Moved, that the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the chairman and secretary, and as much of them as is deemed proper be transmitted to other districts. Carried.
On motion, adjourned.
W. H. Wilson, Chairman.
T. D. Keizer, Secretary.
It will be seen by Dr. White’s statement, that the Indian killed was a renegade from the Cayuse or upper country Indians. He was doing all he could to excite the Indians and get them to join in a general combination to destroy the American settlements in the Wallamet Valley. Dr. White, as he stated to the meeting, had now reached the utmost limit of his authority and influence. He knew not what to do. He was too big a coward to propose any bold measure, and too mean to be trusted by the settlers; hence, if the reader will carefully study the proceedings of this meeting, he will find a firm and steady influence, on the part of the settlers, leading on through all the dangers and excitements of the occasion. The proposed company was at once organized and elected its officers. Gray accepted the office of first sergeant in the company, which was soon filled up and drilled, and all were mounted on good horses. This soon became known throughout the settlements, and had the effect to frighten the Indians and keep them quiet, so that no further disturbance was made in the settlements of the Wallamet. It also had the effect to secure in the Columbia River the presence of the Modeste, a war vessel of the English government, which became absolutely necessary (ironically speaking) to protect the property and interests of the Hudson’s Bay Company from the threatened depredations of the Indians about their posts at Vancouver, as they were represented to be becoming far more hostile than formerly. The company had found that, since the Americans began to settle in the country, these Indians had become more dangerous and hostile to them; and as their people were scattered more extensively over the Indian country, it was absolutely necessary to have their principal depot more strongly fortified and protected, not against Indians, for they, by the course already pursued by that company, were fast melting away. Their country had been “hunted up” and made destitute of fur-producing animals by the advanced prices they had given in 1838-40, and now starvation was their only portion, unless the American settlers would share with them what they produced from the soil. This Indian difficulty was only an attempt to bring on an Indian war in the Wallamet to see how strong the settlements were, what means of protection they possessed, and what their offensive measures were likely to be.
This opened the eyes of Sir James Douglas to the natural weakness of Fort Vancouver. The Modeste was ordered to the river, and other preparations were made to defend that establishment from an attack of the American settlers. They found from the results of what occurred on the 4th of March, that there was a real substantial power in the country, and an influence of combination that they did not dream of; hence they found themselves, with all their Indian combinations, the weaker power.
We will now leave the Honorable Hudson’s Bay Company under the protection of the guns of her Majesty’s ship Modeste, the fort being repaired, bastions built, and all other protective and defensive measures completed, while we look after the election and proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of 1844.
The members elected from Tualatin District (since divided into Washington, Multnomah, Columbia, Clatsop, and Tilamook counties) were Peter H. Burnett, David Hill, M. M. McCarver, and Mr. Gilmore.
Clackamas District, including all of Washington Territory, Idaho, Montana, and half of the eastern part of the State of Oregon, was represented by A. L. Lovejoy. Champoeg District, including Marion, Linn, Baker, Douglas, and Jackson counties, was represented by Daniel Waldo, from Missouri, Thomas D. Keizer, from Arkansas, and Robert Newell, from the Rocky Mountains.
Peter H. Burnett was a lawyer from Missouri, who came to Oregon to seek his fortune, as well as a religion that would pay the best, and give him the most influence; which in the Legislative Committee was sufficient to induce that body to pay no attention to any organic law or principle laid down for the government of the settlements. In fact, he asserted that there were no constitutional provisions laid down or adopted by the people in general convention at Champoeg the year previous. Mr. Burnett was unquestionably the most intelligent lawyer then in the country. He was a very ambitious man—smooth, deceitful, and insinuating in his manners.