much is\nsaid about Harney. It was not the proper time to discuss\n\"the weight which ought to be attached to the statements of\nthe British colonial authorities, contesting the accuracy of the\ninformation on which the gallant general acted,\" but it was\ndue to him that his own reasons should be presented. The\nadmiral is praised because \"he wisely and discreetly forbore\nto commit any hostile act.\" There can be no doubt of the\nvalidity of the American title, and in the meantime American\ncitizens will be \"placed on a footing at least as favorable as\nthat of British subjects,\" and a company of soldiers will\nremain to protect their interests.\nWe may now leave the discussion of this dangerous crisis,\nthankful that it was passed without more serious and regrettable consequences. It ended with the agreement to establish\njoint military occupation. From 1860 until after the final\naward of the arbitrator in 1871 an equal number of American\nsoldiers and British marines camped on the island, maintaining friendly relations throughout the whole time.\nk*\nit\nM\nft Andrew Fish\nLater Stages of the Diplomatic Struggle.51\nThe dispatch from Lord John Russell to the British Ambassador which distressed President Buchanan so much was\ndated August 24, 1859, and contained the following offending\npassage:\n\"Her Majesty's Government must, therefore, under any\ncircumstances, maintain the right of the British crown to\nthe Island of San Juan. The interests at stake in connection with the retention of that island are too important to admit of compromise, and your Lordship will,\nconsequently, bear in mind that whatever arrangement as\nto the boundary line is finally arrived at, no settlement\nof the question will be accepted by Her Majesty's Government which does not provide for the Island of San\nJuan being reserved to the British Crown.\"52\nThe interests at stake were those of defence; it was supposed that the island was of very great strategic value. This\nview was held by both Britons and Americans. This aspect\nof the matter was not an unimportant one at that time, however it may look now, but for Lord John Russell to say that\n\"no settlement would be accepted which did not provide for\nthe island being reserved to the British Crown\" was surely to\npre-judge the case and to utter sentiments contrary to the\nspirit of the Marcy correspondence. We have seen how it\nupset the President. He complained:\n\"We all believed that the line ran through the Canal de\nArro. Under this impression you may judge of our\nastonishment when we found that Lord John, in his first\ndiplomatic note, gives us fair notice that Great Britain\nnever will surrender the subject-dispute. He waits^ not\nto hear what can be said on this side of the water in\nsupport of our title, but informs us in effect that he had\npre-judged the case.\"\nThe main outline of the dispute may be recalled. The\ncommissioners were disputing over the interpretation of the\ntreaty of 1846\u2014the British claimed the Archipelago on the\n51 I am indebted to Moore's International Arbitrations for much of the information used in this section.\n52 Quoted by Alexander Begg in his History of Britsh Columbia, p. 244. Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n2i;\nground that the Rosario channel was the one intended by the\nTreaty; the Americans, on the ground that the Canal de Arro\n(or Haro) was intended. The British case rested on the\nwording of the treaty but this wording was ambiguous. The\nchannel should have three characteristics to meet the terms\nof the treaty contended the commission: (1) it should separate the continent from Vancouver's Island; (2) it should\nadmit of the boundary line being carried through it in a southerly direction; (3) it should be a navigable channel. The\nHaro channel, while it was with difficulty navigable, did not\nseparate from the continent as it was already separated by\nanother channel, and it made it necessary to run the boundary\nline west before it could run south. This is about as near\nto verbal quibbling as makes no difference. The American\ncommissioner maintained that the Haro strait should be the\nboundary because it was the widest, deepest, and largest volume of water and was the one usually marked on the maps\nat the time of the treaty. As it washed the shores of Vancouver Island it was the only one that could be said to separate the continent from the island. The word \"southerly\"\nwas not used in its strict sense but as opposed to northerly.\nThe general intention to make Haro the line was shown by the\nreport of Mr. McLane, who conducted the negotiations, to\nMr. Buchanan, then at the state office; also by the fact that\nthis report was submitted to the Senate along with the treaty.\nFurthermore, Senator Benton's speech made it clear how the\ntreaty was generally understood. When the Rosario channel\nhad first been mentioned by Mr. Crampton (British Minister)\nit was not asserted that it was the channel intended but merely\nthat it had been surveyed and used and \"it seemed natural\nto suppose that that was the one intended.\" Moreover, the\nHaro channel had also been surveyed and used\u2014by Spain and\nby the United States.\nThe British commissioner had secret instructions to compromise on the middle passage, and in his dispatch Lord Andrew Fish\nRussell definitely authorized Lord Lyons to negotiate on this\nbasis. The central channel would fit the language of the\ntreaty, and it would be a useful compromise as to the islands,\nleaving only one important island to Great Britain\u2014San Juan.\nThis offer was made in a spirit of accommodation it was\npointed out; the British government would not acknowledge\nthat its claim to the Rosario straits was not valid.\nThe offer was refused and the commission, having done\nwhat it could, and being still unable to agree on interpretation, adjourned proceedings in 1867. The Civil War had\nintervened and San Juan had been pushed into the background\nby considerations of much greater moment. Much more\nserious differences had arisen between the two governments\u2014\nthat over the \"Alabama\" being the most thorny. Other subjects of dispute were naturalization, fisheries, and reciprocity\nwith Canada. A convention was signed on January 14, 1869,\nby Mr. Reverdy Johnson and Lord Clarendon by which it\nwas agreed to submit the case to the arbitration of the President of Switzerland. However, in 1871, the matter was still\nunsettled and among other questions was submitted to the\nJoint High Commission between the United States and Great\nBritain. Again the old offers were made, again without success. Britain then proposed arbitration. The United States\nagreed to this if the arbitrator was to be instructed to determine whether the boundary should go through the Rosario or\nHaro straits, and refused to accept the proposal that he should\nhave the right to compromise on some other channel. The\nacceptance of this limitation was a distinct diplomatic victory\nfor the United States and was probably decisive in getting a\nfavorable award later. The German Emperor, fresh from\nthrilling scenes in Paris, was chosen arbitrator. He was to\ndetermine \"finally and without appeal which of those claims\nis most in accordance with the true interpretation of the Treaty\nof June 15, 1846.\" Fortunately for the United States her\nrepresentative at Berlin was pre-eminently fitted to conduct Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n219\nher case. George Bancroft, the historian, had been a member\nof Polk's cabinet when the Oregon Question was one of the\nliveliest political issues; he had also been the American representative in London. He was an expert on the subject in dispute ; his knowledge of American history was vast. In Berlin\nhe was to win a final diplomatic victory, and clear from the\nslate the last vestige of dispute about the Northwestern boundary. In charge of Britain's interest was the same Admiral\nJames C. Prevost, who, as Captain, had acted as boundary\ncommissioner.\nIt seems reasonable to suppose that when the Treaty of\n1846 was drafted neither government had one particular channel in mind, probably for lack of knowledge of the geography\nof the region. Maps did not agree; Vancouver's chart (probably used by the British government) had the Canal de Arro\nmarked but he himself used the Rosario strait. The strength\nof the American case, however, was in the general intention\nas shown in the negotiations, and the general sense in which\nit was understood at the time of the acceptance of the treaty.\nIn the discussion preliminary to the treaty Buchanan (then\nSecretary of State) offered to make free to Great Britain\nany port or ports she might desire south of parallel forty-\nnine on Vancouver Island, if that line should be accepted.\nGreat Britain stood out for free navigation of the Columbia\nand Buchanan withdrew his offer. A little later Pakenham\n(for Great Britain) urged parallel forty-nine or the arbitration of \"some friendly sovereign or state.\" This was refused,\nand the matter hung fire. A few months passed and in February, 1846, Buchanan let McLane (who was acting in London\nfor the United States) know that from the temper of the\nSenate he judged that parallel forty-nine would be accepted.\nMcLane talked to Lord Aberdeen who agreed to submit a\nproposal through Pakenham. Fresh from his conversation\nwith Aberdeen, McLane reported to the State Office that the\nproposal would likely be to divide at parallel forty-nine to Andrew Fish\nthe Canal de Haro and the Straits of Fuca. President Polk,\nwriting on the very day the draft was presented, observed to\nMcLane:\n\"Neither does it provide that the line shall pass through\nthe Canal de Arro, as stated in your dispatch. This would\nprobably be a fair construction.\"\nA week later Buchanan used these words:\n\"Thence along the middle of this channel and the Strait\nof Fuca, so as to render the whole of that island to\nGreat Britain.\"\nThe island, of course, was Vancouver.\nTo permit Great Britain to retain the whole of Vancouver\nIsland was in fact the only reason for deflecting the line at\nall from parallel forty-nine. Senator Benton in the Senate\ndefinitely mentioned the Haro Channel, showing clearly how\nhe understood the arrangement. Aberdeen in his instructions\nto Pakenham did not, it is true, mention any definite channel,\nbut he said nothing about any islands except that of Vancouver\n\u2014\"thus giving us the whole of Vancouver's Island and its\nharbors.\" The same general understanding on the part of\nSir Robert Peel is plain enough\u2014\"but that the middle of the\nchannel shall be the future boundary, thus leaving us in possession of the whole of Vancouver's Island, with equal rights\nto navigation of the straits.\" Nevertheless, the Canal de\nHaro is not \"the middle of the channel\" constituted by the\nGulf of Georgia. From something that happened, George\nBancroft when minister of London, got suspicious that there\nmight be difficulties of interpretation and asked for some\ncharts to be sent to him\u2014charts which he had caused to be\nprepared when he was at the Navy Department. Benton had\nsaid that the islands were of no value, but Bancroft knew\nbetter. He (Blancroft) asked permission to claim the Haro\nStrait if a dispute arose; Buchanan, however, thought it improbable that Great Britain would seriously make a claim for\nanything east of the Haro Channel. Bancroft thought this\nwas true of the ministry but said he had reason to think that Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n221\nthe Hudson's Bay Company wished to get some of the islands\nin the gulf. It was in 1847 that Bancroft wrote this; in 1850\nthe Hudson's Bay Company began salmon-packing operations\non San Juan. By 1848 Lord Palmerston in London and Mr.\nCrampton in Washington were asking for charts and suggesting that the boundary depended first of all on interpretation of the treaty rather than on a survey. Mr. Crampton\nsaid that only one channel seemed to have been surveyed\u2014\nthat used by Vancouver. If this construction was accepted\nthen the channel near the mainland would be the boundary,\ngiving the only important island to the United States\u2014Whidby.\nThe other islands, it was said, were of little or no value. But\nnothing was done about it.\nThen followed events already related\u2014incorporation of San\nJuan into Washington Territory, the trouble over assessments\nand customs, the Marcy correspondence, the appointment of the\ncommission, the difference of interpretation, the slow progress\nof the negotiations, the impatience of American settlers and\nintending settlers to have the matter decided, the shooting of\nthe Hudson's Bay Company's pig, the military occupation by\nHarney, the agreement on joint military administration, and\nthe submission of the case to arbitration. On October 21,\n1872, the Emperor announced his award to be that the Haro\nChannel was \"most in accordance with the true interpretations\" of the treaty of 1846. On March 10, 1873, a protocol\nwas signed at Washington by Hamilton Fish, Secretary of\nState, Sir Edward Thornton Minister of Great Britain to the\nUnited States, and Admiral Prevost by which the boundary was\nfinally determined. No further trouble occurred; in a few\nweeks the marines were withdrawn and the United States held\nundisputed sovereignty.\nThus another chapter of Northwestern history was closed.\nOn the merits of the case the decision appears to have been\nquite just; one cannot doubt that the only object in departing\nfrom parallel forty-nine short of the Pacific Ocean was to\nm r\nSi\nj1 '(,\u00a3\u25a0\nb$\nIt\nw\nK fii\nM.\n222\nAndrew Fish\ngive Great Britain the Island of Vancouver and that only.\nThe foundation of the British claim, a verbal ambiguity, was\nessentially weak.\nSummary and Conclusion.\nThe point of highest interest in this story as I have told\nit is the forcible military occupation of San Juan in 1859 by\nGeneral Harney's soldiers. I treated it as an incident in the\nwestward movement of the white man's civilization\u2014in the\nEuropeanization of America\u2014in the supersession of barbarism. This truly was the important process taking place at the\ntime. The struggle for possession of San Juan was a minor\naffair between groups of whites with their more or less serious\ncauses of disagreement. I traced sketchily the spread of the\ndominion of the United States across the continent and showed\nhow the Oregon Question was raised and settled, leaving the\ndisposition of the islands of the Gulf of Georgia somewhat\nuncertain. Something of the part taken in these matters by\nthe Hudson's Bay Company has been indicated. I showed\nthem migrating from the Columbia to Vancouver Island. We\nsaw how the opposed economic interests of the Company and\nthe American farmers aggravated national animosities. Another disturbing factor was the gold discovered on British\nsoil and eagerly sought by American adventurers. I recounted\nthe disabilities of American miners in the situation and the\nefforts of their government to provide a remedy. The history\nof San Juan Island and how it came to be the scene of the\nexplosion of American exasperation has been told. We have\nfollowed together the details of the occupation, the reasons\ngiven for it, and the response of the British authorities to it.\nParticular attention was given to the parts played by General\nHarney, Governor Douglas, and Admiral Baynes. We saw a\nsatisfactory settlement effected by General Scott on the one\nside and Admiral Baynes on the other. I have tried to find out\nm Last Phase of Oregon Boundary\n223\nwho was to blame and am obliged to conclude that Harney\nthrough Pickett disturbed the status established by Marcy in\n1855. Both sides were pledged to refrain from acts involving\nthe implication of sole sovereignty pending the result of the\nwork of an international commission. Pickett's proclamation\non San Juan was an assertion of sole sovereignty. As the landing was directed more against the Hudson's Bay Company\nand the British authorities than against hostile Indians itj\namounted to seizure by force. In the upshot Harney's policy\nwas in effect repudiated by the government. Douglas, on his\nside, seemed disposed to fall back on instructions earlier than\n1855 and, on the theory of sole British sovereignty, to put all\nto the test of arms. He issued orders that really meant war.\nHad not naval officers refrained from executing his orders\nhostilities must have occurred. The worst was averted by\nAdmiral Baynes, who took the situation out of Douglas' hands.\nI pointed out that the British claim to San Juan rested on a\nverbal ambiguity in the Treaty of 1846, that the commissioners\ndisagreed hopelessly on the interpretation of the doubtful\npassage, and that arbitration was eventually agreed upon by\nthe two governments. Strong evidence has been produced that\nthe plain intention of the treaty was to run the boundary\nthrough Haro Straits, thus leaving the islands on the American\nside of the boundary, and that it was understood in this sense\nby the various officers of the American government concerned.\nThe final award made by the German Emperor in 1871 in favor\nof the United States would therefore seem to be a just one.\nBut did it really matter whether San Juan was American\nor British ? It mattered to the individuals who wished to take\nland on the generous American terms. Under the settlement\nthe private interests of the Hudson's Bay Company were, of\ncourse, protected, but the Company could no longer retard nor\ncontrol land cultivation. The crown rights of the Company\non Vancouver Island expired in 1859, but, while it then became easier to get land, the British policy was not so generous Andrew Fish\nto the home-seeker as the American. The outcome of the\ndispute made a real economic difference to some few individuals. Broadly, however, the matter was not of vast importance. The civilized white stranger was crowding the\nnative barbarian off the soil, and the dispute over San Juan\nwas between two groups of about equal culture. The standards of life would have been broadly the same whatever the\nissue. As things are and. have been in the world, the American and British peoples may indulge themselves in legitimate\npride and thankfulness that the Oregon Question in its various\nphases was settled without recourse to the stern arbitrament\nof war. The contest was at times acrimonious, but never, we\nmay be thankful, bloody. In spite of dangerous lapses of\njudgment on the part of individuals of both nations, the affair\nof San Juan did not mar the record. The over-zeal of employes was counter-balanced by the calmer judgment of more\nresponsible officials. If to our sorrow we have often to reflect\nthat men are not equally wise, at least we may take comfort\nfrom the fact that they are not equally foolish. DOCUMENTARY\nThe Letters of the Rev. William M. Roberts,\nSuperintendent of the Oregon Mission.