USA > Oregon > Pioneer days of Oregon history, Vol. II > Part 19
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Yours, etc.,
J. DOUGLAS.
Of course, like the rest, he thought such a thing as our reaching California was all braggadocio in us.
The next morning we got under way and proceeded down the river, and on the 3d day of September came to at Fort George. Here again the Stars and Stripes were unfurled to the view of Birney and his men. 4th, lay by taking on ballast. 5th, also; now having put her in good ballast trim. 6th, got under way in order to try how she would act in a seaway, and also to give my crew a foretaste of what they might expect hereafter. The wind was from the northwest and blowing freshly, with the tide against us. We faced her to it, and notwith- standing these obstructions, worked up to our anchorage on Baker's Bay with all ease.
My crew consisted of the following named men, viz .: John Canan, Pleasant Armstrong, Ralph Kilhourne, Jacob Green, and a little Indian boy ten years old, and one passenger, Charles Pfeffenhauser-not one of whom knew the compass, to say nothing of steering a vessel by it in a heavy seaway.
In order to accustom my crew to the working of a vessel in a sea- way, and also to teach some of them to steer by compass, I got under way next day and ran back to Point Adams and came to anchor. My men began to rejoice from not having been seasick. Of course I said nothing to undeceive them. They had not as yet entered the wide realms of old Neptune, and I knew that as soon as they felt the undulating motions of his empire they would succumb.
While we were lying at Point Adams, Captain Couch, in the brig Chenamus, made his appearance, bound to the Sandwich Islands,
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and passed us, most of us being ashore at the time. We discovered him, however, and hastened aboard, and by the time we got under way he was half way down the channel. The wind was fresh and ahead, but the tide being favorable, we soon overhauled him and passed him and anchored in Baker's Bay before him that evening, being the 11th day of September, 1842. The captain boarded us and invited me aboard with him to tea. After supper he said to me that if the wind served to-morrow he would get under way and pilot me out. I thanked him and took my leave.
The next morning, being the 12th of September, there sprung a leading breeze, and we commenced getting our anchors. He hove short and made sail without tripping his anchor, and I, suspecting that it was his intention to go to sea at once, got my anchor and made for the passage. But I soon found that the old experienced sea dog saw indications that the breeze would soon die away, which was the case, for as we passed the cape the wind lulled into a perfect calm, the tide ebbing at the rate of six or seven knots an hour, and taking us apparently into the breakers on the south spit. There was nothing to do but to let go the anchor, which was done and about 40 fathoms scope given her, in which she swung with security, and just at that critical moment every one aboard, excepting the Indian boy, was taken down with seasickness. Some of them wished themselves ashore, and would have given their interest in the vessel if they were. In that condition we lay until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when a strong breeze sprang up, and I ordered them to get anchor, which was done, and instead of going back we, by making five stretches, passed the south spit and found ourselves launched on the grand old Pacific Ocean. Here, finding myself once more with blue water under my keel, and on the element upon which I had spent so many years, my feelings can only be imagined. Now my crew had supposed we would run into some little harbor along the coast and tie up to some rock or stick. But nothing was farther from my mind. Not being acquainted with the coast, and not having any charts, such would have been a perilous undertaking. But my intention was to get an offing of 30 or 40 miles by running diagonally from the coast, and then run in my latitude and departure parallel to it.
The breeze freshened as the sun went down, and just as it touched the western horizon I took my departure from Cape Disappointment. This was on the 12th day of September, 1842. By 12 o'clock that night the wind had freshened to a perfect gale, and our boat was spin-
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ning off 111% knots an hour. I hope that you will not take me to be an egotist when I say that I stood to the helm thirty-six hours. It would have been almost certain ruin to have trusted the steering to any other person on board, for the sea was heavy and at times it appeared that we could or she could not live in it. But no.
"Their angry surges she seemed not to heed, But chose her passage with wonderful speed; Like the stormy petrel, through the wind and rain She skipped the surface of the angry main. Walking the water like a thing of life, And seemed to dare the elements to strife."
