New-York, August 1st, 1847.
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OREGON Territory, 1846.
OREGON MISSIONS
AN OUTLINE SKETCH OF OREGON TERRITORY AND ITS MISSIONS
The political discussion, which has been going on for years between the British government and that of the United States, in regard to the boundary which defines their respective portions of the Oregon territory, has turned upon this distant region a large share of public attention, and has won for it an interest which will increase in proportion to the advances of civilization and commerce within its borders. But it becomes an object of much deeper interest in the eyes of the philanthropist and Christian, when we look to the efforts which have been made, and which are still continued, in order to diffuse the blessings of religious truth among {14} its benighted inhabitants. To the Catholic, especially, does this remote country present the most pleasing scenes for contemplation, and by this reason we have been induced to lay before the reader, a brief account of its discovery and settlement, and of the missions undertaken for the spiritual welfare of its inhabitants.
Oregon territory is that important part of North America which extends from the 42d to the 50th degree of N. latitude, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.[115] It is bounded on the north by the Russian possessions, and on the south by California; forming a kind of parallelogram, about seven hundred and fifty miles in length and five hundred in breadth, and containing 375,000 square miles.