Although the United States Government would give no guarantee of protection, yet the new arrivals met in those regions a condition of safety rarely found in so wild and remote a locality, and, for the time being, at least, were glad to avail themselves of the security offered by the Hudson’s Bay Company. Nor is it to be supposed that the colonists were entirely neglected by the Government of the United States. Though unable to grant fully the wishes for a civil government, or even for military posts, yet every executive took measures to gain such information as would keep the government well advised, and enable it to see that the brave forerunners of settlement suffered no personal injury. The interval of rest fell within the administrations of President Jackson, and his policy seems to have been one simply of watchfulness and the gaining of knowledge. To this end William A. Slacum, of the United States Navy, was appointed as a special agent, to visit Oregon and examine the conditions. This is important, as marking the policy the government intended to pursue while things were in process of transition. If the protection given was not adequate, it at least dispels the suspicion of utter heartlessness which would attach to a government which would let its citizens go, in support of its own interests, into this wilderness, without a single thought for their safety.
When the question, therefore, next came up for discussion, conditions had considerably changed. Traders had ventured into the country, missionary stations had been established, more knowledge of the country had been gained, a more careful examination of the title had been made by the conference which met in 1827, and the cause had enlisted the interest of some of the strongest men in political life.
In the second campaign the initiative was transferred from the house to the senate, and an able leader was found in the senator from Missouri, Dr. Lewis F. Linn. He was the colleague of Benton, and a man commanding the highest esteem of his associates. The attack began by a bill of February, 1838, for the occupation of the Columbia and the establishment of a civil government similar to previous bills. Meeting with failure, it was followed, as in the previous campaign, by several others, and, in spite of the assembling of the conference for the settlement of the northeastern boundary, in 1842, the discussions were carried on with a nearness to that event which seemed dangerous to Mr. Linn’s associates. Shortly after the adjournment of the conference the discussions were renewed. As in the case of Floyd’s bills, there was a gradual toning down of the provisions, in the successive sessions of congress, so that the movement which started by advocating the establishment of a territory to be called the Oregon Territory, erection of a fort on the Columbia, occupation of the country by a military force, the establishment of a port of entry subject to the revenue laws of the United States, ended by advocating a line of forts along the route to Oregon, a post near its mouth, a grant of six hundred and forty acres of land to every male settler cultivating the land for five years, appointment of Indian agents to regulate affairs with the native races, and extension of the jurisdiction of the courts of Iowa over the territory west of the Rockies. The bill provided an increase of judges, justices, and constables, to meet the increase of business, and English subjects charged with criminal offenses were to be given up to the English courts. This bill passed the senate by a vote of twenty-four to twenty-two, in February of 1843, but failed of passage in the house. Thus Linn, like Floyd, was rewarded for his service by seeing his measure pass the house of which he was a member, but any further hopes were cut off by his death before the next session of congress.
The discussions bring out little that had not been said before. The question of the claims, which had figured so little in the previous debate, was an all important theme of discussion at this time. The language used shows a growing feeling of bitterness toward the English, and anxiety to secure such an arrangement as would encourage emigration. The large grants of land were especially for that purpose. It was in the course of this debate that Mr. Benton used these words: “I now go for vindicating our rights on the Columbia, and as the first step toward it, the passing of this bill, and making these grants of land, which will soon place thirty or forty thousand rifles beyond the Rocky Mountains.”[[10]]
In the course of the discussion, Linn’s policy had received many reinforcements from without. It was about this time that the naval officer whom President Jackson had appointed, made a report which showed the need of action. In the beginning of the new agitation of the question, the Rev. Jason Lee, head of the Methodist missionary movement in the Willamette Valley, appeared in Washington. He had performed the long and dangerous journey across the plains, partly in the interests of his mission and partly in the interests of settlement and a civil government. Although a Canadian by birth, he early identified himself with American interests as best adapted to the successful accomplishment of his missionary enterprise. Although he had gone into the country in the interests of the natives, he was soon convinced that their interests would be served not alone by laboring with them, but by building up a moral and religious community. He was the bearer of a petition to congress from the colonists. It was signed not alone by those connected with the mission, but by some of the French and Canadian ex-employees of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who had started an agricultural settlement on a beautiful tract of land called the French Prairie, in the Willamette Valley. This document set forth the history of the mission settlement, the prosperity which had attended it, the resources of the country for agricultural purposes, the advantage of its position for trade with China, and urged upon the United States the extension over it of a civil government, both in the interests of the colonists and of the country at large. It showed how the nucleus of a settlement was started; it dwelt upon the previous dependence upon the Hudson’s Bay Company, a relation which could not be expected to continue long in the changing conditions. While in the east, Mr. Lee delivered lectures at various points, and exhibited two Indian lads whom he had brought with him. In reply to inquiries from Hon. Caleb Cushing, who led the debate in the house, and who had been appointed upon a committee to make inquiries, he wrote a letter containing these significant phrases. “The country will be settled, and that speedily from some quarter, and it depends very much upon the action of congress what that population shall be, and what shall be the fate of the Indian tribes in that territory. It may be thought that Oregon is of little importance, but rely upon it, there is the germ of a great state. We are resolved to do what we can to benefit the country, but we are constrained to throw ourselves upon you for protection.”