The weather was such and the fog so dense that I did not get an observation of the sun for three days. At this turn the gale had abated, and I got a fair noon observation, in working up which I found that we were considerably south of Mendocino Cape; from our position at that time I shaped my course for Point Bass. I found, however, that the difference of latitude between that of account and that of observation of the sun amounted to twenty-eight miles, which was owing to bad steerage. I ran for Point Bass until we could dis- tinctly hear the surf beating, beating upon its shore. Here I hove to, with head off shore. My reason for so doing was in order to land Pfeffenhauser at the Bordagos, he claiming to be a relative of Captain J. A. Sutter.
Next morning we made sail and ran along the coast as near as we dared, the fog still as dense as ever. I soon found by the sound of surf that we had rounded the cape, and hauled in closer to shore, when all of sudden there appeared a rock within less than a cable's length of us; we just had room to tack ship and clear it. This made me so mad with Pfeffenhauser, who had been whining the whole passage and accusing himself of his folly for embarking, that I told him that I would throw him overboard rather than endanger our lives and the vessel on his account. This day I found ourselves something over a half a degree north of the entrance of San Francisco with my longi- tude nearly in. We ran along the coast and came to anchor in four- teen fathoms water, the fog as thick as ever. This was in the morning of the 17th day of September, 1842. The fog began to open, we made sail and ran down with a light breeze until about four o'clock; the fog commenced giving way, and in a few minutes we looked up and saw the high lands immediately southeast of us, and in half an hour after the entrance of the port of San Francisco was opened to us. The breeze now freshened to a whole sail breeze, we hauled in
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to the eastward and dashed through its portals like an arrow, and just as the sun went down we dropped anchor abreast of the Old Presidio.
It was pleasing to me to see what a difference there was in the aspect of my companions. The gloom of the voyage had now given way to pleasure, and they were happy. As for myself, Columbus himself could not have felt happier when first he solved the great problem than I did at this time. The boat was made fast and I went ashore with my papers, which were duly acknowledged. Next day I got under way and sailed up to Yerba Buena, as it was then called.
There I found the following named vessels riding at anchor: Ship Barnstable, Captain Clapp; ship California, of Boston, Captain Arthur; the schooner Julian, Captain Leidsdorff, and one or two smaller vessels. Our flag was flying, in consequence of which the captains of the above-named vessels paid us a visit. Now, to show how little was known of Oregon in those days, I will relate an anec- dote. As these gentlemen approached our vessel and passed our stern, they discovered our name written or painted upon it, when Leidsdorff exclaimed, "Oregon! Oregon!" two or three times; "I'll be d-d if there is any port by that name on any of my charts !" They came aboard, remained twenty or thirty minutes, and returned to their vessels. Shortly after I went ashore to see Mr. Ray, with whom I was acquainted. He was surprised to see me, and asked if I had come down in yonder schooner. I told him I had. "Then," said he, "you have fetched letters for me." I gave him my reasons for not doing so.
The rest is soon told. I sold the vessel to José Y. Lamonture, a Frenchman, who had cast his vessel away a few weeks previous to our arrival, for 350 cows, General Guadalupe Vallejo becoming responsi- ble to us for their delivery. And as it was impossible for us to start with them that fall to Oregon, there now being only four of us-Kil- bourne had concluded to stay-we mutually settled up our accounts and set off our several ways and went to work at what we could find to do, all agreeing to rendezvous in the spring on Cash Creek. Knowing that without a company of more than four men it would be a dangerous undertaking, and believing there to be several of Chila's party adrift in the country, and also several sailors, I sent out written circulars to different parties, describing Oregon and its immense advantages to them. These circulars had the desired effect, so that by the middle of May we had mustered a company of forty-
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two men, all bringing more or less stock. Among the rest was Jacob P. Leese, General Vallejo's brother-in-law, and a gentleman with whom I was well acquainted some fifteen years previous to this event. We made our camp or rendezvous on Cash Creek, and there I trimmed a tall cottonwood tree and swung out the Stars and Stripes again, around which there soon rallied a company of forty-two men, bring- ing an aggregated number of twelve hundred and fifty head of cattle, six hundred head of mares, horses and mules-mares, horses, colts, principally-and nearly three thousand head of sheep; and on the 14th day of May we started for Oregon, and after a toilsome journey of seventy-five days arrived in the Wallamet valley with compara- tively small loss. The rest, or what disposition was made of that stock, is known, I presume, to everybody. There is one thing certain, it done away with the stock monopoly, and set the people of Oregon in a fair way of getting on in the future. This result was brought about by the undauntable wills of a few men who are now scarcely known.