*\nSecond Installment.\nEdited by Robert Moulton Gatke\nThird\n(Copy) Oregon City, March 18th, 1848.\nTo the Cor. Secy. &C.\nRev. Dr. Pitman.\nDear Bro.:\nIn a former part of this report, I have given you the No.\nof persons in the employ of the Mission. The condition of\ntheir families, the work they are engaged in together with such\ngeneral facts as I then deemed important. I now present the\nfiscal state of the mission, and do it in a separate letter because\nwhatever publicity may be given to the former, this is somewhat more confidential and private. I allude first to salaries\nor the amt. paid to the preachers, David Leslie $624. I. H.\nWilbur $600. A. F. Waller $680. W. Roberts $800. Wm.\nHelm $404. J. L. Parrish $364. The amt. which will be\nnecessary for Bros. Helm and Parrish each the coming year\nwill be $450. I think this will be satisfactory to them, of\ncourse all their time is not employed in Pastoral work tho\nmost of it is, unfortunately neither of them live on their circuit.\nChauncey S. Hosford the Ytoung man liveing in my family is\nto receive 100. and his board. When at home the items of\nwork he does in my family in the intervals of study are an\nequivalent in part at least for his board and when abroad, his\nwork is so fully Mission work that his salary of course should\nbe paid by the mission.\nIndeed my work as Sup. requires the employment of some\none constantly, as an assistant in travelling for four months\nI had an Indian at an Expense of $25.00. He traveled over\nMt. Hood wittr me from The Dalles last September. In the\nabove items I am giving the amt. that is to be paid rather than\nthe precise items which have been reed, by each one, the latter\nI could not do without a settlement with each one which I\nhave not yet had.\nThe table Expenses of Bro. Wilbur and myself which were\nto commence immediately on our arrival in Oregon, will bear\n* The first installment is found in Volume XXI, pp. 33-47 (March number,\n1920).\n& Robert Moulton Gatke\ndate from July lst-1847. The annual Expenses of the mission\nsupposing things to remain as they now are (which of course\ncannot be long) are a little [over] $3700, increased by various\ncontingencies chargeable to Expense [account]. The amt.\nreed, from the board the past year (I mean since I have been\nhere) is Goods per Bark Whiton $562.06 as per invoice. Ditto\nBibles & [Testaments] $208.23. There is now lying at Portland two boxes of Bibles & Tes. which came in the [Mt. Vernon ?] values as per note I reed, at the Bible House in Novr.\n\/46, at $260.00. I failed to have them brought up the river\nbefore the rainy season commenced and have a supply, had\nthem stored there until this spring. There is due to the mission\nfor property sold by Bro. Gary as follows from I. R. Robb\n$1140.35 payable in instalments of 250 each. Judson and\nWilson $5122.20 do. of $500. H. Campbell $3144.00 do. $705.83\nannually. Geo. Abemethy $0501.21 do. $2000. annually in\ncurrency and $500. in cash or its equivalent, these are the principal liabilities held by the mission instalments payable as\naforesaid with interest at 6 pr. ct. pr. annum. I will try to\ntell you how available they are. I. R. Robbs notes are for the\nmission farm on the Clackamas about which there was some\ndifficulty. Bro. Gary says I should give him a years interest\n$00. the instalmt[s] for 1846 &\/47 are behind and he says Br.\nGary told him he should not be huried for payment and when\nit comes it is in the \"chips and Whitstones\" currency of the\ncountry\u2014Judson & Wilsons Notes are for the Mills and property near the institute payment in currency. The instalment\nfor Sep. 1847 and interest is behind except 237. and some lumber for a barn. Wilson is dissatisfied with his responsibility\nand wishes to get his name off the notes. He thinks Bro.\nGary favours his claim on this property as per letter he (Wilson) has written to the board and represents him (Bro. Gary)\nas saying if the '47 instalment was met those for \/48 and \/49\nwould perhaps be remitted by the board and certainly not be\ncrowded. If I were to say a word here it would be this that\nI have not a particle of belief that the board ever ought or\never will remit a farthing for any such plea as is put in in his\nletter. But then all this answers to baffle me in any attempts\nto collect the notes. H. Campbells notes are for Horses &\nCattle in currency of course and the instalments for 1846 &\n\/47 are behind. He represents Bro. Gary as saying that if the\ninterest was payed the principle would not be required at\npresent. I think Br. Gary never encouraged any such thing. Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts\n227\nBro Abemethy has paid each year more than his $2000. I\nthink $1000 or more over last year: but the cash I. E. $500\nhe did not meet and tells me that he is not sure that he can\npay all of it this year either. His $2000 is in currency it will\nbuy flour when he has it at $4.50 pr Hundred while the cash\npaid is $3.00 pr cwt. He has no groceries and but few dry\ngoods in his store. There is an honest buisiness like promptness in his manner of doing buisiness which I like, and altho\nhe cannot just now meet all his engagements with the mission\nyet I have no doubt he will be able to do so when he shall have\nstruggled through the toils of the present year. Last fall I\nloaned him an Order on Vancouver for $1100. payable in\nSilver March first 1848. This I [did] partly to help him\nthrough a hard year and partly for the sake of getting some\ncash for I had not the prospect of getting a dollar to help\nmyself except I sold Drafts on the treasury at some 10 to\ntwenty pr ct. discount. When this note fell due he could not\nmeet it Therefore I paid my Vancouver bill (which included\nthis amount together with a draft I loaned the provincial Government for $400, spoken of in a former letter and $158.36. for\nsupplies and the payment of Indians total $1758.36) in two\nsets of exchange drawn in triplicate in favor of James Douglass\nEsq. one for $1190.96 and the other for $561.40. It was\nsomewhat mortifying to myself and to Br. Abemethy for\nfor me to draw for the whole amount of the $1100. which he\nborrowed, as the army had taken some of the wheat with\nwhich he hoped to meet the engagement and otherwise deranged his plans he has paid $150 on the note and the rest I\nthink will soon be in hand. Formerly there was some cash\ncoming in from things sold at the Dallas now of course there\nis none except it be the $500 from Bro. Abemethy and it is\nimpossable to manage the payments of the salaries &c of the\nPreachers & freight without the cash in hand. (I have just\npaid $50 for 50 bushels of wheat for bread. $20 for 20 bushels\nof potatoes, and $35.70 for 51 bushels of Oats for my horse\nin cash and very thankful to get them at that.) besides hauling them at an expense of nearly 10 Dol. more. But I will\nproceed with the debts due the Mission\u2014G. Abemethy (above\nmention'd) $1100. in Silver less $150. already paid. Beers.\nAbemethy & Force $220.64.\u2014G. Abemethy $200.82 D. Leslie\n$339.17 G. Abemethy $390. due Oct. 3d 1848. Beers and\nCarter 400 bush wheat due Sep. 1846. J. Q. Thornton $282. Robert Moulton Gatke\npayable in two years. The above payable in currency where not\notherwise indicated. Provisional Government $1500. payable\nin Silver in three years: $1000 of which is at 10 pr. ct. $500\nof which at 7 pr ct. per annum. One thousand of the above\nwas in Drafts on the board and $500 in an order on H. Campbell. I have said enough in my former letters by J. Meek\nEsq. as to the nature and necessity of the above loans to the\nGovernment. Wilson, Leslie, Beers & Abernethy's bond for\n$4437.83 for the Institute payable in July 1851 &c &c. I hold\na house & Lot as security for the payment of $330 due Jan 1st\n1849\u2014This amt. I loaned in order to get a house for Bro\nLeslie to reside in as mentioned in a former letter the interest\nis the rent. The only other debt due the Mission except a few\nsmall items the exact amt. is not easily ascertained is that of\nDoct. Whitman for the movable property left at the Dalles\namounting to $561.38 payable either at Vancouver after May\n1st 1848 or in a draft in triplicate on the A. B. C. F. M. to\nbe drawn 8th Sep. 1848.1 I have not yet decided which to\ntake but probably it will be on Vancouver unless I can find a\ngood chance to sell the Dft. for cash. The entire amount I\nthink is $28308.60 Exclusive of the four bund, bush of wheat.\nThe amount of property held by the mission is about as follows, Real estate\u2014at Oregon City\u2014House with Barn just\nerected\u2014$1000. This is the one I reside in. Another in\nwhich Broth. Leslie resides $1236. This house is the Force\nproperty which was not redeemed as was promised and provided for. Parsonage at the Institute with 200 Acres $1380.08.\nThere are yet a few items unsold which came from the Dalles\u2014\nOne Waggon. 1 Yoke of Oxen and three inferior horses. Of\nbooks left by Bro. Gary2\u20146 q. Rev. V vol\u20141 do. W. A. 3\n[Wesley] Mission to America\u20143 Powel on succession\u20143\nCrovosvo\u20144 Wat. Wesly\u20142 Ben Fletcher\u20141 man of Preachers\u20141 Mib on Babtism\u20141 Lady Maxwell\u2014one Erron of\nCorini\u20147 men of Crovosro\u20141 Set Lonk & notes\u20141 Jife\nLuther\u20144 Bromwell\u20142 Bunyan\u20141 Hesteram Rogers\u20144\nRem. of Cox\u20144 Nelsons Juvenile\u20142 Mason on Sf. Knowl.\u20141\nLet. to Pusey\u20145 Watson Apol\u20145 Intro to Christian\u20141 Scrip.\nChur.\u20141 Vill. Blacksmith\u20141 Sketches &c\u20141 The Jew.\u2014\nWalls End War p.\u20141 Meth. by Dixon\u20141 Hare on Justi\u20141\nPrayr. meetings\u2014113 Meth. Hymns\u201441 Disci.\u20145 Chris.\nMaanuel\u20146 Wes. on Perfec.\u20145 Christian Pattern\u20141 Seri.\n1 In anticipation of the necessity of moving from his interior mission, Dr.\nWhitman had arranged to purchase the Methodist Mission site at The Dalles.\n2 Mr. Roberts' purpose in keeping a copy of bis official correspondence was\nmerely to have one for his own reference, hence his- free use of abbreviations\nwhen making that copy. Many of these book titles will be recognized readily altho\nsome are too obscure to justify an effort to interpret them. Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts\n229\nEnquirer\u201412 Class Books\u20141 set Sur. Instruments\u20141 Do.\nCuppin\u2014And, there is a lot of some of which I found here\nothers I brought here, 26 quilts\u2014119 Shirts\u201450 Boys do\u2014157\nYds. Muslain in Little Remnants\u20148 Sheets\u201430 pr pillow\ncasses\u201418 Papers need.\u201416 Doz. pair Wollen Socks\u201418 pair\nCotton Do.\u201412 Pair small shoes\u20148 Pair Boots\u2014Now the rest\nof the things such as 50 pr. boys pants\u201424 vests\u201424 dresses\n\u20147 childrens dresses\u2014&c&c are as nearly nothing or worthless as may be. So poor that they are scarcely worth giving to\nthe Indians really I think it not worth while to send such\ntrumpery so many miles at 75 cts. pr. sqr. foot (It would seem\nas though some of our good friends had made an especial\nselection of the poor and maimed and that which is lame) to\npresent as an offering to the Lord. How will it do to suggest\nto them that a little wool off the firstlings of their flock would\nmake us some warm clothing. The truth is we need some good\ndurable warm clothing and I suspect you will have to buy it\nand the sooner the better. The preachers families are badly\nin want of various articles of w7oolen clothing and I hope long\nbefore you receive this that we shall get a new supply. It is\nfound necessary in some places to build log churches and I\nthink it the best policy to encourage the people to do this all\nover the. country but in most places they are too poor to buy\nthe glass, sash and nails which are necessary. Nails are 20c\nper lb glass 12^ pr light and sash the same In cash. The\nChurch we are now building up country is 24 by 32 feet of\nhewn logs with five windows of 24 lights this is a fair specimen of the kind of churches we need and we must build some\nparsonages also. It is death to our work to have the preachers\nliving 10 or twenty miles off their circuit and every nail we\ndrive at 20c pr lb is rather a costly affair. In a former letter\nI asked for some materials to build a house in this city may\nI ask again for more materials such as 8d lOd 6d 4d Nails\nsome boxes of 8 by 10 glass for the purpose named above. The\nCourse we are trying to adopt is this, to encourage the people\nto build (to) get them to do all if possible, and where they\ncannot aid them a little. The articles above named are the\nmost needed also some hinges & fastenings. I wish you would\nsend me a sash plain. Now I shall be glad if the board will\nsend us the things named above with permission to use them\nfor the purposes above mentioned. I think it will be the best\neconomy to spend some means in this way. If Br. Gary were\nto go with me a few excursions perhaps he would a little \u00a5--t\"\nH\nRobert Moulton Gatke\nmodify the opinion he expressed that the people here are able\nto pay the table expences of the preachers. In some places they\nmight do a part of it but in most not anything. I regret to\nstate that Br. Flees one of our very best members of Yam Hill\nwho was leading the way in this thing had his house burnt\ndown a few days ago and every thing in it consumed. His\nfamily barely escaping with! their lives. Did the $25. worth\nof tracts voted by the Board ever get on Board the Whiton.\nThere was a Box of Tracts some of which we now have, but\nI reed, the impression that they were a present from some\nof the persons in the Book concern. What is the state of the\ncase, the manner in which my stationary goes convinces me\nthat I shall soon need more: I have had to get some books\nmade of it for Record Books of the circuits. There is great\nneed here for school books. Is there any person or any Institution in your city or vicinity intimately enough acquainted\nwith the Books needed in Common Schools and sufficiently\ninterested in the subject of the Education of youth to make\nthe selection and advance the means, necessary to purchase\nbooks for a few common schools in this country and wait for\nthe money until there is time to dispose of the Books and make\nthe return.\nIf there be let such a selection be made and sent, of the\nvery best books most approved now in use in the States. I\nmean new Books not old ones Such as Spelling Books, De-\nfiners of Die, Reading Books, Arithmetics, Grammars, Geographies, Copy Books and Slates with Pencils and ink powder.\nOne word more and I am done. If you will send us some\n$5.00s worth of the best friction machines put up in small\nparcels in tin cases it will be an accommodation. Bro. Dando\nsent a note of enquiry by me to this country concerning the\nToulon, which sailed in Feb. 1845. Also the Maripos's, the\nCharles, the Brooklyn and the Stylon by all of which goods or\nletters were sent. Bro. Gary had answered all these queries\nbefore now much more intelligibly than I can. I think that all\nhas come safely to hand I know the goods by the Hylondia\nfor I reed, them and paid the freight of nearly $30. The lost\nBill Book was sent home by Bro. Gary.\u2014With the deep conviction that a large amt. of wisdom which cometh down from\nabove is essential properly to transact the business of this mission, So that Christian enterprize may put forth the most Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts\n231\npowerful efforts consistent with strict economy, and praying\nmost earnestly for its bestowment\nI am Dear Bro.\nYours in Christ,\nWilliam Roberts.\nRev. Dr. Pitman\nCor. Secy.\nP. S.\u2014If it would not be too much I would be glad if this\nletter and postcript could be copied and sent to Bro. Gary,\nwith the request that he will favor me with his maturest advice,\nin regard to its contents. I wrote to him last fall.\u2014W. R.\nN. B.\u2014It had not occurred to me until this moment that I\nam bound to sent a Dft. for a small amt. favor Dr. Babcock.\nIt is a small part of certain notes placed in my hands by Bro.\nGary for collection for him the Dft. is for $157.40 for value\nreed.\u2014W. R.\n\u25a0* 11\nml\n(Copy)\nTo the Treasurer of the Missionary Socy of the Methodist E.\nChurch\u2014\nRevd. G. Lane. Oregon City, 18th March 1848.\nDear Bro.: I am instructed by the board see. Rec. of Nov.\n17, 1846, to keep an account of all such traveling expenses as\nmay necessarily arise out of my duties as superintendent of\nthe Mission and transmit the same to you for payment at\nevery convenient opportunity. The following is the result up\nto this time including the travel in California as pr order of\nthe board. Errors excepted.\nTraveling in California in May & June 1847\u2014\nWashing in San Francisco & co $ 1.00\nPassage to Monteray 15.00\nBoard 4.00\nSupper, horse & guide at San Juan 2.25\nLoss on horse bot. for $20. sold for $10 1000\nPostage on letters sent by Panama 1.00\nOregon Jan. 1848. Ferriage 3.00\nWages of Indian to travel with 4 months 25.99\nMarch trip to Vancouver 1.38\nFerriage over Walamet 1 year 4.00\n$68.22 To Rev. G. Lane\nTreasurer &c.\nRobert Moulton Gatke\nI am Yours very truly\nWm. Roberts.\nTo the corresponding Secy of the Sunday School Union of the\nM. E. Church.\nRev. D. P. Kidder Oregon City, 18th March, 1848.\nDear Broth.: The annual Express of the Hudson Bay Company starts tomorrow for Canada and I improve the opportunity to write a few lines in relation to the Sabbath School\ninterest in Oregon. At this time there are but two Sabbath\nschools really organised in this country under the care of our\nChurch. One at this city with one Sup. 8 Teach. 