Other petitions were also received from the colonists which were stronger in their wording, exaggerating some things, and even making representations which, because of too hasty conclusions, were misrepresentations of the facts. They were, however, well adapted to be of service in the struggle for results. Petitions were likewise received from bodies of prospective emigrants, who asked for action by the legislature in granting lands and in furnishing the protection of the government. Memorials from Nathaniel J. Wyeth and Hall J. Kelley also were presented to the house by Mr. Cushing, and gave information concerning the physical and social conditions west of the Rockies. In this second campaign the executive support was more conservative than had been given by Monroe and Adams. It was the recommendation of President Van Buren to congress, that garrisoned forts be established along the route for the protection of emigrants, for he thought that the gradual settling of this country would so far prepare the way for an adjustment favorable to American interests, that the possession of the country and the establishment of a civil government would be effected without danger. The failure, likewise, of the conference of 1842 to conclude the settlement of the northwestern boundary at the same time that it fixed that in the northeast, was a great disappointment to the people, who had been expecting some action. President Tyler felt it necessary to offer an explanation in his message to congress in which he referred to the fear of a protracted discussion, and the obstructions that might have been put in the way of settling the northeastern boundary by connecting it with a discussion of the northwestern.
This debate, like the previous one, was fraught with significant results, and the gain was substantial. Although it had failed of its immediate purpose, although it had been defeated in that body of congress in which it might most naturally look for success, and although the leader of the cause in the house, Hon. Caleb Cushing, counseled delay, because of the danger of complications with England, the effects, nevertheless, became apparent even before the debate was ended. Through the suggestion of Mr. Lee, an immediate step in advance was taken. It was decided that the government could, without violating the terms or the spirit of the existing treaty, send some one who should act as an agent of the government in dealing with the Indians, whose duty it should be to make treaties with them and establish such relations as would insure safety during the period of transition. This officer was to bear only the title of sub-Indian agent, but it was suggested to the colonists that his usefulness to them might be increased by entrusting him with such additional authority as they thought fit to grant voluntarily; that he might, if they so wished, act as a virtual governor of the colony. It will readily be seen that this office, by virtue of its indefiniteness, was one of peculiar difficulty. The effectiveness of the plan was also considerably diminished by the appointment of a man, Dr. Elijah White, who had previously been in the country and incurred some enmities. He was, however, cordially received, and entered upon his duties with hopefulness. The growing hostility of the Indians made immediate and almost continuous exercise of his authority necessary, and many treaties were made pledging the natives to respect the life and property of Americans. The previous authority of the English company had now to be shared with the American government, so far at least as Indian affairs were concerned. Thus a step in advance had been taken toward the realization of an American civil government, but it is questionable whether divided authority in dealing with Indians tended to security of life and property, especially where there was no means of enforcing the obligations of treaty agreements. In the exercise of authority along other lines, less success was experienced.
Another result was the sending of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, Commander of the Pacific squadron, upon a cruise along the coast, with instructions to make investigations, and General John C. Fremont, to examine the overland routes. Both of these men were officers in whom confidence was reposed and whose opinions would have weight. The government did not recognize the need of such urgency of action as the people desired. It seems to have felt that its duty was discharged by commissioning officers to investigate the condition of things, by ordering an occasional vessel of war into the neighborhood, and by sending a sub-Indian agent to prevent any depredations that the Indians might be disposed to commit. It seems to have felt that the few colonists already there were in no immediate danger of suffering injury, if they used good judgment, while the natural barriers to emigration would render additions to the population very slow.
Viewed from the standpoint of the colonists, however, everything was different. The Indian agent, without military aid, could not render effective service; Lieutenant Wilkes, because he was on friendly terms with the officers of the English company, was thought to be too much under their influence; session after session of congress was passing away without any action for the establishment of military posts, or the extension of civil government over the territory. It is but natural, under the circumstances, that the colonists should take the matter into their own hands, and do what the exigencies of the situation demanded. The formation of the pioneer provisional government may be regarded, therefore, as an example of the true American spirit, exhibiting a resourcefulness equal to every emergency.
The origin of institutions is complex, and doubtless many motives combined to bring this one into existence. Its purpose as expressed in the organic laws, drawn up as the constitution of the state, was declared to be: “Mutual protection, and to secure peace and prosperity among ourselves.”[[11]] This general statement, however, probably sums up a number of motives not specified. Most prominent among these were the feeling of nationality, the love of a democratic type of government, the desire for power to control the character of population that should come in, anxiety to secure permanent titles to the lands taken up, equal rights in the pursuit of the fur trade, protection from the Indians, prevention of lawlessness among a mixed population, facilities for the conduct of such business as growing numbers made necessary, and, perhaps, in some cases, personal ambition to exercise authority.