Sir, if you can condense out of this jumbled mass of writing any- thing that will accomplish your design, you are welcome to it, and all I ask is that if you shall put any part of it in pamphlet form, please send me a copy of it. You will see at a glance that I am but an indifferent writer, and in fact I make no pretensions as to a correct writer. My education is very limited, so you must make allowances for all defects and correct bad spelling, and also the grammatical errors that you will herein find.
Hoping that this may be satisfactory to you, I remain as ever,
Your friend,
JOSEPH GALE.
CHAPTER LIX
EARLY POLITICAL HISTORY RELATING TO OREGON
IT is interesting to review history and trace the steps that led up to the recognition of Oregon and formation of the territorial government. Congress would not act, and vir- tually ignored Oregon settlers while they were organizing a provisional government, yet at that same time was jealous as to our territorial rights and claims for ownership and dis- covery. It will always interest readers of Oregon to know the facts of that early political history, so I will go back to the times and occasions when the Oregon question was early under discussion.
There was nothing pending in 1820 save the bare ques- tion of ownership. In the sketch of the life of Hall J. Kelley it appears that from 1815, when twenty-six years of age, he was interested and well informed as to Oregon. It is surprising that at this early time he was thus informed and so enthused. Washington Irving was no doubt in some sense responsible for this interest, and also that such men as Floyd, of Virginia, advocated the cause of Oregon so early as 1820, in Congress, who moved the house "to inquire into the expediency of occupying the Columbia River and the territory of the United States adjacent thereto." A com- mittee to investigate settlement on the Columbia, etc., con- sisting of Floyd, Metcalf of Kentucky, and Swearingen of Virginia, reported January 25, 1821. Their report re- viewed American history for two hundred years as to.
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the right of the United States, showed value of fur trade, etc., and favored occupying the Columbia. They asserted the possibilities for trade with China and the Orient, and favored a steamboat route to ascend the waters of the Mis- souri and descend the Columbia. The committee reported a bill to occupy Oregon territory ; by treaty to extinguish Indian title and establish a stable government.
This bill was read twice and referred to committee of the whole house, laid over till December 10, 1821, when another committee was appointed; Floyd's associates were Baylies of Massachusetts and Scott of Missouri.
This committee reported with bill, January 18, 1822, that was read twice, then no longer heard of. At the second term 1822, Floyd's bill was discussed in committee of the whole, amended, and he made a speech that was an exhaustive review of many matters, as of the value of cer- tain articles of commerce to countries that possessed them, making an object lesson in favor of occupying the Colum- bia ; he advocated military possession and the steamboat route before mentioned. This first speech on the Oregon question ever made in Congress fell still-born ; he was con- sidered fanciful and speculative; no interest was felt generally, in Congress or among the people.
Baylies of Massachusetts favored the bill, showed the great profits in the whale fishery ; value of fisheries and lum- ber trade on the Columbia, and that a cargo of Columbia spars had been sold at Valparaiso. He answered the objec- tion that expansion would dismember our empire, and that occupying the Columbia might precipitate war ; argued in favor of colonies and of the commercial value of the Columbia.
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Tucker of Virginia thought the question too impracti- cable and feared it would draw off capital and popu- lation from the East, and that people in Oregon would prefer to trade with China and the Orient. There could be, he said, no community of interests between Atlantic and Pacific.
January 13, 1823, Colden of New York spoke as to the value of seal fishing ; of China trade and its profit ; the trade of the Northwest Coast in 1821, and of the importance of the Columbia.