48 Scholars.\n'& 150 volumes in the Library. This school is now in a flourishing condition but there have [been] no cases of conversion reported among the children during the past year. There\nwere a few vol. of Books in the Library when we arrived in\nthe country but those reported above are the set furnished\nby the kindness of the board in the autumn of 1846. The other\nschool is at Salem and is held in the Oregon Institute. It has\n2 Superintendents, 10 Teach., 40 Scholars, and upwards of\n150 vols in the Library. I am pleased with the prospects of\nthis School an amount of seriousness was manifest among the\nchildren at my last visit that showed the teachers are not\nlabouring in vain.\nThe donation of Books which we brought to this country\nwere I think judicially selected and Will be of great advantage.\nAs soon as the rainy season is over we expect to start a number of Schools in places where it has been impossible during\nthe rainy season. The action of quarterly conferences contemplated in the discipline in regard to the instruction of children &c was thoroughly attended to during my brief sojourn\nin this land. But the scattered state of the population' lies\ndirectly in the way of doing much good in the way of Sabbath\nSchool labours at present. There is one way however in which\nas we go from place to place much good may be done. It is\nby distributing copies of the S. S. Advocate & suitable books\nfor children. The Box of Advocates brought by the Whiton\nare almost gone. It contained only the first 12 No. of the 4 Vol.,\nwe are most thankful for them but can you send us another\nBox containing the remainder of the volumn, and so on with Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts\n233\nthe rest. The bound copies of the Advocate are eagerly sought\nfor. I can dispose of 50 copies annually selling the whole of\nthem at the full price. The 10 sets of Library Books placed\nin my hands I have disposed of as follows, Sabbath School at\nSan Francisco uper California, 1 Set of 150 vols another at\nthis place in the School and another at the school at Salem.\nIt is possible that we may break one or two of the sets for\nthe sake of getting Books to place in the hands of Children in\nvarious parts of the country where as yet we can have no\nschool. The rest will be reserved for new schools as they\nmay be formed in various parts of the country. We have\nmany ragged ignorant children these are growing up in this\ncountry as wild and careless of God as the wolves that nightly\nhowl around the cabins in which they sleep. And we must\nhaste to save them ere yet their vices are full grown yealding\nin abundance the bitter fruit of Sin.\nIn earnest hope that Heaven will bless and direct our labours\nand that you will render all possible assistance, I subscribe\nmyself, Yours in Christ,\nWilliam Roberts.\nTo Revd. D. P. Kidder.\nOregon City, March 18th, 1848.\nTo Brv J. L. Babcock :\nSir, of the let Notes your Your favour left in my hands by\nBro. Gary for collection, I have succeeded in collecting or\nsecuring the following amt. On the note of J. Applegate $oo\ncash. J. Hutchins $20 cash. On another 46 Bush wheat at 90c\npr bu $41.40. There is a small amt. more collected on this\nlast item it is in the hands of Bro Beers to whom I have committed many of the Notes due in the French Settlement there\nwill of cource be some expence envolved in the collection I\nshall do what is in my power for your accommodation. I now\nsend you a draft for $157.40. I deem it quite a misfortune\nfor you that any of your things brought prices so exorbitant\nit is a direct barrier to their collection.\nI am Yours truly,\nWm. Roberts.\n$157.40 Oregon City, March 18th, 1848.\nTen days after date of this first of Exchange (second & Robert Moulton Gatke\nthird of the same tenor and date unpaid) pay to the Order\nof J. L. Babcock one hundred fifty seven 40\/100 dollars value\nReed and charge to the act. of Oregon Mission.\nYjfcmrs,\nWm. Roberts.\nTo Rev. G. Lane, New York\nTreasurer* of the Miss, of the M. E. Church.\n(Copy)\nTo the Corresponding Secy of the American Bible Society\nRev'd Dr. Brigham.\nDear Sir: I hereby desire to acknowledge the rect. of two\nlots of Bibles . Testaments one by the Bark Whiton invoiced\nat $208.23% the other per Ship Mt. Vernon valued as per note\nI ree'd at the Bible House in Novr 6 at $200.00. This last\nLot I have had stored at Portland 12 Miles below untill the\nrainy season is over. Of course I have not yet examined them\nnothing more appropriate was ever brought to Oregon than\nthe Book of God. At another time I will tell you something\nof the distribution we have made as well as the Sales. For\nwe have been circulating them both on the Ocean in California\nas well as in this country.\nIn those sent by us in the Whiton there was a deficiency of\nRoyal Octave Bibles (E. I. Family Bibles) as the people call\nthem\/ I wish you would assertain. If, in those sent by the\nMount Vernon there is a good supply of these if not send us\nsome by the first oppertunity. We are making arrangements\nto form a Bible Society Auxy &c on this side of the Rocky\nMountains. With many thanks for those favours ree'd from\nyou through the missy Socy. of the M. E. Church.\nI am yours in Christ,\nWm. Roberts,\nRev. Dr. Brigham. Supt. of Oregon Mission.\nTo Rev. G. Lane Oregon City, March 18th, 1848.\nDear Bro.: I hereby advise you of having drawn on you\nthis day for $157.40 Dollars favor of J. L. Babcock which you\nwill please honor and charge to account of Oregon Mission.\nYours truly,\nWm. Roberts.\nTo Revd G. Lane, Treasurer\nof Missy Socy of M. E. Church. Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts\n235\nOregon City, Sat. Morn, 25 March, 1848.\nTo Mr. Pettigrew.\nSir: I hereby send Mr. Horford to your place to ascertain\nif any arrangement can be made for public preaching there\ntomorrow. I desire to come down to your place (tomorrow)\n(Sunday morning) and preach in Portland sometime during\nthe day if entirely agreeable to those concerned provided a\nplace can be found where it will be suitable. I am not aware\nof any religios service in your place tomorrow and even should\nthere be, mine perhaps can be fixed at some other hour not\nunacceptable to the people. [Trusting] that you will favor\nany proper effort to promote the morals of the people I have\ntaken the liberty to address you and remain\nYour Obt. Servant,\nWm. Roberts.\nP. S.\u2014I can visit your place again in a fortnight.\u2014W. R.\nOregon City, 17 April, 1848.\nDear Bro. Brewer:3\nWhen I saw you on Thursday last I understood that it\nwas your intention to come to this place to go to the Islands\nin the Eveline. Let us understand each other definitely. I\nthen said that I believed it wrong for you to insist on going\nat this time. You are acquainted with my reasons. Still I\nwill repeat them so that they may be known to the Board at\nhome. If you go to the Islands now there are 9 chances out\nof 10 that you must remain there on Expense until next Autumn\nand the cost of living is high.\nIf you go home by way of China it is enormously expensive\nand the vessels must wait somewhere until the ordinery season, for a return Cargo which will detain you just as long\nas if you remain here until July or August by which time some\nvessel may be going home direct or an opportunity is furnished of going to the Island as Bro. Gary did in time for the\nordinary Autumn passage home. Still as I find you are determined to go at all hazards, as I mentioned when I saw you I\nshall not object any further, but shall refer you Entirely to\nthe Board for any allowance for expenses you may incur above\nwhat would be reasonably incured if you were to wait and go\nabout the time known to be the best to reach the Islands if\nthere should be no passage home direct.\nI am, Dear Bro.,\n3 Henry B. Brewer, lay member of the Fourth group of Methodist Missionaries, who arrived in Oregon June 1, 1840. 236\nRobert Moulton Gatke\nm\nif!\nP\nif\nJim\nm\nm\n**\nB*>,\nYours in Christ,\nWm. Roberts.\nP. S.\u2014I have engaged your passage in the above vessel and\nMr. Holden will inform you as to time.\nTo the corresponding Secy of the Missy Socy of the M. E.\nChurch.\nOregon City, April 1, 1848.\nRev. Dr. Pitman.\nDear Bro.: I learn a party of men intend starting for the\nstates on the first of May and I desire to send by them [a]\nduplicate, or second Edition rather, of our annual report. The\nannual meeting of the Mission was held at the Institute on\nthe 11th & 12th instant. It was deemed proper to have the\nbusiness corespond in its general arrangment with the order\npersued in our annual conferences so far at least as our infant\nstate would allow. The examination of Character, the respective claims of the Missionary, Bible, Sunday School, and\nTemperance Societies with the interests of Education. Reports\nof numbers in Societies togather with the extension of our\nwork and appointment of our scanty labourers to their respective fields of labour ocupied two days of close and diligent\nattention. Nor were our religious services without their\ninterest. It was a season of great spiritual profit and up to\nthis moment all is harmony and peace. There are eight persons in the employ of the Mission including those sent by the\nboard and four others employed by the Superintendent to do\nregular pastoral work. I might add a ninth which is a young\nman of promise living in my family and employ'd partly as an\nassistant in travelling and partly with a view to direct pastoral\nlabour. David Leslie resides in this city. His family consists of five persons, Himself, wife, and three children one over\n14 one under 14 and over 7, and another under 7 years of age.\nHe has charge of the pulpit here and sometimes preaches in\nthe village of Clackamas 2 miles distant; But the laps of years\nmakes it almost imposible for him to travel and he claims to\nbe almost Supernumerary. We have here 47 members in\nSociety and 1 Sabbath School with nine officers and teachers.\n60 scholars and 150 volumes in the Library.\nJames H. Wilber lives at the Oregon Institute4 and has\ncharge of the Salem circuit. His family consists of himself,\nwife and daughter. There is on the same circuit and living\n4 Located at what is now Salem. Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts 237\nin the same parsonage A. F. Waller, formerly stationed at the\nDalles of the Columbia but who since the transfer of that\nstation to Doct. Whitman in September last has been labouring\nwith brother Wilber. Brother Waller's family consists of\nhimself, wife, 2 children under 14 and over 7 and 3 under 7\nyears of age. There are on this circuit 115 members and two\nSabbath Schools one at the Institute and the other at the\nSanti Am.5 Here are 9 officers and teachers 48 scholars and\nupwards of 150 vol. in the library.\nMy own family resides at Oregon City and consists of my\nwife and self and two children one over and the other under\n7 years of age. The young man already spoken of and one\norphan child 13 years of age who was in the family of Doct.\nWhitman at the time of the massacre and whose two brothers\nwere butchered at the same time, her name is Catharine Segar.\nOccasionally the work of the mission allows me to be at home\nat which time I assist Broth Leslie in his work in this city\nand its vicinity. The two brothers employed by Bro. Gary\nand who yet continue to labour are Wm. Helm and J. L.\nParrish besides I have just engaged two others John McKinney.\nand James O. Rayner. Josiah L. Parrish lives at the Institute\nand has charge of the Yamhill circuit. He is a Local Deacon\nfrom the bounds of the Gennesee conference and came here\nas a secular member of the mission 1849. His family consists\nof himself, wife, and three children two under 14 years and\nover 7 and one under 7 years of age; his circuit was reported\nlast year to have 135 members in Society but no Sabboth\nSchools. Broth J. O. Rayner is appointed to labour with him\nhe is a young man 23 years of age of vigerous health and so\nfar as we can ascertain possesses such gifts and graces as will\nrender him useful to the Church. He traveled two years in\nthe Iowa Conference. Six months under the P. E. [Presiding Elder] and about 18 months on trial when he was permitted\nby the proper authorities to come to this country chiefly on\naccount of his health, he came in the last emigration and is\nwell recommended having the certificate of his standing as a\nlocal preacher from the preacher in charge of the circuit on\nwhich he traveled.\nWm. Helm is appointed to the Calapoya circuit which comprises the tract of country above the Santi Am on the east\nand the Rickreal on the west side of the Walamet river he\nexpects to reside on the circuit. His family consists of him-\n5 Santiam river, written by some during early days as \"Santa Ana\" or called\n\"Santa Ann's Fork.\" it\n238\nRobert Moulton Gatke\nW\nm\n!#\nE**\nself, wife, with five children who reside at home one over 14\u2014\n3 under 14 and over 7 and one under 7 years of age.\nBro. John McKinney is appointed to labour with Bro. Helm\nhe is a married man who leaving his family in Missouri came\nthrough in the last emigration with his son to explore the\ncountry and make arrangements to bring his family. He expects to return to his family in the spring of 1849. Bro. McKinney is a local deacon of good report and it is thought will\nbe useful on his circuit. You will perceive that our work is\nenlarged considerably and while wars and-rumors of wars\nare all around us we are striving to endure hardness as good\nsoldiers of the Lord Jesus. In addition to the above we have\nsixteen Local preachers one of whom is a Deacon and six\nexhorters. If we were all holy men of God labouring as faithfully for Christ as once we did for Satan and as industriously\nas our obligations to his dying love imperiously demand a\nflame of piety would be kindled in this valley that would\nburn with Millennial Glory, But it is to be feared we are not.\nI have some reason to suspect that the Methodism of this\ncountry is not in every respect the Methodism of the discipline.\nStill there are a number of faithful labourers in the country\nboth in the Local as well as in the traveling ministry and many\namong our members adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.\nThe amount of labour performed by our Missionaries may be\nindicated in part by a glance at the extent of our work. At\nthe present time this is confined to the Walamet valley and\nextends from Vancouver on the Columbia to the extreme upper\nsettlement here are included within this district Oregon City,\nSalem, Yamhill, and the Calapooya circuits.\nOregon City has a population of nearly 1000 persons there\nare 185 houses, with two churches, one Methodist one Catholic, two flouring mills, and two saw mills; about two miles\ndistant there is quite a little village springing up on the Clack-\namus river which empties into the Walamet just below the\ncity. Twelve miles below is the little town of Portland just\nspringing into existance. It is about the head of ship navigation. We have not been able this winter to supply this\nplace with preaching. About 25 miles west of [Oregon] City\nthere are a number of beautiful prairies, Tualatine plains, in\nthese fertile plains quite a population is collected and some\n4 or 5 years ago we had regular preaching in a log building\nerected for the purpose but since that time occasional visits\nif\nIf Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts\n239\nvery few and far between are all the people have received at\nour hand. In 8 months I have only paid them one visit since\nthe anual meeting the place is included in the Yamhill circuit,\nand we hope to furnish the people with stated pastoral labour.\nThe Salem circuit receives its name from the town of Salem\nwhich just rising into notice at the Oregon Institute. It is\n50 miles above this city on the east bank or the Walamet\nriver the situation is beautiful and many suppose it will become quite a city in a very few years. Directly on a line\nbetween Salem and this city and about thirty miles from here\nlies what is called the French Settlement peopled chiefly by\nCanadian speaking French and all holding to the Catholic\nchurch. They occupy a fine district of country beautiful indeed\nto behold but so far as the prospects for successful labour is\nconcerned excepting here and there a solitary emigrant as\nbaren as an Arabian desart. In the extreme lower part of\nthis settlement we have had two appointments the past winter\nthe congregations have been small. Above the Institute and\nlaying on and between the Santiam and the Calapooya river\ntheir is a tract of country exceeded by nothing I ever saw in\nthe Eden spots of California either for beauty or fertility in\nthis district has several appointments.\nThe Yamhill circuit lays between Walamit and the coast\nrange of mountains and includes the Twalatine Plains, Che-\nhalam, Yam Hill, and Rickeral, an extent of country some 75\nmiles in length and varying in breadth with the meanderings\nof the river and the encroachment of spurs jutting out from\nthe coast range of mountains. The Calapooya circuit formed\nat our last annual meeting occupies both sides of the Walamet\nfrom the Santi Am and Rickreal to the upper settlement in\nthe valley. The preaching done in this country up to this time\nhas been chiefly on the Sabboth day and it may be proper\nto indicate farther the labours of your Missionaries by alluding briefly to some of The Embaresments under which they\nlabour.\nI am not about to speak of Romanism alltho that Exists and\nhas some influence here with all its machinery of Bishops &\nBells archbishops & nuns Priests & ceremonies and is ready\nto compass sea and land if not to make prosalytes to edify\nthe faithful and convert the Indians. What connexion it has\nhad with the fearful tragedy at Waiilatpu will be seen at the\nJudgment if never known before. Nor yet of Campbellism\ni\ni Robert Moulton Gatke\naltho that abounds and stationing itself along the line of our\nnumerous waters calls loudly for subjects to wash away their\nsins in its laver of Baptismal regeneration which is of such\nmighty efficacy as almost to do without the \"renewing of the\nholy Ghost\" but what I refer to chiefly is peculiar to new settled countries such as: The Scattered state of the population.