“During the past year there has been a visible improvement of the office in all its branches, and it is my pleasure and duty to bear unqualified testimony to the zeal and efficiency of the several assistants in charge of the departments, and of the numerous employees under them. Each man has shown an honest purpose to do his duty, and I have been much oftener obliged to moderate exertion than to rebuke indifference and neglect.”
And Professor Bache in his reports declared:—
“The office under the charge of Major Stevens has improved in the system and order of every one of its divisions; and the zeal and ability of the assistant in charge has been reflected in the spirit of the officers under him, and in the general diligence of the employees. The office is characterized by a very marked spirit of industry, of working to results, and of progress. Every encouragement, as it should be, is afforded to those who endeavor to advance in their several occupations.
“The office work has, by great diligence on the part of the persons employed, and by the excellent administrative arrangements of Major Stevens, been kept close to the field work. In no former year have so many preliminary sketches been promptly issued, and so much information of various kinds been published, or furnished to the officers of government or to individuals.”
CHAPTER XV
GOVERNOR, WASHINGTON TERRITORY.—EXPLORATION, NORTHERN ROUTE
The triumph of the Democratic party in November, 1853, and the election of General Franklin Pierce as the next President insured a more vigorous policy of exploration and settlement of the vast domain stretching from the Mississippi to the Pacific. Major Stevens was strongly attracted to this field. It appealed to his ambition. It afforded a greater opportunity for public service and achievement. Prominent and gratifying as was the position and standing he held in Washington, he realized its limitations. He knew, too, that with the army on a peace footing and filled with young officers, no promotion in his corps could be expected for years. In brief, feeling the powers and ambition of a leader, he was not content to remain longer a subordinate.
In March Congress formed the new Territory of Washington out of the northern half of what was then Oregon, being the territory extending from the Columbia River and the 46th parallel northward two hundred and fifty miles to the British Possessions and the 49th parallel, and from the crest of the Rocky Mountains westward six hundred miles to the Pacific, an area larger than New England and New York combined. Save a handful of settlers on the lower Columbia and the shores of Puget Sound, and a few missionary and trading posts in the interior, the whole vast region was unsettled, and much of it unexplored by civilized man. It contained many thousands of Indians, some of whom had lately been at war with the whites, and regarded their approach with jealous and hostile eyes; the Indian title to the land had not been extinguished; and there were troublesome questions with the Hudson Bay Company, which still held its posts in the Territory, and claimed extensive rights as guaranteed by treaty.
On March 3 Congress appropriated $150,000 for the exploration and survey of railroad routes from the Mississippi to the Pacific, to be expended by the Secretary of War under the direction of the President. Jefferson Davis entered the new cabinet as Secretary of War, and it was early determined to survey four principal routes to the Pacific.
Early in the year Major Stevens applied for the governorship of the new Territory, to which was attached, ex officio, the superintendency of Indian affairs, and also for the charge of the exploration of the Northern route. Either of these fields was enough to fully task the most able and energetic man, but his ambition reached for both. Equally characteristic was the high ground upon which he based his application. He asked the appointment, not as the reward of political services, nor for the sake of personal or political friendship, but because he was the fittest man for the place, the one who could best serve the public interests. He told General Pierce that if he could find any one else better qualified for the position, who would accept it, it was his duty to appoint him. There was no question on that score. But his wife and many of his friends thought that he was making a great personal sacrifice in relinquishing the enviable position he had attained in Washington for the toils, hardships, and dangers of the Western exploration and governorship. Professor Bache was of this opinion, and deeply regretted to lose his efficient assistant and friend.