Mallory of Vermont favored the measure; ridiculed the idea that American enterprise did not dare to venture beyond the Rockies.
Tracy of New York had met people who had been at the mouth of the Columbia, and so knew that, instead of an Eden there was an inhospitable wilderness ; climate black and humid, so that crops could hardly be raised and hardly any places fit for settlement. East of the Cascades was only a waste of sand and gravel.
Mr. Wood of New York also opposed the bill ; there was nothing to justify it, and to carry it out would cause rui- nous exposure and provoke Indian wars.
Baylies of Massachusetts spoke again to urge that the natural boundary was not the Rocky Mountains, as has been asserted, but the Pacific Ocean. The bill provided three hundred and twenty acres bounty land claim to each head of a family and two hundred acres to each unmarried settler. Baylies answered all disparagement of the country, showing the excellence of both soil and climate ; he made an able argument, consistent with what we know of the coun- try to-day.
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In closing debate, Breckenridge of Kentucky opposed the bill; we had not population for territory east of the Rockies and would not have for many and many a year. He took extreme views, and the vote being taken, the bill failed, 61 ayes to 100 noes. However, the discussion attracted attention, for soon there came a memorial from eighty Maryland farmers and mechanics who favored the bill, as they desired to emigrate to Oregon.
At the next session a committee was again appointed to report as to expediency of occupying the Columbia, con- sisting of Floyd, Gurley of Louisiana, Scott of Missouri, Hayden of New York, Bassett of Virginia, Frost of New York, Baylies of the last committee. On January 19, 1824, Floyd presented another bill, which was read twice and re- ferred to the whole house. This bill authorized a military colony and that a territorial government be established when deemed expedient. This bill granted a section of land to actual settlers. The bill came up for final action the next December, when Floyd had acquired many valuable facts and ably presented them. It was now asserted, by Smyth of Virginia, that there was already too much land on the mar- ket and the line should be drawn east of the Rocky Moun- tains, that farther west there would certainly be another confederacy ; but Floyd said that even so, a Pacific con- federacy would be less dangerous if peopled from the older States. No speaker seems to have had any fears that the title of the United States was not good to all the West Coast.
After four years of debate and struggle this third bill, being put to vote, passed the house by a vote of 113 to 57, and was sent to the Senate in February, 1825.
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It found a warm advocate in Barbour of Virginia. But Dickenson of New Jersey took ground against it. Military occupation would lead to war with England. A senator from Oregon would spend all his time on the road, going and coming. Benton argued ably in favor of the bill ; but it was laid on the table, and lays there yet, for no action was ever taken by the Senate.
In 1824 a treaty with Russia placed her southern boundary at 54° 40', whereas she had claimed to 51º. It remained there to define the rights of Great Britain. In his message December, 1824, Monroe suggested the pro- priety of establishing a military port at the mouth of the Columbia, or at some other point within our acknowledged limit, and to send a frigate to make the necessary explora- tion. The house passed a bill for this purpose, but it failed in the Senate, not because we had not title, for no one questioned that title was perfect, the opposition was because the interests of the United States did not demand any ac- tion until joint occupancy should expire in 1828 ; meantime we should await the result of negotiation and depend on diplomacy.
In 1825, President Adams reviewed the recommendation of Mr. Monroe and Baylies of Massachusetts, offered a resolution to send the sloop of war Boston to explore from 42° to 49°. On May 26th, Mr. Baylies made a report on the matter and pronounced the British claim to title entirely unfounded ; he sensibly claimed that neglect weakened our claim. Nothing was done until the end of 1828. All this time the 49° of latitude was offered as the boundary. The British offer was to make the Columbia River the line to the 49°, then follow that parallel to the East.