\nIt was estimated that their was a population of 8000 in the\ncountry previous to the arrival of the last Emigration which\nof itself amounted to from three to five thousand but the\ndifficulty is to find them. The arrangement of our provisional\ngovernment by which a person under conditions can secure\na mile square of Land tends directly to distribute the people\nall over the country and opperates most prejudicially against\nthe gathering of any considerable congregation in any one\nplace our only recourse is to go from one cabin to another\nthrough prairie and forest which is a slow prossess requiring\nmore time and men and shall I add grace than we have at\npresent. Add to this the almost impassible STATE OF THE\nROADS DURING THE RAINY SEASONS. We have as\nyet very few bridges and the crossing of many of the streams\nis perilous and often impossible. Some of the slough's are as\nmire'y as that of despond into which if Bunyan's pliable ever\ngets he is likely after a desperate struggle or two to get out\nof the mire on that side which is nearest to his own house.\nAnother difficulty is the want of food for horses especially\nin the winter season in most cases after a hard days travel\nthey must be hobbled or staked out or turned loose altogether\nto hunt their scanty fare of grass for hay or oats are seldom\nto be had and corn is out of the question. If we turn our\nhorses loose when we are on our journey we cannot get them\n^without much trouble and if we do not our excursions must\nbe short and hurried and the weary starving animals must\nbe turned out on our return to recruit for a few weeks and\nanother secured for the following trip. Untill the people generally give attention to raising fodder for horses so that we\nmay have some other dependence than the wild grasses of the\ncountry each preacher must keep three or 4 horses and spend\nno small amount of time in hunting them when they are\nneeded. The present war opperates unfavourably on the public\nmind so far as piety is concerned. To say nothing of the demoralizing tendency of war at all times. The employment of\nso many men and means including some of our members call- Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts\n241\ning them away from their homes and families cannot but\ncripple our opperations in some parts of our work. There is\nnothing in any of these embarasments that tends in the least to\nquench the zeal or dampen the ardor of any of the members of\nthe Mission our resources are greater than our difficulties\nthere is before us an abundant harvest and altho we would\nrejoice to have a share in gathering it as well as breaking up\nthe ground and sowing the precious seed still we shall rejoice\neven if that is done by others who shall come after us when\nwe are gone to our reward in Heaven. In addition to the\nabove mentioned members there is a class of 13 members\nrecently formed at Vancouver and 7 members in the Twalatine\nplains So that our Statistics are as follows:\nSunday O. &\nMembers L. Prea. L. Dea. Schools Teach. Scholars\nOregon City &\nClackamus 47 2 .. 1 10 60\nSalem =...115 ..12 9 48\nYamhill 135 8 \t\nVancouver 13\nTwalatine Plains... 7\n317 10 1\nVol. Library\n150\n150\n19\n108\n300\nI have no means to ascertain the increase during the year\nbut suppose our numbers to be nearly double what they were\na year ago. Nor can I state with much positiveness the number\nof conversions. I am acquainted however with the case of 31\npersons who have professed a change of heart since the first\nof July last including a few cases of backsliders who have been\nreclaimed.\nThe school kept in the Oregon Institute was deprived of a\nteacher recently by the illness of Mr. Joseph Smith who has\nhad charge of it for several months past. He is not expected\nto recover, we were called into his room to see him die as it\nwas supposed his hour was come, it was an hour of triumph.\nThe power of divine grace was gloriously manifested and this\nis another of the numerous instances of in which persons who\nhave come to this country ignorant of God and Salvation have Robert Moulton Gatke\nbeen brought to the knowledge of the truth by the instrumentality of the Oregon Mission. Two of our members have recently departed this life, Capt. Brown and Sister Howell, both\nsuddenly and both in holy peaceful triumph.\nI deem it a matter of great importance to keep the school\nabove mentioned in Efficient opperation. For the time being\nit is placed under the superintendes of Bro. Wilber with his\ndaughter Elisabeth as teacher untill a competent male teacher\ncan be secured. I have some hope of securing the services\nof a gentleman who came in the last emigration and who\ntaught for some time in Virginia. But it is essential to the\nprosperity of the institution and of our church as Identified\nwith education in Oregon to have a competent person sent\nfrom the States and sustained so far as need be by the board\nand for the honor of the church and the good of souls may it\nbe done quickly.\nIn the special instructions communicated by you at the time\nof Embarkation for this country I was requested to enquire\nwhether the Oregon Institute can be transfered to the Mission and if so on what terms can such transfer be made.\" The\ncorespondence on this subject I now lay before you, and as\ntheir is not the least embarasment in the way it is presumable\nthe board will act accordingly. About the last of March a\ngovernment vessel arrived the \"Anita\" in the River direct\nfrom California by her we received some letters and papers\nmore than half the Nos. are missing and of the C. [Christian]\nAdvocate their was but one solitary number, where they are\nwe know not but suppose them to have been left at California.\nThe [Anita] sailed from San Francisco 24 hours after the\nSweden arived and in the hurry perhaps some of the male\n[mail] was left. It is a question of vital importance here as\nto whether we have an interest in the prayers and sympathies\nof the church at home ours is a work of privation and toil of\ndifficulty and danger of weariness and want. But the grace of\nGod which is exceeding abundant toward us in answer to the\nsuplications of the church at home can make this a pleasant\nemployment let us have this and we will work contented and\ncheerful but withhold this and some of us will soon ask to be\nreleased. I am satisfied since we have been in the country we\nhave had many deliverences and enjoyed many precious consolations in answer to the petitions of Gods people. There\nhas been some sickness in some of our families Broth. Waller's Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts\n243\nchildren have had the measles and his eldest son was at the\npoint of death. They have all recovered each of our boys and\nmyself have been attacked with the fever, my ilness was only\na few hours, and theirs of but a few days continuence. Two\nafflictions have prevailed the Measles and a species of low\ntyphus fever known in the west as the winter fever and on\nthe road as the camp fever. Both are contagious not in the\nsame sense nor to the same extent but still both brought in\nby the emigration and spread over the country wherever they\nhave gone. In my letters Via Canada I mentioned that Mr.\nOgden of the Hudson Bay Company had succeeded in per-\nchasing the persons held in captivity by the Indians including\nthe families of Mr. Spalding & Mr. Osborn with the women\nand orphan children and had all (amounting to 51 Persons)\narrived in safety. The treatment of the captive women was\nhorible tho their lives were spared. Mr. Spalding has gone to\nthe Twalatine plains and the orphans are placed in families\nwhere they will be well taken care of. We have [not] heard\nfrom Messrs. Walker & Eells up to the last account they had\nconcluded to remain at their post. Altho fears may well be\nentertained for their safty. Our war continues. GoL Gilliam\nwas shot by accident and the chief command now devolves on\nCol. Lee. The Governor has just issued proclimation for 300\nmore volunteers and while I am writing troops of horsemen\ncoparisoned for Indian warfare are passing by my window\nwhile now and then a wounded man is seen patiently waiting\nfor returning health that he may return and again renew the\ndeadly strife. Up to this time it is not known that one of\nthe murderers has been killed but it is almost certain that\nterrible vengeance awaits them. I shall present the fiscal state\nof the Mission in another letter. Indulging the hope that the\ndark cloud which has lowered over us with such threatening\naspect may give way to the bright sunshine of peace and prosperity, I am, Dear Bro.\nYours in Christ,\nWm. Roberts.\nRev. Dr. Pitman, Cors. Sec. &c.\nExtract of letter to G. Gary.6\nSalem, Octo. 26th, 1848.\n\"There is a little business affair to which I desire you to\nreply early as possible, it is the transfer of 10 acres of the\n6 George Gary, D. D., the second superintendent of the Oregon Missions. Robert Moulton Gatke\nParsonage reserve to Bro. Craft for 10 acres of land in the\nrear.\nI am sorry to find this business in its present position. About\na month ago I called the committee which they say you appointed together and enquired First. Are there any papers whatever either from Bro. Gary or any one else in relation to this\nmatter ? It was answered No. Second. Is the transfer finished\nor is it expected that I in any way yet have it to do ? Ans. It\nis not finished the property is not surveyed. No writings have\npassed. A committee was appointed by Bro. Gary to confer\nwith Bro. Craft to select or allow him to select a site for a\ntaw yard. A site was selected. Bro. Craft now occupied it\n&C &C. And third. Is the lot which he is to give in Exchange\nnow or was it at the time anything like an equivalent? Ans.\nNo, by all the committee.\nAfter some considerable reflection I came to the conclusion\nthat I would not do anything in the affair until I reed word\nfrom you communicating definitely your understanding and\nintention with regard to the matter. My reasons are these. I\ndislike exceedingly these traditionary affairs, and especially in\nthe conveyance of property. It is an unfinished, unsettled concern. There was time enough from April or May to August\nto settle it. It mutilates and spoils the 100 acres by takeing\na quadrangular piece out of the middle (see diagram) and receives a poor almost worthless, irregular shaped lot in return.\nThe following is about the state of the case. Tho possible\nthe exchange piece may be much more irregular than I have\nrepresented it. Now poor as the bargain is and much as the\nproperty is spoiled thereby! I should consummate the affair\nat once. If there was any writing whatever giveing me to\nunderstand that you understood the arrangement.\nIf you did understand it then you intended a donation or at\nleast a favor for which you had good and sufficient reasons no\ndoubt. And I never should object. But then you must really\ndo the business or shew me that you engaged to do it. In\nwhich case I am of course under obligation.\nFavors could not be bestowed on a more worthy Bro. than\nBro. Craft. But I must not lengthen out my detail. There is\nno misunderstanding between Bro. Craft and myself, and tho\nhe regrets the business was not finished, will wait patiently,\nuntil you communicate fully on the subject. If Bro. Leslie\never gave it as his opinion that the parsonage would lose nothing by the exchange he is now of a different opinion.\" Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts\n245\n(Copy) (Private)\nSalem, Or. T., Feb. 14, 1849.\nTo the Cor Sec &c\nDear Bro.: It is proper to express a few thoughts on some\npoints less adapted to the public eye than those in the accompanying letters. There is a strong propability I think that the\npeople of this country will be better able to pay something\ntowards the support of the gospel shortly than they have been.\nSome of them are returning from the mines with some quantities of gold. I think 250 person in all have come in on the 5\nships now in the river, and perhaps they will average $1500\napiece in gold dust their success varies from $100 to $5000.\nMost of those who have come home this winter will go\nagain in the spring; the people are in a most unsettled state\nstill I hope they may be induced to contribute towards the support of the gospel. I am greatly perplexed with one embar-\nrasment in Oregon. It is the preachers liveing away from their\ncircuits; how to remedy this is not easy for me to see. I have\nsaid everything against it possible.\nBros. Helm, Waller, and Parrish are on their own premises,\nwhile their own houses and circuits are together, it may not\nbe so objectionable, but when conference comes it trammels\nthe appointments, in fact it works here just as it does at home.\nI never did believe in Itenerant preachers having Local families and my submission to it in Oregon is with a very poor\ngrace, but the country is new\u2014there are very few schools and\nbut two parsonages. My idea is on every circuit let the\npreacher go and live, if no house can be had otherwise let\nhim build one with such help as the people can be induced to\ngive and the mission funds do the rest. Then let there be a\nbarn and garden and if need be (and we cannot do without\nit) a few acres put in oats. Then whatever time the preacher\nspends in work at home at house or fence or garden or pasture\nit is directly promoting the work of the Itinerancy and not for\nprivate personal interest. So that very shortly the whole country completely covered with a net work of circuits, will be\nready for the somewhat comfortable occupancy of the pastors\nof the people living among them, and then the swollen river\nand violent storm will seldom or never get between the preacher\nand his work.\nBut then this plan contemplates the entire consecration of 246\nRobert Moulton Gatke\nW\n8$\ni\n%\n'I:\nthe preacher to his work, and of course an entire support from\nthe Gospel. Bro. Wallar is thus entirely supported, perhaps\nBros. Parrish and Helm receiving $450. each, would think they\nare not. Bro. Wallar now lives on his circuit. But suppose\nit were necessary for him to go to Mary's river next year\u2014\nThe nearest appointment would be 20 miles from his place of\nresidence, and much of his time must be spent away from\neither his family or his charge. When I conversed with him\nhe gave the following reasons among others. He has been at\nthe Dalles 3 years, outside of all civilization, has had no advantages of school for his children since he has been in the\ncountry, and now desires to place his 5 children close by a\nschool for a little time where they may be educated for God\nand his church.\nHe adds this was the course substantially advised by Bro.\nGary and that when he thus gets his family so they can be\ncomfortable that he can attend to his work better, spending\nmore hours in labouring among the people, than if he were to\nmove from circuit to circuit leaveing his children without\nschool, family without comfortable quarters exposed as they\nmust be in the Country at present. There is a force in these\nreasons which you cannot feel so powerfully as myself. I\nknow of no better plan than to urge the principle that every\nman to live in and about his work and then if exceptions occur,\nwhy, endure them as best you can.\nIf you can relieve this question by further instructions or\nadvice please furnish it forth with. Farther thoughts in relation to this matter in the Annual Report which must be forthcoming shortly.\nIt will doubtless be desirable to the Board to know how\nnearly the support estimated by their committee accomplishes\nits object. I heard Bro. Wilbur remark a few days since that\ncircumstanced as he now is, he can get along quite comfortably\nindeed with the amount appropriated to him. Bro. Wallar\nsays there is no proper proportion between his support and\nthat of others. (Say Bro. Wilburs.) The latter receives\n$600 having one child (i. e. a daughter aged 16). The former\nreceives $688. with a family of 5 children 1 under 7 the other\n4 over 7 but under 14. This is very disproportionate, were\nthe support exceedingly ample I would say nothing about the\ndisproportion, but it is not and I advise the board to revise\nthe estimate and bear in mind that children eat as well as\nif Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts 247\ngrown people. So that while $88. may pay the salary of\n4 children it furnishes nothing for table expenses at all. I of\ncourse refer to the estimate of Octo. 46 for I know of nothing\nlater. Bro. Leslie is doing fairly I think for support, though\nhe was a little involved last year. Owing to some business\narrangements of other years which involved him somewhat in\nin debt. As to myself I desire to say I have just footed up my\nbills since I have been in the country and find that up to this\ntime I am worse off in finances than I was at home, and am\nlikely to be so unless the Board shall make such appropriations as will raise the allowance to the neighborhood of \u2022\nper annum from July 1st, 1847, to the present time. I am\ndoing but one work every energy is consecrated to it. It burdens me with solicitude for it[s] prosperity in its various\ndepartments, I am left with but little time to attend to the\naffairs of my family. And I am sure It is at once the WISH\nand policy of this Board to keep me above every anxiety and\nburdensome care with respect to personal support. The above\nremarks would not be made were they not necessary and I\nwas not aware until a few days past but that the allowance was\nsufficiently ample. If at any time it should occur to you that\nthe disproportion is too great between the supt. and other\nbrethren the data can be immediately forth coming which renders it necessary. He ought to keep from 6 to 10 horses,\nwaggon, harness and all travelling gear in this country is immensely high and difficult to get and soon wears out. All these\nextras above what any of the brethren require for the ordinary\nwork you may say might belong to the mission and be chargeable to Expense a\/c. So I thought for a time but I find it\nbest to have little or nothing belonging to the Mission. Whenever it is possible let every thing belong either to the Mission\nor myself and there is much less danger of loss or difficulty.