The Oregon Question

by Albert Gallatin

Fuca says that he had been sent by the Viceroy of Mexico to discover the straits of Anian and the passage thereof into the sea, which they called the North Sea, which is our Northwest Sea; that between 47 and 48 degrees of latitude he entered into a broad inlet, through which he sailed more than twenty days; and, being then come into the North Sea already, and not being sufficiently armed, he returned again to Acapulco. He offered then to Mr. Lock to go into England and serve her Majesty in a voyage for the discovery perfectly of the Northwest passage into the South Sea. If it be granted that the inlet through which he had sailed was really the same as the straits which now bear his name, that sea into which he emerged, and which he asserts to be our Northwest Sea, must have been that which is now called Queen Charlotte's Sound, north of Quadra and Vancouver's Island, in about 51 degrees of latitude. Our Northwest Sea was that which washes the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador, then universally known as far north as the vicinity of the 60th degree of latitude. Hudson's Straits had not yet been discovered, and the discovery of Davis's Straits might not be known to Fuca. But no navigator at that time, who, like he, had sailed across both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, could be ignorant that the northern extremity of Newfoundland, which lies nearly in the same latitude as the northern entrance of Fuca's Straits, is situated sixty or seventy degrees of longitude east of that entrance. The only way to reconcile the account with itself is, to suppose that Fuca believed that the continent of America did not, on the side of the Atlantic, extend further north than about the 60th degree, and was bounded northwardly by an open sea, which extended as far west as the northern extremity of the inlet through which he had sailed. It is true nevertheless that, between the years 1774 and 1792, there was a prevailing opinion amongst the navigators that Fuca had actually discovered an inlet leading towards the Atlantic. Prior to the year 1787 they were engaged in seeking for it, and the Spaniards had for that purpose explored in vain the sea coast lying south of the 48th degree; for it is well known that Fuca's entrance lies between the 48th and 49th, and not between the 47th and 48th degrees of latitude, as he had announced.

The modern discovery of that inlet is due to Captain Barclay, an Englishman, commanding the Imperial Eagle, a vessel owned by British merchants, but which was equipped at, and took its departure from Ostend, and which sailed under the flag of the Austrian East India Company. The British Government, which has objected to the American claim derived from Captain Gray's discovery of the mouth of the river Columbia, on the ground that he was a private individual, and that his vessel was not a public ship, cannot certainly claim anything in virtue of a discovery by a private Englishman, sailing under Austrian colors. In that case, and rejecting Fuca's voyage, neither the United States nor England can lay any claim on account of the discovery of the straits.

Subsequently, the Englishman, Meares, sailing under the Portuguese flag, penetrated, in 1768, about ten miles into the inlet, and the American, Gray, in 1789, about fifty miles. The pretended voyage of the sloop Washington throughout the straits, under the command of either Gray or Kendrick, has no other foundation than an assertion of Meares, on which no reliance can be placed.

In the year 1790 (1791 according to Vancouver) the Spaniards, Elisa and Quimper, explored the straits more than one hundred miles, discovering the Port Discovery, the entrance of Admiralty Inlet, the Deception Passage, and the Canal de Haro. In 1792 Vancouver explored and surveyed the straits throughout, together with their various bays and harbors. Even there he had been preceded in part by the Sutil and Mexicano; and he expresses his regret that they had advanced before him as far as the Canal del Rosario.

Under all the circumstances of the case, it cannot be doubted that the United States must admit that the discovery of the straits, and the various inferences which may be drawn from it, are doubtful and debatable questions.

That which relates to a presumed agreement of Commissioners appointed under the treaty of Utrecht, by which the northern boundary of Canada was, from a certain point north of Lake Superior, declared to extend westwardly along the 49th parallel of latitude, does not appear to me definitively settled. As this had been assumed many years before, as a positive fact, and had never been contradicted, I also assumed it as such and did not thoroughly investigate the subject. Yet I had before me at least one map (name of publisher not recollected), of which I have a vivid recollection, on which the dividing lines were distinctly marked and expressly designated, as being in conformity with the agreement of the Commissioners under the treaty of Utrecht. The evidence against the fact, though in some respects strong, is purely negative. The line, according to the map, extended from a certain point near the source of the river Saguenay, in a westerly direction, to another designated point on another river emptying either into the St Lawrence or James's Bay; and there were, in that way, four or five lines following each other, all tending westwardly, but with different inclinations northwardly or southwardly, and all extending, from some apparently known point on a designated river, to another similar point on another river; the rivers themselves emptying themselves, some into the river St. Lawrence and others into James's Bay or Hudson's Bay, until, from a certain point lying north of Lake Superior, the line was declared to extend along the 49th degree of latitude, as above stated. It was with that map before me that the following paragraph was inserted in the American statement of December, 1826:

"The limits between the possessions of Great Britain in North America, and those of France in the same quarter, namely, Canada and Louisiana, were determined by Commissioners appointed in pursuance of the treaty of Utrecht. From the coast of Labrador to a certain point North of Lake Superior, those limits were fixed according to certain metes and bounds; and from that point the line of demarcation was agreed to extend indefinitely due west, along the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude. It was in conformity with that arrangement that the United States did claim that parallel as the northern boundary of Louisiana. It has been accordingly thus settled, as far as the Stony Mountains, by the convention of 1818 between the United States and Great Britain; and no adequate reason can be given why the same boundary should not be continued as far as the claims of the United States do extend, that is to say, as far as the Pacific ocean."

It appears very extraordinary that any geographer or map-maker should have invented a dividing line, with such specific details, without having sufficient grounds for believing that it had been thus determined by the Commissioners under the treaty of Utrecht. It is also believed that Douglass' Summary (not at this moment within my reach) adverts to the portion of the line from the coast of Labrador to the Saguenay. Finally, the allusion to the 49th parallel, as a boundary fixed in consequence of the treaty of Utrecht, had been repeatedly made in the course of preceding negotiations, as well as in the conferences of that of the year 1826; and there is no apparent motive, if the assertion was known by the British negotiators not to be founded in fact, why they should not have at once denied it. It may be, however, that the question having ceased to be of any interest to Great Britain since the acquisition of Canada, they had not investigated the subject. It is of some importance, because, if authenticated, the discussion would be converted from questions respecting undefined claims, into one concerning the construction of a positive treaty or convention.

It is sufficiently clear that, under all the circumstances of the case, an amicable division of the territory, if at all practicable, must be founded in a great degree on expediency. This of course must be left to the wisdom of the two Governments. The only natural, equitable, and practicable line which has occurred to me, is one which, running through the middle of Fuca Straits, from its entrance to a point on the main, situated south of the mouth of Frazer's river, should leave to the United States all the shores and harbors lying south, and to Great Britain all those north of that line, including the whole of Quadra and Vancouver's Island. It would be through Fuca's Straits a nearly easterly line, along the parallel of about 48½ degrees, leaving to England the most valuable and permanent portion of the fur trade, dividing the sea-coast as nearly as possible into two equal parts, and the ports in the most equitable manner. To leave Admiralty Inlet and its Sounds to Great Britain, would give her a possession in the heart of the American portion of the territory. Whether from the point where the line would strike the main, it should be continued along the same parallel, or run along the 49th, is a matter of secondary importance.

If such division should take place, the right of the inhabitants of the country situated on the upper waters of the Columbia to the navigation of that river to its mouth, is founded on natural law; and the principle has almost been recognized as the public law of Europe. Limited to commercial purposes, it might be admitted, but on the express condition that the citizens of the United States should in the same manner, and to the same extent, have the right to navigate the river St. Lawrence.