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It seemed to be good policy to leave the Oregon question at rest while negotiations were pending with Great Britain as to occupancy. In 1827 the joint occupancy, about to expire in 1828, was indefinitely continued, subject to termi- nation by either party on a year's notice. In December, 1828, Floyd resumed the contest. Again he reviewed the questions and interests involved, making a strong appeal for the passage of a law to protect American interests. One remarkable feature was that three different companies of farmers, mechanics and others petitioned Congress for grants of land on the Columbia. One of these was the scheme Hall J. Kelley organized, consisting of three thousand persons of various occupations ; another was a Louisiana company, represented by John M. Bradford; the third, located in Ohio, was represented by Albert Town. Under the conditions of joint occupancy the United States could make no positive grants, though there was no doubt felt as to right of ownership, so these movements all fell through. It would be interesting to have had these several movements possess the grants asked for and trace results to the present day.
The foregoing facts are gathered from public records and have been summarized in the publications by Bancroft and in statements made by W. H. Gray in his work on history. They possess value as showing the various posi- tions taken by able men of that time. The Floyd bill finally passed the house by a vote of almost two to one in its favor, while the Senate let it die a lingering death. Looking back, we recognize that friends of Oregon were well advised and understood themselves and the question at issue. It is remarkable that many others, often men of
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national ability and reputation, were so ignorant, and often so prejudiced. All the while, however, time was maturing public sentiment, and the final result need at no time have been in doubt.
Ten years passed with no effort made and no action taken. In 1838 Oregon had begun existence under missionary in- fluences and a few Americans had drifted in from one source or another, but there were no permanent American settlers and no improvements. What the conditions were then is shown in the history given of the missions, the story of Ewing Young and Sol Smith, but the fact remains that in 1838 there were few Americans outside the missions.
On the 7th of February, 1838, Senator Lewis F. Linn of Missouri introduced another bill for occupation of the Columbia River and country by a military force, establish- ing a port of entry and extension of the revenue laws of the United States to Oregon territory. The Secretary of War was asked for information. The President had recom- mended establishing a military post at the mouth of the Columbia. Senator Linn's report dealt ably with all features involved and showed the vast sources of wealth that were waiting development and certain to reward en- terprise if under government protection. Senators Linn and Benton labored ably for the measure, but it failed to pass the Senate. The information published went among the people and created such interest, especially on the border, as it called into action the pioneer impulse of such people as are found on every frontier. Five thousand extra copies of Linn's great speech were circulated and attracted much interest.
There were also ten thousand extra copies of the com-
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munications of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy, which documents contained the letter and petition from Jason Lee, and another from N. J. Wyeth, on the soil, climate and resources of Oregon; also other matter furnished by Hall J. Kelley and Mr. Slacom, so there was much varied information put in circulation. In December, 1839, and February, 1840, other resolutions were offered by Linn, one feature of which was granting each male white inhabitant one thousand acres of land. Memorials com- menced to come in from the different States. Great and general interest was taken, especially through the Middle West and Border States, in the Oregon question. About this time Farnham came East with the letter prepared for the Secretary of War, and accompanying petition. This rather uncalled-for alarm was expressed by some in Oregon as to coming of British immigrants and extension of British laws over Oregon territory. All these seemed to increase the special interest that the people of the West and the border felt in Oregon. While the report was printed and went broadcast, as usual, the resolutions were permitted to lie on the table.
At an extra session, in 1841, Linn moved that the Presi- dent be requested to give the twelve months' notice required to terminate the joint occupancy of Oregon territory, but the matter must have been dropped as unseasonable.
In December, 1841, the President and Secretary of War, John C. Spencer, favored the occupation of Oregon and establishment of military posts to the Rocky Mountains ; taking the position that with this done peaceable settle- ment would do the rest.
December 16th, Senator Linn introduced a bill declaring
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our title to Oregon perfect; authorizing measures for set- tlement and occupancy of the country; also, to establish line of posts to the Rocky Mountains, and one at the mouth of the Columbia River ; also, to appoint two Indian agents at $1,500 salary ; also, to grant six hundred and forty acres of land to white male settlers, eighteen years of age or over.
At this time Lieutenant Fremont was sent on an exploring expedition to select sites for posts from the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains, and study the country along this route. Senator Linn also submitted a Senate resolution that the joint occupancy of the Pacific be ended, and notice be given Great Britain terminating the treaty of 1827.
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