\n2 of my horses are lost and the remaining six could not be\nreplaced for $500. But enough of this for the present. How\nwould it do for you to get up an Edition of the Methodist\nalmanac for Oregon City perhaps also if you find a copy of\nours for 1848. There is none likely to be published here at\npresent and if it would cost but little, to get it up, I think a\nsmall edition of from 200 to 300 Copies might be sold say @\n10c. It may not be adviseable if there would be much expense involved but if it could be done cheaply there might be\nsome good accomplished by the arrangement. Can you tell if Robert Moulton Gatke\nthe gold discovered in California will induce the Merchants\nto send goods largely to Oregon? If you are not sure that\na supply will be sent at once, then there remains no alternative\nbut for the Mis. Bbard to ship here soon as possible almost\nevery article needed by the 6 or 7 families and 3 or 4 single\nmen now in the employ of the mission for wearing apparel.\nNot a Blanket, or Kettle or tin pan, or pair of boots, or strong\ncoat or pants or hat fit to wear or pound of Sal Eratus or\ntea can be bought anywhere in the territory that I know of at\nany price. A few lbs sugar, some Manilla coffee, a little\nrotten sewing silk &c yet remain, but I suppose the sugar crop\nis neglected at the Islands and if raised the ships are otherwise\nemployed. Oh if we could but hear from you once more then\nthe hope of relief might spring up.\nThe Advocates sent to this country with my other papers\nseem to be rummaged or pillaged so that every file is broken,\nand incomplete and then what is the matter in the clerk's department in the forwarding office. Until nearly the last Nos-\npapers were sent to J. and D. Lee, Shepherd &c then those\nwere stopt, and Bros. Leslies and Wilbur's papers also. Please\ncorrect this and if there is to be a regular communication for\npapers as well as letters, let us have say 50 copies of the\nAdvocate to begin with, all sent to one address and we will\nendeavor to distribute them and forward the pay for those\nnot taken by the preachers as soon as possible.\nThe brethren laboring here under the auspices of the American Board desire to return to our hands the Dalles Station.\nThey cannot occupy it or their own either at present, and as\ntheir losses are enormously heavy,,they wish to lesson them by\nreturning this property. They were to pay a little over $600\nand my conclusions on the subject are as follows. If the\nstation is ever again to be occupied we can man it better than\nthey. If it is not and the property is to be a total loss it is\nnot much, and I think Brotherly kindness will be promoted by\nour promptly relieving them of .the obligation in view of their\nbroken up condition: And if the establishment is sold to government or to some private person, it will bring three times as\nmuch in which case we not they ought to have the advantage.\nSo I have said I see no objection to receiving it with the understanding that they make good any property they may have\nappropriated and we will look to the government for any damage done by the Indians or troops during the war. The troops Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts\n249\ntook down the barn and made a stockade fort and when the\nU. S. Gov. comes doubtless it will be wanted for a military\nstation. The business is not yet consummated and I could\nhave wished counsel before acting in the case. But it is one of\nthose plain cases which did not admit of the delay necessary\nto abtain such counsel and I must therefore act according to\nthe light I have trusting the Board will approve. The Papists\nhave settled a mile or two off the premises, and some day\nwould be accessory to the murder sooner or later of any Protestants who might tenant the station. But when once the\njurisdiction of the U. S. Gov. is extended here no fear of\nPapists should ever keep me one hour from going or sending\nmen to labor there if no other reasons existed.\nThey now infest every part of the upper country despite\nthe prohibition of our Prov. Gov. and when that prohibition is\nremoved I purpose visiting the Station if not called away to\nCalifornia, and any interferance with our property by them\nwill be laid before the proper authorities. Such visit in company with Bro. Wallar will enable me to form some more\nenlightened opinion as to the state of the Indians in the Upper\nCountry, and as to the question whether their final abandonment by all Protestant Missionaries is really unavoidable.\nYou will know much sooner than we can what are the intentions\nof the American Board and will be prepared to give some\ncounsel with regard to the question.\nThe Indians have been severely rebuked for the murders\ncommitted and will not be likely to misbehave in future. I am\nsorry in my heart that we can hear of nothing which you have\ndone for California. Others are now on the ground before us\nafter all. A Mr. Hunt from the Islands went to San Francisco last fall, and the people made him up a salary of $2500.\nfor one year. So he is now their chaplain.\nI cannot resist the conviction that our movements are in-\nexcuseably slow and dilatory. I yet hope some of these days\nto receive intelligence that the Board has acted with great\npromptness and all that spontaniety of fear which the case\ncalled for.\nThere have been so many sources from which I expected to\nget advices that I have not dared to move a step from my\nown work here, lest they should come in my absence and thus\ntime be lost, and withal our hands are filled with work here\nelse I should have gone down the coast and preached at the\nBay of San Francisco myself. Robert Moulton Gatke\nWe are often enquired of by aged persons for spectacles to\nenable them to read the Bible. There is none to be had in\nOregon. I think it within the range of doing good, to request\nyou to send two or three dozen pair of common ones suitable\nfor persons from middle age and onward, it will be a blessing\nto many. Many persons enquire of us for books. They hear\nof the libraries of the A. T. Soc. and of the Harpers &C and\nthey wish to send money by us to buy some of these Libraries.\nNow we tell them we have libraries and books of the very best\nkind, and cheap too and moreover that we will have some\nbrought out to this country soon as possible. Can you help us\nredeem this pledge. The only plan I know of is this. By this\ntime you have the general Catalogus so classified as that,\nFamily Libraries or select books calculated to enlighten the\nmind and sanctify the heart are set apart in Libraries for social\nand family use. Now Sir select a little lot of them worth at\nleast $500. and let the Board send them to us to sell at cost.\nIt will be a loseing matter so far as money is concerned but\ngreat gain in every other respect. Perhaps I ought to suggest\na thought in refference to boxes. In every case where the\narticle will admit of it send us our things in barrels or moderate\nsized casks with iron hoops seldom in boxes and never in large\nboxes at all and let them be made and packed so as to hold\nthe largest amt. of goods with a measurement of the smallest\nno of inches. Transportation here is very difficult and large\nboxes or casks are unmanageable. But time fails. If my\nletters are full of the expressions of want and necessity they\nwill doubtless meet the expectation of a body of men whose\nvery existance was designed to supply them. I rejoice the\nmercy seat above is not so distant nor inaccessible either as\nour Board at home and as our spiritual necessities and supplied\nmost abundantly by our Father in heaven doubtless you will\ncontribute to the supply of our temporal necessities, with such\ncounsel and advice as you may deem proper.\nI am D. B. Yours in Christ,\nW. Roberts.\nEx\u2014to E. S. Johnston Feb. 12 1849\nShawl for Hannah, Woolen Plaid 1 whole or two half pieces.\n2 or 3 dozen Picket knives Phlegen, Water Proof cloth 6 to\n10 yds, white hat Zy2 brim 5 or 5^4 high 22^ circumference.\nRevolver 12 inches pair of Holsters with Pistols smooth bore,\nflint lock & saddle for Mrs. Roberts. Letters of Rev. William M. Roberts\n251\nTo the Revd Messrs H. H. Spalding E. Walker and C. Ells.\nDear Brethren: Your proposal of the 3 Inst, to retransfer\nthe Mission station at Wascopam near the Grand Dalls of the\nC.[olumbia] River to the Oregon Mission of the Methodist\nEpiscopal Church was reed, by the hands of Bro. Eells.\nI take the earliest opportunity to say that the offer is hereby\naccepted according to the terms of the proposal.\nWith sentiments of great respect, I am Dear Brethren,\nYours in Christ,\nWm. Roberts,\nSalem March 13th 1849 Sup. O. M.\nSalem O. T. April 11th 1849.\nRev & Dear Bro.:\nI reed yesterday a letter from W. W. Jones by order of your\nConference in answer to one I sent some months since to Bro\nI Green in relation to J. G. T. Dunleavey with the request that\nhis credentials be forwarded to you to be filed with the papers\nof the Conference. You will therefore receive them enclosed\nin this sheet. All that I reed which includes parchments\nliscence to preach, exhort and Testimony of official standing\nfrom his Pre [siding] E[lder] when he left Mo. I am interested in this man and have some hope rather eiforlom\" to be\nsure, that he may yet be saved. He resides near Santa Cruz in\nupper California and talks of coming to Oregon. Could we be\npermitted here to surround him with the priveleges and checks\nof gospel influence we should hope to \"convert the Sinner\nfrom the Error of his ways and hide a multitude of sins.\"\nI am Dear Bro.\nYours in Christ,\nTo Rev Jno R. Bennete W. R.\nLexington, MO. REVIEW\nPacific Northwest Americana. A Checklist of Books and\nPamphlets Relating to the History of the\nPacific Northwest.\nCompiled by\nCharles W. Smith,\nAssociate Librarian-, University of Washington\nSecond edition, revised and enlarged. (New York: The H. W. Wilson\nCompany. London: Grafton & Company.) Pp. XI, 329. 1921.\nThe new edition of the \"Pacific Northwest Americana; a\nchecklist of books and pamphlets relating to the Pacific Northwest,\" the most ambitious co-operative project so far undertaken by the Pacific Northwest Library Association, justifies\nour expectation of its increased value; both on account of its\nmore permanent form and its larger size.\nThere are some changes in the list of contributors. Montana\nState Library, Pacific University Library and State College\nof Washington have withdrawn, although unique items in these\nlibraries have been retained from the old edition. The checklist has been greatly strengthened by the addition of five new\nlibraries: University of British Columbia, Oregon Historical\nSociety, Oregon State Library, and the public libraries of Boise\nand Tacoma. This makes a total of fifteen co-operating\nlibraries.\nNeither the larger number of contributing libraries, nor\nthe numerical increase in the items (two and a half times\nas many as the old list) is an index of the real gain in titles\nand in completeness, since many titles and imprints have been\nomitted on account of closer limitations of the scope of the\nwork, and entries for serials have been condensed. Without\ndoubt the Oregon Historical Society is the most important of\nthe new contributors, both from the number of items and\ntheir rarity. All the libraries previously co-operating have\nadded much valuable material and have listed items in their\ncollections which they had not had time to list for the earlier\nedition. Perhaps the most notable of these additions are those\nof the Provincial Library of British Columbia, only a small Pacific Northwest Americana\n253\npart of whose valuable collection of voyages of discovery to\nthe Northwest Coast, and of material on British Columbia\nwas listed before. On account of the necessary limitation of\nthis checklist to printed material, both of these libraries are\ninadequately represented in the checklist even now, as the Provincial Library contains the archives of British Columbia, with\nextremely important Hudson's Bay Company material, and the\nchief treasures of the Oregon Historical Society's Library are\nthe manuscript journals and letters of early pioneers. The\nOregon Historical Society has also some exceedingly valuable\npamphlet collections which it seemed impracticable to list by\nthe individual pamphlet and so they are shown only as collections.\nThe physical appearance of the checklist is quite different\nfrom the old edition as it has assumed the dignity of a bound\nvolume and its convenience for use is increased by having half\nof the page left blank for notes and additions.\nIn general the plan is much the same as in the earlier edition,\nthough there are some changes in detail. As the preface states\n\"it includes descriptive material relating to the history of the\nregion lying north of California and west of the Rocky Mountains . . . The word history has been used in the broadest\nsense including a wide range of literature bearing upon the\nregion.\"\nThere are certain definite policies of limitation and exclusion\nwhich account for what might otherwise be considered serious\ndefects and omissions. It is limited to printed material in\nthe co-operating libraries and therefore cannot be expected to\nbe a complete bibliography of the region. The date Jan. 1,\n1920, has been definitely set, beyond which nothing has been\nincluded. This makes it necessary to leave out valuable books\npublished or purchased after that time. The geographical area\nis more carefully defined than in the former edition so that\nsome important items like Tache and Zebulon Pike do not\nappear. Fewer analyses of long sets are made in this but the i$5i\n254\nE. Ruth Rockwood\nm\nm\nm\n%i\nseries with inclusive volumes and dates are given. Definite\nclasses of material are omitted, as follows:\n(a) Manuscripts.\n(b) Federal, state and city documents with the exception\nof a few rare items of great historical importance, not easily\nfound in the readily available lists and indexes.\n(c) \"Periodicals published in the region, except those devoted mainly or wholly to history. Serials, however, as yearbooks and publications of societies have been included as a\npart of the institutional history of the Pacific Northwest.\"\n(d) \"Maps, except those independently issued and bound\nin book form.\"\nEven of the material included in general, there has been\nmore rigid limitation, in order to keep the checklist within\nreasonable bounds. For example, directories published after\n1900 are omitted; some of the more recent advertising material\nis excluded; different imprints of the same book are left out\nunless they are definitely different editions.\nThe checklist has both the advantage and disadvantages of\na co-operative undertaking. It is already proving its usefulness to the research worker by indicating in just which libraries\nbooks and editions are available. Even though limited to\nprinted items in these few libraries, it is quite a full bibliography of the important works dealing with this region and\nwill prove especially valuable to libraries as a buying list.\nWe find that individual collectors are referring to it also.\nA defect inseparable from co-operative undertakings is that\neach library probably contains many items listed but not credited to that library. This difficulty arises in various ways.\nA library having a strong collection rates as unimportant items\nwhich are of a great deal of value in a smaller library. Again,\nthe understanding of the limitations of the scope of the work\nunavoidably differs with the individual and one will list material which to another seems outside the range of work. An\nexample of this is the Bulletins of the U. S. Geological Survey,\nsome of which are listed in only one or two libraries while\nthey are probably in every library. Still another reason is Pacific Northwest Americana.\n255\nthat most of the libraries limit their collection to a definite\npart of the territory covered and have not listed fully their\nresources for the other parts.\nAnother disadvantage, also unavoidable in a co-operative\nundertaking, is that one library lists a work in one way, another\nin a different way. The compiler has caught many of these\nbut a few have escaped. An instance is \"Funeral services in\nmemory of Mrs. M. F. Eells\" which is entered both under the\ntitle and also under Atkinson, G. H.; another is Oregon Baptist\nState Convention which also appears as Baptist State Convention. The greatest trouble of this sort is in having government publications entered both under the country and the\nindividual author, as happens occasionally.\nWhen work of this sort is finished, one always finds omissions, and this is no exception to the rule. The greatest lack\nseems to be general works that libraries want for other purposes than simply local collections. For instance, Polk's Diary\nis not included, nor is the comparatively recent edition of\nBuchanan's Works, both of which must be in several of the\nlibraries, and both of which are important for this country.\nTypographical errors seem rare. In two cases the author's\nname has been omitted,\u2014one on page 200, where the History\nof the Pacific Northwest should be credited to the North Pacific\nCoast History Co., the other on page 28 where Samuel Bowles\nhas been left out and \"Across the continent\" and \"Our New\nWest\" seems to be written by Bower, mistakes evidently due to\nthe printer after the final proof reading.\nIt seems to the reviewer that still more state and city, especially city, documents might be left out to advantage, as the\nlist is not sufficiently complete to be very helpful as a document checklist and it seems rather misleading to have a few\nyears of these, with no means of telling what should be the\ncomplete file. It seems, in occasional instances, that even more\nexplanatory notes would be helpful.\nIt is in general a careful piece of work and promises to be M\nmi\nI\ns?\n256\nE. Ruth Rockwood\nm\nvery useful for the libraries of this district. The comment\nof the Boston Transcript upon the 1909 edition, two years ago:\n\"That work still remains the most substantial bibliogr&phy of\nits kind,\" is even more true of this edition.\nE. Ruth Rockwood. I \u25a0-.[\nIk\nMl\nTHE OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY\nOrganized December 17.1898\nFREDERICK V. HOLMAN\nCHARLES B. MOORES\nF. G. YOUNG IgSftf\nLADD & tilton bank\nPresident\nlice-President\nSecretary\nTreasurer\nGEORGE H. HIMES, Curator and Assistant Secretary\nDIRECTORS\nTHE GOVERNOR OF OREGON, ex officio.\nTHE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, ex officio.\nTerm expires at Annual Meeting in October, 1921\nCHARLES H. CAREY, B. B. BEEKMAN.\nTerm expires at Annual Meeting in October, 1922\nLESLIE M. SCOTS', JOHN GILL. :\nTerm expires at Annual Meeting in October, 1923\nMRS. MARIA & MYRICK, T. C. ELLIOTT.\nTerm expires at Annual Meeting in October, 1924\nMRS. HARRIET K. McARTHUR, RODNEY L. GLISAN.\nThe Quarterly is sent free to all members of the Society.\nThe fee fox life membership is twenty-five dollar*.\nThe annual dues are two dollar*.\nContributions to The Quarterly and correspondence relative to historical materials, 01 pertaining\nto the affair* of this Society, should be addressed to\nF.G. YOUNG,\nSecretary,\nEugene, Oregon\nSubscriptions for Tht Quarterly, or for the other publications of the Society, should be sent to\nGEORGE H. HIMES^\nCurator and Assistant Secretary.\nPublic Auditorium, .\nThird Street, between Clay and Market Streets\nPortland, Oregon\nW\\ THE QUARTERLY\nof the\n|3^oiJHiS)rical Society\nl\u00aeil XXII\nDecember 1921\nNumber 4\nCopyright, 1921, by the Oregon Historical Society\nThe Quarterly disavows responsibility for the positions taken by contributors to its pages\nCONTENTS\n|fc& \u00a3 JOHN BOIT'S LOG OF THE COLUMBIA\n.(Reprinted from Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society)\nI j Annotated by Judge F. W. Howay and Mr. T. C. Elliott\n, Introduction by F. G. Young\n|\u00a7\u00a7f 'OFFICIAL LOG OF THE COLUMBIA\n-Gfrvering Capt. Robt. Gray's Discovery of Gray's Harbor and .Entry and\nNaming of the' Columbia. River\nAnnotations by T. C. Elliott;\n:\\Vhat Doctor Marcus Whitman in Person Requested at Boston\non March 30. 1843\nAPRICE: FIFTY-CENTS PER NUMBER, TWO DOLLARS PER YEAR\nm^^Entered at the post office at Portland, Oregon, as second-class matter fi^1\n1\nBBggi\nMm\nPi v;\n4\n* llSlli\nVH\nCAPTAIN ROBERT GRAY\nSHIP COLUMBIA\nMay ii, 1792, Captain Gray, in command of the ship \"Columbia,\" sailed into\nthe Columbia River and anchored a short distance from what is now known as\nChinook Point, opposite Astoria. He named the river after his vessel. The\n\"Columbia\" was built near Boston in 1773 and was broken to pieces in 1801. It\nwas the first vessel to carry \"the Stars and Stripes around the world. It is\nbelieved this was the original flag made by Mrs. Betsy Ross, according to the\ndesign adopted by Congress on June 14, 1777. Taken from the photograph of a\nlarge oil painting by an eastern artist for C. S Jackson, publisher of the Oregon\nDaily Journal, and used for the first time in a Souvenir Edition of that paper in\n1905. The photograph was presented to the Portland Press Club. Forty-Ninth\nAnnual Reunion\nof the\n#rcgon pioneer\nAssociation\n(Organized 1873)\nPETER SKENE OGDEN\nBorn in Canada, 1794; entered the service of the North-West Company,\norganized in Montreal in 1783-4\", in 1811 as a clerk; entered the \"Oregon Country\" in 1818, at the head of a trapping party, with headquarters at Fort George,\nafterwards Astoria; named Mt. Shasta and. Malheicr River, 1825-26; named\nHumboldt River, 1828; one of the Chief Factors of the Hudson's Bay Company,\n1845-1849; rescued the survivors of the Whitman Massacre, which occurred at\nthe Mission located six miles west of the present city of Walla Walla, Washington, on November 29-30, 1847, during the following month, enabling them to\nreach Oregon City on January 10, 1848. Mr. Ogden died at Oregon City September 24, 1854, and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery. Aside from a slight\niron railing his grave is not marked. Pioneers are requested to make a contribution for the purpose of placing a suitable marker there. Contributions may\nbe sent to the Secretary.\nPublic Auditorium\nThird St., bet-ween Clay and Market\u2014Entrance, 253 Market St., under Awning\nThursday, June 16,1921\nBanquet\n* In Large Room below Assembly Hall\nHeadquarters of\nGeorge H. Himes, Secretary Oregon Pioneer Association\nIn Rooms of Oregon Historical Society, Auditorium, Room C, Second Floor Thursday, June 16,1921\n1:30 P.M.\u2014All Pioneers who have secured their badges will gather in the\nmain assembly hall of the Auditorium and be received by C. T. Belcher,\ngrand marshal, and John M. Dixon, J. D. Lee, H. W. Prettyman, Ivan Huma-\nson, Isadore E. Rice, Frank D. Higgins, David S. Stearns, A. J. McDaniel,\nW. M. Hendershott, Frank M. Olds, Wilson E. Benefiel and Nathan M. Bird,\nassistant marshals, composing the reception committee.\nHusbands having wives who are not Pioneers, and wives having hus-\nbans who are not Pioneers, can obtain special badges for them instead of\ngitting tickets, as the rule has been hitherto. Also a limited number of\nbadges will be issued to aides for the aged and infirm Pioneers, both men\nand women, who are compelled to have assistance in getting to and from\nthe Auditorium.\nMembers of the Society of Sons and Daughters of Pioneers, born after\nthe year 1859, may occupy the back seats, beginning with the front row\nfrom the entrance.\nThe public generally will be admitted to the galleries.\nProgramme\nExercises will be as follows:\n1:45\u2014Organ prelude (selected) by Ralph W. Hoyt, organist.\n2:00\u2014Call to order by Charles H. Caufield, 1853, president.\nInvocation, Rev. P. R. Burnett, 1846, chaplain.\nSong, \"Star Spangled Banner\/* audience and organ.\nAddress of welcome, Charles A. Bigelow, acting mayor.\nResponse, President Caufield.\nSong, patriotic selection.\nAppointment of committee on resolutions by President Caufield.\nAnnual address, Hon. Charles A. Johns, 1857, associate justice Supreme\nCourt of Oregon.\nSongs, \"Kathleen Mavourneen,\" by Crouch, and \"Last Rose of Summer\"\n(Irish air), by Miss Evelene Calbreath, with Miss Helen Galbreath as accompanist. Both ladies are granddaughters of Sidney Smith a Pioneer of 1839.\nReading names of deceased Pioneers from June 1, 1920, to May 31,1921,\nby ex-Governor T. T. Geer, 1851.\nContralto solo, Mrs. Virginia Spencer Hutchinson, daughter of W. V.\nSpencer, a Pioneer of 1852.\nSolo, selected, Dr. Stuart McGuire, grandson of Francis McGuire, a\nPioneer of 1852.\nSong, \"America,\" audience (standing) and organ.\nBenediction by Rev. P. H. Burnett, chaplain.\nBrief recess for greetings. Banquet\n4:30\u2014Pioneers, directed by Grand Marshal Belcher and his aides, will\nenter the banquet hall, where the repast will be served by the\nWoman's Auxiliary of the Association\nPresident, Miss Kate S. Holman; Vice-President, Mrs.\nTreasurer, Mrs. M. A. M. Ashley.\nA. B. Croasman; Secretary-\nReception Committee\u2014Mrs. D. P. Thompson, Chairman; Mrs. Ben W. Olcott, Mrs.\nBenton Killin, Mrs. William R. Sewall, Mrs. Thomas Moffett, Mrs. Matthew P. Deady,\nMrs. M. L. Myrick, Mrs. John D. Biles, Miss Frances A. Holman, Mrs. Jacob Kamm, Mrs.\nWilliam Grooms, Mrs. Nancy A. Jacobs, Mrs. James W. Cook, Mrs. G. A. Morton, Mrs. H.\nB. Nicholas.\nChairman Table Committee, Mrs. Albert M. Brown.\nTable No. 1\u2014Mrs. W. L. Brewster, Miss Henrietta Failing; assistants, Miss Kate\nFailing, Miss Margaret McKenzie, Miss Rhoda Burpee, Miss Anna Warren.\nTable No. 2\u2014Mrs. J. Marcus Freeman, Mrs. Alice M. Crane; assistants, Mrs. Benjamin\nGadsby, Miss Hazel Reed, Mrs. W. C. Knighton, Mrs. Alice L. Dustin.\nTable No. 3\u2014Mrs. A. J. Meier, Mrs. Joseph N. Teal; assistants, Mrs. Julius Meier,\nMrs. S. Frank, Miss. Jean Meier, Miss Elsie Meier.\nTable No. 4\u2014Mrs. John Gill, Mrs. John L. Hartman; assistants, Mrs. T. T. Strain,\nMiss Mabel Williams, Mrs. W. A. Montgomery, Mrs. D. G. Montgomery.\nTable No. 5\u2014Mrs. R. F. Prael, Mrs. Clara Earhart-Koehler; assistants, Miss Lois\nNitehey, Miss Harriet Griffith, Mrs. Russell Sewall, Miss Nancy Holt.\nTable No. 6\u2014Mrs. C. E. Chenery, Mrs. O. L. Price; assistants, Mrs. Oswald West,\nMiss Viola Thayer, Miss Katharine Graham, Miss Marjorie Hall.\nTable No. 7\u2014Mrs. Thomas Brattain Foster, Mrs. C. E. Rumelin; assistants, Mrs. C. W.\nHodson, Mrs. C. A. Burchardt, Mrs. E. S. Jackson, Mrs. C. W. Sherman.\nTable No. 8\u2014Mrs. H. H. Northup, Mrs. Tyler Woodward; assistants, Mrs. F. H.\nAlliston, Miss Jessie Farrell, Mrs. A. L. McCully, Miss Augusta Miller.\nTable No. 9\u2014Mrs. George H. Himes, Mrs. W. W. Plimpton; assistants, Mrs. Robert\nA. Reid, Mrs. W. W. Porter, Mrs. James D. Abbott, Mrs. Fred. L. Riggs.\nTable No. 10\u2014Mrs. H. W. Ogilbie, Mrs. A. M. Crawford; assistants, Mrs. C. V. D.\nTaylor, Miss Katharine Ogtthie, Mrs. Schiller Hermann, Mrs. Ella Howe.\nTable No. 11\u2014Mrs. M. C. George, Mrs. L. O. Ralston; assistants, Miss Gertrude Pratt,\nMrs. George Otten, Mrs. H. G. Cotton, Mrs. S. Allyn.\nTable No. 12\u2014Mrs. George H. Lamberson, Mrs. P. W. Gillette; assistants, Mrs. Calvin\nS. White, Miss Katherine Lamberson, Mrs. Myrtle Kollenborne, Miss Olita Cooley.\nTable No. 13\u2014Mrs. Harriet K. McArthur, Mrs. George Taylor; assistants, Mrs. I. L.\nPatterson, Mrs. J. B. Nesmith, Mrs. Elmer Connell, Miss Winifred Miller.\nTable No. 14\u2014Mrs. Percy Blanchard, Mrs. Alexander Muir; assistants, Mrs. David\nMuir, Mrs. Nelson Loucks, Mrs. F. A. Kenny, Mrs. L. F. Steel.\nTable No. 15\u2014Mrs. J. C. Welch, Mrs. Walter Holman; assistants, Mrs. W. Y. Masters,\nMrs. A. B. Manley, Miss Pratt, Mrs. Alice Webster.\nTable No. 16\u2014Mrs. June McMillen Ordway, Mrs. E. W. Spencer; assistants, Mrs. Irving\nSpencer, Miss Ella Brown, Miss Anna Hendershott.\nBOOTHS\nBooth No. 1\u2014Meat, fish, salad. Mrs. Herbert Holman, chairman; assistants, Mrs. O.\nA. Lyman, Mrs. W. C. Holman, Mrs. James Keeney, Mrs. H. E. Coleman, Mrs. C. C. Smith,\nMiss Florence Holman. \u2022\nBooth No. 2\u2014Bread and cake. Miss Nannie E. Taylor, chairman; assistants, Mrs.\nA. H. McGowan, Mrs. Max Fleisehner, Mrs. W. N. Gatens, Mrs. D. L. Pratt, Mrs. Ross\nPlummer, Mrs. Glenn Foulkes, Miss Plummer, Miss Agnes Kelly, Mrs. Harold Povey, Mrs.\nHenry Metzger, Mrs. R. C. Prince.\nBooth No. 3\u2014Cream, butter, sugar, pickles. Miss Mary McKay, chairman; assistants,\nMrs. E. A. Breyman, Mrs. AUaert M. Brown, Miss Myrtle Moffett.\nBooth No. 4\u2014Ice cream. Miss Bickle, chairman; assistants, Mrs. Harvey A. Hogue,\nMiss Lena Bickle.\nBooth No. 5\u2014Coffee. Mrs. Hilton A- Demmer, chairman; assistants, William A. Bur-\ngard, Oliver Huston, Bobert Bean, Richard Montgomery, Lewis Rathbun, George A.\nFreeman. Evening Programme\n7:30\u2014Business session.\nOrgan prelude by Ralph W. Hoyt.\nPresentation of communications.\nReport of committee on resolutions.\nElection of officers for the ensuing year, the terms of the following\nofficers having expired: Charles H. Caufield, 1853, president; Miss Ellen\nChamberlain, 1857, vice-president; George H. Himes, 1853, secretary; William M. Ladd, 1855, treasurer; John W. Baker, 1853, J. D. Chitwood, 1859,\nMrs. O. N. Denny, 1847, directors.\nAnnual \"Camp Fire\"\n8:00\u2014Introduction of newly elected president by retiring President\nCaufield.\nThe president-elect will call upon Past President Robert A. Miller, 1854,\nto preside for the evening.\nPresentation of a past president's badge to retiring President Caufield\nby Mr. Miller.\nSong, selected, by Miss Eliza Cramer, granddaughter of John Fries, a\nPioneer of 1859.\nReminiscences from a number of Pioneers, limited to five minutes, called\nfrom the assembly.\nSpinning wheel exhibition by Mrs. Matte Lohman, an experienced\noperator.\nLarge spinning wheel, Mrs. W. N. Chambers, 1852, operator.\nEarly Pioneer Life, illustrated by lantern slides, George H. Himes,\nsecretary.\nMassacre at Whitman Mission, Six Miles West of the present City of\nWalla Walla, Washington, November 29-30, 1847.\nThe list of those killed and the survivors, as reported by Peter Skene Ogden, one of\nthe Chief Factors of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver, at that time:\nKilled.\u2014Dr. Whitman, Mrs. Whitman, Andrew Rogers, Mr. Hoffman, Mr. Saunders,\nMr. Marsh, John and Francis Sager, Mr. Kimball, Mr. Gillen, Mr. Young, Jr., Mr. Bewley,\nMr. Sales. Mr. Hall escaped from the Mission, reached the H. B. Co.'s Fort Walla Walla,\nwas put across the Columbia River, and was never heard of afterwards.\nSurvivors.\u2014Mission children: Miss Mary A. Bridger, Miss Catherine Sager, 13\nyears; Miss Elizabeth M. Sager, 10 years; Miss Matilda J. Sager, 8 years; Miss Henrietta\nM. Sager, 4 years; Helen M. Meek.\nMr. Joseph Smith, Mrs. Joseph Smith, Miss Mary Smith, 15 years; Edwin Smith,\n13 years; Charles Smith, 11 years; Nelson Smith, 6 years; Mortimer Smith, 4 years. From\nDu Page County, 111.\nMiss Eliza Spalding, 10 years; Mrs. Rebecca Hays, H. Clay Hays, 4 years. The last\ntwo from Platte County, Mo.\nMrs. Eliza Hall, G. Jane Hall, 10 years; Mary C. Hall, 8 years; Ann E. Hall, 6 years;\nRebecca Hall, 3 years; Rachel M. Hall, 1 year.\nMrs. Mary Saunders, Helen M. Saunders, 14 years; Phoebe Saunders. 10 years; Alfred\nW. Saunders, 6 years; Nancy J. Saunders, 4 years; Mary A. Saunders. From Mahaska\nCounty, Iowa.\nMr. Joseph Stanfield, Canadian.\nMrs. Harriet Kimball, Susan M. Kimball, 16 years; Nathan M. Kimball, 12 years;\nByron E. Kimball, 8 years; Sarah S. Kimball, 6 years; Nimee A. Kimball, 1 year. From\nLa Porte, Ind.\nMr. Elam Young, Mrs. Irene Young, Daniel Young, 21 years; John Q. A. Young, 19\nyears. From Osage County, Mo.\nMr. Josiah Osborn, Mrs. Marguerite Osborn; Nancu A. Osborn, 9 years; John L.\nOsborn, 3 years; Alexander A, Osborn, 2 years. From Henderson County, 111.\nMrs. Sallie A. Canfleld, Ellen Canfleld, 16 years; Oscar Caufield, 9 years; Clarissa\nCanfleld, 7 years; Sylvia A. Canfleld, 5 years; Albert Canfleld, 3 years. From Mahaska\nCounty, Iowa.\nMiss Mary E. Marsh, Miss Lorinda Bewley.\nMission children who died soon after the massacre, Hannah S. Sager and Helen M.\nMeek. THE QUARTERLY\nof the\nOregon Historical Society\nVolume XXII\nDecember, 1921\nNumber 4\nCopyright, 1921, by the Oregon Historical Society\nThe Quarterly disavows responsibility for the positions taken by contributors to its pages\nJOHN BOIT'S LOG OF THE COLUMBIA\u20141790-1793\nIntroduction\nThe Massachusetts Historical Society early in 1919 received\nas a bequest from Robert Apthorpe Boit the journals and logbooks of his grandfather, John Boit. Among these was a\njournal kept of the Columbia's second voyage from Boston to\nthe northwest coast of America for the collection of furs from\nthe Indians for the markets of China. The Columbia's first\nvoyage is memorable as the first circumnavigation of the globe\nby an American ship. Captain Robert Gray was in command\nof the vessel on this first voyage from the time of her departure\nfrom the northwest coast to China and retained command\nthroughout the second voyage. This second voyage of which\nthe Boit journal gives an account outshines the first in renown\nthrough the fact that in course of it the Columbia river was\nfirst entered and was named for the vessel.\nNot only thus is the Boit journal a record of probably the\nmost memorable of American voyages but it is also unique in\nbeing the only record extant of this voyage as a whole. And\nof none of the parallel voyages in these furtrading activities\nof this period by Americans is there a similar complete record.\nOf the official log of the Columbia only a remnant is preserved,\ncovering the days from May 7th (1792) to May 21st, or from\nthe time Gray first approached the entrance to Gray's harbor,\nto be discovered and by him named Bulfinch harbor, to his\nreturn to that vicinity after having entered and named the\nColumbia river. This portion of the official log is reprinted in\nthis number of the Quarterly with the Boit document. John Boit\nThis journal of John Bioit was published in volume 53 of\nThe Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. That\nportion of it recording the movements of the Columbia while\non this coast was reprinted in The Washington Historical\nQuarterly, volume XII, No. I. The Oregon Historical Society\nwould here express highest appreciation of the courtesy of\nthe Massachusetts Historical Society in granting it the privilege\nof reprinting this document. To the Washington State University Historical Society it is indebted for the use of the\nannotations made by Professor Edmond S. Meany in his reprint. The items of bibliography in Professor Meany's Introduction are exceedingly valuable^ s*s>li\nThe considerations that compel the reprinting complete of\nthe Boit log of the Columbia in the Quarterly of the Oregon\nHistorical Society are connected primarily with the specially\nplanned annotations with which it here appears. And the\ncommand of this source record as a whole enables us also more\neasily to see the wider relations and meaning of this voyage\nand thus to connect the flow of our Pacific northwest history\nwith the currents of the world's greatest movements. This\ndocument contains the record of a close inspection of this\ncoast line through two summers by an experienced navigator\nspying out opportunities for trade with the native tribes. The\nColumbia passed up and down the stretch of coast from Cape\nBlanco at about the 43d parallel to the 55th parallel and beyond, covering a large portion of it half-a-dozen times and\nnearly all of it as many as four times. This log registers the\nlatitude and longitude from observations taken regularly of\nthe vessel's position. Through annotations on the entries of\nsuch a record that utilize critically all the sources of light from\nother MS. and printed records of exploration available, this\ndocument becomes the best guiding clue through the somewhat labyrinthine confusion necessarily created by the conditions under which these sources of the exploration history of\nthe Pacific Northwest were produced. Both the region to be\nexplored and the combination of explorers participating were\nfactors in creating this confusion. The intricacy of Jhe coast\nline indentations north of the Straits of Juan de Fuca and the Log of the Columbia\n259\nmultitudinous island groups constituted a veritable labyrinth\nof passages to be defined. Then representatives of four or\nfive different nationalities simultaneously and without concert participated in effecting the exploration. That such\nmaterials of history may enter into the lives of a people they\nneeds must be sublimated and vitalized. Adequate annotation\nis the first step toward this end.\nThrough the Boit log we have for the first time a view of\nthis historic voyage as a unit. We are in position, therefore,\nto get more completely the meaning of it. But this meaning\nand the import of the record cannot be satisfactorily grasped\nunless the situation under which the Columbia participated in\nthis work of exploration is clearly visualized. To get this\nbackground it is necessary to note the transformation wrought\nduring the last quarter of the 18th century in the geography\nof northwest America, affecting nearly if not quite one-fourth\nof the continent. The typical map of this part of North\nAmerica at the opening of the fourth quarter of that century\nrepresented an inland sea as occupying a goodly share of the\nlower portion of this region and two or three wide straits cutting diagonally across the upper part. The actors in this\ntransformation scene were to approach independently from the\nlandward and the seaward sides. Alexander Mackenzie played\nalmost the sole role during this period in the exploration on\nland from the east. The Mackenzie river, the Peace river and\nportions of the Fraser and other rivers were placed on the map.\nFrom the side of the sea the participating personnel included\nillustrious representatives of four leading nations but Robert\nGray through entering the Columbia on this second voyage won\nthe highest honor. Through such cooperation the salient features of the interior and the coast line of northwest America\nwere defined, named and mapped.\nBy following now a little more in detail the development\nof this quarter of a century of exploration from the seaward\nside we get the stage setting for Robert Gray's achievement.\nThe Spanish authorities with newly established outposts as far\nnorth as San Francisco Bay were first on the scene. Reports\nof advances down the coast from the Alaskan region by 260\nJohn Boit\nRussian explorers as well as anxiety about possible use of a\nsupposed northwest passage incited the Spaniards to activity in\nexploration beginning in 1774. In the next few years under\nPerez, Heceta and Cuadra a cursory inspection of the coast was\nmade from the 55th parallel south. No Russian trespassers\nwere detected nor was the fabled northwest passage or Straits\nof Anian discovered. However, Heceta in 1775 did detect evidences of the mouth of a large river in latitude 46\u00b0 9', but\ndid not succeed in entering it. At this time James Cook, the\nEnglish navigator, was dispelling the darkness that was still\nhovering over the south Pacific region. On his third voyage\nof discovery spurred by an offer of Parliament of \u00a320,000 for\nthe discovery of a northwest passage through the continent\nof North America he passed up along the northwest coast in\n1778 and made a landing in Nootka Sound. The immediate\nand moving outcome of his voyage was the disclosure of the\nopportunity of riches through trade in sea-otter furs to be\nsecured from the northwest Indians for trifles and marketed\nin China. Beginning in 1785 the grand rush in this maritime\nfur trade was on. The flags of half-a-dozen nations were soon\nin evidence in these waters. Some of the English fur traders\ntook steps looking towards a permanent occupation of the\nshore at Nootka Sound. This was resented by the Spanish\nauthorities as they had priority in discovery and had occupied\nthe coast, though their post was some 750 miles to the south.\nSeizures and a diplomatic controversy followed that seriously\nthreatened war between Spain and England in 1790. In the\nmeantime inlets offering means of trade contacts with the\nIndians were being spied out and visited more and more frequently by vessels plying back and forth and up and down the\ncoast. \"In the year 1792, there were twenty-one vessels under\ndifferent flags,\" writes Washington Irving, \"plying along the\ncoast and trading with the natives.\" Log books and seamen's\njournals were kept and reports were made. As they pertained\nto the affairs of a lucrative trade and some of them had to do\nwith a hot international controversy they were in part preserved and not a few, especially those whose authors had\npublic commissions, and those that had a bearing on disputed Log of the Columbia\n261\nterritorial claims, were published. Thus a body of source\nmaterial was accumulating. This material contains the sources\nlargely of the names of places of this region and constitutes\nthe records of the origins of the communities here developing.\nHistory serves its leading purpose through such annals as the\ncherished home traditions. The richest and best authenticated\nnuclei of facts with their relations should be segregated and\norganized for each locality. The annotations on the text of the\nBoit journal here supplied through selecting the appropriate\nportions of the other sources conserve and focus all the light\navailable for illuminating the stage of exploration in the history of each locality visited by the Columbia during her second voyage, and at the same time furnish the means for a\nmore accurate and complete determination of the background\nof the voyage as a whole. The Quarterly had the great good\nfortune of interesting Judge F. W. Howay of New Westminster, British Columbia, in this project of making this prime\nand recently available source of Pacific Northwest History\nserve the largest and best purpose. Judge Howay's mastery\nof northwest history sources, and his large personal acquaintance with the features of the coast line now British territory\nmake his annotations invaluable. Mr. T. C. Elliott of Walla\nWalla, Washington, has been a like indefatigable student of\nthe sources of the history of the coast line south of the Straits\nof Juan de Fuca. He annotates the entries of the Boit log\nwhile the Columbia was on this section of the coast on her\ntrading tours. He also contributes the annotations to the\nremnant of the official log of the Columbia still extant.\nTurning now to the orientations of this achievement of\nCaptain Robert Gray in connection with the course of world\nhistory. The discovery of the Columbia river recorded in the\ntwo documents here reprinted completes at the end of a three\nhundred year period of continuing progress, the full discovery\nof America which in 1492 Christopher Columbus had initiated.\nThe western continent in its essential features as a home for\ncivilized humanity was now revealed1.\nIn sailing into the Columbia under the American flag Captain Grav brought into the race a new competitor for the 262\nJohn Boit\npossession of this vast and still unacquired region of the basin\nof the Columbia. For, in international usage or comity, the discovery of a river carried with it at least an inchoate title to\nthe territory drained by that river. The American people had\na zealous and an able exponent for promoting their interests\nin view of this opening made for national expansion. Thomas\nJefferson did not let slip an opportunity to follow up this\nbasis for a claim to this part of the continent. With the purchase of Louisiana in 1803 proximity of possession was secured.\nThen Lewis and Clark were dispatched so that only fourteen\nyears after Gray's presence in the river they were encamped\non the south bank. In less than half-a-dozen years later the\nAstor expedition had established its fort at Astoria. And at\nthe end of another half-a-dozen years in 1818 the restoration\nof the American flag was acknowledged by our only rival\nclaimant to this domain.\nIt needs, however, to be noted that this discovery of the\nColumbia river with the view of extending geographical knowledge, or of laying the basis for the extension of the jurisdiction\nof his nation's sovereignty, was not the leading motive impelling Captain Gray in his exploit. Just how far it was in evidence in his consciousness it would be hard to say. Nothing\nof the kind, I believe, figured in his instructions. This is not\nby any means arguing that the discovery of the Columbia\nriver wasi an accident. The Columbia was being sailed the\nthird time along this stretch of the coast with the one purpose\nin mind of finding new inlets affording desired opportunities\nof new contacts with the Indians that additions might be\nmade to his accumulations of furs for a cargo for the markets\nof China. John Boit's record of how the vessel in this latitude\nwas kept \"beating off the coast waiting for to find a good\nharbour\" and of the practice thus, specified: \"sent a boat in\nshore often, but cou'd find no safe harbour,\" indicate that\nGray's determination and skill made the discovery at this time\nvirtually inevitable. Still more closely, negatively, is it posh\nsible with the aid of the Boit document to discern Captain\nGray's purpose. Mr. Worthington C. Ford's annotation with\nthe original document in hand here comes to our aid. Re- Log of the Columbia\n263\nferring to the expression: \"I landed abreast the ship with\nCaptain Gray to view the Country and take possession, leaving\ncharge with the 2d Officer\", Mr. Ford notes, \"the words 'and\ntake possession' were inserted at a later time and are in quite\ndifferent ink\". The official log says, \"In the afternoon, Captain Gray and Mr. Hoskins, in the jolly-boat went on shore to\ntake a short view of the country.\" An over-zealous nationalist\nit seems tampered with the record and made it say what had\nnot been in the mind of Boit to record. As Boit attended\nCaptain Gray in this landing party he would have been enough\nimpressed with the ceremony, had it taken place, to have made\na record of it.\nIn historical literature this voyage has been celebrated as\nan event initiating a new turn of events politically that was\nconsummated in the establishment of the jurisdiction of the\nUnited States over the main portion of the Columbia river\nbasin. This major outcome of this voyage, so far as yet\nrecognized, was an incident or by-product with regard to the\npurpose contemplated with it. The enterprise of the company\nof Boston merchants was rather in direct line of evolution of\nNew England's main interests of shipping and cod and whale\nfisheries during the 18th century. It is quite easy to believe\nthat in line with increasing international interdependence in\ntrade and cooperation for the best utilization of the earth's\nresources for human purposes this second voyage of the Columbia may in time to come have larger meaning as an achievement in the evolution of trade than as an exploit of discovery\nlaying the basis for national territorial expansion. These fur\ntrading ventures to the northwest coast of America were the\nnatural expansion of the New England activities in cod fisheries\non the banks of New Foundland and in the whale fisheries in\nthe South Sea. These were the mainstay of New England\nprosperity. On an Act placing an embargo on these fisheries\nand restricting the trade they involved did Parliament in 1775\nrely \"to starve New England.\" This intent brought forth the\nfollowing glowing tribute from Edmund Burke to the daring\nexploits of the American whalemen which would have been as\nwell deserved by the fur traders on their more extended voy- John Boit\nages in their quite as dangerous experiences with the treacherous native tribes:\n\"And pray, Sir, what in the world is equal to it? [Referring\nto \"the spirit by which that enterprising employment had been\nexercised\"] Pass by the other parts, and look at the manner in\nwhich the people of New England have of late carried on the\nwhale fishery. Whilst we follow them among the tumbling\nmountains of ice, and behold them penetrating into the deepest\nfrozen recesses of Hudson's Bay and Davis's Straits, whilst\nwe are looking for them beneath the arctic circle, we hear\nthat they have pierced into the opposite region of polar cold,\nthat they are at the antipodes, engaged under the frozen\nserpent of the south. Falklands Island, which seemed too\nremote and romantic an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage, and resting-place in the progress of their\nvictorious industry. . . . No sea but what is vexed by their\nfisheries. No climate that is not witness to their toils. Neither\nthe perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of France, nor\nthe dexterous and firm sagacity of English enterprise, ever\ncarried this most perilous mode of hard industry to the extent\nto which it has been pushed by this recent people; a people\nwho are still, as it were in the gristle, and not yet hardened\ninto the bone of manhood.\"\nThis spirit of enterprise which the Columbia's voyages so\nsignally exemplify has been in eclipse as to this honor it had because of the momentous project of political or territorial expansion it enkindled. When all nationalities have become\nequally democratic and equally enamored with the mission of\nhuman welfare it may be possible that this spirit of human\nenterprise animating these voyages, now largely unnoticed,\nmay outshine the nationalism that has heretofore enveloped\nthem.\nF. G. YOUNG. Log of the Columbia\n265\nReprint of\nBOIT'S LOG OF THE COLUMBIA, 1790-1793.\n[Annotations by Judge F. W. Howay and Mr. T. C. Elliott]\nRemarks on the Ship Columbia's\nvoyage from Boston, (on a Voyage round\nthe Globe).\nBy John Boit\nN. B. The dates etc. is by Nautical Account (Not Civill).\nThe Ship Columbia was fitted out for a four years cruize, on\na trading voyage to the N. W. Coast of America, China etc\u2014\nabout 250 tons burthen, mounted 12 Carriage Guns, and navigated with 50 men (including Officers)\u2014own'd chiefly by\nSam'l Brown, Joseph Barrell and Crowell Hatch Esq'rs, and\nCommanded by Robert Gray. Cargo consisted of Blue Cloth,\nCopper and Iron.\n1790, September 28. Latt. of Boston 42\u00b0 25' N.; Long. 70\u00b0\n31' W. from London. Left Boston Sept. 28th, 1790, with the\nwind from the western board, and the next day pass'd Cape\nCod. Oh the 30th the wind having chang'd to the East'd and\nblowing heavy, obliged us to bear away, and we anchor'd the\nsame evening, in Herring Cove, on the west side Cape Cod, in\n15 fm. muddy bottom, but not liking our situation, we got\nunder way the following morning, and anchor'd the same\nevening in Nantasket Roads, in 7 fm. Blowing weather, from\nthe eastern board.\nOctober 2. Wind at SW. Weigh'd and came to sail, stood\nto sea. On the 3d pass'd Cape Cod, at 3 leagues distance.\nGenerally blowing hard, with squalls of rain.\n8. N. Latt. 40\u00b0 30'; W. Long. 55\u00b0 43'; Ajzi. 14\u00b0 35' W. O. C.\nShip sails dull, but is a fine seaboat. Crew appears to be a\nset of fine fellows*\n10. N. Latt. 39\u00b0 58'; W. Long. 52\u00b0 38'; Amp'd 14\u00b0 38' W.1\nWeather more pleasant, winds generally from SW.\ni The Century Dictionary defines the amplitude compass as an azimuth compass whose zeros of graduation are at the east and west points, to facilitate the\nreading of the amplitudes of the celestial bodies. \"Amplitude.. .differs from the .\nazimuth merely in being counted from the east and west points, instead of from\nnorth and south.\" U. K. S. Nat. Phil., Ill, XHL\u2014W. C. F. (Worthington C.\nFord). 266\nJohn Boit\n16. N. Latt. 35\u00b0 37'; W. Long. 37\u00b0 31'; Azi. 14\u00b0 35' W.2\nWeather generally pleasant, winds from the NE.\n18. N. Latt. 34\u00b0 33'; W. Long. 31\u00b0 40'; Amp'd 14\u00b0 22' W.\nFair weather, wind from NW.\n22. N. Latt. 28\u00b0 46'; W. Long. 24\u00b0 37' Azi. 14\u00b0 54' W.\nPleasant weather. Crew all well.\n23. N. Latt. 26\u00b0 41'; W. Long. 24\u00b0 16'; Azi. 14\u00b0 54' W.\nSerene, pleasant weather. Winds from the North'd.\n24. N. Latt. 24\u00b0 52'; W. Long. 24\u00b0 10'; Amp'd 14\u00b0 22' W.\nSerene, pleasant weather. Winds from SE.\n25. N. Latt. 24\u00b0 12'; W. Long. 24\u00b0 7'; Azi. 14\u00b0 26' W.\nSerene, pleasant weather. Winds from SE.\n27. N. Latt. 22\u00b0 0'; W. Long. 23\u00b0 0'; Azi. 14\u00b0 19^ W. 0.1\nPleasant weather, winds from the NW. Plenty of Dolphin and\nSkip-jacks playing round us.\n30. N. Latt. 20\u00b0; W. Long 23\u00b0; This day took the NE.\ntrade winds, after experiencing one day's calm (between the\nvariable and trades).\nNovember 1. N. Latt. 17\u00b0 16'; W. Long. 22\u00b0 30'; In the\ncourse of this day, say the Island of Sal, (one of the Cape de\nVerd Isles), 29^ days from Boston light house\u2014(a long\npassage). Pass'd it to the Eastward and bore away to the\nSouth'd, high land. Crew are all in health, although the regulation of the ship as respects cleanliness among them, is not\nstrict\nTOWARDS CAPE HORN.\n4. N. Latt. 12\u00b0 15'; W. Long. 23\u00b0 6'; Azi. 13\u00b0 28' W.\nThis day lost the NE. trade winds, and immediately took the\nwind from the Southward.\n7. N. Latt. 9\u00b0 16'; W. Long. 22\u00b0 35'; Amp'd 11\u00b0 52' W.\nLight variable winds, pleasant warm weather, attended at\ntimes with sharp lightning.\n9. N. Latt. 7\u00b0 21'; W. Long. 22\u00b0 13'. Squally weather,\nwith rain, with sharp lightning and heavy thunder, many water\n2 \"In the azimuth compass the circumference of the card is divided into\ndegrees, and parts by a vernier, and is fitted up with sight-vanes to take amplitudes and azimuths, for the purpose of determining the variation of the compass\nby observation. The variation is applied to the magnetic course shown by the steering compass and thus the true course with respect to the meridian becomes known.\"\nEncyclopaedia Britannica (9th ed.) VT 0225.\u2014W. C. F. Log of the Columbia\n267\nspouts in different directions. Experience very heavy squalls.\nWinds all round the compass since losing the trades. Many\nvessells in sight.\n14. N. Latt. 5\u00b0 4'; W. Long. 22\u00b0 13'. Winds continue\nvery variable and squally. This day spoke two ships: one a\nPortuguese from Lisbon bound to Rio Janeiro; the other an\nEnglish waleman from England, for the Brazil coast. The\nCaptain (by name Buller) was an American.\n18. N. Latt. 3\u00b0 48'; W. Long. 23\u00b0 30\\ This day Capt.\nBuller left us, his ship sailing much faster than ours. Winds\nand weather still remains very unsettled, with hard squalls,\ncarried away our Jib boom, and got a new one out. A constant\nswell from the SE. Winds harp most at SSW.\n19. N. Latt. 2\u00b0 41'; W. Long. 25\u00b0 42'; Azi. 11\u00b0 32'.\nWeather pleasant. This day took the wind at SSE, which no\ndoubt is the commencement of the SE generall winds. The\nweather at this time is quite settled. Heretofore since leaving\nthe NE. trades, it has been very gloomy and dark. Have\nnoticed, since passing the Lattitude of 12\u00b0 that the winds\ngenerally have been from South to SSW.\u2014at times squalls\nfrom West.\n21. N. Latt. 2\u00b0 38'; W. Long. 24\u00b0 48'; Azi. 10\u00b0 30' W.\nA constant Current, setting to the Northward, in these Latitudes; (two sail in sight.)\n22. N. Latt. 2\u00b0 6'; W. Long. 25\u00b0 2'; Azi. 10\u00b0 13' W. Winds\nholds from SBE. to SSE. and fair pleasant weather, with a\nswell from the SE.\n23. N. Latt. 1\u00b0 41'; W. Long. 25\u00b0 26'; Azi. 10\u00b0 7' W.\nWinds and weather as before. Crew all well.\n24. N. Latt. 1\u00b0 15'; W. Long. 26\u00b0 1'; Azi. 9\u00b0 28' W.\nWinds at SSE. and quite moderate, weather pleasant.\n25. W. Long. 26\u00b0 57' O. 1 In the course of this day\ncross'd the Equator. Wind at SEBS. and pleasant, serene,\ntemperate weather. Have fish of different kinds round most\nof the time. Ship's crew are all in health.\n54^ days from Boston, 25 days from Isle of Sal, (long\npassages). Keep all hands through the day in good weather,\nemployed in the various departments of the ship\u2014it is best to\nkeep them moving. They are allowed tea or coffe, each morn- 268\nJohn Boit\ning and in general the ship's fare is good, but proper attention\nto airing their beds and cloathing and fumigating their berths is\nnot paid.\n27. S. Latt. 2\u00b0 5'; W. Long. 28\u00b0 26'; Azi. 5\u00b0 5(X W.\nPleasant, agreeable weather. Wind from SE to ESE. Plenty\nof fish about us. Breezes moderate.\n28. S. Latt. 3\u00b0 34'; W. Long. 29\u00b0 5'. Spoke a French\nIndia ship, from L'Orient bound to Pondicherry, reckond\nhimself in Longitude 26\u00b0 50' W. of Paris. Caught a large\nAlbacore.3 Wind ESE. Pleasant weather.\n29. S. Latt. 5\u00b0 12'; W. Long. 29\u00b0 22'; Amp'd 4\u00b0 59' W.\nWinds from ESE., squally Weather.\n30. S. Latt. 7\u00b0 24'; W. Long. 30\u00b0 16'; Azi. 4\u00b0 51' W.\nFresh gales. Caught an Albacore that weighed 130 lb. Spoke\na Portuguese ship from Lisbon bound to Rio Janeiro.\n31. S. Latt. 9\u00b0 31'; W. Long. 31\u00b0 9'; Morning Azi. 4\u00b0 8',\nEvening, Azi. 3\u00b0 42'. A ship in sight. Pleasant weather with\nfresh trade winds, from ESE. to SE.\nDecember 3. S. Latt. 13\u00b0 30'; W. Long. 32\u00b0 26'; Azi.\n1\u00b0 40' W.; O. <\u00a3. This day lost the SE. general winds, and\nimmediately took it at NE. This Northly wind is no doubt\nthe Monsoon prevailing at this season along the Brazill coast.\nPleasant weather.\n4. S. Latt. 14\u00b0 39'; W. Long. 32\u00b0 40'; Amp'd 0\u00b0 53' W.\nLight breezes from NE. and very hot weather.\n6. S. Latt. 17\u00b0 23'; W. Long. 33\u00b0 14'; azi. 1\u00b0 28' W. Moderate breezes and pleasant. Winds from NE. to ENE.\n7. S. Latt. 18\u00b0 25'; W. Long. 33\u00b0 33'; Amp'd 0\u00b0 17' E.\nDo winds and weather, and swell from NE.\n9. S. Latt. 21\u00b0 52'; W. Long. 35\u00b0 43'; Azi. 1\u00b0 36' E.\nModerate monsoon, and fair weather.\n10. S. Latt. 23\u00b0 55'; W. Long. 37\u00b0 4'; Azi. 2\u00b0 34' E.\nLively breeze and pleasant temperate weather.\n11. S. Latt. 25\u00b0 0'; W. Long. 38\u00b0 44' O 4S. 8 or 9 leagues.\n24. N. Latt. 48\u00b0 30'; W. Latt. [Long.] 123\u00b0 45'. Spoke\nthe Spanish Brig Acteva, with the Governor on board. They\n182 This ship had just reached Nootka, arriving\" on 19th September, 1792.\nWashington Historical Quarterly, vol. vi, p. 54.\n183 The Fenis and St. Joseph. Vancouver says she was a Portuguese brig,\ncommanded by John de Barros Andrede, with Mr. Duffin as supercargo, Voyage,\nvol. 2, p. 367; and see Washington Historical Quarterly, vol. vi, p. 50, to same\neffect.' Perhaps Duffin, who had been with Meares in the Felice, may have taken\nhis cue from his former employer. Duffin on this occasion gave Vancouver a\nwritten account of the seizures of 1789; the gist of the letter will be found in\nVancouver's Voyage, vol. 2, p. 370 et seq., and verbatim in Washington Historical\nQuarterly, vol. vi, p. 52, et seq. She had arrived on 15th September, 1792.\n184 The Jackal, of the Butterworth squadron. Vancouver calls her a schooner,\nbut all others speak of her as a sloop. Ingraham had met her near the southern\nend of Queen Charlotte Islands on 17th July previous, and had at first thought\nher to be the Adventure; but she showed British colours, and on her\nnearer approach he saw that she had a tier of ports fore and aft, the greatest\npart of which were \"false or only painted, yet they made a good appearance at a\ndistance that for some time we concluded she was a Kings Cutter or tender to\nsome of the men of war on the coast\"\n185 Neah Bay. _ , . . . ., . 00 tt\ni86Tatoosh Island first appears in Duncans sketch 13th August, 1788. He\ngives the following information s \"Green Island or To Touches is about % mile\nin length; covered over with green grass; on the West Side is a small Cove\nvery narrow and only navigable for Boats; I saw some Canoes go m and out\nInFimuSIndians on the Beach; on the East Side is a large village and from\nthe number of Canoes that come to us from thence, I suppose it to be. well\ninhabited.\" 330\nJohn Boit\nwas much suppriz'd at our being in the Straits as soon as they\nwas. At dark the Spanish Brig hove to under her tops'ls.\nWe kept plying all night for our Port, and in the Morning\ngot safe to anchor in Co with the Sloop Adventure. Found\nriding here the Spanish Ship Princessa of 64 Guns, and Brig\nHope, Capt. Ingrahim. This was a small, good harbour,187\nsituate about 5 leagues from Cape Flattery, within the straits\nof De Fuca. The Spaniards had erected a Cross upon the\nbeach, and had about 10 Houses and several good Gardens.188\nSeveral Natives along side, and a few prime Skins was purchas'd (with plenty of fine Halibut). I went with the Pinnace\nto the Assistance of the Acteva, she having been oblig'd to\nanchor near Cape Flattery, in a dangerous situation. When I\ncame on board, instead of using every effort to get clear of\nDanger, they was performing Mass. However soon got under\nway and stood for Port Ne-ar.189\n25. N. Latt. 48\u00b0 35'; W. Long. 123\u00b0 30'. The Acteva\nanchor'd in company. Saluted the Governor with 13 Guns,\nwhich was return'd. Employ'd filling up our Water, and getting ready for our passage across the Pacific Ocean.\n26. Spanish Officers from both ships, together with Capt.\nIngraham, dined on board the Columbia. Fired, on their\ncoming, and going away, two Foederall salutes.\n27. Saild the Princessa for Nootka sound.190 Ships crew\nare all in prime health. Natives constantly visit us, but they\ndo not like the Spaniards.\n187 Ingraham had a contrary opinion. In his journal under date 28th September, 1792, he writes. \"It is 5 points of the compass open to tlie sea from\nWNW to NBW so that it is almost as bad as being in the centre of the straights\nand I much wonder how the Princessa road out 7 months in safety in such, a\nplace especially as the bottom is very rocky in forming a new settlement I\nshould suppose a good Harbour was the first and most materiall thing to be sought\nfor.\"\n188 Ingraham describes it thus: \"The settlement consisted only of a few Huts\nand a tollerable good garden.\"\n189 Ingraham states that when he and Mr. Hoskins of the Columbia visited\nQuadra the latter was much vexed that the Americans had not sent their boats\nto his assistance on the preceding evening. Satisfactory explanations were, however, made and, with the assistance of the Americans, the Acteva was towed into\nsafe anchorage. He expresses in his journal great sorrow that anything having\neven the semblance of inattention or neglect to one who had been so kind to them\nshould have happened.\n190 The Spaniards were now, on instructions from. Quadra, abandoning Nunez\nGaona, as they called the settlement at Neah Bay. It had only been established\nin the preceding March. Fidalgo, who was its commandante was sailing to\nNootka to take over the command at that place, superseding Camaano, who had\nbeen left in charge. Log of the Columbia\n331\n28. (This day sold the Sloop Adventure to the Spanish Governor, for 72 Prime Sea Otter Skins, worth 55 Dollars each in\nCanton, which is equal to 4960$., which at 50 per Ct. advance\nhome, is 7440 Spanish Piasters, a good price. He wanted\nher as a present to the Viceroy of Mexico. Before delivery\nwe took out all her provisions and stores, with a New Cable\nand Anchor.\n29. Saild this day the Brig Acteva and Sloop Adventure,\nunder Spanish Colours, bound to Acapulco. We saluted on\ntheir departure with 9 Guns which was return'd.\n30. Weigh'd and saild from Port Near, bound across the\nStraits for a Cove, call'd by us Poverty191 Same evening\nanchor'd, in 7 fathom. Found this harbour much snuger for\nour business. The Indians brought a few Skins and plenty\nof fish and some train oil, which last article we much wanted.\nOctober 1. Employ'd wooding and watering and getting the\nShip in order. Cut many spare spars.\n3. Weigh'd for the last time on the NW Coast, and left\nPoverty Cove, bound for Canton in China, via Sandwich\nIslands. Our feelings on this occasion are easier felt than\ndescribed. Our friends at Home and ev'ry endearing Idea rush'd\nso full upon us, and made us so happy, that 't was impossible,\nfor a while, to get the Ship in readiness for bad weather, and\nfull allowance of Grog being serv'd on the occasion, made our\nworthy Tars join in the general Mirth\u2014and so we go.\nN. Latt. 48\u00b0 25'; W. Long. 123\u00b0 30'. At noon Cape Flattery\nbore East 7 leagues. Steering SW. Wind NE. Soon lost\nsight of the' Mountains of North America.\n9. N. Latt. 44\u00b0 51'; W. Long. 128\u00b0 34'; Amp'd 14\u00b0 37' E.\n11. !N. Latt. 43\u00b0 7'; W. Long. 129\u00b0 5'; Amp'd 13\u00b0 17' E.\nO 4 See Captain Cook's Third Voyage, 4to. ed. 1785. vol. 3. P. 449, and 8vo. 340\nJohn Boit\nRegular NE. Monsoon. Soundings at Noon 26 fathom, fine\nsand.\n20. N. Lat. 6\u00b0 9'; W. Long. 252\u00b0 46'; E. Long. 107\u00b0 14'.\nSoundings at Noon, 32 fm., fine sand.\n21. N. Lat. 4\u00b0 28'; W. Long. 253\u00b0 23'; E. Long. 106\u00b0 37;\nAzi. 1\u00b0 18' E. Soundings at Noon 45 fm., steady Monsoon.\n22. N. Lat. 3\u00b0 0'; W. Long. 255\u00b0 5'; E. Long. 104\u00b0 55'.\nThe Islands of Pulo Timon, Aore, and Tissang209-209^ in sight\nto the Southward. At Noon Pulo Aore bore SBW^ 10\nleagues. Soundings 35 fathom.\n23. N. Lat. 0\u00b0 56'; W. Long. 254\u00b0 20'; E. Long. 105\u00b0 40'.\nSoundings at Noon 35 fm., Sand and Mud.\n24. S. Lat. 0\u00b0 44'; W. Long. 254\u00b0 46'; E. Long. 105\u00b0 14'.\nThis day saw Pulo Taya to the westward. At Noon Pulo\nTaya210 bore WNW. 6 leagues, the Seven Islands, SBE. Experience a current to the Southward this 24 hours, the Monsoon moderate.\n25. S. Lat. 1\u00b0 43'; W. Long. 255\u00b0 9'; E. Long. 104\u00b0 51'.\nPass'd between Taya and the Seven Isles, distance from Seven\nIsles about 4 leagues. More Islands hove in sight to the SE.\nAt Sunset saw land, which we took for Monopin Hill. Laid\noff and on through the Night under short sail. Soundings\nfrom 8 to 16 fathom. At daylight Monopin Hill bore SBE,\n7 leagues. Bore off. At Meridian Monopin Hill bore Ej^N\nand the Sumatra shore WSW., the ship nearest the Banca\nShore,211 strong currents to the Southward. Soundings 18\nfathom.\nSTRAITS OF BANCA\n26. S. Lat. 2\u00b0 43'. Enter'd the Straits of Banca, and stood\nto the SE. At 5 P. M. Monopin Hill bearing NNW, the Ship\nbeing y2 nearest to the Banca shore from Sumatra on. We\ned. 1784. Dublin, vol. 3, p. 449. See also Dixon's Voyage, 2nd ed. 1789, p. 323.\n209 These are evidently the islands mentioned by Captain King as Pulo\nTimoan, Pulo Puisang and Pulo Aor. See Cook's Third Voyage, vol. 3, p.\n465, et seq.\n209 J\u00a3 Tioman, Aor and Pemangil or Tingy?\u2014W. C. F.\n210 Saya.\u2014W. C. F.\n211 In Marchand's Voyage, vol. 2, p. 1, among the plans and sketches, will\nbe found one showing the tracks of rome eight ships through the straits between\nBanca and Billiton. $z\u00a3Zr~M Log of the Columbia\n341\nshoal'd the water very sudden from 10 to 3 fathoms, rocks,\nbore off to the South and West, and soon deep'd it again. This\nmust have been on the Fredrick Hendrik Shoal.\nIn the evening came to on the Sumatra shore, 9 fm. Mud,\nstrong tides. 3d point bore EBS. 2 leagues.\nAt daylight got under way, and stood down straits. At 10\nabreast the Nanka Isles, a number of Malay proas in sight.\nAt 11 A. M. a dangerous shoal bore West 1 league, high\nbreakers. At Noon obsenfd as above. 1st pt. bore SBE. 4\nleagues.\n27. S. Lat. 4\u00b0 21'; W. Long. 253\u00b0 43'; E. Long. 106\u00b0 17'\n0 \u20ac. Winds from NW. and pleasant. At 2 P. M. pass'd a\nMoorish Sloop, at anchor. She was strongly man'd and arm'd.\n1 believe she was a Pirate. Many Proas about. At Sunset\nthe Isle of Lucepara bore SEBE 3 leagues, and 1st point on\nSumatra, SWBS. Pass'd nearest to the Sumatra Shore, the\nshoalest water 4^2 fm. and when through deep'd it to 12 and\n14 fm. A strong tide in favour. At Noon observ'd as above.\n28. S. Lat. 4\u00b0 39'; W. Long. 253\u00b0 50'; E. Long. 106\u00b0\n10' * 1 Depth of Water, from 10 to 14 fm. throughout these\n24 hours. Wind from the West'd, and very dark weather.\nBound towards the Straits of Sunda.\nMarch 1. S. Lat. 5\u00b0 9'. At sunset see the Two Sisters212\nIsles to the Southward, wind to the SW. and very light. Soundings from 12 to 14 fm. At dark came to off the Sumatra\nshore, at 2y2 leagues distant, 9% fm. Mud. In the morning\ngot under way. At Noon observ'd Lat. as above, the Sisters\nbearing SSE. 2 miles.\n2. S. Lat. 5\u00b0 25'. Wind at West. Soundings throughout\nthe 24 hours from 12 to 15 fm. Found these Isles of Sisters\nto be surround'd with Dangerous Reefs. In the evening came\nto in 12 fm. Muddy bottom. Hogs point on Sumatra in sight\nbearing South 11 leagues, and North Island SWBS^W. In\nthe morning weigh'd and stood towards North Isle. At Noon\nobserv'd as above.\nAT NORTH ISLE AND STRAITS OF SUNDA\n3. Winds moderate and cloudy, working towards North\n2T2 Two Brothers?\u2014W. C. F. 342\nJohn Boit\nIsles Roads. At sunset came to in the Roads, 15 fm. muddy\nbottom. Pass'd several Turtle and Water Snakes between the\nSisters and our anchorage. The two ships shew English\nColours. In the morning early shifted our berth nearer the\nwatering place, and at 7 A. M. anchor'd in 15 fm. Hoisted\nout all the Boats, and dispatch'd them for water. The ships\nthat lay in the Road was an English 64, Capt. Gore213 and the\nIndostan India Company Ship, Capt. Mackintosh. The Lion\nhad on board Mr. Macartney,214 a Minister from the British\nGovernment to the Court of Pekin. We took Dispatches for\nthem to leave at St. Helena. Towards evening these ships\nsail'd for Batavia. Two Dutch Guard of Coasters anchor'd\nin company with us. By night we had fill'd up all our water\nand purchas'd a good quantity of Poultry and Fruit of the\nMalays at the Beach. I landed, with the charge of our boats,\nfound above 200 Malays round the watering place. They was\ncompletely arm'd, with Creases, (or Daggers), but was quite\nfriendly. However I did not allow the Boats to touch the\nbeach and only let 6 men beside myself land, and swam the\nwater casks off to the boats, when fill'd. This method I thought\nbut prudent, as the Malays had kill'd one of the Lion's crew,\nwhile washing cloaths at the brook. I cannot say that I experienced the most agreeable sensations while on this duty.\n4. Employ'd variously. Got a good quantity of Wood\nfrom North Isle. The watering place being on Sumatra, we\nsee no Natives on North Isle.\n5. Weigh'd and sail'd from North Island Roads, bound\nthrough Sunda Straits, pass'd the Qepthan Isles and Stroon\nRock, upon which was high breakers. Pass'd it on the larboard hand. At Meridian Crackatoa Isle bore SSW. 4 miles,\nsounding 20 fm. St. Tamanies Isle NNE. Wind SSW.\n6. S. Lat. 6\u00b0 2'. Wind from SW. to NW. and very squally\nweather, with heavy rain. Turning to windward between\nPrinces Island and Crokatore and in the Night came very near\ndepositing the Ship on the Qu Klip rocks. However good\nluck prevail'd. Crew all in health.\n7. S. Lat. 6\u00b0 39'. At Meridian Princes Isle bore East and\n213 Erasmus Gower.\u2014W. C. F.\n214 George Macartney, Earl Macartney (173 7-1806).\u2014W. C. F. Log of the Columbia\n343\nJava Head ESE. 5 leagues. Wind from NW. Stood to the\nsouthward.\n\u20228. S. Lat. 7\u00b0 13'; W. Long. 255\u00b0 36'; E. Long. 104\u00b0 24'.\nSteady NW. Monsoon and pleasant.\n9. S. Lat. 8\u00b0 4'; W. Long. 255\u00b0 47'; E. Long. 104\u00b0 13';\nAmp'd 1\u00b0 24' East. Wind WSW. and squally weather.\n13. S. Lat. 10\u00b0 47'; W. Long. 257\u00b0 40'; E. Long. 102\u00b0 20'\nO
Includes index.
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Rare Books and Special Collections. F871 .O7","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/source","classmap":"oc:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:source"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/source","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; A related resource from which the described resource is derived.; The described resource may be derived from the related resource in whole or in part. Recommended best practice is to identify the related resource by means of a string conforming to a formal identification system."}],"Subject":[{"label":"Subject","value":"Oregon--History, Local--Periodicals","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/subject","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:subject"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/subject","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; The topic of the resource.; Typically, the subject will be represented using keywords, key phrases, or classification codes. 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